• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.39 no.10
• /
• pp.728-733
• /
• 2016

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) effectively reduce airway inflammation and regenerate the alveolus in cigarette- and elastase-induced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) animal models. The effects of stem cells are thought to be paracrine and immune-modulatory because very few stem cells remain in the lung one day after their systemic injection, which has been demonstrated previously. In this report, we analyzed the gene expression profiles to compare mouse lungs with chronic exposure to cigarette smoke with non-exposed lungs. Gene expression profiling was also conducted in a mouse lung tissue with chronic exposure to cigarette smoke following the systemic injection of human cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hCB-MSCs). Globally, 834 genes were differentially expressed after systemic injection of hCB-MSCs. Seven and 21 genes, respectively, were up-and downregulated on days 1, 4, and 14 after HCB-MSC injection. The Hbb and Hba, genes with oxygen transport and antioxidant functions, were increased on days 1 and 14. A serine protease inhibitor was also increased at a similar time point after injection of hCB-MSCs. Gene Ontology analysis indicated that the levels of genes related to immune responses, metabolic processes, and blood vessel development were altered, indicating host responses after hCB-MSC injection. These gene expression changes suggest that MSCs induce a regeneration mechanism against COPD induced by cigarette smoke. These analyses provide basic data for understanding the regeneration mechanisms promoted by hCB-MSCs in cigarette smoke-induced COPD.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.111-120
• /
• 1999

A bacteriocin-producing strain, J-105, was isolated from Kimchi and identified as Lactococcus sp. The optimum conditions for the bacteriocin production from the isolated microorganism were evaluated. For maximum yield of bacteriocin from Lactotoccus sp. J-105, the cell should be harvested at the early stationary phase and temperature, pH and NaCl concentration should be $25^{\circ}C$, pH 8.0 and without the addition of NaCl, respectively. Maltose should be used as a carbon source and organic nitrogen such as polypeptone should be used as a nitrogen source for the best yield. The bacteriocin from isolate was inhibitory against Acetobacter aceti, Bacillus subtilis and several strains of lactic acid bacteria. The bacteriocin of J-105 was sensitive to pepsin, but stable for heat treatment. It was stable even at autoclaving temperature for 15 min.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
• /
• v.63 no.1
• /
• pp.103-110
• /
• 2020

Objective: The objective of our study was to investigate anti-cancer effects of Danggui Liuhuang Decoction extract bioconverted by protease liquid coenzyme of Aspergillus kawachii (DLD-BE), compared to a non-bioconverted DLD extract (DLD-E) and determine the underlying mechanisms. Methods: DLD-E and DLD-BE were evaluated for their ability to modulate these signaling pathways and suppress the proliferation of human colorectal cancer (CRC) cells, HCT-116, LoVo, and HT-29. The anti-cancer effects of DLD-E and DLD-BE were measured by using proliferation and migration assays, cell cycle analysis, Western blots, and real-time PCR. Results: In this study, treatment with DLD-E and DLD-BE at concentrations of 25-100 ㎍/mL inhibited proliferation and migration in human CRC cells. DLD-BE induced apoptotic cell death and decreased COX-2 expression in HT-29 cells. The mechanisms of action included modulation of the AKT and extracellular-signal-regulated kinase signaling cascades along with inhibition of COX-2 expression. The results demonstrate novel anti-cancer mechanisms of DLD-BE against the growth of human CRC cells. Thus, we propose that DLD-BE can be developed as a more potent supplement to inhibit colorectal tumor growth and intestinal inflammation than DLD-E.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
• /
• v.47
• /
• pp.95-106
• /
• 2002

Soybean is one of the most important sources of protein and oil in the world. Recently, emphasis has been laid on the chemical composition of soybean seeds for the processing soybean foods. Improvement of soybean components has been expected to improve food-processing quality for the processed soybean products such as soymilk and various edible ingredients as well as fur the traditional soyfoods. In Korea, soybean breeding research programmes have been focused on the quality of the products derived from soybean with yield stability, and some new modified soybean varieties haying good food-processing quality were developed recently. So the efforts of establishing standard and standardization of products in soybean are important. Three main categories should be considered in view of soybean seed quality; the marketing value such as grain size, shape, and appearance; the eating and processing value such as dehulled ratio, water absorption rate, and benny flavor; the nutritional value such as protein, lipid, and carbohydrate contents. And the new frontiers in research are looking at the functional nutrients in soybeans and how to improve them. In case marketing value, mainly the appearance is evaluated, therefore, each country has an application of standard related to quality. Each determination of standard class, heat-damaged kernels, splits, and soybeans of other colors is made on the basis of the grain when free from foreign materials. But processing value and nutritional value for standardization were not studied in detail till now. In addition, soybean has potential roles in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases, most notably cancer, osteoporosis, and heart disease. The functional nutrients include a protease inhibitor, phytic acid, saponins, and isoflavones, etc.. It is believed that standardization of soybean quality should perform to overcome the difficulties, relatively high price of domestic soybean products has weakened the competitive power, in the market related to WTO. So, we should focus on further research into the evaluation and establishment of quality-standard in soybean.

