Protective Effects of Cereal Grain Extracts on Alcohol-Induced Hepatocyte Damage.

This study investigated the protective effects of cereal grains on alcohol-induced hepatocyte damage. Cereal grains were extracted with methanol, and their radical scavenging properties and total phenolic contents were examined. Black rice extract exhibited the highest total polyphenol content and radical scavenging capacity. Treatment with sorghum extract increased the viability of cells exposed to alcohol by up to 81.6%. All cereal grain extracts decreased reactive oxygen species and malondialdehyde production and glutathione depletion in HepG2 cells exposed to ethanol. In particular, black rice and sorghum extracts exhibited greater antioxidant effects than other cereal grains. Treatment with black rice extract increased the levels of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase of alcohol-exposed cells to control levels. Overall, black rice extract showed a greater protective effect compared with other cereal grains against alcohol exposure in HepG2 cells and could improve alcohol-induced liver problems.

Effects of Chrysoeriol on Adipogenesis and Lipolysis in 3T3-L1 Adipocytes.

We examined the effect of chrysoeriol on adipogenesis and lipolysis and elucidated the underlying molecular mechanisms. Chrysoeriol inhibited fat deposition in adipocytes. Treatment with chrysoeriol suppressed the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ, fatty acid synthase, fatty acid-binding protein, CCAAT/enhancer-binding proteins (C/EBP) α, C/EBPß, and sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1. In addition, chrysoeriol significantly elevated the activation of 5'-adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase. Moreover, chrysoeriol increased free glycerol and fatty acid levels and promoted lipolysis in adipocytes. Overexpression of adipose triglyceride lipase and hormone-sensitive lipase by chrysoeriol led to increased lipolysis in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Taken together, chrysoeriol showed anti-adipogenic and lipolytic properties in adipocytes.

Development of mental health indicators in Korea.

OBJECTIVE: Promoting mental health and preventing mental health problems are important tasks for international organizations and nations. Such goals entail the establishment of active information networks and effective systems and indicators to assess the mental health of populations. This being said, there is a need in Korea develop ways to measure the state of mental health in Korea. METHODS: THIS PAPER REVIEWS THE MENTAL HEALTH INDICATOR DEVELOPMENT POLICIES AND PRACTICES OF SEVEN ORGANIZATIONS, COUNTRIES, AND REGIONS: WHO, OECD, EU, United States, Australia, UK, and Scotland. Using Delphi method, we conducted two surveys of mental health indicators for experts in the field of mental health. The survey questionnaire included 5 domains: mental health status, mental health factor, mental health system, mental health service, and quality of mental health services. We considered 124 potential mental health indicators out of more than 600 from indicators of international organizations and foreign countries. RESULTS: We obtained the top 30 mental health indicators from the surveys. Among them, 10 indicators belong to the mental health system. The most important five mental health indicators are suicide rate, rate of increase in mental disorder treatment, burden caused by mental disorders, adequacy of identifying problems of mental health projects and deriving solutions, and annual prevalence of mental disorders. CONCLUSION: Our study provides information about the process for indicator development and the use of survey results to measure the mental health status of the Korean population. The aim of mental health indicator development is to improve the mental health system by better grasping the current situation. We suggest these mental health indicators can monitor progress in efforts to implement reform policies, provide community services, and involve users, families and other stakeholders in mental health promotion, prevention, care and rehabilitation.

Arabidopsis EPSIN1 plays an important role in vacuolar trafficking of soluble cargo proteins in plant cells via interactions with clathrin, AP-1, VTI11, and VSR1.

Epsin and related proteins play important roles in various steps of protein trafficking in animal and yeast cells. Many epsin homologs have been identified in plant cells from analysis of genome sequences. However, their roles have not been elucidated. Here, we investigate the expression, localization, and biological role in protein trafficking of an epsin homolog, Arabidopsis thaliana EPSIN1, which is expressed in most tissues we examined. In the cell, one pool of EPSIN1 is associated with actin filaments, producing a network pattern, and a second pool localizes primarily to the Golgi complex with a minor portion to the prevacuolar compartment, producing a punctate staining pattern. Protein pull-down and coimmunoprecipitation experiments reveal that Arabidopsis EPSIN1 interacts with clathrin, VTI11, gamma-adaptin-related protein (gamma-ADR), and vacuolar sorting receptor1 (VSR1). In addition, EPSIN1 colocalizes with clathrin and VTI11. The epsin1 mutant, which has a T-DNA insertion in EPSIN1, displays a defect in the vacuolar trafficking of sporamin:green fluorescent protein (GFP), but not in the secretion of invertase:GFP into the medium. Stably expressed HA:EPSIN1 complements this trafficking defect. Based on these data, we propose that EPSIN1 plays an important role in the vacuolar trafficking of soluble proteins at the trans-Golgi network via its interaction with gamma-ADR, VTI11, VSR1, and clathrin.

The intermolecular interaction between the PH domain and the C-terminal domain of Arabidopsis dynamin-like 6 determines lipid binding specificity.

Dynamin and its related proteins are a group of mechanochemical proteins involved in the modulation of lipid membranes in various biological processes. Here we investigate the nature of membrane binding of the Arabidopsis dynamin-like 6 (ADL6) involved in vesicle trafficking from the trans-Golgi network to the central vacuole. Fractionation experiments by continuous sucrose gradients and gel filtration revealed that the majority of ADL6 is associated with membranes in vivo. Amino acid sequence analysis revealed that ADL6 has a putative pleckstrin homology (PH) domain. In vitro lipid binding assays demonstrated that ADL6 showed high affinity binding to phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate (PtdIns-3-P) and that the PH domain was responsible for this interaction. However, the PH domain alone binds equally well to both PtdIns-3-P and phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate (PtdIns-4-P). Interestingly, the high affinity binding of the PH domain to PtdIns-3-P was restored by a protein-protein interaction between the PH domain and the C-terminal region. In addition, deletion of the inserted regions within the PH domain results in high affinity binding of the PH domain to PtdIns-3-P. These results suggest that ADL6 binds specifically to PtdIns-3-P and that the lipid binding specificity is determined by the interaction between the PH domain and the C-terminal domain of ADL6.