A series of organosulfur compounds were synthesized with the aim of developing chemopreventive compounds active against hepatotoxicity and chemical carcinogesis. 2-(Allylthio) prazine (2-AP) was effective in inhibiting cytochrome P450 2E1-mediated catalytic activities and protein expression, and in inducing microsomal epoxide hydrolase and major glutathione S-transferases. 2-AP reduced the hepatotoxicity caused by toxicant sand elevated cellular GSH content. Development of skin tumors, pulmonary adenoma and aberrant crypt foci in colon by various chemical carcinogens was inhibited by 2-AP pretreatment. Anticarcinogenic effects of 2-AP at the stage of initiation of tumors were also observed in the aflatoxin B1 ($AFB_1$)-induced three-step medium-term hepatocarcinogenesis model. Reduction of $AFB_1$-DNA adduct by 2-AP appeared to result from the decreased formation of $AFB_1$-8,9-epoxide via suppression of cytochrome P450, while induction of GST 2-AP increases the excretion of glutathione-conjugated $AFB_1$ . 2-AP was a radioprotective agent effective against the lethal dose of total body irradiation and reduced radiation-induced injury in association with the elevation of detoxifying gene expression. 2-AP produces reactive oxygen species in vivo, which is not mediated with the thiol-dependent production of oxidants and that NF-KB activation is not involved in the induction of the detoxifying enzymes. the mechanism of chemoprotection by 2-AP may involve inhibition of the P450-mediated metabolic activation of chemical carcinogens and enhancement of electrophilic detoxification through induction of phase II detoxification enzymes which would facilitate the clearance of activated metabolites through conjugation reaction.

Recombinant murine stem cell factor (rmSCF) or recombinant murine nerve growth factor (rmNGF) induced the morphological change of large numbers of rat peritoneal mast cells (RPMC). We investigated the role of phosphatidylinositol $3^{l}-kinase$ (PI3-kinase) in receptors-mediated morphological change in RPMC. Exposure of RPMC to PI3-kinase inhibitor, wortmannin, before the addition of rmSCF and rmNGF antagonized those factors-induced morphological change. These results suggest that the PI3-kinase is involved in the signal transduction pathway responsible for morphological change following stimulation of rmSCF and rmNGF and that wortmannin blocks these responses.

Previous work in our laboratory has shown that the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists, AP-5, CPP, MK-801, ketamine, dextrorphan and dextromethorphan cause a pronounced enhancement of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)-induced head-twitch response (HTR) in intact mice, suggesting the involvement of NMDA receptors in the glutamatergic modulation of serotonergic function at the postsynaptic $5-HT_{2}$ receptors. The purpose of this study was to extend our previous work on the behavioral interaction between glutamatergic and serotonergic receptors. In the present study, both competitive (AP-5 and CPP) and noncompeti-tive (MI-801, ketamine, dextrorphan and dextromethorphan) NMDA receptor antagonists markedly enhanced 5-HT-induced selective serotonergic behavior, HTR, in p-chlorophenylalanine (PCPA)-treated mice which were devoid of any involvement of indirect serotonergic function, to establish the involvement of the NMDA receptor in 5-HT-induced HTR at the postsyaptic $5-HT_{2}$receptors. In addition, the enhancement of 5-HT-induced HTR was inhibited by a dopamine agonist, apomorphine, NMDA receptor antagonist, NMDA and a serotonin $5-HT_{2}$receptor antagonist, cyproheptadine, in PCPA-treated mice. Therefore, the present results support our previous conclusion that the NMDA receptors play an important role in the glutamatergic modulation of serotonergic function at the poststynaptic $5-HT_{2}$ receptors.

