Korean red ginseng and ginsenosides have been claimed to possess wide spectrum of medicinal effects, of which anticancer effect is one. The present study was undertaken to investigate the antimetastatic effect of Korean red ginseng on human hepatoma as well as possible mechanisms. The inhibitory effect of the water extract of Korean red ginseng (WKRG) on the invasion and motility of SK-Hep1 cel...

Two flavones, apigenin and tangeretin, were studied for their ability to modulate gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) in the rat liver epithelial cell line REL. Their cytotoxicity was first determined by cell density and neutral red uptake assays: neither apigenin nor tangeretin are cytotoxic at 10 and 25 microM, the concentrations used in our experiments. We then studied GJIC usi...

The steppe parts of Lissar protected area is located in the North Western part of Talesh mountain range, with an area around 13,500 hectares. The area is influenced by a humidCaspian climate at the Eastern slope and a cold mountain Irano-Turanian-like climate at the Western slope causing the formation of diverse vegetation types. Based on a collection of about 1,250 specimens during 2007–08, a ...

Due to a restriction of the distributional range of European red deer (Cervus elaphus L.) during the Quaternary and subsequent recolonization of Europe from different refugia, a clear phylogeographical pattern in genetic structure has been revealed using mitochondrial DNA markers. In Central Europe, 2 distinct, eastern and western, lineages of European red deer are present; however, admixture b...

Objective: To investigate the effects of Chinese yellow wine on the synthesis of homocysteine (Hcy)-induced intracellular MMP-2 in rat vascular endothelial cells (VECs). Methods: Isolation, cultivation, purification and identification of vascular endothelial cells of rat thoracic aorta in vitro were conducted. The VECs in passages 3 to 4 were used in all studies. HCY was used to induce VECs to ...

Reproductive failure of rising-two-year-old (R(2)) hinds and seasonal misalignment between calving and pastoral feed production are two factors limiting reproductive productivity of farmed red deer hinds in New Zealand. This study aimed to better understand processes around female puberty and breeding seasonality by describing the potential breeding season (i.e., oestrous cyclicity) of three re...

BACKGROUND Moderate consumption of red wine has been epidemiologically associated with a reduction in cardiovascular disease, but its mechanism of action is not fully understood. The objective was to study whether the protective effects of a daily intake of red wine (Tempranillo, 12.8% alcohol vol/vol) could be related to inhibition of thrombosis in an experimental model of diet-induced hyperli...

Ethanol exposure during pregnancy is one of the major causes of mental retardation in western countries by inducing fetal-alcohol-like-syndromes. Red wine is known to contain ethanol but also compounds with putative antioxidant properties. It has also been shown that nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) are severely affected by ethanol during prenatal and postn...

The question is, does the isoform hSK4, also designated KCNN4, represent the small conductance, Ca2+-activated K+ channel (Gardos channel) in human red blood cells? We have analyzed human reticulocyte RNA by RT-PCR, and, of the four isoforms of SK channels known, only SK4 was found. Northern blot analysis of purified and synchronously growing human erythroid progenitor cells, differentiating fr...

Although the tremendous variability in floral colour among angiosperms is often attributed to divergent selection by pollinators, it is usually difficult to preclude the possibility that floral colour shifts were driven by non-pollinator processes. Here, we examine the adaptive significance of flower colour in Disa ferruginea, a non-rewarding orchid that is thought to attract its butterfly poll...