• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.712-723
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• 2019

Chemically synthesized compounds are widely used in oral hygiene products. However, excessively long-term use of these chemicals can cause undesirable side effects such as bacterial tolerance, allergy, and tooth discoloration. To solve these issues, significant effort is put into the search for natural antibacterial agents. The aim of this study was to assess the extracts of foreign native plants that inhibit the growth and biofilm formation of Streptococcus mutans. Among the 300 foreign plant extracts used in this study, Chesneya nubigena (D. Don) Ali extract had the highest antimicrobial activity relatively against S. mutans with a clear zone of 9 mm when compared to others. This plant extract also showed anti-biofilm activity and bacteriostatic effect (minimal bactericidal concentration [MBC], 1.5 mg/ml). In addition, the plant extracts of 19 species decreased the ability of S. mutans to form biofilm at least a 6-fold in proportion to the tested concentrations. Of particular note, C. nubigena (D. Don) Ali extract was found to inhibit biofilm formation at the lowest concentration tested effectively. Therefore, our results reveal that C. nubigena (D. Don) Ali extract is a potential candidate for the development of antimicrobial substitutes, which might be effective for caries control as well, as demonstrated by its inhibitory effect on the persistence and pathogenesis of S. mutans.

• CELLMED
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.11.1-11.7
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• 2012

Stachys tibetica Vatke (Lamiaceae) is an important medicinal plant in the folk medicine of Ladakh, India and Tibet for the treatment of various mental disorders. Infusion and decoction of the whole plant is used as a cup of tea for a severe fever, headaches and to relieve tension. The recent study is aimed to evaluate the preliminary pharmacognostical and phytochemical nature of Stachys tibetica Vatke. The whole plant material was subjected to successive soxhlet extraction with petroleum ether (40 - $60^{\circ}C$), chloroform, ethyl acetate, methanol and finally decocted with water to get the respective extracts. The fluorescence characteristics of the powdered materials were analysed under ultraviolet light and ordinary light. Different physicochemical parameters such as ash value, extractive value, foaming index, pH values, loss on drying and determination of foreign matter were carried out as per WHO guidelines. The total fat, flavonoid, saponin and volatile contents were also determined. Macroscopical studies revealed the authentication of the plant drug. Physicochemical parameters helped to standardize the plant material while preliminary qualitative chemical tests of different extracts showed the presence of Glycosides, Carbohydrates, Phytosterols/triterpenoids, Saponins, Fixed oils, Fats and phenols/tannins. Quantification of the total flavonoids and saponins and contents were determined as $54.66{\pm}0.58mg/g$ and $75.42{\pm}0.48mg/kg$ respectively, while the volatile and fat contents were 6.5% and 0.7% respectively. Results may lay the foundation for the standardization of the drug and discovery of new molecules from S. tibetica for the treatment of various diseases.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.69-73
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• 2000

In order to understand the biological role of calmodulin in plants, transgenic plants expressing a mutant calmodulin (VU-4, Iys to ile-115) have been analyzed. We found that tobacco plants expressing VU-4 calmodulin have approximately twofold higher $\gamma$-aminobutyric acid (GABA) levels than the control plants. Cell suspension cultures established from the stem explants of the transgenic tobacco seedlings also have higher levels of GABA than the control cell cultures. Specific activity of glutamate decarboxylase (GAD), which catalyzes the decarboxylation of glutamate to $CO_2$ and GABA, of the transgenic tobacco cell extracts was about twofold higher than the activity of the control cell extracts. Western-blot analysis showed that the GAD is highly expressed in the transgenic tobacco plants. GAD partially purified from tobacco cell extracts showed approximately threefold $Ca^{2+}$/calmodulin-dependent activation. These data suggest that GABA synthesis in the transgenic tobacco plants is elevated, possibly due to higher levels of the calmodulin-dependent GAD enzyme and/or as a result of enhanced activation due to increased levels of the foreign calmodulin.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2023.04a
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• pp.45-45
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• 2023

Autophagy contributes to enhancing the immune system (innate and adaptive immune system) against foreign pathogens. Autophagy of macrophages is used as a major indicator for developing vaccine adjuvants to increase the adaptive immune response. In this study, RAL increased the production of immunostimulatory mediators and phagocytotic activity in RAW264.7 cells. RAL increased p62/SQSTM1 expression. Inhibition of TLR4, JNK, and PI3K/AKT blocked RAL-mediated increase of p62/SQSTM1. RAL activated JNK and PI3K/AKT signaling. RAL-mediated activation of JNK and PI3K/AKT signaling was reversed by TLR4 inhibition. Taken together, it is believed that RAL-mediated autophagy may be dependent on activating via TLR4-dependent activation of JNK and PI3K/AKT signaling in macrophages.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.257-263
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• 2023

Autophagy contributes to enhancing the immune system (innate and adaptive immune system) against foreign pathogens. Autophagy of macrophages is used as a major indicator for developing vaccine adjuvants to increase the adaptive immune response. In this study, water extracts from Rosa acicularis leaves (RAL) increased the production of immunostimulatory mediators and phagocytic activity in RAW264.7 cells. RAL increased p62/SQSTM1 expression. Inhibition of TLR4, JNK, and PI3K/AKT blocked RAL-mediated increase of p62/SQSTM1. RAL activated JNK and PI3K/AKT signaling. RAL-mediated activations of JNK and PI3K/AKT signaling were reversed by TLR4 inhibition. Taken together, it is believed that RAL-mediated autophagy may be dependent on activating via TLR4-dependent activation of JNK and PI3K/AKT signaling in macrophages.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.438-444
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• 2012

