Background : Adenophora triphylla var. japonica Hara. is used to cure respiratory/ lung diseases, which makes it an important oriental medicinal herb. It is one of the five Sam (ginseng), which includes Panax ginseng, Salvia miltiorrhiza, Sophora flavescens, and Scrophularia buergeriana. In 2015, Korea imported 24 tons of medicinal herbs worth US$95,000. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of several mulching materials on the growth and root yield of A. triphylla var. japonica using organic fertilizer. Methods and Result : Seeds of A. triphylla var. japonica were collected at the nursery of the Department of Herbal Crop Research, NIHHS, RDA in 2015. Mulching materials used are black plastic, black woven fabric, and biodegradable plastic. Hand weeding was done to serve as control. The soil was fertilized two months before planting. Seeds of A. triphylla var. japonica were sowed in tray in early March and were allowed to grow for two months. It was planted in early May with planting density of 30 ㎝ x 15 ㎝ and was covered with various mulching materials. Parameters investigated are survival rate, aerial part and root growth characteristics, and yield at harvest time. Results showed that biodegradable plastic is most favorable for plant growth with height of 17.2cm, leaf length of 13.4cm and leaf width of 5.6 ㎝. Dry plant weight was heaviest in biodegradable plastic treatment at 2.8 g, and lightest at 2.5 g when planted without mulch. Biodegradable plastic has the highest dry root weight of 19.3 g, followed by black vinyl (18.4 g), woven fabric (18.3 g) and without mulch (17.9 g). The yield obtained per 10 a was highest in biodegradable plastic treatment at 174 ㎏, while black vinyl and woven fabric treatments produced 169 ㎏ and 160 ㎏, respectively. Plants without mulch had the lowest yield of 157 ㎏. Conclusion : In the above results, biodegradable plastic and woven fabric are considered suitable mulching materials for the cultivation of A. triphylla var. japonica.

Background : Cirsium japonicum seeds is the high price, less than 40% germination rate is low. There is a need for a method developed to increase seed germination rate increases consumption. Also, by measuring the harvest season each functional ingredients contents was performed to investigate the optimal timing harvest of ingredients that target. Methods and Results : Test materials were used Cirsium japonicum seeds harvested from late May until mid-June in medicinal testing ground. GA3(0, 25, 50, 100 ppm), Kinetin(0, 25, 50, 100 ppm) and KNO3(0, 25, 50, 100 ppm) of Growth regulator were treated, it examined the population grew more than 1 ㎜. Contents of functional components to harvest season analyzed by HPLC after pre-treatment harvested and drying the leaves and roots in late august until early November. Germination rate of the growth regulator treatment was higher by 52% from the full ripening brown seeds GA3 100 ppm, 56% in the Kinetin 50 ppm, KNO3 treatment in 52% germination in 25 mM. The white seed germination rate was low at less than 10% of all growth regulator treatment. Functional ingredient content of leaf according to harvest time were higher respectively Rutin is 8.61 ug/g in late october, apigenin is 59.6 ug/g in beginning november, quercetin is 8.61 ug/g in beginning september, kaemferol is 32.9 ug/g in late september. Very low content in roots, there was no significant difference. The main ingredient silymarin was highest 4.36 ㎎/g at the late september in case of leaf, and syringin was maintained at a high level from mid-september to early october. Conclusion : Seed germination is thought to be able to increase the germination through the growth regulator treatment and assort brown seed. Functional components according to the harvest time is determined to be able to improve effective component when processing harvest to select a high yield by the component for the purpose.

