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Aging is classically conceptualized as an ever-increasing trajectory of damage accumulation and loss of function, leading to increases in morbidity and mortality. However, recentin vitrostudies have raised the possibility of age reversal. Here, we report that biological age is fluid and exhibits rapid changes in both directions. By applying advanced epigenetic aging clocks, we find that the biological age of young mice is increased by heterochronic parabiosis and restored following surgical detachment of animals. We also identify transient changes in biological age during major surgery, pregnancy, and severe COVID-19 in humans and/or mice. Together, these data show that biological age undergoes a rapid increase in response to diverse forms of stress, which is reversed following recovery from stress. Our study uncovers a new layer of aging dynamics that should be considered in future studies. Elevation of biological age by stress may be a quantifiable and actionable target for future interventions.

Thioredoxin/glutathione reductase (TGR, TXNRD3) is a thiol oxidoreductase of unknown function composed of thioredoxin reductase and glutaredoxin domains. This NADPH-dependent enzyme evolved by gene duplication within the Txnrd family, is expressed in the testes and can reduce both thioredoxin and glutathione in vitro. To characterize the function of TXNRD3 in vivo, we generated a strain of mice with the deletion of Txnrd3 gene. We show that Txnrd3 knockout mice are viable and without discernable gross phenotypes, but TXNRD3 deficiency leads to fertility impairment in male mice. Txnrd3 knockout animals exhibit a lower fertilization rate in vitro, a sperm movement phenotype and an altered redox status of thiols. Proteomic analyses revealed a broad range of substrates reduced by TXNRD3 during sperm maturation, presumably as a part of quality control. The results show that TXNRD3 plays a critical role in male reproduction via the thiol redox control of spermatogenesis.

Thioredoxin/glutathione reductase (TXNRD3) is a selenoprotein composed of thioredoxin reductase and glutaredoxin domains. This NADPH-dependent thiol oxidoreductase evolved through gene duplication within the Txnrd family, is expressed in the testes, and can reduce both thioredoxin and glutathione in vitro; however, the function of this enzyme remains unknown. To characterize the function of TXNRD3 in vivo, we generated a strain of mice bearing deletion of Txnrd3 gene. We show that these Txnrd3 knockout mice are viable and without discernable gross phenotypes, and also that TXNRD3 deficiency leads to fertility impairment in male mice. We found that Txnrd3 knockout animals exhibited a lower fertilization rate in vitro, a sperm movement phenotype, and an altered thiol redox status in sperm cells. Proteomic analyses further revealed a broad range of substrates reduced by TXNRD3 during sperm maturation, presumably as a part of sperm quality control. Taken together, these results show that TXNRD3 plays a critical role in male reproduction via the thiol redox control of spermatogenesis.

There has been a surge of interest towards targeting protein synthesis to treat diseases and extend lifespan. Despite the progress, few options are available to assess translation in live animals, as their complexity limits the repertoire of experimental tools to monitor and manipulate processes within organs and individual cells. It this study, we developed a labeling-free method for measuring organ- and cell-type-specific translation elongation rates in vivo. It is based on time-resolved delivery of translation initiation and elongation inhibitors in live animals followed by ribosome profiling. It also reports translation initiation sites in an organ-specific manner. Using this method, we found that the elongation rates differ more than 50% among mouse organs and determined them to be 6.8, 5.0 and 4.3 amino acids per second for liver, kidney, and skeletal muscle, respectively. We further found that the elongation rate is reduced by 20% between young adulthood and mid-life. Thus, translation, a major metabolic process in cells, is tightly regulated at the level of elongation of nascent polypeptide chains.

