• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.459-464
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• 1996

Exo-polysaccharide (BWS) obtained from submerged cultivation of Ganoderma lucidum mycelium was fractionated. Antitumor activity of their fractions was investigated in comparison with the mycelial polysaccharide fractions. Eight kinds (BWS-DN, BWS-DA, BWS-DN-GI, BWS- DA-GI, MWS-DN, MWS-DA, MWS-DN-GI and MWS-DA-GI) of polysaccharide fractions were obtained by DEAE-cellulose ion exchange chromatography and Sepharose CL-4B gel chromatography from BWS and MWS, which were isolated from culture fiuid and mycelial cell, respectively. The anticomplementary activities (ITCH$_{50}$%) of the exo-polysaccharide fractions showing 15% to 30% were lower than those of mycelial polysaccharide fractions showing 15% to 70%. The acidic fractions of BWS-DA and BWS-DA-GI fractionated from BWS, showed the highest activity of 30%. In the MTT assay, BWS-DN and MWS against mouse leukemia L1210 exhibited high inhibition ratio of 86 and 89%, respectively at the concentration of 600 $\mu$g/ml. High inhibition ratio of 50% (IC$_{50}$) was achieved for BWS, BWS-DA and MWS-DA fractions against human colon adenocarcinoma COLO-205 and for BWS-DA, BWS-DN and MWS-DN fractions against human leukemia HL-60 at the concentra- tion of 300 $\mu$g/ml among the six polysaccharide fractions, respectively.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.930-936
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• 2011

Two new cyclic depsipeptides wewakamide A (1) and guineamide G (2) have been isolated from the marine cyanobacterium Lyngbya semiplena and Lyngbya majuscula, respectively, collected from Papua New Guinea. The amino and hydroxy acid partial structures of wewakamide A and guineamide G were elucidated through extensive spectroscopic techniques, including HR-FABMS, 1D $^1H$ and $^{13}C$ NMR, as well as 2D COSY, HSQC, HSQC-TOCSY, and HMBC spectra. The sequence of the residues of wewakamide A was determined through a combination of ESI-MS/MS, HMBC, and ROESY. Wewakamide A possesses a ${\beta}$-amino acid, 3-amino-2-methylbutanoic acid (Maba) residue, which has only been previously identified in two natural products, guineamide B (3) and dolastatin D (4). Although both new compounds (1,2) showed potent brine shrimp toxicity, only guineamide G displayed significant cytotoxicity to a mouse neuroblastoma cell line with $LC_{50}$ values of 2.7 ${\mu}M$.

• Biodesign
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.122-125
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• 2017

Receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) is one of the single transmembrane domain containing receptors and causes various inflammatory diseases including diabetes and atherosclerosis. RAGE extracellular domain has three consecutive IgG-like domains (V-C₁-C₂ domain) which interact with various soluble ligands including heparan sulfate or HMGB1. Studies have shown that each ligand induces different oligomeric forms of RAGE which results in a ligand-specific signal transduction. The structure of mouse RAGE bound to heparan sulfate has been previously determined but the electron density map of heparan sulfate was too ambiguous that the exact position of heparin sulfate could not be defined. Furthermore, the complex structure of human RAGE and heparin sulfate still remains elusive. Therefore, to determine the structure, human RAGE was overexpressed using bacterial expression system and crystallized using the sitting drop method in the condition of 0.1 M sodium acetate trihydrate pH 4.6, 8 % (w/v) polyethylene glycol 4,000 at 290 K. The crystal diffracted to 3.6 Å resolution and the space group is C121 with unit cell parameters a= 206.04 Å, b= 68.64 Å, c= 98.73 Å, α= 90.00°, β= 90.62°, γ= 90.00°.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.168-177
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• 2023

Recently, as a health problem of the elderly in an aging society, the risk of nutritional imbalance and weakening of immunity due to deterioration of masticatory function has been mentioned. In order to solve this problem, this study was conducted to investigate the effect of cyclophosphamide (CPA)-induced immunosuppression in mice induced by fermented samultang (FST) porridge on the markers related to immune activity function. ICR Mouse was divided into 6 groups of 7 animals each. Experimental groups were set as normal control group, CPA-administration group, positive control group, and FST-administration experimental group (0.25%, 0.5%, 1.0%). In groups except for the normal control group, 100 µL of CPA dissolved in 0.9% NaCl at a concentration of 150 mg/kg was injected twice at the start of the experiment and after 3 days to induce immunosuppression. As a result of analyzing the cell proliferation capacity of splenocytes, all B and T cells decreased in the CPA-administered group and increased in a concentration-dependent manner in the FST-administered group. In addition, IgA measured to evaluate the effect of improving immunity showed high values in medium and high concentration FST (P<0.05). These results can be expected as an effective solution to improve the nutritional imbalance of the elderly.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.11
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• pp.899-907
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• 2022