Parathyroid hormone (PTH) treatment of bone and kidney-derived cells not only activates adenyly cyclase buy also increases intracellular free calcium, and translocates protein kinase C (PKC) from cytosol to plasma membranes. We have found that acute phorbol ester pretreatment significantly decreases PTH-induced calcium transients and the effect of phorbol ester was antagonized by staurosporine (ST). Although the major effect of ST in that study was the reversal of the action of phorbol ester, it appeared that ST may also have promoted the effect of PTH directly. To further investigate the observation, we examined the effect of ST on the intracellular calcium transients induced by PTH and $\alpha$-thrombin ($\alpha$-TH). For calcium transient experiments, UMR-106 cells were loaded with 2 mM fluo-acetoxymethylester for 30 min at room temperature. The cells were then washed and suspended in buffer containing 1 mM calcium. Fluorescence was detected at 530 nm, with excitation at 505 nm. ST alone did not cause calcium transients, but enhanced the transients elicited by PTH response. added 5 min before the hormone. Another protein kinase inhibitor H-7 likewise enhanced the calcium responses elicited by PTH, while genistein did not affect PTH response. Calcium transients elicited by $\alpha$-TH were also enhanced by ST. The results suggest that there might be tonically activated endogenous protein kinase(s) which inhibit calcium signaling of some calcemic agents.

The present study was undertaken to investigate the effect of biphenyl dimethyl idcarboxylate (PMC) on the humoral immunosuppression by ketoconazole (KCZ) in ICR mice. PMC at a dose of 6 mg/kg was administered orally to mice daily for 14 consecutive days. KCZ was suspended in RPMI 1640 medium and orally administered at 160 mg/kg/day 2 hrs after the administration of PMC. Mice were immunized an challenged with challenged red blood cells (SRBC). The results of the present study are summarized as follows; a gain of body weight and relative weights of spleen and liver were significantly increased by combination of PMC and KCZ, as compared with those in mice treated with KCZ alone. Splenic plaque forming cells (PFC) and hemagglutination (HA) titers to SRBC were greatly enhanced by the combination of PMC and KCZ, compared with treatment of KCZ alone. The elevation of serum glutamicpyruvic transminase (S-GPT) and total protein levels caused by KCZ were reduced to normal level by the combination of PMC and KCZ. In addition, lower serum albumin and A/G ratio were also increased to normal level. These findings indicate that PMC has a protective effect against KCZ-induced humoral immunosuppression.

Mouse guanylate-binding protein 3 (mGBP3) is a 71-kDa GTPase which belongs to GTP-binding protein family. The present study showed that the expression of mGBP3 transcript was readily induced in a dose dependent fashion in the macrophage cell line RAW264.7 treated with either $interferon-{\gamma} (IFN-\gamma)$ or lipopolysaccaride (LPS). The expression of mGBP3 protein was also apparent by 4 and 6 h after the treatment of cells with IFN-\gamma (100 U/ml) or LPS ($1{\mu}g/ml$) , and remained at palteau for at least 24 h. Cycloheximide ($10{\mu}g/ml$) had no effect on the $IFN-\gamma-$ or LPS-induced mGBP3 expression, suggesting that the mGBP3 induction did not require further protein synthesis. Interestingly, a protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor staurosporine (50 nM) abolished the induction of mGBP3 expression by LPS, but not by $IFN-{\gamma}$. These findings suggest that mGBP3 may be involved in the macrophage activation process and both IFN-\gamma and LS induce the mGBP3 expression through distinct signal transduction pathways.

Anti-ulcer activity of newly synthesized acylquinoline derivatives was investigated. For the in vitro screening, the effects of compounds on gastric $H^{+}/K^{+}$ ATPase isolated from hog and rabbit were examined. Among them, AU-090, AU-091, AU-254, AU-413 and AU-466 exhibited good in vitro activity on both enzymes. To correlate the in vitro activity with in vivo action, the effects of the compounds on the basal gastric acid secretion were studied. Some derivatives showed considerable anti-secretory activities, and AU-413 was selected for further studies. AU-413 protected gastric damage induced by either ethanol or NaOH dose dependently when given orally. $ED_{50}$ values of 12 mg/kg, p.o. (ethanol) and 41 mg/kg, p.o. (NaOH) were obtained. In addition, histamine-stimulated gastric secretion was reduced upon AU-413 administration. Taken together, newly synthesized acylquinoline derivatives, especially AU-413, is worthy of further investigation to be developed as an anti-ulcer agent.

