Seung-Hyun Jung

Effects of Water-extract Mixture of Scutellariae baicalensis GEORGI, Acarus gramineus SOLAND and Gastrodia elata BLUME on Cultured Rat Cortical Neurons and Enhancement of Learning and Memory Power

Scutellariae baicalensis GEORGI, Acorus gramineus SOLAND and Gastrodia elata BLUME are traditional medicines used in the treatment of incipient stoke. In this study we investigated their effects on various aspects of neuronal differentiation in single or composite forms. Water-extracts of these medicines showed neuroprotective effects on cultured rat cortical neurons in normoxia and hypoxia. To understand the mechanism for neuroprotection we carried out various cell biological assays. They stimulated initial differentiation of neuronal development (transition from stage 1 to 2), and increased the number of spines and the length and number of dendritic processes. These effects were best manifested in the experimental group, which were given a mixture of the three kinds of extracts (p＜0.01). To assess improvement of brain functions we carried out Morris water-maze tests for the mice that were fed on these extracts instead of water for 4 weeks. The experimental groups, especially those which were given the mixture of the three kinds of extract, showed significant (p＜0.01) enhancement in memory as early as one day after the learning trial. These results indicate that these three kinds of extracts have synergistic effects on neuronal protection and improvement of brain functions.

Microarray Analysis of Gene Expression Affected by Water-extracts of Pinelliae rhizoma in a Hypoxic Model of Cultured Rat Cortical Cells

Pinelliae rhizoma (Pr, 半夏) is a traditional medicine used in the treatment of incipient stroke. We investigated the effects of Pr on gene expression in a hypoxic model using cultured rat cortical cells. Pr (2.5 g/ml) was added to the culture medium on DIV 12. A hypoxic shock (2% 0/5% CO, 37C, 3 hr) was given two days later (on DIV 14), and total mRNAs were isolated at 24 hr post-shock from both Pr-treated samples and untreated control cultures. Microarray using TwinChip Rat-5K (Digital Genomics, Seoul) indicated that Pr upregulated genes for cell growth and differentiation (tubb5, tgfa, ptpn11, n-ras, pdgfa) and antiapoptosis (mcl-1), while downregulating the apoptosis-induced gene (tieg). Therefore, it is interpreted that Pr protects neurons from hypxoic shock by maintaining cell growth and differentiation and by preventing apoptosis.

Suppression of Reactive Oxygen Species Production by Water-extracts of Coptidis Rhizoma Enhances Neuronal Survival in a Hypoxic Model of Cultured Rat Cortical Cells.

Pathophysiological oxidative stress results in neuronal cell death mainly due to the generation reactive oxygen species (ROS). In low oxygen situation such as hypoxia and ischemia, excessive ROS is generated. Coptidis Rhizoma (CR) is a traditional medicine used for the incipient stroke. In this report we show that CR water extracts exhibited protective effects of neuronal cell death in a hypoxic model (2% 3 hr) of cultured rat cortical cells. We further show that CR water extracts significantly reduced the intensity of green fluorescence after staining with on one hour and three days after hypoxic shock and in normoxia as well. Our results indicate that CR water extracts prevent neuronal death by suppressing ROS generation.

Inhibition effect of neuronal death by Scutellaria baicalensis GEORGI Water-Extract in a Hypoxic Model of Cultured Rat Cortical Cells

Scutellaria baicalensis GEORGI(SB) is used in oriental medicine for the treatment of incipient strokes. Although it has been reported that SB is neuroprotective in a hypoxia model, its mechanism is poorly understood. Here, we investigated the effect of SB on the modulation of retinoic acid receptor a (RARa). Rat cerebrocortical cells were grown in neurobasal medium. On DIV12 cells were treated with SB and given a hypoxic shock on DIV14. In situ hybridization using cRNA probe revealed that RARa mRNA punctae are distributed, in addition to nucleus, throughout neuronal dendrites, where SB upregulated its density by 69.8% (p

Upregulation of heme oxygenase-1 by Scutellaria baicalensis GEORGI Water-Extract in a Hypoxic Model of Cultured Rat Cortical Cells.

Scutellaria baicalensis GEORGI(SB) is used in oriental medicine for the treatment of incipient strokes. Although it has been reported that SB is neuroprotective in a hypoxia model, its mechanism is poorly understood. Here, we investigated the effect of SB on the modulation of heme oxygenase-1(HO-1), which has important biological roles in regulating mitochondrial heme protein turnover and in protecting against conditions such as hypoxia, neurodegenerative diseases, or sepsis. Rat cerebrocortical day In vitro(DIV)12 cells were grown in neurobasal medium. On DIV12 cells were treated with SB() and given a hypoxic shock () on DIV14. In situ hybridization results revealed that SB upregulated HO-1 mRNA in neuronal dendrites in both normoxia and hypoxia(38.5% and 59.2%, respectively). At the protein level, SB upregulated HO-1 in the neuronal soma in both normoxia and hypoxia(22.4% and 15.7%, respectively). Interestingly, most significant increase was associated with astrocytes, which increased HO-1 protein by 77.5% compared to SB-untreated culture. These results indicate that SB upregulates both neuronal and glial HO-1 expression, which contributes to the neuroprotection efficacy in hypoxia).