• KSBB Journal
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.71-82
• /
• 2017

To verify anti-diabetic effect of oligopeptide with His-Pro repeats (mHP peptide), the oligopeptide was first secreted and optimized using the secretion vector, pRBAS with alkaline protease gene promoter and the signal sequence in Bacillus subtilis and directly the anti-diabetic effect of the mHP peptide was investigated in insulinoma cell, RINm5F cell line. The oligopeptide gene was obtained by annealing oligonucleotides with repeated His-Pro sequence and finally was constructed as 18 dipeptides (108 bp and 4.0 kDa) coding gene, named oligopeptide with His-Pro repeats (mHP peptide) to make cyclo(His-Pro) known to be anti-diabetic effects. The region encoding the oligopeptide gene was subcloned into the pRBAS secretion vector (E.coli-Bacillus shuttle vector) after PCR amplification using the designed primers including initiation and termination codons and His tag, named pRBAS-mHP (6.56 kb). To optimize secretion of the oligopeptide, various culture conditions were investigated in Bacillus subtilis LKS. As a result, the secreted oligopeptide was maximally measured (approximately $59.6{\mu}g/mL$) in 3 L batch culture and the highest secretion was achieved at $30^{\circ}C$, PY medium, and carbon sources (particularly barley and glycerol). In the RINm5F cells treated with 2 mM STZ, the oligopeptide treatment (0.1 mg/mL) restored the cell viability (10%) and reduced the nitric oxide (NO) generation (35%) and DNA fragmentation (90%). And also, insulin secretion level was increased to 17% higher than in STZ-treated RINm5F cells. These results suggest that the oligopeptide with His-Pro repeats could be a candidate material for anti-diabetic agent against STZ-induced diabetes.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.24-36
• /
• 2002

Objectives: The chemotherapeutic potential of Gagamgilgyung-tang for the treatment of human lung cancer, the antitumorigenic effects of Gagamgilgyung-tang on the proliferation and apoptosis of human lung cancer cell line A427 were investigated using molecular biological approaches, Methods: To determine Gagamgilgyung-tang concentrations which do not evoke cytotoxic damage to the cell line, cell viability was examined by MTT assay. To prove Gagamgilgyung-tang's antitumorigenic potential to human lung cancer, [3H]thymidine incorporation assay, trypan blue exclusion and Cpp32 protease activity assays and quantitative RT-PCR analysis were examined. Results: While A427 cells treated with $0.1-2.0{\mu\textrm{g}}/ml$ of Gagamgilgyung-tang showed no recognizable effect, marked reductions of cell viability were detected at concentrations over $5.0{\;}\mu\textrm{g}/ml$. DNA replication of A427 cells was inhibited by Gagamgilgyung-tang in a dose-dependent manner and Gagamgilgyung-tang induced the G1 cell cycle arrest through inhibition of DNA replication. Gagamgilgyung-tang triggered apoptotic cell death of A427 and enhanced the apoptotic sensitivity of the cells that were injured by a DNA damage-inducing chemotherapeutic drug etoposide. Gagamgilgyung-tang induces expression of growth-inhibiting genes such as p53 and p21/Wafl whereas it inhibited expression of growth-promoting genes such as c-Myc and Cyclin D1. Expression of a representative apoptosis-inducing gene Bax was also found to be induced by Gagamgilgyung-tang while apoptosis-suppressing Bcl-2 expression was not changed. Conclusions: Gagamgilgyung-tang could suppress the abnormal growth of tumor cells by suppressing the survival of genetically altered cells via induction of apoptosis. This study suggests that Gagamgilgyung-tang might have an antitumorigenic potential to human lung cancer cells, which might be associated with its growth-inhibiting and apoptosis-inducing properties.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
• /
• v.33 no.1
• /
• pp.176-185
• /
• 2016

Yeonsan Ogae has been known as supporting health and high efficacy of treatment. In recent days, as the efficacy of functional peptides has known, the optimization of oligo peptides production and its characteristics from Ogae legs has been performed. Response surface method was used to perform the optimizaion of enzyme hydrolysis. The range of processes was temperature ( 40, 50 and $60^{\circ}C$), pH( pH 6.0, 7.0 and 8.0 ), and enzyme( 1, 2 and 3% ). The degree of hydrolysis, amino acids, molecular weight of products were analyzed. The optimum process of enzyme hydrolysis were determined as temperature $58^{\circ}C$, pH 7.5, and enzyme concentration 3%. At optimum conditions, the degree of hydrolysis after 2 h reaction was 75-80%. The amino acid and were 168.131 mg/100 g, respectively. The molecular weight of products by using MALDI-TOF was ranged from 300 to 1,000 Da.