Quercetin is one of bio-flavonoids which are abundant in fruits and vegetables and has been reported to have various pharmacological potentials such as anti-oxidation, anti-inflammation, anti-cancer, and anti-virus effects. In the present study, the anti-inflammatory effects and its working molecular mecha- nism of quercetin were investigated in mouse macrophage RAW264.7 cells. Quercetin significantly inhibited nitric oxide (NO) production in a dose-dependent manner without affecting cell viability and decreased inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. In addition, quercetin decreased phosphorylation of p38, JNK, and ERK, and inhibited phosphorylation of NF-κB p65 protein and its inhibitor IκBα indicating that quercetin has the anti-inflammatory effects via regulation of MAPKs and NF-κB signaling pathway. We also detected expression changes of four kinds of pro-inflammatory cytokine genes (CSF2, IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α) with quantitative real-time PCR. The results showed that quercetin decreased the expression of four pro-inflammatory genes in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. Overall, our results showed that quercetin effectively suppressed inflammation responses induced by LPS in RAW264.7 cells via regulating MAPK and NF-κB pathway and down-regulating the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine genes.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.234-250
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• 1998

Bujeonghangamtang(扶正抗癌湯) has been used for cure of tumor as a traditional medicine without any experimental evidence to support the rational basis for its clinical use. This study was carroed out to evaluate the possible therapeutic or antitumoral effects of Bujeonghangamtang extract against tumor, and to carry out some mechanisms responsible for its effect. Some kinds of tumor were induced by .the typical application of 3-methylcholanthrene (MCA) or by the implantation(s.c) of malignant tumor cells such as leukemia cells(3LL cells) or sarcoma cells(Sl80 cells). Treatment of the Bujeonghangamtang water-extract (dailly 1mg/mouse, i. p.) was continued for 7 days prior to tumor induction and after that the treatment was lasted for 20 days. Against squamous cell carcinoma induced by MCA, Bujeonghangamtang decreased not only the frequency of tumor production but also the number and the weight of tumors per tumor bearing mice (TBM). Bujeongmngamtang also significantly suppressed the development of 3LL cell and S180 cell-implanted tumors in occurence-frequency and their size, and some developed tumors were regressed by the continuous treatment of Bujeonghangamtang extract into TBM. In vitro, treatment of Bujeonghangamtang extract had no effect on the growth of some kinds of cell line such as FsaII, A431 strain but significantly inhibited the proliferation of 3LL, S180 cells and augmented the DNA synthesis of mitogen-activated lymphocytes. Bujeonghangamtang also stimulated the migrative ability of leukocyte, the MIF and IL-2 production of T lymphocytes, but not IL 6 production of B cells. Bujeonghangamtang-administration to mice enhanced NK cells attivities. These results demonstrated that Bujeonghangamtang extract exhibited a significant prophylactic benefits against tumors and its antitumor activity was manifested depending on the type of tumor cells. And these results also suggested that effect of Bujeonghangamtang might be chiefly due to nonspecific enhancement of NK cell activities and cell-mediated immune responses.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.35-40
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• 1991

To find out the suitable method for blastomeres fusion of mouse 2-cell embryo using electric stimuli, these studies were carried out with various voltages (1.0 KV, 1.2 KV, 1.5 KV, 1.7 KV and 2.0KV), pulse duration times($50{\mu}\;sec$, $75/{\mu}\;sec$, $100{\mu}\;sec$) and different fusion solutions. In addition, the fused embryos were cultured for 72-80hr to observe their subsequent development. These results were summarized as follows: 1. The proportion of the fused embryos were 50.8%(34/67), 60.7%(34/56), 70.6%(48/68), 66.7% (48/72) and 85.3% (58/68) after stimuli of 1.0KV, 1.2KV, 1.5KV, 1.7KV and 2.0KV for $100{\mu}\;sec$ with 2 times, and the electric stimulation at 2.0KV(85.3%) was the most effective voltage on the blastomere fusion. 2. For in vitro development, blastocysts of the fused embryos were cultured for 72-80hrs in $M_{16}$ medium. The group(52.1%) treated with 1.5KV for $100{\mu}\;sec$ with 2 times showd higher development rates than those any other group. However, these results were not corresponded to those of the rates of blastomere fusion. 3. There were no significant differences among the rates of blastomeres fusion to 50(70.6%), 75(71.9%), and 100(78.0%) ${\mu}sec$ stimulation at 1.5KV with two times. However, the development rates of the fused embryo in vitro were 52.1%(25/48), 28.3%(13/46) and 9.4%(3/32) at the above conditions, and the development rates of fused embryo increased as the pulse duration times increased. 4. The rates of the blastomeres fusion were 38.9% (28/72) or 70.6% (48/68) in electrolyte (PBS) or non-electrolyte(0.3M mannitol) solution. The development rates of the fused embryo were 32.1% (9/28) or 52.1%(25/48) in the above fusion solutions, and non-electrolyte-treated group showed higher development rates of embryo than that of electrolyte-treated group.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.225-230
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• 1999