melatonin (MLT), N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine, is mainly secreted by the pineal gland. The ultraviolet (UV), infrared (IR) and 1H-NMR spectra of irradiated and non-irradiated MLT were measured, and phototoxicity tests of MLT, anthracence (positive control) and sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS, negative control) were performed. The methods employed include both in vitro test such as MTS assay using the human fibroblast cell and yeast growth inhibition assay using Candida albicans and in vivo method using the skin of guinea pig. UV absorption spectra and 1H-NMR spectra of MLT were changed by UVA (365 nm, 15 J/$\textrm{cm}^2$), but IR spectra of MLT were not changed. The fifty percent inhibitory concentration (IC50) ratio (UV-/UV+) of MLT was 10. The inhibition zone of irradiated-paper disks treated with MLT was not observed. According to the results of histophathological examination, no pathologic lesion was observed in the non-irradiated group, but slight degeneration of keratinocytes in the epidermis, homorrhage and vasodilation in dermis were observed in the irradiated group. These results indicated that the molecular structure of MLT is altered by UVA to unidentified photoproducts and a moderate phototoxicity of MLT is predicted.

Despite the impressive antitumor activity of cisplatin, two major limitations of the drug, that is severe side effects and drug-resistance of cancer cells, make its use difficult of r cancer therapy. These limitations have resulted in a greate deal of effort having been expended into structural modifications of cisplatin. In this study, we tested two novel cisplatin analogues, (CPA)2 Pt[DOLYM] (COMP-I) and (DACH)Pt[DOLYM] (CoMP-II), for the mode of cytotoxic action against human tumor cells comparing with cisplatin and carboplatin in vitro. These two novel analogues had considerable cytotoxic activities against five kinds of human solid tumor cells, and especially COMP-II was more effective on HCT15 colon cancer cells than other compounds. In addition, COMP-II had cytostatic activity at low concentrations (10~0.3${\mu}g/ml$), but other compounds revealed little effect on tumor growth at the low concentration.

LB50016 was characterized as a selective and potent$ 5-HT_{1A}$ receptor agonist and evaluate it anxiolytic and antidepressant activities. It shows high affinity for $ 5-HT_{1A}$receptor, moderate affinity for $\alpha$2 adrenergic and $ 5-HT_{2A}$receptors and no significant affinity for other receptors tested. Hypothermia and increased serum corticosterone level were observed in LB50016-treated rats, which are mediated mostly by post synaptic $ 5-HT_{1A}$ receptor activation. In the mouse forced swim model for depression, LB50016-elicited dose-dependent reductions in immobility time, showing $ED_{50}$ of approximately 3 mg/kg i.p., which was blocked by pretreatment of NAN-190, $ 5-HT_{1A}$antagonist. In face-to-face test for anxiolytic activity in mice, estimated $ED_{50}$ was 2 mg/kg, i.p.. In isolation-induced aggression test with mice, fifty-fold increases in latency to attack were observed at 30 min and last up to 4 h after LB50016 treatment (3 mg/kg, i.p.). Taken together, LB50016-induced pharmacological activities are mediated by activation of $ 5-HT_{1A}$receptors, offering an effective therapeutic candidate in the management of anxiety and depression in humans.

In the present work , the transport mechanism of a capsaicin derivative, DA-5018, through blood-brain barrier (BBB) has been investigated to evaluate the feasibility of potential drug development. The result of pharmacokinetic parameters obtained from the intravenous injection of plasma volume marker,$[3^H]RSA$ and $[{14}^C]DA-5018$, indicated that both AUC, area under the plasma concentration curve and VD, volume of distribution in brain of $[3^H]RSA$ agreed with those reported ($1620{\pm}10 $percentage injected dose minute per milliliter (%IDmin/ml) and $12.0{\pm}0.1{\mu}l/g$, respectively). Elimination half-life and AUC of $[{14}^C]DA-5018$is corrected by the PHLC analysis, 19.6$\pm$1.2 min and 7.69$\pm$0.85% IDmin/ml, respectively. The metabolic rate of $[{14}^C]DA-5018$was very rapid. The blood-brain barrier permeability surface area (PS) product of $[{14}^C]DA-5018$ was calculated to be 0.24$\pm$0.05 $\mu$l/min/g. The result of internal carotid artery perfusion and capillary depletion suggested that [14C]DA-5018 pass through BBB with the time increasingly. Investigation of transport mechanism of $[{14}^C]DA-5018$ using agonist and antagonist suggested that vanilloid (capsaicin) receptor did not exist in the BBB, and nutrient carrier system in the BBB has no effect on the transport of DA-5018. In conclusion, despite the fact that penetration of DA-5018 through BBB is significant, the intact drug found in the brain tissue is small because of a rapid metabolism. Therefore, for the central analgesic effect of DA-5018, the method to increase the metabolic stability in plasma and the brain permeability should be considered.

