Porcine spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) prefer three-dimensional (3D) culture systems to 2D ones for the maintenance of self-renewal. Of the many 3D culture systems, agar-based hydrogels are candidates for supporting porcine SSC self-renewal, and there are various types of agar powder that can be used. In this study, we sought to identify an agar-based 3D hydrogel system that exhibited strong efficacy in the maintenance of porcine SSC self-renewal. First, 3D hydrogels with different mechanics were prepared with various concentrations of Bacto agar, lysogeny broth (LB) agar, and agarose powder, and the 3D hydrogel with the strongest alkaline phosphatase (AP) activity and greatest increase in colony size was identified for the different types of agar powder. Second, among the porcine SSCs cultured in the different 3D hydrogels, we analyzed the colony formation, morphology, and size; AP activity; and transcription and translation of porcine SSC-related genes, and these were compared to determine the optimal 3D hydrogel system for the maintenance of porcine SSC self-renewal. We found that 0.6% (w/v) Bacto agar-, 1% (w/v) LB agar-, and 0.2% (w/v) agarose-based 3D hydrogels showed the strongest maintenance of AP activity and the most pronounced increase in colony size in the culture of porcine SSCs. Moreover, among these hydrogels, the strongest transcription and translation of porcine SSC-related genes and largest colony size were detected in porcine SSCs cultured in the 0.2% (w/v) agarose-based 3D hydrogel, whereas there were no significant differences in colony formation and morphology. These results demonstrate that the 0.2% (w/v) agarose-based 3D hydrogel can be effectively used for the maintenance of porcine SSC self-renewal.

Despite many researches related with in-vitro culture of porcine spematogonial stem cells (SSCs), adherent culture system widely used has shown a limitation in the maintenance of porcine SSC self-renewal. Therefore, in order to overcome this obstacle, suspension culture, which is known to have numerous advantage over adherent culture, was applied to the culture of porcine SSCs. Porcine SSCs retrieved from neonatal testes were suspension-cultured for 5 days or 20 days, and characteristics of suspension-cultured porcine SSCs including proliferation, alkaline phosphatase (AP) activity, and self-renewal-specific gene expression were investigated and compared with those of adherent-cul-tured porcine SSCs. As the results, the suspension-cultured porcine SSCs showed entirely non-proliferative and significantly higher rate of AP-positive cells and expression of self-renewal-specific genes than the adherent-cultured porcine SSCs. In addition, long-term culture of porcine SSCs in suspension condition induced significant decrease in the yield of AP staining-positive cells on post-day 10 of culture. These results showed that suspension culture was inappropriate to culture porcine SSCs, because the culture of porcine SSCs in suspension condition didn’t stimulate proliferation and maintain AP activity of porcine SSCs, regardless of culture periods.

산화방지제인 아스코르빈산(AA), 에리쏘르빈산(isoAA), 아스코르빌파르미테이트(AP), 아스코르빌스테아레이트(AS)에 대한 ‘식품 중 식품첨가물 분석법’을 검증하고 미비점을 개선하였다. 고속액체크로마토그래피 자외선검출기법을 이용하여 검출한계(LOD), 정량한계(LOQ), 상관계수(R2) 등을 측정하였고 돼지기름(lard), 사이다를 이용한 모델식품에서의 회수율과 재현성을 측정하였다. AA와 isoAA의 검출한계는 각각 0.46, 0.48 μg/mL이었으며, 회수율은 각각 86.35-94.78, 84.76-95.02%를 나타내었고 상관계수는 모두 0.999이상을 보였다. AP와 AS의 현 분석법은 메탄올을 용매로 사용하지만 메탄올 용매에서 AP와 AS는 불안정하였다. 냉장온도에서 에탄올을 용매로 사용 시 다른 용매에 비해 유의적으로 높은 안정성을 나타내어 기존 용매의 불안정성을 개선할 수 있었다.

Nepal産인 Nepal pseudo ginseng(NPG)의 大根과 小根 2종에 있어서 물추출 성분과 ethanol 침전성분이 암독소(Toxohormone-L)가 유도하는 지방분해에 미치는 영향을 관찰하고자 본 연구를 시도하였다. 지방질 분해인자로 알려진 독소호르몬-L은 Sarcoma180痛생쥐의 복수증액으로부터 부분정제하여 이용하였다. 암독소가 유도하는 지방분해 저해능은 반응의 최종농도가 500 및 1, 000 dalton 일 때 大根의 NPG은 ethanol 침전성분(평균 55.5%)이 물추출 성분보다 평균 1.37배 더 높았으나 小根의 NPG는 반대로 물추출 성분(평균 55.5%)이 평균 1.14배 더 높았다. 한편 대근의 NPG의 ethanol 침전성분이 지방분해에 미치는 저해능(47.6%)을 최종 반응농도가 1, 000㎍/㎖일 때 고려홍삼의 ethanol 침전성분(79.8%)에 비교하면 약 60%에 불과하였다.

Alcoholic fatty liver disorder has become a frequent health concern worldwide. To investigate the effects of Brassica oleracea (B. oleracea) sprout extract (BOE), the present study was designed with alcoholic fatty liver in the rat. Initially, the effects of BOE on liver parameters were examined. Male rats were divided into five groups. The normal control group was fed the normal diet, and the BOE group was fed the high fat diet and ethanol with/without BOE for 4 weeks. After 4 weeks feeding period, rats were sacrificed and their livers and blood were used for fatty liver-related biomarkers analyses. As a result, BOE ameliorated fatty liver-related enzymes profiles in liver tissues and also reduced blood alcohol concentration in rat model. We demonstrated that BOE protected the high fat diet and alcohol-induced fatty liver in rat model. Furthermore, BOE increased detoxificative abilities against alcohol.

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) seeds have long been clinically used in Korea to promote bone formation and prevent osteoporosis. In addition, the safflower buds (SB) were found to have more useful functional ingredients than safflower seed. Thus, we investigated the preventive effects of SB diet in ovariectomized (OVX) rats. The rats were divided into five groups; sham operated group, OVX alone group, OVX plus 17β-estradiol (E2 10 ㎍/㎏, i.p.) and OVX plus SB diet feeding group (0.3% or 1%). Feeding of SB diet (0.3% or 3%) to OVX rats markedly increased trabecular formation in femur compared to OVX rats. Feeding of SB diet (0.3% or 3%) to OVX rats also decreased TRAP activity compared to OVX rats. These results suggest that SB diets have bone sparing effects by the decrease of osteoclast activity. We also observed that OVX rats fed with SB diet (0.3% or 3%) exhibited the decrease of calcium and phosphorus in serum compared to OVX-induced rats. Therefore, SB may be beneficial for the patients of osteoporosis, especially in postmenopausal women.