COVID‐19 is an ongoing pandemic caused by the SARS‐CoV‐2 coronavirus that poses one of the greatest challenges to public health in recent years. SARS‐CoV‐2 is known to preferentially target older subjects and those with pre‐existing conditions, but the reason for this age dependence is unclear. Here, we found that the case fatality rate for COVID‐19 grows exponentially with age in all countries tested, with the doubling time approaching that of all‐cause human mortality. In addition, men and those with multiple age‐related diseases are characterized by increased mortality. Moreover, similar mortality patterns were found for all‐cause pneumonia. We further report that the gene expression of ACE2, the SARS‐CoV‐2 receptor, grows in the lung with age, except for subjects on a ventilator. Together, our findings establish COVID‐19 as an emergent disease of aging, and age and age‐related diseases as its major risk factors. In turn, this suggests that COVID‐19, and deadly respiratory diseases in general, may be targeted, in addition to antiviral approaches, by approaches that target the aging process., This study establishes COVID‐19 as an emergent disease of aging, based on (a) an exponential growth of the COVID‐19 mortality rate with age, (b) the COVID‐19 mortality rate doubling time approaching that of all‐cause human mortality, (c) higher mortality in men than in women, (d) strong association with pre‐existing age‐related diseases, and (e) COVID‐19 being a subset of all‐cause pneumonia, which we find itself is a disease of aging.

Summary: Selenof (15-kDa selenoprotein; Sep15) is an endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-resident thioredoxin-like oxidoreductase that occurs in a complex with UDP-glucose:glycoprotein glucosyltransferase. We found that Selenof deficiency in mice leads to elevated levels of non-functional circulating plasma immunoglobulins and increased secretion of IgM during in vitro splenic B cell differentiation. However, Selenof knockout animals show neither enhanced bacterial killing capacity nor antigen-induced systemic IgM activity, suggesting that excess immunoglobulins are not functional. In addition, ER-to-Golgi transport of a target glycoprotein was delayed in Selenof knockout embryonic fibroblasts, and proteomic analyses revealed that Selenof deficiency is primarily associated with antigen presentation and ER-to-Golgi transport. Together, the data suggest that Selenof functions as a gatekeeper of immunoglobulins and, likely, other client proteins that exit the ER, thereby supporting redox quality control of these proteins. : Yim et al. report that Selenof (15-kDa selenoprotein; Sep15) functions as a gatekeeper of immunoglobulins and, likely, other client proteins en route from the ER to the Golgi apparatus, thereby preventing secretion of dysfunctional proteins and supporting redox quality control. Keywords: Selenof, selenoprotein, oxidoreductase, immunoglobulins, IgM, knockout mouse, endoplasmic reticulum, Sep15, gatekeeper

In this study, a portable, non-destructive tester, integrating near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy, was developed to determine the maturity of Asian pears. In addition, regression analysis was conducted for mature Manpungbae pears using the partial least squares regression model with the Brix value of Asian pears in a wavelength range of 710–930 nm, and the standard error of calibration or standard error of prediction (SEC/SEP) of 0.41–0.43 °Brix and relative standard error of calibration or relative standard error of prediction (rSEC/rSEP) = 0.91–0.92 were observed, indicating excellent prediction performance with no dependence on pretreatment conditions. Furthermore, the reliability of the developed Brix determination model was confirmed using Manpungbae, Wonhwang, Chuhwangbae, and Niitaka pears, and SEP, rSEP, and bias values of 0.29–0.33 °Brix, 0.90–0.96, and 1.67E−04, respectively, were observed, indicating high reliability. Hence, the construction of a Brix determination model by the accumulation of absorbance for several varieties of pears in each harvest period is expected to determine optimum harvest times via the measurement of the Brix values at full maturity regardless of the variety.

