Kyung Dong Lee

Cytotoxic effects of sesquiterpene lactones from the flowers ofHemisteptia lyrata B

Four guaia-12,6-olide type sesquiterpene lactones, aguerin B (1), 8α-acetoxyzaluzanin C (2), cynaropicrin (3), and deacylcynaropicrin (4), were isolated from the flowers ofHemisteptia lyrata Bunge. It is the first report on the isolation of compounds1-4 from Hemisteptia species. All the isolates (1-4) were examined for their cytotoxic activity against SK-OV-3, LOX-IMVI, A549, MCF-7, PC-3, and HCT-15 human cancer cell lines.

Isolation and Identification of Dihydrochrysanolide and Its 1-Epimer from Chrysanthemum coronarium L.

A new sesquiterpene lactone (1) was isolated with known dihydrochrysanolide derivatives (2 and 3) from the flowers of Chrysanthemum coronarium L., and their structures were identified by spectroscopic data. The stereochemistry of the epimers (1 and 2) was determined from NOESY data and an X-ray crystallographic analysis. The isolated compounds (1–3) were examined for their cytotoxic activity against such human cell lines as A549, PC-3 and HCT-15.

Evaluation of Livestock Manure Utilization Rates as Agricultural Purpose in Developed OECD Countries by Using Nutrient Balances

The nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) balances in Korea during 1985-2006, which calculated according to the surface balance method of the PARCOM guidelines, continually increased with the lapse of year, and then might keep the highest levels with about and in 2006 among OECD countries. National phosphorus balance of the developed OECD countries (Belgium, Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands) in the livestock feeding industries has significantly decreased, due to limit livestock feeding density and nutrient application level by using strong legislation. However, Korean P balance was not apparent decrease, since the number of livestock feeding heads has been increasing, irrespective with the decrease of chemical fertilizer consumption. Manure P portion to the total P input amount of the above four OECD Countries in nutrient balance has continuously inclined to 60-70%. Therefore, the large portion of livestock manure might be used as nutrient source in agricultural side in these countries. In particular, manure P application levels of Belgium and The Netherlands, which have relatively high P balance and manure P portion to total P input dose, was estimated to be in 2004, and it was similar level with that of Korea in 2006. The manure P application levels for agricultural purpose has continuously decreased in these two OECD countries. In contrast, our manure P application rate continuously increased, and therefore we need the strong political countermeasure to control livestock feeding density at the resonable level.

Preparation of Caffeic Acid Phenethyl Ester-Incorporated Nanoparticles and Their Biological Activity

The aim of this study is to fabricate caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE)-incorporated nanoparticles using methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(ε-caprolactone) (CE) copolymer and to study their antitumor activity against pulmonary metastasis model of CT26 colon carcinoma cells. CAPE-incorporated nanoparticles showed spherical shapes having small diameters less than 300 nm and CAPE was continuously released from CE nanoparticles over 4 days. CAPE-incorporated polymeric micelles properly inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis of CT26 cells as well as CAPE itself. Furthermore, they showed similar anti-invasive and antimigrative effect against CT26 cells at in vitro compared with CAPE itself, indicating that CAPE-incorporated nanoparticles have at least equivalent anticarcinogenic activity against CT26 cells compared with CAPE itself. At pulmonary metastasis model of CT26 cells using nude mouse, CAPE-incorporated nanoparticles have superior antimetastatic efficacy against, that is, control treatment with pulmonary metastasis model showed significant increase of lung weight because of the metastasis of tumor cells, whereas CAPE or CAPE-incorporated nanoparticles properly inhibited metastasis of tumor cells. We suggest CAPE-incorporated nanoparticles as a promising candidate for antimetastatic chemotherapeutic agent.