Harmonized actions of ovarian estrogen (E2) and progesterone (P4) regulate cell proliferation and differentiation in the uterus with a spatiotemporal manner. Imbalance between the actions and levels of two major regulators often lead to infertility and gynecological diseases, such as endometriosis and endometrial cancer. While numerous works have shown that reduced expression and/or deletion of uterine factors associated with P4 signaling could disturb uterine physiology, local factor(s) to mediate E2 actions has not been extensively studied yet. Here we demonstrate that early growth response 1 (Egr1), a transcription factor which is rapidly induced in the uterus by E2, is required to maintain coordinated actions of E2 and P4 for uterine receptivity for embryo implantation. Given exogenous gonadotrophins to overcome LHβ deficiency in the pituitary of Egr1(－/－) mice, ovulation, fertilization and embryo development normally occurred in these mice. However, they showed complete failure of embryo implantation with reduced uterine responses to artificial decidualization stimuli. While serum levels of E2 and P4 in Egr1(－/－) mice were comparable, genes regulated by E2 and/or P4 in uterine epithelial cells (ECs) were aberrantly expressed on day 4 of pregnancy. Impaired P4 signaling along with absence of PR in ECs caused hypersensitive E2 responses shown as enhanced expression of E2-responsive genes such Muc1 and Ltf as well as reduced levels of P4-dependent genes, such as Ihh and Areg, in ECs of Egr1(－/－) mice. This is consistent with persistent proliferation in ECs and severely impaired proliferation in stromal cells (SCs) in Egr1(－/－) mice treated with E2+P4. Furthermore, primary co-culture of Egr1(－/－) ECs with Egr1(+/+) SCs and vice versa supported a notion that Egr1 itself is required for proper responses to two major regulators, E2 and P4, in both uterine cell compartments. Collectively, our results show that E2-induced Egr1 participates in P4-dependent modulation on E2 activities in the uterus by regulating a spectrum of genes essential for uterine receptivity and embryo implantation.

This study was carried out to evaluate the physicochemical properties and perform a feasibility analysis of planting material composed of topsoil from river improvement and non-improvement areas. The results showed that the physicochemical properties of topsoil from river improvement areas were on the average sandy loam~loamy sand in soil texture, 5.6~6.8 in pH, 0.01~0.06 dS/m in EC, 0.9~2.1% in OM, 0.02~0.12% in T-N, 8~14 cmol+/kg in CEC, 0.01~0.08 cmol+/kg in Ex. K+, 2.55~11.11 cmol+/kg in Ex. Ca2+, 0.34~2.06 cmol+/kg in Ex. Mg2+, and 3~396 mg/kg in Av. P2O5. And non-improvement areas showed on average sandy clay loam~sand in soil texture, 5.7~6.7 in pH, 0.02~0.08 dS/m in EC, 0.9~4.4% in OM, 0.02~0.23% in T-N, 7~18 cmol+/kg in CEC, 0.01~0.08 cmol+/kg in Ex. K+, 3.81~12.67 cmol+/kg in Ex. Ca2+, 0.60~1.95 cmol+/kg in Ex. Mg2+, and 3~171 mg/kg in Av. P2O5. Meanwhile, the results of an applied valuation of topsoil- based planting were as follows. Ex. K+ levels were low grade in all survey areas. OM was low grade in 12 improvement areas and 11 non-improvement areas. Av. P2O5 levels were low grade in 10 improvement areas and 10 non-improvement areas. T-N was low grade in six improvement areas and four non-improvement areas. Ex. Mg2+ levels were low grade in two improvement areas.

