The human embryonic-lethal abnormal vision-like protein, HuR, stabilizes mRNA containing adenine- and uridine- rich elements in their 3’untranslated region. Because cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) mRNA is a cellular transcript that contains an adenine- and uridine-rich element, it can be regulated by the HuR protein. In this study, we examined the relationship between COX-2, HuR, MVD, and the clinicopathological parameters. Nineteen out of 43 cases of HNSCC showed high level of COX-2expression, and 68% of these patients showed high COX-2 immuno-reactivity indicating the strong expression of the cytoplasmic HuR protein. Also, MVD expression in the cases with high COX-2 expression was higher than in the cases with low COX-2 expression. These results suggest a strong correlation between the overexpression of cytoplasmic HuR and COX-2 expression in HNSCC, and that COX-2 is associated with MVD in HNSCC. In conclusion, COX-2 regulated by cytoplasmic HuR may be a good tumor angiogenic factor in HNSCC.

본 연구진은 신규 미생물인 Nocardia sp. CS682 균주에서 항균물질인 nargenicin을 확보하고, 그 유도체 5종을 확보하여 그람양성, 음성 및 다약제 내성균에 대한 항균 효능 및 LPS로 자극된 대식세포에서의 nitric oxide 생성 억제능을 확인하였다. Nargenicin 유도체들은 nargenicin 및 vancomycin에 비교하여 우수한 항균 활성을 보여주었으며, compound 4 및 5는 광범위한 항균 효능 외에 nitric oxide 생성 억제능을 보여 항균-항염효과를 가지는 dual effector로써 감염, 면역 질환에 응용 가능성을 시사하였다. Nargenicin 유도체들은 향후 염증반응에서의 면역 조절 기작에 대한 추가 연구가 필요할 것으로 사료된다.

Korean Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer (P. ginseng) is a well-known and one of the most important tonic herbs used in traditional Korean medicine. The pharmacological effects of P. ginseng have been reported by many researchers. Nevertheless, little is known between the mechanism of action and the active compounds. In this study, we performed a comprehensive proteomic analysis and protein categorization in order to understand the physiological characteristics of the major components in the adventitious roots of P. ginseng. Whole proteins extracted from the cultured adventitious roots of P. ginseng were separated by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2-DE). Among the 1000 spots which were detected by silver staining, 113 spots were labeled and identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). Our results showed that 40 proteins were identified among the 113 spots, with a hit ratio of 35.3%. A number of proteins identified on the 2-DE gels (30%; 16 spots) were involved in energy metabolism. These proteomic data will be helpful to better understand the physiological and pharmacological effects of P. ginseng.