Evaluation of Use of Fly Ash-Gypsum Mixture for Rice Production at Different Nitrogen Rates

Abstract Although a silicate fertilizer had been recommended for application at 4-year intervals by the Korean government to enhance rice production, since the quantity was not sufficient, it became necessary to identify an alternative source of cheaper silicate fertilizer. Fly ash, which has a high silicate content, was selected as an alternative. To improve fly ash, that is highly alkaline and has a high boron content, it was mixed with a by-product of gypsum (hereafter, referred to as gypsum) at the 75 : 25 ratio on a weight basis. A field experiment was carried out to evaluate the productivity of rice (Oryza sativa) on a silty clay loam to which 0 and 25 Mg ha−1 of the fly ash-gypsum mixture had been applied. Under these two conditions, five levels of nitrogen (0, 40, 80, 120, and 160 kg ha−1 ) were set up to compare the rice response. The mixture increased the maximum grain yield by 8%. With increasing N uptake of rice, the mixture could decrease nitrogen application level to about 50 kg N ha−1 to produce the target yield i.e., the maximum yield in the non-amendment treatment. The use of the mixture increased the uptake of silicate by rice, but did not result in an excessive uptake of heavy metals. The level of available B increased with the mixture application up to 1.5 mg kg−1 in the surface soil at the initial stage, but did not reach toxicity levels. In conclusion, the mixture was considered to be a good alternative as a soil amendment to restore the nutrient balance in paddy soils and to reduce the nitrogen application rate of rice.

Potential Application of p-Coumaric Acid on Differentiation of C2C12 Skeletal Muscle and 3T3-L1 Preadipocytes-An in Vitro and in Silico Approach.

Coumaric acid (CA) is a phenolic acid of the hydroxycinnamic acid family, and it has many biological functions such as anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, anti-ulcer, anti-platelet, anti-cancer activities, etc. In the present study, we planned to analyse the potential molecular function of CA on skeletal muscle and preadipocytes differentiation using PCR and Western blot techniques. First, we analysed the impact of CA on C2C12 skeletal muscle differentiation. It revealed that CA treatment inhibited horse serum-induced skeletal muscle differentiation as evidenced by the decreased expression of early myogenic differentiation markers such as Myogenin and myoD via the AMP activated protein kinase- alpha AMPK-α mediated pathway. Furthermore, the level of lipid accumulation and changes in genes and protein expressions that are associated with lipogenesis and lipolysis were analyzed in 3T3-L1 cells. The Oil Red O staining evidenced that CA treatment inhibited lipid accumulation at the concentration of 0.1 and 0.2 mM. Furthermore, coumaric acid treatment decreased the expression of main transcriptional factors such as CCAAT/enhancer binding protein-alpha (C/EBP-α) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma-2 (PPAR-γ2). Subsequently, CA treatment decreased the expression of sterol regulatory element binding protein-1 (SREBP-1), fatty acid synthase (FAS), acetyl CoA carboxylase (ACC) and adiponectin. Finally, we identified conformational changes induced by CA in PPAR-γ2 using computational biology tools. It revealed that CA might downregulate the PPAR-γ2 expression by directly binding with amino acids of PPAR-γ2 by hydrogen at 3.26 distance and hydrophobic interactions at 3.90 contact distances. These data indicated that CA suppressed skeletal muscle and preadipocytes differentiation through downregulation of the main transcriptional factors and their downstream targets.

Isolation, In Vitro Probiotic Characterization of Lactobacillus plantarum and its Role on Italian ryegrass Silage Quality Enhancement

Italian ryegrass (IRG) is an important forage type for feeding ruminants. IRG has difficult to ensile with good quality. Hence the inoculation IRG with lactic acid producing bacterial strains (LAB) gives an alternate solution to produce quality silage. Accordingly new Lactobacillus sp. KCC-32 was isolated from fermented animal manure. Biochemical and physiological studies showed that the strain belonged to Gram positive, produced gas from glucose and catalase-negative. The 16S rRNA sequence analysis revealed that KCC-32 showed 99% similarity towards Lactobacillus plantarum sp. Further, KCC-32 displayed potential probiotic characteristics including resistant to low pH, bile salt tolerance, auto-aggregation and hydrophobicity. The homo fermentative activity of KCC-32 resulted in the enhancement of Italian ryegrass silage quality. In addition, KCC-32 added silage group showed significantly (P≤0.05) increased lactic acid production (4.891 DM%) and the nutrient profile resulted with high crude protein content with less acid detergent fiber (ADF) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) percentage when compared to control group. Further, the microbial count of KCC-32 silage group displayed significantly (P≤0.05) high LAB count (24.3×10 7 cfu/g) and no fungal as well as yeast growth. Hence, this study suggests that KCC-32 has potential probiotic characteristics and the addition of KCC-32 to the IRG silage can improve the fermentation quality for the production of high-quality silage.