Fetal bovine serum (FBS) is the most frequently used serum for the cultivation of mammalian cells. However, since animal-derived materials might not be appropriate due to safety issues, allogeneic human serum (HS) has been used to replace FBS, particularly for the culture of human cells. While there has been a debate about the advantages of HS, its precise effect on human adult stem cells have not been clarified. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of HS on the human eyelid adipose stem cells (HEACs) in vitro. When HEACs were cultivated in a medium containing 10% HS, many cells moved into several spots and aggregated there. The phenomenon was observed as early as 9 days following 10% HS treatment, and 12 days following 5% HS plus 5% FBS treatment. However, the aggregation was never observed when the same cells were cultivated with 10% FBS or bovine serum albumin. To examine whether cell density might affect the aggregation, cells were seeded with different densities on 12-well dish. Until the beginning of aggregation, cells seeded at low densities exhibited the longest culture period of 16 days whereas cells seeded at high densities showed the shortest period of 9 days to form aggregation. The number of cells was as the least for the low density group, and as the greatest for the high density group. When human cord blood serum or normal bovine serum was examined for the same effect on HEACs, interestingly, cord blood serum induced the aggregation of cells whereas bovine serum treatment has never induced. When cells were cultivated with 10% HS for 9 days, they were obtained and analyzed by RT-PCR. Compared to FBS-cultivated HEACs, HS-cultivated HEACs did not express VIM, and less expressed GATA4, PALLD. On the other hand, HS-cultivated HEACs expressed MAP2 more than FBS-cultivated HEACs. In conclusion, human adult stem cells could move and form aggregates by the treatment with human body fluids.

Human eyelid adipose-derived stem cells (hEAs) and amniotic mesenchymal stem cells (hAMs) are very valuable sources for the cell therapeutics. Both types of cells have a great proliferating ability in vitro and a multipotency to differentiate into adipocytes, osteoblasts and chondrocytes. In the present study, we evaluated their stem cell characteristics after long-time cryopreservation for 6, 12 and 24 months. When frozen-thawed cells were cultivated in vitro, their cumulative cell number and doubling time were similar to freshly prepared cells. Also they expressed stem cell-related genes of SCF, NANOG, OCT4, and TERT, ectoderm-related genes of NCAM and FGF5, mesoderm/endoderm-related genes of CK18 and VIM, and immune-related genes of HLA-ABC and 2M. Following differentiation culture in appropriate culture media for 2-3 weeks, both types of cells exhibited well differentiation into adipocyte, osteoblast, and chondrocyte, as revealed by adipogenic, osteogenic or chondrogenic-specific staining and related genes, respectively. In conclusion, even after long-term storage hEAs and hAMs could maintain their stem cell characteristics, suggesting that they might be suitable for clinical application based on stem cell therapy.

Ethanol treatment during the brain growth spurt period has been known to induce the death of Purkinje cells. The underlying molecular mechanisms and the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in triggering ethanol-induced Purkinje cell death are, however, largely unresolved. We undertook TUNEL staining, western blotting assay and immunohistochemistry for the cleaved forms of caspase-3 and -9, with calbindin D28K double immunostaining to identify apoptotic Purkinje cells. The possibility of ROS-induced Purkinje cell death was immunohistochemically determined by using anti-8-hydroxy-2'deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), a specific cellular marker for oxidative damage. The results show that Purkinje cell death of PD 5 rat cerebellum following ethanol administration is mediated by the activation of caspase-3 and -9. However, unexpectedly, TUNEL staining did not reveal any positive Purkinje cells while there were some TUNEL-positive cells in the internal and external granular layer. 8-OHdG was detected in the Purkinje cell layers at 8 h, peaked at 12-24 h, but not at 30 h post-ethanol treatment. No 8-0HdG immunoreactive cells were detected in the internal and external granular layer. The lobule specific 8-OHdG staining patterns following ethanol exposure are consistent with that of ethanol-induced Purkinje cell loss. Thus, we suggest that ethanol-induced Purkinje cell death may not occur by the classical apoptotic pathway and oxidative damage is involved in ethanol-induced Purkinje cell death in the developing cerebellum.

