The effect of nitric oxide (NO) on antioxidant system and protective mechanism against oxidative stress under UV-B radiation was investigated in leaves of maize (Zea mays L.) seedlings during 3 days growth period. UV-B irradiation caused a decrease of leaf biomass including leaf length, width and weight during growth. Application of NO donor, sodium nitroprusside (SNP), significantly alleviated UV-B stress induced growth suppression. NO donor permitted the survival of more green leaf tissue preventing chlorophyll content reduction and of higher quantum yield for photosystem Ⅱ than in non-treated controls under UV-B stress, suggesting that NO has protective effect on chloroplast membrane in maize leaves. Flavonoids and anthocyanin, UV-B absorbing compounds, were significantly accumulated in the maize leaves upon UV-B exposure. Moreover, the increase of these compounds was intensified in the NO treated seedlings. UV-B treatment resulted in lipid peroxidation and induced accumulation of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in maize leaves, while NO donor prevented UV-B induced increase in the contents of malondialdehyde (MDA) and H2O2. These results demonstrate that NO serves as antioxidant agent able to scavenge H2O2 to protect plant cells from oxidative damage. The activities of two antioxidant enzymes that scavenge reactive oxygen species, catalase (CAT) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) in maize leaves in the presence of NO donor under UV-B stress were higher than those under UV-B stress alone. Application of 2-(4-carboxyphenyl)-4, 4, 5, 5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3- oxide (PTIO), a specific NO scavenger, to the maize leaves arrested NO donor mediated protective effect on leaf growth, photosynthetic pigment and free radical scavenging activity. However, PTIO had little effect on maize leaves under UV-B stress compared with that of UV-B stress alone. Nω -nitro-L-arginine (LNNA), an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase (NOS), significantly increased H2O2 and MDA accumulation and decreased antioxidant enzyme activities in maize leaves under UV-B stress. This demonstrates that NOS inhibitor LNNA has opposite effects on oxidative resistance. From these results it is suggested that NO might act as a signal in activating active oxygen scavenging system that protects plants from oxidative stress induced by UV-B radiation and thus confer UV-B tolerance.

Flavonoid는 거의 모든 야채와 과일에 함유된 주요한 구성 성분이며 flavonol은 flavonoid 그룹 중 하나로 우리가 식품으로 섭취하는 대표적인 성분으로는 kaempferol과 quercetin이 알려져 있다. kaempferol과 auercetin은 퇴행성질병의 예방에 효과가 있다고 알려져 있어 식품 첨가물로 사용되고 있다. 본 연구의 목적은 항산화제로도 알려진 kaempferol과 quercetin을 이용하여 다양한 농도에서의 소의 폐혈관내피 세포주에 대한 각각의 산화스트레스 보호효과와 두 가지 물질의 동시 처리 시에 나타날 수 있는 상승효과를 밝히기 위함이다. 1 mM의 H2O2를 처리하여 산화스트레스를 가한 세포나 가하지 아니한 세포에서나 모두 kaempferol과 quercetin의 처리로 세포의 활성도가 높았다. 그러나 특히 산화스트레스를 가한 세포에서 항산화물의 산화스트레스 극복효과가 현저하게 나타났다. 항산화물의 농도가 고농도의 경우 오히려 증가된 세포활성도가 저하되는 반응을 보여 너무 높은 농도의 처리는 오히려 항산화효과를 억제할 수 있음을 알 수 있었다. 일반적으로 우리가 섭취하는 식품에는 kaempferol과 quercetin이 함께 포함되어 있으므로 이 두 가지 물질을 일정 비율로 서로 섞은 다음 산화스트레스 처리와 함에 처리하여 조사한 결과 단독으로 처리한 결과와 달리 고농도 조건에서도 세포활성도가 아주 높게 나타났다. 이상의 결과에서 항산화물은 생체에서 일어날 수 있는 많은 산화스트레스 상태를 완화시킬 수 있으나 가장 우수한 효능을 나타낼 수 있는 적정 농도의 조사가 중요하며 특히 각각의 항산화물을 단독으로 사용하는 것 보다 함께 사용하는 것이 상승효과를 나타낼 수 있음을 알 수 있었다.

본 연구는 활성산소종의 일종인 hydrogen peroxide(H2O2)에 대한 산수유(Cornus fructus, CF)추출물의 영향을 배양 NIH3T3 섬유모세포를 재료로 세포부착능과 항산화 측면에서 조사하였다. 그 결과 H2O2는 농도 의존적으로 배양 세포의 세포부착능을 감소하였으며 XTT50값이 100 uM이하로 나타남으로서 Borenfreund와 Puerner(1984)의 독성판정기준에 따라 고독성인 것으로 나타났다. 한편, H2O2의 산화적 손상에 대한 CF추출물의 세포부착능에 대한 영향에 있어서 CF추출물의 처리는 H2O2의 산화적 손상으로 감소된 세포부착능을 유의하게 증가시켰다. 또한, H2O2의 산화적 손상에 의하여 유발된 지질과산화에 의한 막손상에 대하여 CF추출물의 처리는 H2O2에 의하여 증가된 LDH 활성을 유의하게 감소시켰다. 또한, CF추출물은 농도 의존적으로 superoxide dismutase(SOD) 유사활성을 나타냈다. 이상의 결과로 부터 H2O2와 같은 활성산소종은 배양 NIH3T3 섬유모세포에 대하여 세포독성을 보였으며 또한 CF추출물은 H2O2에 의한 산화적 손상을 방어함으로서 항산화 효과를 나타냈다.