Antitumor Effect of the Mannich Base(1,3-bis- ((3-Hydroxynaphthalen-2-yl)phenylmethyl)urea) on Hepatocellular Carcinoma

The present study was designed to evaluate the antitumor effects of the synthetic Mannich base 1,3-bis-((3-hydroxynaphthalen-2-yl)phenylmethyl)urea (1,3-BPMU) against HEP-G2 hepatoma cells and diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-induced hepatocarcinoma (HCC) in albino rats. In vitro analysis results revealed that 1,3-BPMU showed significant cytotoxicity and cell growth inhibition in HEP-G2 hepatoma cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Furthermore, flow cytometry results indicated that 1,3-BPMU enhanced early and late apoptosis. The maximum apoptosis was exhibited at a concentration of 100 μg/mL of 1,3-BPMU. In in vivo analysis, DEN treatment increased the content of nucleic acids, LPO and the activities of AST, ALT, ALP, LDH, γGT and 5’NT with decreased antioxidant activity as compared to control rats. However, 1,3-BPMU treatment to DEN-induced rats decreased the content of nucleic acids, LPO and the activities of AST, ALT, ALP, LDH, γGT and 5’NT and increased the activities of SOD, CAT, GPx, GST and GR (p < 0.05). Furthermore, 1,3-BPMU enhanced the apoptosis via upregulation of caspase-3 and caspase-9 and the downregulation of Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL mRNA expression as compared to DEN-induced rats. Histological and ultrastructural investigation showed that 1,3-BPMU treatment renovated the internal architecture of the liver in DEN-induced rats. In this study, the molecular and pre-clinical results obtained by treatment of DEN-induced rats with 1,3-BPMU suggested that 1,3-BPMU might be considered as an antitumor compound in the future.

Catechin-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside isolated from the seed of Phaseolus calcaratus Roxburgh ameliorates experimental colitis in rats.

The seeds of Phaseolus calcaratus Roxburgh (PHCR) are common legumes that comprise part of the daily diet in Chinese and Korean culture. Recent findings highlight anti-inflammatory and anti-septic potentials of catechin-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (CGP) isolated from PHCR seeds. We investigated the intestinal anti-inflammatory activity and associated mechanisms of CGP using a rat model of trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced colitis. Oral treatment with CGP (10mg/kg body weight) suppressed body weight loss and intestinal inflammatory damages in TNBS-induced colitic rats. This treatment reduced myeloperoxidase activity and malondialdehyde level, but increased glutathione level in the TNBS colitic rats. CGP treatment also inhibited the TNBS-mediated increases in nitric oxide synthase, cyclooxygenase-2, interleukin-1β, tumor necrosis factor-α, intercellular adhesion molecule-1, and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 proteins or mRNA levels. This inhibition was accompanied by the increased mRNA levels of mucins MUC2 and MUC3. The CGP treatment prevented phosphorylation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase, IκB-α, and DNA-nuclear factor-κB binding, all of which were increased in the inflamed colons of TNBS-treated rats. Furthermore, oral administration with a crude PHCR butanol extract (100mg/kg body weight) which contains 1.5% of CGP showed intestinal anti-inflammatory potentials similar to that of CGP. Collectively, our current findings suggest that CGP or CGP-containing PHCR seeds may have favorable effects on intestinal inflammatory diseases.

New guaiane-type sesquiterpene lactones from Hemisteptia lyrata bunge

Two new guaiane-type sesquiterpene lactones (1) and (2) together with 8-hydroxyzaluzanin C (3) were isolated from the flower of Hemisteptia lyrata. Compounds (1-3) were examined for their cytotoxic activity against LOX-IMVI, MCF-7, PC-3 and HCT-15 human cell line.