• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.65-69
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• 2015

Objectives : The root ofCyanchum wifordii(CW) had been used as herbal medicine, 'Baeksuo', in Korea. However, the root ofCynanchum auriculatum(CA) had also been mis-used as 'Baeksuo' in herbal markets, due to its morphological similarity with CW. This study aimed to compare discriminative features and establish the identification-keys between two herbal medicines using microscopic methods.Methods : Microscopic preparations including fixation, rapid dehydration, paraffin infiltration, paraffin embedding, sectioning, mounting, and staining, were performed and the microscopic features between CW and CA samples were compared.Results : The starch grain of parenchymal cells, the amounts of calcium oxalate crystals, cell sizes, and the shape of phloem were not different between CW and CA samples. However, the clusters of stone cells which were conglomerated at outer cortex were apparently observed in CA sample (4~8 layers of stone cells), but not in CW sample (2~4 layers of stone cells, or not). Xylem of CW consisted of several vessels and fiber bundles which were formed as linear shapes and discontinuous radial lines, while that of CA, in which radial lines was not observed, were shaped as a wedge and scattered near cambium with comparatively few fiber bundles enclosed vessels. Especially, in the xylem of CA, fiber bundles located towards cambium were relatively more developed than those located outward cambium.Conclusions : The identification-keys established in this study would be helpful to discriminate microscopic features between CW and CA.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.1-9
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• 2013

Objectives: Considering that homeothermy is a major component of metabolic rate, body temperature might play a role in the pathophysiology of obesity. This study aimed to determine the relationship between abdominal fat distribution and abdominal temperature in Korean, premenopausal, obese women. Methods: Weight and height were measured in 26 premenopausal, obese women to calculate body mass index (BMI). Obesity was defined as a $BMI{\geq}25kg/m^2$. Waist circumference (WC) was also measured as well as abdominal fat by computed tomography (CT) and abdominal temperature by digital infrared thermographic imaging (DITI). Results: Visceral abdominal fat area was found to have a significant negative correlation with the temperature of Guanyuan (CV4, lower abdomen acupoint). We also found the visceral-subcutaneous fat ratio had a significant negative correlation with the temperature of CV4 and Right Tianshu (RST25, lateral navel acupoint). Only visceral fat and its ratio to subcutaneous fat had a significant correlation with abdominal temperature. Subcutaneous fat area and total fat area were not correlated with abdominal temperature. Conclusions: This study suggests that abdominal visceral fat has a significant negative correlation with abdominal temperature. Further study is needed to uncover the relationship between abdominal fat distribution and temperature regulation in obese individuals and to define the role of body temperature in the pathogenesis of obesity.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.81-81
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• 2003

The present study was taken to examine the inhibitory effect of extracts of Scytosiphon lomentaria, a marine alga growing in Jeju Island, on the growth of cancer cells and to develop an anti-cancer agent using components of S. lomemtaria. The effect was observed by the measurement of metabolic activity using colorimetric 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. In results, crude extract of this alga markedly inhibited the growth of leukemia cell lines such as HL-60 and KG-1, but could scarcely inhibit the growth of normal cells (HEL299) and adenocarcinoma cells (SNU-16 and HCT-I5). When HL-60 cells were treated with the extract, DNA fragmentation and the increase of proportion of sub-G1 hypodiploid cells were observed. Therefore, the inhibitory effect of S. lomemtaria on the growth of HL-60 cells seems to arise from the induction of apoptosis. In order to understand the mechanism of apoptosis inducton by S. lomemtaria, we examined the changes of Bcl-2 and Bax expression. The extract reduced Bcl-2, an anti-apoptotic protein, but increased Bax, a pro-apoptotic protein in a dose-dependent manner. When we examined the activation of caspase-3, an effector of apoptosis, the expression of active form(19 kDa) of caspase-3 was increased and the increase of their activities was demonstrated by the cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase, a substrate of caspase-3, to 85 kDa. The results indicate that extract of S. lomentaria induces the apoptosis of HL-60 cells via the down-regulation of Bc1-2 and the activation of caspases.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.141-150
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• 2016

