Beung-Gu Son

Gomisin N isolated from Schisandra chinensis significantly induces anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects in hepatic carcinoma.

Lignans isolated from Schisandria chinensis have been prescribed as anti-cancer and anti-hepatitis treatments in Chinese medicine. To investigate the applications of lignans isolated from Schisandria chinensis in hepatic carcinoma therapy, their apoptotic ability was screened using a cell proliferation assay. Compared to the other lignans, gomisin N induced high apoptotic levels in hepatic carcinoma. Cell morphology and flow cytometric analysis demonstrated that this lignan induced cell death at high concentrations, but did not induce any changes at low concentrations. In addition, the expression levels of Bcl-2 and Bax proteins, which are involved in the apoptotic pathway, were markedly increased in only the 320 µM-treated group compared to the vehicle and other concentration groups, while the expression level of p53 protein remained unchanged in this group. These results suggest that gomisin N is an anti-cancer drug candidate capable of inhibiting the proliferation and inducing the apoptosis of human hepatic carcinomas.

Different Day and Night Temperature Responses in Lilium hansonii in Relation to Growth and Flower Development

Temperature is one of the most important factors that directly affect the possibility and the rate of flower differentiation in many geophytes such as Lilium. In this experiment, different day and night temperatures were used to determine the required day and night temperature for flower bud development in Lilium hansonii. After low temperature exposure for breaking bulb dormancy, the bulbs were planted in pots, and placed in designated growth chambers each with a specific temperature. The plants were exposed to different temperatures for 30 days, and 15 days after planting sample plants were collected in each treatment for observation of flower bud development using the scanning electron microscope (SEM). Responses of plant height, number of leaves, and stem diameter were also measured as affected by difference between day and night temperature (DIF) and average daily temperature (ADT). The results showed that average daily temperature and high day temperature had a direct effect on the quality, quantity, and time required for flower bud development. They also affected the stem elongation, number of leaves, and stem diameter. Higher ADT and DT (25°C) promoted stem elongation and increased leaf unfolding rate (LUR), but with less number of leaves produced. As ADT and DT increased, stem diameter decreases. In lower ADT and DT (15°C) treatment, greater stem diameter and higher number of flower buds (2–7 buds) were produced. Higher ADT and DT promoted early flower bud initiation, but lower number of flower buds with higher possibilities of flower bud abortion, while lower ADT and DT showed slower flower bud initiation and development with higher flower bud formation.

The Neuroprotective Effects of α-Iso-cubebene on Dopaminergic Cell Death: Involvement of CREB/Nrf2 Signaling

As a part of ongoing studies to elucidate pharmacologically active components of Schisandra chinensis, we isolated and studied α-iso-cubebene. The neuroprotective mechanisms of α-iso-cubebene in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells were investigated. α-Iso-cubebene significantly inhibited cytotoxicity and apoptosis due to 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-induced neurotoxicity in dopaminergic SH-SY5Y cells. Pretreatment of cells with α-iso-cubebene reduced intracellular accumulation of ROS and calcium in response to 6-OHDA. The neuroprotective effects of α-iso-cubebene were found to result from protecting the mitochondrial membrane potential. Notably, α-iso-cubebene inhibited the release of apoptosis-inducing factor from the mitochondria into the cytosol and nucleus after 6-OHDA treatment. α-Iso-cubebene also induced the activation of PKA/PKB/CREB/Nrf2 and suppressed 6-OHDA-induced neurotoxicity. α-Iso-cubebene was found to induce phosphorylation of PKA and PKB and activate Nrf2 and CREB signaling pathways in a dose-dependent manner. Additionally, α-iso-cubebene stimulated the expression of the antioxidant response genes NQO1 and HO-1. Finally, α-iso-cubebene-mediated neuroprotective effects were found to be reversible after transfection with CREB and Nrf2 small interfering RNAs.