This study was to prepared vinegars using three kinds of pear cultivar with different maturities, ‘Wonhwang’, ‘Niitaka’,and ‘Chuhwangbae’, and investigate their physicochemical characteristics and antioxidant activities. Result showed that the firmness of ’Wonhwang’ was much lower than other pear cultivars. No significant difference in soluble solid content was found among three pear cultivars. The total acidity of ‘Chuhwangbae’ pear vinegar was 4.89~7.98%, which was higher than that those of ‘Wonhwang’ and ‘Niitaka’ vinegars. The color of ‘Niitaka’ vinegar had a lower lightness and redness values, but a higher yellowness value, compared with the other two vinegars. The free sugar contents were mainly composed of fructose, glucose, and sorbitol, with the greatest content of sorbitol in all three peer vinegars. The total phenolics and flavonoids contents were 35.2~55.3 and 8.4~14.4 mg/100 mL, respectively. Antioxidant activity had a positive correlation with total phenolic contents. The DPPH free radical scavenging and ABTS+ radical scavenging activity were 45.0~62.1% and 73.8~78.2%, respectively. From these results, we confirmed that immature pear cultivars such as ’Wonhwang’, ‘Niitaka’ and ‘Chuhwangbae’ could be used as a raw materials to prepare vinegar regardless of maturity.

The total phenolic and flavonoid content and antioxidative activities during production of pear juice concentrate (PJC) from two cultivars, Hwasan and Niitaka, were investigated. The main processing steps in PJC production are washing, pressing, pasteurization, clarification, filtration, evaporation, and packaging. Total phenolic and flavonoid content of end-product PJC from Niitaka decreased by 53.11 and 46.47%, respectively, while those from Hwasan decreased by 55.46 and 36.09%, respectively, compared to the phenolic and flavonoid content of original fresh fruit. DPPH radical-scavenging activities, reducing power and nitrate radical-scavenging activities showed a similar tendency as total phenolic and flavonoid content; that is, they decreased in juice concentrate made from both cultivars. Also, antioxidant activities of press cake waste (skin and seeds) from Niitaka and Hwasan pears were higher than fresh pears. In conclusion, antioxidant levels were significantly affected during processing of PJC, especially during the pressing step in which press cake waste retains the seeds and skin.

This study was performed to characterize pear protease proteolytic activity and investigate the use of pear protease as a meat tenderizer. Pear protease was purified and stabilized by 5% dextrin during lyophilization (dry) or concentration (liquid). Pear protease was further characterized with respect to pH, thermodynamics, and enzyme kinetics. Pear protease was stable at a pH range of 5-8 with an optimum pH of 6.5. From Arrhenius plots, liquid protease showed higher temperature dependency (23.49 kJ/mol) than dry protease (18.62 kJ/mol) due to its higher activation energy. The kcat/Km, catalytic efficiency of enzyme, was similar with 2.9 and 2.7 µM/min with dry and liquid proteases. Pear protease was evaluated for its proteolytic activities with casein and beef myofibrillar proteins by individually and combination with fig and kiwifruit proteases. These result indicated that pear and kiwifruit proteases could be complementary to be a desirable product for meat tenderization.

Naked mole rats (NMRs, Heterocephalus glaber) are long-lived, cancer-resistant rodents. Here, we report the development of an induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) line generated from immortalized NMR embryonic fibroblasts transduced with a doxycycline-inducible mouse OSKM polycistronic vector. This iPSC line was shown to express pluripotency-associated markers, form embryoid bodies, differentiate in vitro to the derivatives of three germ layers, and exhibit normal karyotype. The ability of iPSCs to differentiate in vivo was supported by the contribution to interspecific chimera upon injection into mouse blastocysts. This NMR iPSC line may be a useful tool in cancer and aging research.

Different ascorbic acid (AA) concentrations of 0.16, 0.20, and 0.24% (w/v) were added to pear juice from the new cultivar Pyrus pyrifolia Nakai cv. "Sinhwa". Enzymatic browning reduction and antioxidant activity were analyzed after 24 h at 37°C. Juices with 0.20% added AA showed the highest inhibition of 78.8% of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity. L* values of juices a with 0.20 and 0.24% added AA decreased more slowly than controls lacking AA addition and juice with 0.16% added AA after storage for 24 h. Browning indices of juices with added AA were lower than for controls. However, indices increased after storage for 24 h. The DPPH radical-scavenging activity, reducing power, and nitrite scavenging activity of all juices with added AA were higher than for controls and decreased after storage for 24 h. Addition of 0.20% AA to pear juice from the new "Sinhwa" cultivar showed the highest browning activity reduction.

