Biotechnology
Laboratory for Oriental Medicinal Materials (HanBangBio)
Director: Associate Professor Deok-Chun Yang (dcyang@khu.ac.kr)
Research Overview
Our research(HanBangBio) is being done on oriental medicinal
plants including ginseng. 1) More than 20,000 expressed sequence
tags (ESTs) from ginseng, Codonopsis Ianceolata and other
medicinal plants have been obtained. New genes from the EST
sequences have been identified and characterized. 2) Oriental
medicinal plants including Codonopsis sp. Adenophora sp. etc.
are re-identified by molecular taxonomic technique using ITS
and ribosomal DNA sequences. After identification, molecular
markers for discrimination of specific plants are developed.
3) Promoter regions of medicinal plant genes responsive to
environmental stresses are identified. 4) Useful genes encoding
biosynthetic enzymes for pharmaceutically active compounds
in ginseng have been transformed to other plants and amplified
for mass production. 5) A new vector system without antibiotic
resistance genes is being developed for plant transformation.
6) Roots of medicinal plants(Sedium sp. and Rhodiola sp.)are
regenerated in vitro. 7) Major ginsenosides Rb, Rg are biotransformed
to pharmaceutically more active minor ginsenosides Rd, Rg3
and Rh2 by microbial enzymes. Many lactic acid bacteria and
their enzymes were isolated and characterized. 8) Pathogenic
fungi on medicinal plants were isolated and their distribution
in Korean field is analyzed using molecular technique.
Ongoing Projects
Mass production of ginsenoside using rhizosphere microorganisms
Development of ginseng culture technique for post-4 year culture
Development of new pharmaceutical material by microbial fermentation
in medicinal plant
Development of genetic maker for Chun-Poong cultivar
Development of new functional material using saponin-biosynthetic
genes
Analysis of Codonopsis lanceolata EST
Characterization of stress-resistant genes and their transformation
Re-evaluation of ginseng product containing red ginseng
Natural Products Chemistry Laboratory
Director: Professor Nam-In Baek (nibaek@khu.ac.kr)
Research Overview
Our research at the Natural Products Chemistry Laboratory
focuses on the study of isolation of secondary metabolites
from natural sources including oriental medicinal materials,
determination of the chemical structure, and evaluation of
the biological and pharmacological activity. Through our research,
we develop novel and safe materials for drugs, cosmetics,
functional foods and agrochemicals, which ultimately contribute
to human health.
Ongoing Projects
Development of pharmacological materials from oriental medicinal
drugs
Study of the biosynthetic pathway of guaianolide sesquiterpenes
in composite plants
Development of anticancer materials from natural sources
Study of the metabolomics of the secondary metabolites in
the higher plants
Laboratory of Oriental Medicinal
Product and Processing
Director : Assistant professor Tae-hoo Yi (drhoo@khu.ac.kr)
Research Overview
Our research laboratory focuses on developing functional food
and cosmetic materials using oriental medicinal plants and
studying their mechanism.
Until now we have focused on finding anti-alopecia agents
from oriental medicinal plants and developing drugs and cosmetic
products for alopecia. Most cases of hair loss seen in clinical
practice mainly represent disturbances of the cycle of hair
follicle are based on a premature termination of anagen. So
we have been studying that herbal medicinal plants that prevent
anagen to telogen transformation and stimulate telogen to
anagen transformation in the C57BL/6 mouse resulting in both
cellular proliferation and protein synthesis increase. Furthermore
we focus on cell regeneration and mutual delivery mechanisms
between the skin and drugs as well as a host of innovative
products for aging prevention, whitening, hydration, etc.
We also study delivery systems for effective oriental medicinal
materials.
Ongoing Projects
Development of hair follicle and hair cycle destruction /
recovery mouse model for anti-alopecia agent evaluating system
(APES).
Oriental medicinal plants screening for promoting hair growth
by using keratinocyte and dermal papilla cells.
Laboratory of Plant Physiology
Director: Professor Young-Deok Rho (ydrho@khu.ac.kr)
Research Overview
The lecture provides the basic knowledge for the improvement
of the efficiency in the production of plant resources by
studying growth and development processes, physiological phenomenon
occurring in these processes and their relationship to the
environment.
Laboratory of Plant Tissue Culture
Director: Professor Se-Yeong Kim (sekim@khu.ac.kr)
Research Overview
Subjects include rapid multiplication of important horticultural
crops, cell fusion, manipulation of genes, and secondary metabolites
production via in vitro culture.
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