The US is in conflict with China over various trade issues. Although both countries agreed to temporarily suspend tariffs for the next 90 days, this trend is expected to continue after then. New related to tariffs has been a daily occurrence in the first 100 days of the Trump presidency, and yet a gap remains between the US and China that is difficult to bridge. This seems to stem from the fact that President Trump wants to “Make America Great Again” with a vengeance. In addition to implementing a new tariff system, the US seems to be moving towards supporting “strong patents” to safeguard intellectual property rights. These policies will significantly impact both the US and other nations worldwide. This article explores the external developments in the aftermath of the US presidential election and reviews current issues related to intellectual property in the US, focusing on tariff imposition and the prevailing emphasis on strong patent rights.

This study aimed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory, whitening, and anti-wrinkle effects of nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) and NMN-containing serum. To investigate the anti-inflammatory effects of NMN, a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW264.7 macrophage model was used. The results demonstrated that NMN exhibited no cytotoxicity at concentration up to 1%. Additionally, 1% NMN significantly inhibited nitric oxide (NO) production induced by LPS and suppressed the protein expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), both of which are key inflammatory enzymes. Furthermore, to assess the whitening and anti-wrinkle effects of NMN, tyrosinase inhibition, elastase inhibition, and collagenase inhibition assays were conducted. The results showed that 1% NMN inhibited tyrosinase activity by 10.85%, elastase activity by 18.69%, and collagenase activity by 91.94%. These research results suggest that although NMN has a relatively limited whitening effect, it has significant potential as an anti-inflammatory and wrinkle-improving agent, suggesting its potential as a cosmetic material.

Though Farnesiferol C (FC) derived from Ferula asafoetida is known to have antiangiogenic and apoptotic effect in gastric, breast, nonsmall lung cancers, the underlying antitumor mechanism of FC is not fully understood so far. Hence, in the current study, apoptotic mechanism of FC was explored in colon cancers in association with carbon catabolite repression 4-negative on TATA-less 2 (CNOT2)/c-Myc signaling. Herein FC significantly increased cytotoxicity and reduced the number of colonies in HCT116 cells more effectively than in SW480 cells, though FC enhanced sub-G1 cell population in HCT116 and SW480 cells compared to untreated control. Consistently, FC activated the cleavages of Poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) and Bax and attenuated the expression of pro-PARP and Cyclin D1 in HCT116 cells better than SW480 cells. Also, FC significantly reduced the expression of CNOT2 and c-Myc. Also, FC reduced of c-Myc stability in HCT116 cells by cycloheximide assay. Notably, CNOT2 depletion reduced the expression of c-Myc, while c-Myc depletion also attenuated the expression of CNOT2 in HCT116 cells, implying the crosstalk between CNOT2 and c-Myc. Furthermore, overexpression of c-Myc or CNOT2 promoted the expression of pro-PARP in HCT116 cells. Overall, these findings suggest that FC induces apoptosis via inhibition of CNOT2 and c-Myc in colon cancers for a potent anticancer candidate for further agriculture cultivation in Korea.