This study was conducted to study the factors inducing micro-cracking and determine proper practices to reduce its occurrence in ‘Mansoo’ pear fruits. Micro-cracking was observed on ripe fruits. Occurrence of micro-cracking was closely relate d to sun duration time in August. Micro-cracking occurred severely with shorter sun duration, but weakly with longer sun duration and continuous sunlight. Micro-cracking fruits occurred more frequently in trees with a pergola training system than in those with Y-trellis, but there was no difference between the irrigated and non-irrigated groups. While no micro-cracking was observe d without fruit bagging, micro-cracking occurred in fruits with black and yellow outer paper bagging at rates of 62.2 and 17.3%, respectively. Our results suggest that the light condition was the most important cause of micro-cracking because the occurrenc e of micro-cracking in ‘Mansoo’ fruits was affected by factors including sun duration, trellis system and fruit bag color. We su ggested that micro-cracking could be reduced in ‘Mansoo’ fruit by optimizing the light conditions with the proper trellis system, bagging color and summer pruning.Additional key words

‘Wonhwang’ Asian pear (Pyrus pyrifolia Nakai) is an early ripening pear cultivar, therefore requiring cultural and postharvest practices to retain commercial marketability. The present study included two experiments. The first was to investigate fruit characteristics and physiological disorder of ‘Wonhwang’ pears harvested at 120, 125, 130, and 135 days after full bloom (DAFB) and stored at room temperature for 21 days. The second was to evaluate the effects of 24 h of pre-storage cooling at 0 °C, 10 °C, and 23 °C followed by three weeks of room temperature storage on fruit storability and taste. Early fruit harvest increased fruit firmness, titratable acidity, and starch, with light fruit weight and low soluble solids content. Fruits harvested at 130 DAFB were in mid-climacteric phase. Free sugar composition was not consistently affected by DAFB. Harvesting at 125 DAFB retained fruit storability and suppressed occurrence of core breakdown compared to 130 DAFB or 135 DAFB at room temperature for 21 days. Pre-cooling at 10 °C produced firmer fruits, lower core breakdown, and better taste compared to pre-cooling at 0 °C and 23 °C or untreated control (no pre-cooling).

The trace element selenium (Se) is incorporated into proteins as the amino acid selenocysteine (Sec), which is cotranslationally inserted into specific proteins in response to a UGA codon. Proteins containing Sec at these specific positions are called selenoproteins. Most selenoproteins function as oxidoreductases, while some serve other important functions. There are 25 known selenoprotein genes in humans and 24 in mice. The use of Sec allows selenoproteins to be detected by a convenient method involving metabolic labeling with

The trace element selenium (Se) is incorporated into proteins as the amino acid selenocysteine (Sec), which is cotranslationally inserted into specific proteins in response to a UGA codon. Proteins containing Sec at these specific positions are called selenoproteins. Most selenoproteins function as oxidoreductases, while some serve other important functions. There are 25 known selenoprotein genes in humans and 24 in mice. The use of Sec allows selenoproteins to be detected by a convenient method involving metabolic labeling with 75Se. Labeling of cells and whole animals are used for the examination of selenoprotein expression profiles and the investigation of selenoprotein functions. In mammals, nonspecific 75Se insertion is very low, and sensitivity and specificity of selenoprotein detection approaches that of Western blotting. This method allows for the examination of selenoprotein expression and Se metabolism in model and non-model organisms. Herein, we describe experimental protocols for analyzing selenoproteins by metabolic labeling with 75Se both in vitro and in vivo. As an example, the procedure for metabolic labeling of HEK293T human embryonic kidney cells is described in detail. This approach remains a method of choice for the detection of selenoproteins in diverse settings.