• Genomics & Informatics
• /
• v.14 no.3
• /
• pp.104-111
• /
• 2016

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito borne pathogen, belongs to Flaviviridae family having a positive-sense single-stranded RNA genome, currently known for causing large epidemics in Brazil. Its infection can cause microcephaly, a serious birth defect during pregnancy. The recent outbreak of ZIKV in February 2016 in Brazil realized it as a major health risk, demands an enhanced surveillance and a need to develop novel drugs against ZIKV. Amodiaquine, prochlorperazine, quinacrine, and berberine are few promising drugs approved by Food and Drug Administration against dengue virus which also belong to Flaviviridae family. In this study, we performed molecular docking analysis of these drugs against nonstructural 3 (NS3) protein of ZIKV. The protease activity of NS3 is necessary for viral replication and its prohibition could be considered as a strategy for treatment of ZIKV infection. Amongst these four drugs, berberine has shown highest binding affinity of -5.8 kcal/mol and it is binding around the active site region of the receptor. Based on the properties of berberine, more similar compounds were retrieved from ZINC database and a structure-based virtual screening was carried out by AutoDock Vina in PyRx 0.8. Best 10 novel drug-like compounds were identified and amongst them ZINC53047591 (2-(benzylsulfanyl)-3-cyclohexyl-3H-spiro[benzo[h]quinazoline-5,1'-cyclopentan]-4(6H)-one) was found to interact with NS3 protein with binding energy of -7.1 kcal/mol and formed H-bonds with Ser135 and Asn152 amino acid residues. Observations made in this study may extend an assuring platform for developing anti-viral competitive inhibitors against ZIKV infection.

• The Korean Journal of Zoology
• /
• v.36 no.3
• /
• pp.347-352
• /
• 1993

N-ethylmaleimide at low concentrations is known to interact specifically with 2 sulfhydryl residues in myosin heavy chain. Calpain, a Ca$^2$+-dependent neutral protease isolated from chick skeletal muscle, was found to preferentially degrade the alkylated protein but much less significantly the unmodified protein. Exposure of myosin to KMnO$_4$, which is also known to interact with sulthydryl groups, also caused the rapid degradation of the myosin heavy chain. Furthermore, treatment of each agent with increasing concentrations results in a greater loss of the myosin ATPase activity, indicating that the modification occurred at the reactive site sulfhydryl residues. These results suggest that the covalent modification at the reactive site salfhydryl residues in the myosin heavy chain may mark the protein for degradation by intracellular proteases such as calpain.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.55-70
• /
• 2005

Objective: Ulmus davidiana Planch (Ulmaceae) has long been known to have anti-inflammnatory in the traditional Korean medicine. UD has been reported as a good enhancer for bone healing. Methods : In this experiment, we investigate the Inhibitory effects of UD on bone resorption using the bone cells culture. Different concentrations of crude extract of UD were added to mouse bone cells culture. The mitochondria activity of the bone cells after exposure was determined by colorimetric MIT assay. It was demonstrated that UD has potential effects on bone cells culture without any cytotoxicity. The most effective concentration of UD on bone cells were $100\;{\mu}g/ml$. Cathepsin K (Cat K) is the major cysteine protease expressed in osteoclasts and is thought to play a key role in matrix degradation during bone resorption. Results : When mouse long bone cells including osteoclasts and osteoblast were treated with the PI3-Kinase inhibitor, wortmannin (WT), WT prevented the osteoclast-mediated intracellular processing of Cat K. Similarly, treatment of osteoclasts-containing long bone cells with UD extracts prevented the intracellular maturation of Cat K, suggesting that UD may disrupt the intracellular trafficking of pro Cat K. This is similar to that of WT. Since secreted proenzymes have the potential to reenter the cell via mannose-6-phosphate (M6P) receptor, to prevent this possibility, we tested WT and UD in the absence or presence of M6P. Inhibition of Cat K processing by WT or UD was observed in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, the addition of M6P resulted in enhanced potency of WT and UD. Conclusion : UD dose-dependently inhibited in vitro bone resorption with a potency similar to that observed for inhibition of Cat K processing.