N-acylethanolamines (NAEs) including endocannabinoids, anadamide, are long chain fatty acid ethanolamines and express ubiquitously in animal and plant tissues. NAEs have several pharmacological effects including anti-inflammatory, analgesic and anorexic effects. The levels of NAEs in tissues are strictly regulated by synthesizing and hydrolyzing enzymes because NAEs are not stored in the cell but rather made on demand. NAEs are hydrolyzed to free fatty acids and ethanolamines by fatty acid amide hydrolase and N-acylethanolamine-hydrolyzing acid amidase (NAAA). Here, we suggest the fluorescence-based assay system for NAAA. We developed N-(4-methy-2-oxo-2H-chromen-7-yl)palmitamide (PAAC) as a fluorogenic substrate for NAAA and we also generated NAAA stably expressing COSM6 cell line. When extracts of cells expressing NAAA were incubated with PAAC, NAAA specifically hydrolyzed PAAC to palmitic acids and fluorogenic dye, coumarin. Release of coumarin was monitored by using fluorometer. NAAA hydrolyzed PAAC with an apparent Km of $20.05{\mu}M$ and Vmax of 32.18 pmol/mg protein/min. This assay system can be used to develop inhibitors or activators of NAAA.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.288-293
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• 2017

Chrysanthemum chlorotic mottle viroid (CChMVd) fused to the leader sequence of a reporter gene (mRFP) expressed transiently in agroinfiltrated Nicotiana benthamiana, was used to show that CChMVd can traffic into chloroplasts, thought to be the site of its replication. Fluorescence from mRFP was detected in chloroplasts, but only if the viroid transcription fusions were present, either from the full-length 400-nt CChMVd, or each of two partial fragments (nucleotides 125 to 2 and 231 to 372). The mRFP and its mRNA were detected by western blotting and RT-PCR, respectively, in tissue extracts of plants infiltrated by each fusion construct. Isolated chloroplasts were shown by RT-PCR to contain the RNA sequences of both CChMVd and mRFP, if both were present, but not the mRFP sequence in the absence of the viroid sequences. The results suggest that RNA trafficking was probably due to an RNA structure, and not a particular sequence, as discussed.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.275-281
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• 2023

Autophagy contributes to enhancing the immune system (innate and adaptive immune system) against foreign pathogens. Autophagy of macrophages is used as a major indicator for developing vaccine adjuvants to increase the adaptive immune response. In this study, PLR activated autophagy and increased p62/SQSTM1. The knockdown of p62/SQSTM1 attenuated PLR-mediated autophagy. Inhibition of TLR4 blocked PLR-mediated increase in p62/SQSTM1 level and autophagy induction. In addition, inhibition of PI3K blocked HSL-mediated increase of p62/SQSTM1. PLR increased Nrf2 level and the inhibition of TLR4 and PI3K reduced PLR-mediated increase of Nrf2. Taken together, it is believed that PLR may induce autophagy through upregulating p62/SQSTM1 via TLR4/PI3K/Nrf2 signaling pathway.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.365-370
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• 2016

Atopic dermatitis refers to a chronic, recurrent, skin condition, typically typified by itching, inflamed skin. It precedes other allergic diseases, such as asthma, food allergies, and allergic rhinitis, and is usually accompanied by various other immune disorders and secondary symptoms. In this study, we discovered that when treating TNF-${\alpha}$ and IFN-${\gamma}$-stimulated HaCaT cells with various concentrations of Picea wilsonii Mast (PwM) extracts, the cell viability was excellent. In addition, we measured the inflammatory cytokines associated with atopic dermatitis, including IL-6, IL-8, IL-13, and MCP-1. The production of IL-6, IL-13, and MCP-1 decreased in the presence of PwM extracts, whereas there was no significant difference in the production of IL-8. Further studies are necessary to develop an effective cure for atopic dermatitis and inflammation using foreign plant extracts, and PwM efficacy should be determined with an in-depth, objective verification process using protein and mechanism analysis.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2022.09a
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• pp.112-112
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• 2022

This study aims to confirm the possibility of using the invasive alien plants in Jeju as a functional biomaterial. To achieve this purpose, 70% ethanol extract and solvent fractions were prepared for five invasive alien plants (Hypochaeris radicata, Rumex acetosella, Humulus japonicus Siebold & Zucc., Solanum viarum, Lactuca scariolar) and their antioxidant, antibacterial anti-inflammatory and anti-obesity effects were investigated. The DPPH radical scavenging activity of ethanol extract from invasive alien plants was shown in the order of Rumex acetosella > Hypochaeris radicata > Humulus japonicus. Antimicrobial activity of ethanol extract against food poisoning bacteria (4 species) and oral cavity-induced microorganisms (6 species) was measured. As a result, the extract of Humulus japonicus showed high antibacterial effects against food poisoning bacteria (E. coli, V. parahaemolyticus) and oral microbes (L. casei, S. epidermidis, E. faecalis). In LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells, the anti-inflammatory effect of ethanol extract from invasive alien plants was investigated. As a result, the NO production inhibition activity was highest in the Rumex acetosella and the Humulus japonicus Siebold & Zucc. ethanol extract, and the NO production inhibition activity was concentration-dependent. In addition, the Rumex acetosella and the Humulus japonicus Siebold & Zucc. ethanol extract showed a concentration-dependent inhibitory effect on cytokine (IL-6) production. These extracts also showed inhibitory activity of COX-2, an inflammatory protein. This suggests that NO production inhibition activity by the extract of invasive alien plants is the result of inhibition of iNOS and COX-2 expression. Currently, organic solvent fractions of crude extract are manufactured and the investigation of active ingredients is continuing along with evaluation of biological activity such as anti-inflammatory. These results are expected to be a major data for the study on the separation and utilization of active ingredients with antioxidant, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects using foreign plant crude extract and solvent fractions, and are highly likely to be applied to the development of functional food and cosmetics materials.