The mixture of fluxapyroxad plus pyraclostrobin or the 9 time-spray schedule with variousfungicides was evaluated for their efficacy in controlling pear scab in field trials. It showed sufficientcondition to evaluate the efficacy of fungicides for the control of pear scab since disease incidence of theuntreated control plot was 58.4% or 100% on leaves or fruits, respectively. Pear scab on leaves was occurredby 6.3% at treated plot with the mixture of fluxapyroxad plus pyraclostrobin, resulting in the 89.2% ofcontrol value. Incidence of the fruit disease was 16.7% at treated plot with the mixture of fluxapyroxad pluspyraclostrobin, showing 83.3% of control value. When the 9 time-spray schedule was tested, pear scab wasoccurred by 5% or 13.3% on leaves or fruits, respectively. Their control values were the 91.4% on leaves or86.7% on fruits. Although the 9 time-spray schedule showed slightly lower disease incidence than the mixtureof fluxapyroxad plus pyraclostrobin, but there is no statistically significant difference. These results suggestthat the mixture of fluxapyroxad plus pyraclostrobin can control effectively the pear scab.Key words Mixture of fluxapyroxad plus pyraclostrobin, Pear scab, Venturia nashicola

The effects of treatment with various complex carbohydrases such as Pectinex, Celluclast, Viscozyme, and Ultraflo on the physiochemical properties, polyphenol extraction yields and antioxidant activities of pear peel and pear core were investigated. When pear peel and pear core were treated with complex carbohydrases, the soluble solid content of peel increased, whereas it did not change significantly in the case of pear core. When pear peel and pear core were treated with Pectinex, significant improvement of soluble solid content was observed along with the highest extraction yield of reducing sugar content. Total sugar content increased in most of the enzyme treatment groups. In the case of pear peel, the Viscozyme treatment group showed the highest total polyphenol contents, total flavonoid contents, DPPH radical scavenging activity, ABTS radical scavenging activity, and SOD-like activity. When the flesh and core of pear were treated with Celluclast, total polyphenol contents increased. All enzyme treatment groups except for the Ultraflo treatment group showed increases in total flavonoid contents. With regard to pear flesh, the Celluclast group showed the highest DPPH radical scavenging activity. When pear core was treated with the four complex carbohydrases, DPPH radical scavenging activity and ABTS radical scavenging activity did not increase significantly. However, the SOD-like activity of all enzyme treatment groups significantly increased. Consequently, dry matter and soluble solid contents, polyphenol content, and antioxidant activity of pear peel and core could be improved by complex carbohydrase treatment.

BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to investigate the effects of seeding timing and method of rye and/or hairy vetch on seasonal soil and foliar nutrient concentrations as well as fruit quality in a pesticide-free pear orchard. METHODS AND RESULTS: The treatments included as followed: single seeding of rye in September (Sep-Mono), November (Nov-Mono), and January (Jan-Mono), or mix seeding of rye+hairy vetch in November (Nov-Mix) and January (Jan-Mix), or sod culture as a control. Cover crops or vegetation was mown and mulched on the soil surface in April and May for two years. Nov-Mix treatment produced the highest dry matter weight of 12,070 kg ha -1 , with the lowest dry matter weight for sod culture (6,520 kg ha -1 ), following Jan-Mix (7,030 kg ha -1 ). Nov-Mix treatments increased potential amount of N, P, and K from the raw materials of the cover crops as well as improved soil physical properties. Nov-Mix treatments overall elevated soil pH, EC, organic matter, and P

Freezing hardiness of winter bud and branch of several pear (Pyrus pyrifolia) cultivars according to degree and duration of low temperatures was investigated by sprouting, electrolyte leaching rate and triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC). Sprouting rate as infected by degree and duration of low temperature were different between cultivars. The lower temperature, the longer duration, sprouting rate was decreased. Electrolyte leaching rate was showed above 30% at below treatment regardless of cultivars and duration. The lower temperature and the longer duration, Electrolyte leaching rate was increased. Electrolyte leaching rates of Manpungbae, Niitaka and Chuwhangbae at for 9 hours treatment which were observed high sprouting rate, were lower than those of other varieties. Absorbance rates by TTC test at treatment were 66.0 to 96.5% for 6 hours, 49.4 to 91.9% for 9 hours, and 37.3 to 89.4% for 12 hours. Freezing hardiness of pear cultivars at ecodormancy was different according to degree and duration of low temperature treatments.