Evaluation of DNA Markers for Fruit-relatedTraits and Genetic Relationships Based on SimpleSequence Repeat in Watermelon Accessions

Modern watermelon cultivars (Citrullus lanatus [Thunb.] Matsum.& Nakai var. lanatus) have fruits with diverse phenotypes, including fruit shape, rind patterns, and flesh color. Molecular markers enable efficient selection of plants harboring desirable phenotypes. In the present study, publicly available DNA markers tightly linked to fruit shape, rind stripe pattern, and flesh color were evaluated using 85 watermelon accessions with diverse fruit phenotypes. For fruit shape, the dCAPS SUN Cla011257 marker revealed an 81% of marker trait match for accessions with elongated or round fruits. For rind stripe pattern, the SCAR wsb6-11marker was effective for selecting Jubilee-type rind pattern from other rind patterns. For flesh color, the Clcyb.600 and Lcyb markers derived from a mutation in the Lycopene β cyclase (Lcyb) gene, were effective at selecting red or yellow flesh. Forty-eight accessions possessing diverse fruit related traits were selected as a reference array and their genetic relationships assessed using 16 SSR markers. At a coefficient of 0.11, the 48 accessions grouped into two major clades: Clade I and Clade II. Clade I subdivided further into subclades I 1 and I 2 at a coefficient of 0.39. All accessions with colored flesh were classified into Clade I, whereas those with white flesh were classified into Clade II. Differences in fruit traits between subclades I 1 and I 2 were observed for rind pattern and fruit color; a majority of the accessions with Crimson-type striped or non-striped rind were grouped together in subclade I 1, while most accessions in subclade I 2 had a Jubilee type rind stripe pattern. These results imply that reference array watermelon accessions possess distinguishable genetic structure based on rind stripe pattern. However, no significant grouping pattern was observed based on other fruit-related traits.

Anti-metastatic Effect of Garlic Hexane Extract on Lung Metastasis Induced by Melanoma B16F10 Cells in Mice

Metastatic cancer is one of the main causes of cancer-related death since they rarely respond to available treatments. There is epidemiologic evidence that high garlic consumption decreases the incidence of cancer. Recent studies of our laboratory have revealed that a garlic-extracts is effective in suppressing metastasis. For experimental metastasis, C57BL/6 mice were injected intravenously with melanoma B16F10 cells in the tail vein, and were orally administered various concentrations (0, 50, 100 or 200 mg/kg body weight) of garlic hexane extract (GHE) for 21 days. The incidence and the area of the melanoma cell colony occupied by the poorly differentiated carcinoma were significantly lower in dose-dependent in 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg BW GHE–treated mice compared with control mice. In conclusion, the results of the present study show that GHE administration prevents lung metastasis in C57BL/6 mice.

Evaluation of horticultural traits and genetic relationship in melon germplasm

Horticultural traits and genetic relationship were evaluated for 83 melon (Cucumis melo L.) cultivars. Survey of a total of 36 characteristics for seedling, leaf, stem, flower, fruit, and seed and subsequent multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA) were conducted. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that 8 principle components including fruit weight, fruit length, fruit diameter, cotyledon length, seed diameter, and seed length accounted for 76.3% of the total variance. Cluster analysis of the 83 melon cultivars using average linkage method resulted in 5 clusters at coefficient of 0.7. Cluster I consisted of cultivars with high values for fruit-related traits, Cluster II for soluble solid content, and Cluster V for high ripening rate. Genotyping of the 83 cultivars was conducted using 15 expressed-sequence tagged-simple sequence repeat (EST-SSR) from the Cucurbit Genomics Initiative (ICuGI) database. Analysis of genetic relatedness by UPGMA resulted in 6 clusters. Mantel test indicated that correlation between morphological and genetic distance was very low (r = -0.11).

Establishment of Seed Treatment for Healthy Production of Peanut Sprout

【The present study was conducted to develop seed treatment for the production of healthy and clean peanut sprout. Dry heat treatment of peanut seeds reduced the incidence of the rot. The seed treatment condition at

Isolation, Quality Evaluation, and Seasonal Changes of Bakkenolide B in Petasites japonicus by HPLC

52^{\circ}C

Effect of Seeds Treatment on Germinablity of Tetragonia Tetragonides Seeds

for 10 h. was the most efficient without inhibiting seed viability significantly. Seeds were dark cultured at

The Influence of Abnormally Low Temperatures on Growth and Yield of Hot Pepper(Capsicum Annum L.)

27^{\circ}C