Background: Adipocyte-macrophage communication plays a critical role regulating white adipose tissue (WAT) inflammatory gene expression. Because WAT inflammation contributes to the development of metabolic diseases, there is significant interest in understanding how exogenous compounds regulate the adipocyte-macrophage crosstalk. An aqueous (AQ) extract of North American (NA) ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) was previously shown to have strong inflammo-regulatory properties in adipocytes. This study examined whether different ginseng extracts influence adipocyte-macrophage crosstalk, as well as WAT inflammatory gene expression. Methods: The effects of AQ and ethanol (EtOH) ginseng extracts ($5{\mu}g/mL$) on adipocyte and macrophage inflammatory gene expression were studied in 3T3-L1 and RAW264.7 cells, respectively, using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Adipose tissue organ culture was also used to examine the effects of ginseng extracts on epididymal WAT (EWAT) and inguinal subcutaneous WAT (SWAT) inflammatory gene expression. Results: The AQ extract caused significant increases in the expression of common inflammatory genes (e.g., Mcp1, Ccl5, Tnf-${\alpha}$, Nos2) in both cell types. Culturing adipocytes in media from macrophages treated with the AQ extract, and vice versa, also induced inflammatory gene expression. Adipocyte Ppar-${\gamma}$ expression was reduced with the AQ extract. The AQ extract strongly induced inflammatory gene expression in EWAT, but not in SWAT. The EtOH extract had no effect on inflammatory gene expression in either both cell types or WAT. Conclusion: These findings provide important new insights into the inflammo-regulatory role of NA ginseng in WAT.

• Journal of Korean Medicine for Obesity Research
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.63-70
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• 2008

Objectives Obesity is the major risk factor of the heart disease and the metabolic disease. The autonomic nervous system is a key contributor in the regulation of energy balance, so the blunted activity may contribute to the maintenance of the obese state. So we evaluated the function of the autonomic nervous system in young overweight and obese women with heart rate variability. Methods The subjects were 26 overweight and obese young women(BMI〉$23kg/m^2$) and 25 lean women who visited Kangnam Kyunghee hospital for obesity management from March 2006 to April 2008. Bioimpedance Analysis (BIA), short-term spectral analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) were performed. Results HRV of obese young group was lower than the lean young group, but there is no statistical significance. BMI had significantly a negative correlation with Low Frequency(LF) of HRV. LF power is mediated by sympathetic nervous system activity. These results indicate a decrease of sympathetic modulation in overweight and obese young women. Conclusions Overweight and obese young women have decreased sympathetic nervous system activity. In clinical practice, an assessement of HRV would be noninvasive and sensitive methods for sympathetic nervous system of young overweight and obese women.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.9
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• pp.1309-1313
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• 2016

Metabolic signals and the state of energy reserves have been shown to play a crucial role in the regulation of reproductive function. This study was carried out to investigate the effects of dietary glucose levels on puberty onset in gilts. Weight-matched, landrace gilts (n = 36) $162{\pm}3days$ old, weighing about $71.05{\pm}4.53kg$, were randomly assigned to 3 dietary treatment groups of 12 gilts each. The trial lasted until the onset of puberty. Gilts in each group were supplied with diets containing different levels of glucose as follows: i) starch group (SG) was free of glucose, contained 64% corn derived starch; ii) low-dose group (LDG) contained 19.2% glucose and 44.8% corn derived starch; iii) high-dose group (HDG) contained 30% glucose and 30% corn derived starch. Results indicated: i) The growth performance of gilts were not affected by the addition of glucose, but the age of puberty onset was advanced significantly (p<0.05); ii) Compared with the SG, the concentration of insulin significantly increased before puberty in HDG (p<0.05); iii) There was no difference in serum progesterone (P) levels amongst the different feed groups, however, levels of estradiol ($E_2$), luteinizing hormone, and follicle-stimulating hormone were significantly higher at puberty onset in HDG (p<0.05). Overall, our findings indicate that glucose supplementation significantly advances puberty onset, which can have practical purposes for commercial breeding.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.10
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• pp.5233-5236
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• 2012

CK2 is a serine threonine kinase that participates in a variety of cellular processes with more than 300 defined substrates. This critical enzyme is known to be upregulated in cancers, but the role of this upregulation in carcinogenesis is not yet fully understood but c-myc, one of the defined CK2 substrates, is a well-known proto-oncogene that is normally essential in developmental process but is also involved in tumor development. We evaluated the optimal enzyme and substrate concentrations for CK2 activity in both neoplastic and non-neoplastic human lung tissues using the c-$myc^{424-434}$ peptide (EQKLISEEDL) as a substrate. The activities measured for the neoplastic tissue were 600-750 U/mg protein while those for the control tissue was in the range of 650-800 U/mg. $K_m$ value for c-myc peptide was determined as $0.33{\mu}M$ in non-neoplastic tissue and $0.18{\mu}M$ in neoplastic tissue. In this study, we did not observe an increased activity in the neoplastic tissue when compared with the non-neoplastic lung tissue, but we recorded two times higher affinity for c-$myc^{424-434}$ in cancer tissue. Considering the metabolic position of c-$myc^{424-434}$, our results suggest that phosphorylation by CK2 may be important in dimerization and thus it might affect the regulation of c-myc in cancer tissues.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.638-645
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• 2010