The effect of salicylic acid(SA) on antioxidant system and protective mechanisms against UV-B induced oxidative stress was investigated in cucumber(Cucumis sativus L.) leaves. UV-B radiation and SA were applied separately or in combination to first leaves of cucumber seedlings, and dry matter accumulation, lipid peroxidation and activities of antioxidant enzymes were measured in both dose and time-dependant manner. UV-B exposure showed reduced levels of fresh weight and dry matter production, whereas SA treatment significantly increased them. SA noticeably recovered the UV-B induced inhibition of biomass production. UV-B stress also affected lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzyme defense system. Malondialdehyde(MDA), a product of lipid peroxidation, was greatly increased under UV-B stress, showing a significant enhancement of a secondary metabolites, which may have antioxidative properties in cucumber leaves exposed to UV-B radiation. Combined application of UV-B and SA caused a moderate increase in lipid peroxidation. These results suggest that SA may mediate protection against oxidative stress. UV-B exposure significantly increased SOD, APX, and GR activity compared with untreated control plants. Those plants treated with 1.0 mM SA showed a similar pattern of changes in activities of antioxidant enzymes. SA-mediated induction of antioxidant enzyme activity may involve a protective accumulation of H2O2 against UV-B stress. Moreover, their activities were stimulated with a greater increase by UV-B+SA treatment. The UV-B+SA plants always presented higher values than UV-B and SA plants, considering the adverse effects of UV-B on the antioxidant cell system. ABA and JA, second messengers in signaling in response to stresses, showed similar mode of action in UV-B stress, supporting that they may be important in acquired stress tolerance. Based on these results, it can be suggested that SA may participates in the induction of protective mechanisms involved in tolerance to UV-B induced oxidative stress.

The effects of hwangryun(Coptidis Rhizoma) on lowering lipid and oxidative stress in the induced obesity rat was observed. The concentration of plasma triglyceride in hwangryun treatment groups showed the low values compared to the control group, and as the increased hwangryun, the concentration of triglyceride decreased. The concentration of plasma total cholesterol decreased in all hwangryun treatment groups. However the concentration of plasma HDL-cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol showed no significantly difference in all the treatment groups. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substance(TBARS) concentration in plasma and liver showed low values in all hwangryun treatment groups compared to the control group. Glutathione peroxidase(GSH-Px) and superoxide dismutase(SOD) activities showed no significantly difference in all the treatment groups. However catalase(CAT) activity showed a tendence to increase in hwangryun groups, and in 200mg/kg hwangryun treatment group showed significantly a high value than the control group. Summarizing the results above, hwangryun has the functional materials that lowering lipid and works with oxidative stress.

Green tea is of particular source as it has been found to have strong antioxidant activities. The extracts of green tea during the commercial harvest seasons from April, 2003 to August, 2003 were compared. The purpose of this study was to determine the correlation between the polyphenol content of green teas and its antioxidant activities. The con-tent of total polyphenols was analyzed and several antioxidant testings were performed. The levels of total polyphenols were higher in the green teas (e.g. Woojeon, Sejak) harvested during very early spring and lower in the green teas harvested late(eg. Ipha, Yepcha). In particular, the free radical scavenging, the inhibition of LDL oxidation, the cytoprotective effect and the inhibition of DNA damage were correlated with the total polyphenol contents of green tea extracts harvested early spring such as Woojeon, Sejak and Jungjak. The results obtained here show that all extracts of green teas including purified green tea catechin, GTC, have strong antioxidant activities on oxidative stress in vifrθ. The variation in polyphenol content and antioxidant activities among various types of green tea by the harvesting time may provide critical information for investigators and consumers using tea in purposes of nutrition and chemoprevention.

세포의 대사과정에서 생성되는 활성산소종(reactive oxygen species : ROS)은 세포의 성숙과 발생 과정을 저해하며, 인간의 생식 수관에서 불임의 원인이 된다. 많은 세포생물학적 연구를 통해 ROS에 대한 세포 내의 보호 기작이 밝혀지고 있다. Activating transcription factor 4(ATF4)는 세포 내에서 산화적 스트레스를 비롯한 여러 스트레스 요인으로부터 세포를 보호하는 기작에 관여하는 중요한 인자로서, 스트레스

Embryonic stem (ES) cells, derived from preimplantation embryos, are able to differentiate into various types of cells consisting the whole body, or pluripotency. In addition to the plasticity, ES cells are expected to be different from terminally differentiated cells in very many ways, such as patterns of gene expressions, ability and response of the cells in confronting environmental stimulations, metabolism, and growth rate. As a model system to differentiate these two types of cells, human ES (hES, MB03) cells and terminally differentiated cells (HeLa), we examined the ability of these two types of cells in confronting a severe oxidative insult, that is . Ratio of dying cells as determined by the relative amount of dye neutral red entrapped within the cells after the exposures. Cell death rates were not significantly different when either MB03 or HeLa were exposed up to 0.4 mM . However, relative amount of dye entrapped within the cells sharply decreased down to 0.12% in HeLa cells when the cells were exposed to 0.8 mM , while it was approximately 54% in MB03. Pretreatment of cells with BSO (GSH chelator) and measurement of GSH content results suggest that cellular GSH is the major defensive mechanism of hES cells. Induction of apoptosis in hES cell was confirmed by DNA laddering, induction of Bax, and chromatin condensation. In summary, hES cells 1) are extremely resistant to oxidative stress, 2) utilize GSH as a major defensive mechanism. and 3) experience apoptosis upon exposure to oxidative stress.