This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of training systems on growth and fruit production of ‘Niitaka’ pear (Pyrus pyrifolia L.) trees in the first 8 years in South Korea. The training systems included Y-trellis (YT), T-trellis (TT), and vase-pergola with either two (VP I) or three main branches (VP II). Tree spacing for YT, TT, VP I, and VP II were 6.5 m between tree rows, and 3.0, 6.0, 3.0, and 6.5 m between trees, respectively. The TT trees had lower tree height, canopy area, and number of new shoots, average length of new shoots, and trunk cross sectional area as compared to those in other training systems in year 3 or year 8. The TT and VP II systems were slow to fill the allotted space from year 3 to 8. The VP I trees had comparatively rapid development of the tree canopy, high cumulative yield efficiency per tree, high cumulative fruit yield per area, and large fruit size, as well as low operation hours for orchard management. Fruit quality parameters, such as fruit shape, soluble solids content, firmness, and titratable acidity, were not consistently affected by training system in years 5 and 8.

Conventional (CG) and organically grown (OG) ‘Hayward’ kiwi fruits were submitted to ethylene treatment for 24 h, followed by storage at 20 °C for 10 days. Radical scavenging assays, UV spectrometry, fluorometry and chemometrical processing were used to determine the main kiwi fruits’ compounds. Firmness gradually decreased the longer they were stored, regardless of cultivation type. The rate of softening was slightly higher in OG than in CG fruits. The sensory value of kiwi fruit increased with reduced firmness and did not vary among cultivation types. Soluble solids content increased with the storage time, while acidity decreased in all fruits. Significant differences were found in polyphenols (189.98 ± 12.75 and 219.43 ± 15.73 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/100 g fresh weight, FW) in the last day of treatment between treated conventional and organic kiwi fruits. The values of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE, %) – inhibiting activity (85.35 ± 5.97 and 92.33 ± 6.46) and electron donating abilities (EDA, %), using 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (56.80 ± 5.87 and 70.63 ± 6.67) showed significant differences between treated conventional and organic kiwi fruit. The antioxidant capacities by 2,2-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)diammonium salt (ABTS + μM TE/g DW) for conventional and organic kiwi fruits were 24.1 ± 3.18 and 27.6 ± 3.85 and by nitrite oxide scavenging assay (NSE, %) as 56.35 ± 3.94 and 59.87 ± 4.19 for conventional and organic kiwi fruits, respectively, but not always significant. The observed peaks by 3-D fluorescence showed differences in the position of the main peaks and their fluorescence intensity for conventional and organic kiwi fruits in comparison with non-ethylene-treated samples. In conclusion, ethylene treatment increased the bioactivity of organic and conventional kiwi fruits. The antioxidant values for organic fruits were significantly higher than for conventional and higher than in those not treated with ethylene. All fruits showed a high level of correlation between the contents of phenolic compounds and their antioxidant values. According to the bioactivity of kiwi fruits from two cultivation systems, a combination of these fruits has to be included in the diet.