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Taeeumjowuitanggagam-bang (TJV) on the mRNA expression of Sterol regulatory element binding proteins (SREBPs), Tumor necrosis factor-$\alpha$ (TNF-$\alpha$) and Interlukin-6 (IL-6) that are considered to play an important role in lipid and glucose metabolism. For diet-induced obese studies, we split mice into 2 groups. The low fat diet group (LFD, n=8) were supplied with general diet for 10 weeks and the high fat diet group (HFD, n=18) were supplied with 60 kcal% fat diet for 10 weeks. And then The HFD group, the diet-induced obese group, were divided into 3 groups ; a group supplied with normal saline, a group treated with TJV 200 mg/kg and a group treated with TJV 500 mg/kg. They were treated orally with TJV and measured their body weight every day during 10 weeks. After that, we measured mRNA expressions of TNF-$\alpha$, IL-6 and SREBP-1c in liver, and blood concentrations of glucose, total cholesterol and triglyceride too. The results are as follows. The TJV reduced glucose and total cholesterol of blood concentration. The TJV reduced the mRNA expressions of TNF-$\alpha$ and SREBPs in liver. However, We couldn't find the TJV effects on the mRNA expression of IL-6, triglyceride blood concentration, and body weight among groups. The TJV stained liver tissue less red than control group. These results suggest that TJV may be effective for regulation of lipid and glucose metabolism in liver.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.196-204
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• 2010

With the completion of genome sequencing of several organisms, attention has been focused to determine the function and functional network of proteins by proteome analysis. The recent techniques of proteomics have been advanced quickly so that the high-throughput and systematic analyses of cellular proteins are enabled in combination with bioinformatics tools. Furthermore, the development of proteomic techniques helps to elucidate the functions of proteins under stress or diseased condition, resulting in the discovery of biomarkers responsible for the biological stimuli. Ultimate goal of proteomics orients toward the entire proteome of life, subcellular localization, biochemical activities, and their regulation. Comprehensive analysis strategies of proteomics can be classified as three categories: (i) protein separation by 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) or liquid chromatography (LC), (ii) protein identification by either Edman sequencing or mass spectrometry (MS), and (iii) quanitation of proteome. Currently MS-based proteomics turns shiftly from qualitative proteome analysis by 2-DE or 2D-LC coupled with off-line matrix assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) and on-line electrospray ionization (ESI) MS, respectively, to quantitative proteome analysis. Some new techniques which include top-down mass spectrometry and tandem affinity purification have emerged. The in vitro quantitative proteomic techniques include differential gel electrophoresis with fluorescence dyes, protein-labeling tagging with isotope-coded affinity tag, and peptide-labeling tagging with isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation. In addition, stable isotope labeled amino acid can be in vivo labeled into live culture cells through metabolic incorporation. MS-based proteomics extends to detect the phosphopeptide mapping of biologically crucial protein known as one of post-translational modification. These complementary proteomic techniques contribute to not only the understanding of basic biological function but also the application to the applied sciences for industry.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.144-152
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• 2010

As the International Rice Genome Sequencing Project (IRGSP) was completed in 2005 and opened to the public, many countries are making a lot of investments in researches on the utilization of sequence information along with system development. Also, the necessity of the functional genomics researches using microarray is increased currently to secure unique genes related with major agricultural traits and analyze metabolic pathways. Microrarray enables efficient analysis of large scale gene expression and related transcription regulation. This review aims to introduce available microarrays made based on rice genome information and current status of gene expression analysis using these microarrays integrated with the databases available to the public. Also, we introduce the researches on the large scale functional analysis of genes related with useful traits and genetic networks. Understanding of the mechanism related with mutual interaction between proteins with co-expression among rice genes can be utilized in the researches for improving major agricultural traits. The direct and indirect interactions of various genes would provide new functionality of rice. The recent results of the various expression profiling analysis in rice will promote functional genomic researches in plants including rice and provide the scientists involved in applications researches with wide variety of expression informations.