Human natural killer (NK) cells are major players in innate immune response. The functions of these cells as a scavenger of cancer cells are enhanced by cytokines such as interleukin-2 (IL-2), which play an important role in immune response in both tumors and virally infected cells. Liver cancer has a high incidence rate and is a major cause of death in Korea. We provide evidence that human NK cells inhibit tumor growth of the hepatocellular carcinoma cell line SNU-354. NK cells were cultured with human IL-2 for 14 days, yielding an enriched NK cell population containing 35% CD8+ cells, 6% CD4+ cells, and 51% CD16+ /CD56+ cells. Intravenous injection of NK cells at doses from 2.5 to 10 million cells/mouse was administered once per week in a nude mouse model that retains human liver tumor induced by implantation of SNU-354 cells. The results showed that human NK cells were recruited within tumor tissue and inhibited SNU-354 tumor growth by 32%, 58%, and 65%. The current data suggest the potential for use of NK cell-based immunotherapy for treatment of human liver cancer.

The Maillard Reaction Products (MRPs) such as Glucose-tyrosine (Glu-Tyr) and Xylose-arginine (Xyl-Arg) have antioxidant, antimutagenic, and antibacterial effects. However, to date, still little is known about the other biological effects of the MRPs. In this study, we investigated whether the fructose-tyrosine MRP, 2,4-bis(p-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butenal (Fru-Tyr), could modulate cell cycle progression and NF-κB activity, and thereby induce apoptotic cell death of colon cancer cells. Treatment with different concentrations (10-40 μg/ ml) of Fru-Tyr for 24 h inhibited colon cancer cell (SW620 and HCT116) growth followed by induction of G₂/M phase cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. We also found that Fru-Tyr suppressed tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α)-induced NF-κB transcriptional activity. Moreover, Fru-Tyr induced the expression of apoptotic gene, cleaved caspse-3. These results suggest that Fru-Tyr inhibited colon cancer cell growth through induction of G₂/M phase cell cycle arrest and apoptotic cell death by modulating of NF-κB.

To evaluate the hypolipidemic effects of Cheonggukjang (CGJ), which is frequently used in Korea similar to Natto in Japan and Douchi in China like a dairy product, boiled soybeans were fermented with two Bacillus strains, B. subtilis and B licheniforms, is이ated from rice straw and their antihyperlipidemic effects oftheir products were investigated. Treatment with the CGJs significantly reduced blood triglyceride (TG) and total ch이esterol (TC) levels and increased HDL cholesterollevels in Triton WR-l339-induced hyperlipidemic mice. The treatment of non-fermented soybeans alone also reduced blood TG and TC levels, but not significantly. Feeding the CGJs significantly lowered high blood TG and TC levels as well as body and epididymal mass weights in hyperlipidemic mice induced by the long-term feeding of a high-fat diet that increased blood HDL cholesterollevels. The B. subtilis-fermented CGJ products more potently reduced TG and TC levels, although the differences between the starters were not significant. These finding suggest that CGJ products may be effective as hypolipidemic foods by the synergistic interaction of soy and Bacillus strains.

Tissue-specific promoters are a very useful tool for manipulating gene expression in a target tissue or organ; however, their range of applications in other plant species has not been determined, to date. In this study, we identified two late pollen-specific rice promoters (ProOsLPS10 and ProOsLPS11) via meta-anatomical expression analysis. We then investigated the expression of both promoters in transgenic rice (a homologous system) and Arabidopsis (a heterologous system) using ProOsLPS10 or ProOsLPS11::GFP-GUS constructs. As predicted by microarray data, both promoters triggered strong GUS expression during the late stages of pollen development in rice, with no GUS signals detected in the examined microspores and sporophytic tissues. Interestingly, these promoters exhibited different GUS expression patterns in Arabidopsis. While in Arabidopsis, the OsLPS10 promoter conferred GUS expression at the uni- and bi-cellular macrospore stages, as well as at the shoot apical region during the seedling stage, the OsLPS11 promoter was not active in the pollen at any stage, or in the examined sporophytic tissues. Furthermore, by performing a complementation analysis using a sidecar pollen (scp) mutant that displays developmental defects at the microspore stage, we found evidence that OsLPS10, which can be an applied promoter expressed in Arabidopsis, is useful for directing gene expression in the early stages of pollen development. Our results indicate that the OsLPS10 and OsLPS11 promoters can drive the expression of target genes during the late stages of pollen development in rice, but not in Arabidopsis. Our results also emphasize the necessity of confirming the applicability of an established promoter to heterologous systems.

A new soybean cultivar for tofu and soy-paste, "Daemang 2", was developed from the cross between 'Shinpaldal 2' and'Seokryang' by soybean breeding team in the Yeongnam Agricultural Research Institute (YARI) in 2005. A promising line,SS93205-2B-8-3-2-1-1-1

A new soybean variety “Geomjeongkong 3” was released by the National Crop Experiment Station, RDA, in 2001. This variety was derived from the cross between Shinano-kuro and SNU78010, the elite breeding line with large seed, in the summer season, 1990. The

Kwanganbyeo is a japonica rice variety developed from the cross between Namyang 7 and SR14779-HB234-31, anelite line derived from the cross between Cheonmabyeo and Aichi 37 at the National Crop Experiment Station, RDA, and washi-tecture and light-dark gre