전남농업기술원 식품연구소This study was carried out to optimize the filtration, clarification, anti-browning processing conditions of clear pear juice and to investigate changes in antioxidant activity of pear juice produced through different heating treatment. For the filtration with cheese cloth, filter paper, or centrifugation (10 min at 3,000 rpm), the pear juice was most efficiently filtered with centrifugation because it showed the highest lightness (L value) and lowest yellowness (a value). Among various clarifying agents, 1% of gelatin or bentonite clarified effectively pear juice but tannin or egg albumin did not. Among anti-browning agents (0.1%) like L-ascorbic acid, NaCl or citric acid, L-ascorbic acid prevented the browning of pear juice with the lowest browning index value (2.62), compared to that of NaCl (2.74), or citric acid (2.87). Fructose, sucrose, glucose and sorbitol were present in the pear juice, the fructose and glucose contents increased but that of sucrose decreased in the heated pear juice. The total polyphenol content of the heated pear juice significantly increase, and did the total flavonoid contents in the clear and heated pear juice. The DPPH radical scavenging activity and nitrate scavenging activity were higher in the clear and heated pear juice than in the fruit crush. Key words antioxidant activity, clarification, Chuhwangbae, pear juice

This study was performed to confirm physiological activities according to parts of new pear cultivars (Gamcheonbae, Manpungbae, Chuwhangbae, Hanareum) and Niitaka pear. The total polyphenol compound contents of pear peel, flesh and core were 178~235, 95~113, 177~229 mg/100 g as tannic acid equivalent, respectively. There were differences in the contents by cultivars, Chuwhangbae and Hanareum cultivars showed high contents. The total flavonoid contents of the pear peel, flesh and core were 29.2~40.2, 24.3~34.3, 26.9~38.8 mg/100 g, respectively and those of Chuwhangbae and Gamcheonbae cultivars showed comparatively high values. The electron-donating ability was high in Chuwhangbae, Gamcheonbae and in the pear peel (29.7~57.7%), core (29.1~38.2%), flesh (7.6~17.7%), in that order. The nitrate scavenging activity was highest in that pear peel (21.0~49.8%), followed by the core (11.8~16.2%) and flesh (7.8~9.7%), but there was little difference by cultivar.

This study was designed to investigate functional recovery after the transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) or neurally differentiated MSCs (NMSCs) derived from bone marrow in a rat model of spinal cord injury (SCI). Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to incomplete SCI using an NYU impactor to create a free drop contusion at the T9 level. The SCI rats were then classified into three groups; MSCs, NMSCs, and phosphate-buffered saline (PBS)-treated groups. The cells or PBS were administrated 1 week after SCI. Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan (BBB) locomotor rating scores were measured at 1-week intervals for 9 weeks. Somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs) and motor evoked potentials (MEPs) were also recorded 8 weeks after transplantation. While transplantation of MSCs led to a clear tendency of motor recovery, NMSC-treated rats had significantly improved BBB scores and showed significantly shortened initial latency, N1 latency, and P1 latency of the SSEPs compared to PBS controls. In addition, 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU)-prelabeled MSCs costained for BrdU and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) or myelin basic protein (MBP) were found rostrally and caudally 5 mm each from the epicenter of the necrotic cavity 4 weeks after transplantation. These results suggest that neurally differentiated cells might be an effective therapeutic source for functional recovery after SCI.

This study was performed to compare antioxidant activities of 80% EtOH extracts from young and mature fruit of three pear cultivars (‘Wonhwang’, ‘Whangkeumbae’, and ‘Chuwhangbae’) classified by three parts (peel, core, and flesh) of mature fruit. The total phenolics compound and flavonoid contents of 80% EtOH extracts from young fruit were 1.5-2.5 times higher than the mature fruit with great cultivar difference. In particular, the contents of those compounds were highest in ‘Chuwhangbae’ pear. The total phenolics compound and flavonoid contents of 80% EtOH extracts from mature fruit were the most in the peel, core, and flesh respectively. DPPH radical scavenging and ABTS + radical scavenging of 80% EtOH extracts from the young fruit were higher than the mature fruit of ‘Chuwhangbae’ pear. DPPH radical scavenging and ABTS + radical scavenging of 80% EtOH extracts from mature fruit were the highest in the peel, core, and flesh respectively. Additional key words : ABTS, DPPH radical scavenging, flavonoid, phenolic compounds