In mouse, the heat shock protein 70-2 (hsp70-2) is found to have special function in spermatogenesis. Based on the observation, the hypothesis that human hspA2 (human gene; 98.2% amino acid homology with hsp70-2) might have important function in spermatogenesis in human testes was proposed. To test the hypothesis, we examined the expression of hspA2 in human tissues. Expression vector pDMC4 for expression of the human hspA2 protein using pTricHisB (invitrogen, USA) was constructed and the expressed hspA2 protein was cross-reacted with antiserum 2A raised against mouse hsp70-2 protein. Based on the cross-reactivity, we determined the expression level of hspA2 protein in human tissues by western blot analysis using the antiserum 2A. We demonstrated that antiserum 2A antibodies detected human hspA2 protein with specificity which was produced in the E.coli expression system. On Western blot analyses, significant hspA2 expression was observed in testes with normal spermatogenesis, whereas a low level of hspA2 was expressed in testis with Sertoli-cell only syndrome. Also, a small amount of hspA2 was detected in breast, stomach, prostate, colon, liver, ovary, and epididymis. These results demonstrate that the hspA2 protein is highly expressed in male specific germ cells, which in turn suggests that hspA2 protein might playa specific role during meiosis in human testes as suggested in the murine model. However, further studies should be attempted to determine the function of hspA2 protein in human spermatogenesis.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.125-132
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• 2008

Melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine), a major hormone of pineal gland in vertebrates, is known to be associated with regulation of the dynamic physiological functions in general and has some functions on reproduction in the ovarian follicles in particular. And its antioxidant properties as a scavenger are also reported. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of melatonin on the in vitro maturation of mouse germinal vesicle (GV)-stage oocytes. Oocyte maturation, apoptosis, and mRNA expression of melatonin receptor were analyzed in the cumulus cell-enclosed oocytes (CEOs) cultured with melatonin for 18 h. The CEOs were obtained from 3 wk-old ICR female mice cultured in media with 0, 0.1 nM, 10 nM, or 1,000 nM melatonin for 18 h. And then the extrusion of the first polar body was assessed to evaluate the maturation rate. The apoptosis and mRNA expression of melatonin receptor (Mtnr1-a and Mtnr1-b) in cumulus cells of each group were measured by TUNEL assay, ELISA, and real time RT-PCR after in vitro maturation(IVM). The addition of melatonin in the IVM medium significantly improved nuclear maturation of the mouse GV oocytes and the highest maturation rate were obtained from the group treated with 1,000 nM melatonin. Apoptosis was not detected in IVM oocytes, but detected in cumulus cells. And cumulus cells treated with 1,000 nM melatonin exhibited significantly lower apoptosis. In the group treated with 1,000 nM melatonin, the expression of melatonin receptor mRNA was decreased in CEOs. In conclusion, melatonin has a potentially important role for regulating oocyte maturation and reduces the apoptosis of cumulus cells in vitro.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.68-72
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• 2014

The effect of cordycepin purified from Cordyceps militaris on macrophage activation was investigated in peritoneal macrophages isolated from C57BL6 mice. Lipopolysaccharide-induced mouse peritoneal cells showed that cordycepin treatment increased the expression of the inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-$1{\beta}$, IL-12, and tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ (TNF-${\alpha}$), leading to early inflammation-mediated reactions, the activation of immunological responses, and T lymphocyte activation. T lymphocytes, activated by a greater production of IL-6, resulted in antibody-generating immune reactions, suggesting that cordycepin was effective at inducing immunological responses. Consistent with the increase in the inflammation-mediating factors including nitric oxide (NO) and hydrogen peroxide ($H_2O_2$), the toxic response of macrophages was activated and effectively induced inflammation. These findings demonstrate that cordycepin is involved in reducing cell injury provoked by inflammatory reactions. Therefore, these results suggest that cordycepin treatment of mouse peritoneal cells induces inflammation-mediated immunological responses and immunostimulation.