In particular, maternal prostacyclin (PGI2) is critical for embryo implantation and the action of PGI2 is not mediated via its G protein-coupled membrane receptor, IP, but its nuclear receptor, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor δ (PPARδ). Recently, several studies have shown that PGI2 enhances blastocyst development and/or hatching rate in vitro, and subsequently implantation and live birth rates in mice. However, the mechanism by which PGI2 improves preimplantation embryo development in vitro remains unclear. Using molecular, pharmacologic and genetic approaches, we show that PGI2-induced PPARδ activation accelerates blastocyst hatching in mice. mRNAs for PPARδ, RXRs (heterodimeric partners of PPARδ) and PGI2 synthase are temporally induced after zygotic gene activation and their expression reaches maximum levels at the blastocyst stage, suggesting that functional complex of PPARδ can be formed in the blastocyst. Carbaprostacyclin (cPGI, a stable analogue of PGI2) and GW501516 (a PPARδ selective agonist) significantly accelerated blastocyst hatching but did not increase total cell number of cultured blastocysts. Whereas U51605 (a PGIS inhibitor) interfered with blastocyst hatching, GW501516 restored U51605-induced retarded hatching. In contrast to improvement of blastocyst hatching by PPARδ agonists, PPAR antagonists significantly inhibited blastocyst hatching. Furthermore, deletion of PPARδ at early stages of preimplantation mouse embryos caused delay of blastocyst hatching, but did not impair blastocyst development. Taken together, PGI2-induced PPARδ activation accelerates blastocyst hatching in mice.

Chinese milkvetch(CM) has been cultivated as green manure source for environment friendly farming in southern area. This experiment was conducted to produce good quality rice through studying the changes of yield, quality and leaf colors as affected by the amount of CM biomass retuned to paddy field. We growed rice, transplanted in June 10 with cultivar dongjinilho, in four different plots retuned green manure with 0, 1.5, 3.0, and 4.5 ㎏ m-2 CM biomass in May 30. Nitrogen amounts were 5.5g by 1.5㎏CM biomass, 11.1g by 3.0㎏, and 16.6g by 4.5㎏ in late May. There were no different SPAD values among treatments in 10 days after transplanting. However, the more the CM biomass from 20 days after transplanting, the higher the SPAD values were. the plot of CM biomass to 3.0 ㎏ m-2 had same heading date but the plot of 4.5 ㎏ m-2 was one day late heading date as compared with the others. There were no different plant height, number of panicle, panicle length, number of leaf and ripening ratio among the CM biomass amounts. The higher the CM biomass amount, the more likely the plant was lodge. the plot retuned CM fresh biomass 1.5 ㎏ m-2 showed the higher rice yield than the plot retuned 3.0 and 4.5 ㎏ m-2 in 2006, but all plots had similar rice yields in 2007. There was no different whiteness of rice among all treatments . The more the CM biomass amount retuned to plot, the higher the protein content of rice.

Reductions in the ozone column have led to substantial increase in UV-B radiation at the Earth's surface with the amount and intensity dependent on atmospheric and geographic factors. Our objectives were to understand the effect of UV-B radiation on photosynthesis and carbohydrate synthesis of soybean, and to establish an indicator to select resistant soybean cultivar against UV-B radiation. Soybean seeds (cv. Daepungkong) were sown and grown for 4 weeks in an environmentally controlled chamber. UV-B radiation was delivered to plants for four hours, each day, from 10:00 to 14:00 h by five fluorescent UV lamps. A distance of 1 m from lamps to the top of plants was always maintained throughout the experiment. The biologically effective UV-B radiation level was 21.6 kJ m-2 d-1 using the generalized plant responses action spectrum normalized at 300 nm. The damage of soybean leaves was optically observed at the second day of UV-B radiation, and leaf veins were first injured. Photosynthetic rate was reduced after 2 days of UV-B radiation, and, at 5 days, it was a half level (6.3 μmol m-2 s-1) compared with control (12.1 μmol m-2 s-1). UV-B radiation led to the reduction of stomatal conductance around 5 days of treatment. The decrease in stomatal conductance means the reduction of leaf transpiration and the influx of carbon dioxide. Also, the reduction of photosynthetic rate caused an accumulation of the intercellular carbon dioxide. It is suggested that photosynthetic characteristics can be used an indicator to select UV-B-resistant soybean cultivar.