Water-extractable polysaccharide fraction PNE-P1 from Pinus koraiensis pine nut: Structural features and immunostimulatory activity.

The polysaccharide fraction PNE-P1 was isolated from hot water extract (PNE) of the defatted meal of pine nuts (Pinus koraiensis) using DEAE-cellulose column chromatography. This fraction had three components of molecular masses 1251, 616, and 303 g/mol consisting mainly of arabinose, xylose, and galacturonic acid at a molar ratio of 2:1.6:1. Structural analysis with FTIR/Raman, methylation and GC-MS, and NMR revealed that PNE-P1 is a cell wall polysaccharide complex including arabinan, heteroxylan, homogalacturonan (HM) and rhamnogalacturonan I (RG-I) parts. Being nontoxic to RAW 264.7 macrophages in the concentration range of 10-200 µg/mL, PNE-P1 promoted proliferation of these cells, significantly induced the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-α and IL-6) and chemokines (RANTES and MIP-1α) and enhanced the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and nitric oxide (NO). PNE-P1 also markedly induced macrophage-mediated phagocytosis of apoptotic Jurkat T cells. These results demonstrate that pine nuts Pinus koraiensis contain a complex of water-soluble plant cell wall polysaccharides, which can stimulate innate immunity by potentiating macrophage function.

Red Ginseng Extract and γ-Aminobutyric Acid Synergistically Enhance Immunity Against Cancer Cells and Antitumor Metastasis Activity in Mice.

The effects of combined administration of red ginseng (RG) extracts and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) on immunostimulatory activity and tumor metastasis inhibition were investigated in mice. For the immunostimulatory activity, splenocyte proliferation, natural killer (NK) cell activity, including the production of granzyme B (GrB) and interferon gamma (IFN-γ), and serum level of cytokine such as IFN-γ, interleukin (IL)-17, and IL-21 were assessed. Peyer's patch cells obtained from mice administered with RG+GABA were cultured, and the cytokine level in the culture supernatant and bone marrow (BM) cell proliferation activity were examined. The proliferative activity of splenocytes was significantly higher in the RG-GABA treatment group than in RG or GABA alone (P < .05). In the experimental tumor metastasis model, oral administration of RG+GABA showed a higher antitumor metastatic effect compared to that of RG or GABA alone. Oral administration of RG+GABA significantly augmented NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity against YAC-1 tumor cells. In addition, the production of GrB and IFN-γ was stimulated in the culture supernatant of NK cells and YAC-1 cells. Serum concentrations of IFN-γ, IL-17, and IL-21 in mice with RG+GABA were significantly higher compared to the corresponding blood levels in mice administered with RG or GABA alone. The RG+GABA group showed significant BM cell proliferation and increased production of IL-6 and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor compared to that in the monotherapy groups. Therefore, RG may have a synergistic effect with GABA for enhancing the host defense system such as BM proliferation and NK cell activity in a tumor metastasis model.

Aloe emodin 3-O-glucoside inhibits cell growth and migration and induces apoptosis of non-small-cell lung cancer cells via suppressing MEK/ERK and Akt signalling pathways.

AIMS: Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most frequent type of lung cancer with a high mortality rate. Glycosylation of phenolic compounds may increase water-solubility and pharmacological activities and reduce the toxicity of aglycones. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the anticancer effect of aloe emodin 3-O-glucoside (AE3G) and its aglycone, aloe emodin (AE), against NSCLC. MAIN METHOD: A human adenocarcinoma cell line (A549) and other human non-small cell lung carcinoma cell lines (NCI-H460 cells and NCI-H1299 cells) and BALB/c nu/nu xenograft mice harbouring A549 cells were used as the NSCLC models. Inhibition of cell migration, disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), DNA fragmentation, and expression levels of apoptotic proteins were measured by western blot, wound healing assay, JC-1 staining, or TUNEL staining. Histopathological changes in tumour tissues were observed by H&E and TUNEL staining. RESULTS: With no significant cytotoxicity against noncancerous cells (Vero cells), AE3G (5-50 µM) significantly and more effectively inhibited the growth, attachment, migration, Bcl-2 expression, and activation of MEK/ERK and Akt signalling proteins and induced cytochrome c release and Bax expression in A549 cells than AE. AE3G also significantly decreased the growth of other NSCLC cells, NCI-H460 cells and NCI-H1299 cells. AE3G suppressed the mRNA expression of matrix metalloproteinases, MMP2 and MMP9, and augmented the collapse of the mitochondrial MMP, cleavage of caspases (caspase 9, 8, and 3) and PARP, and DNA fragmentation. Intraperitoneal injection of AE3G (13 and 26 mg/kg/day) reduced the tumour volume and weight and induced apoptotic cell death in tumour tissues of xenograft NSCLC mice. SIGNIFICANCE: The present study demonstrated that AE3G significantly and more effectively diminished human NSCLC cell growth and migration by triggering mitochondria-dependent intrinsic apoptosis than AE, providing AE3G as a new potent candidate to prevent or treat human NSCLC.

Synergistic effect of Korean red ginseng extract and GABA mixture on the IgE production in mice via Th1/Th2 cell balance.

It has been recently reported that the immune system has been linked to the nervous system. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of administration of two components, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and Panax ginseng Meyer (GIN), on the production of IgE and Th1-Th2 dominant cytokines. Antibody and inflammatory mediator levels in serum, and the cytokines secreted to spleen cells of ovalbumin (OVA) immunized mice were analyzed. The group of GABA and GIN mixture significantly reduced IgE level and dramatically increased OVA-IgG2a antibody production. In addition, rising effect on IFN-gamma and GM-CSF levels related to Th1 cytokine was observed only in the group of GABA + GIN. The mixture alleviated allergic symptoms by reducing the level of histamine and prostaglandin. These studies suggest that GIN + GABA administration in the allergen-induced mouse model may regulate the Th1-Th2 balance by strongly acting on the immune response associated with Th1.

Nonadiabatic dynamics in the photodissociation of ICH2CN at 266 and 304 nm studied by the velocity map imaging.

Photodissociation dynamics of iodoacetonitrile (ICH2CN) have been investigated at pump wavelengths of 266 and 304 nm using a photofragment ion image velocity mapping technique. At both wavelengths, the prompt C-I bond rupture takes place on the repulsive excited states to give I(2P3/2) and I*(2P1/2), and their speed and spatial distributions are simultaneously measured. The recoil anisotropy parameter (beta) at 266 nm is determined to be 1.10 and 1.60 for I and I*, respectively, while it is found to be much higher at 304 nm to give beta=1.70 and 1.90 for I and I*, respectively. The branching ratios for I*I channels are measured to be 0.724 and 0.136 at 266 and 304 nm, respectively, giving insights on nonadiabatic transition phenomena and relative oscillator strengths of optically accessible transitions of ICH2CN. Accordingly, relative oscillator strengths of parallel/perpendicular transitions and nonadiabatic transitions among the excited states are quantitatively characterized. A large portion of the available energy (41%-48%) goes into the internal energy of the CH2CN fragment. A modified impulsive model in which the CH2CN fragment is assumed to be rigid predicts the energy disposal quite well. Delocalization of an unpaired electron of the CH2CN radical during the C-I bond cleavage, leading to a large structural change of the CH2CN moiety, may be responsible for internally hot fragments.