Remarks on polyphenolic compounds has been arisen since past few years. the flavonoids appears to be the important groups of compounds with their capability to inhibit DNA damage, lipid peroxidation, to quench free radicals and, at least, anticarcinogenic and antiproliferative effects. On the other hand, their mechanism of action is still unexplained. Apigenin and luteolin are the most wide-spread flavones and they exhibited to be useful in chemoprevention. UV spectrometric and DC polarographic studies on these two compounds have been carried out with regard to changing pH. The most significant changes were observed at basic pH. These results could aid to elucidation of their mechanism of action as pH is one of the important factors for bioprocesses passing in living organisms.

3-Arylisoquinolin-1(2H)-ones (2) are possible bioisosteres of the $5-[4^{l}-(piperidinomethyl)phenyl]-2<$,3-dihydroimidazo[2,1-$\alpha$]isoquinoline (1) which is in clinical evaluation for the treatment of cancer. Structure-activity relationship studies of 3-arylisoquinolin-1(2H)-ones. (2) led to the synthesis of 3-arylquinolin-2(1H)-ones (3). A number of 3-phenyl substituted quinolin-2(1H)-ones were synthesized and tested for their in vitro antitumor activity against four different human tumor cell lines and 3-phenyl-N-benzyl-3,4-dihydroquinolin-2(1H)-one (12) showed the most potent activity.

A series of 4-amino Capsaincin anallogs 15, 17 and 19 were prepared to investigate the bioisosteric effect of 4-amino group, and all these compounds exhibited moderate or weak potency from their analgesic test. From our previous results and others, 4-hydroxyl group as well as 3-methoxy substituent could be crucial for high analgesic activity. This biological results also shows that the activity is sensitive to alkyl chain length in hydrophobic region and the phenylacetic amides 19 are more active than the corresponding urea derivatives 17.

Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS) with an eletcrospray ionization (ESI) interface was applied to the identification of metabolites of IY81149 in the rat plasma. Fragments obtained using collision-induced dissociation (CID) in both positive and negative modes were utilized to elucidate the structure of metabolites. The eluent from the conventional HPLC column was split and directly introduced into an ESI-mass spectrometer for the identification of the structures. the CID technique allowed the sensitive identification of sulfonyl-IY81149 and hydroxy-IY81149 from the rat plasma.

The reaction of thiocyanoacetamide (1) with ${\alpha},{\beta}$-unsaturated ketones 2a,b resulted in the formation of the corresponding newly synthesized 1(H)-pyridinethione derivatives 3a,b. Compounds 3a,b were used as synthons for the preparation of 2-S-alkyl-, 2-S-acetamidopyridine, thieno[2,3-b]pyridine and pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridine derivatives via a wide range of reactions with different reagents. The antimicrobial activity of some of the newly synthesized compounds was tested. Compounds 3a, 11a, 15a, and 19a,b were found to be the most active ones.

New series of catechol ether type derivatives 5, 6 have been synthesized and applied to biological tests. Even though it is ap preliminary data, some of our target molecules show the promising result against PDE IV inhibition. SAR and biological studies with studies with synthetic compounds will be discussed in detail.

Activity-guided fractionation of the roots of Anthriscus sylvestris resulted in the isolated and characterization of five cytotoxic compounds, deoxypodophyllotoxin (1), falcarindiol (2), and angeloyl podophyllotoxin (5) from the hexane soluble fraction and morelensin (3), bursehernin (4) from the choloroform soluble fraction. It is the first report of the occurrence of compound 5 in nature.

The antioxidant activity of Eriobotrya japonica was determined by measuring the radical scavenging effect on DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) radical and lipid peroxidation produced when mouse liver homogenate was exposed to the air at $37^{\circ}C$, using 2-thiobarbituric acid (TBA). The methanol extract and its factions of Eriobotrya japonica leaves showed strong antioxidant activity. The antioxidant activity of EtOAc and n-BuOH soluble fractions were stronger than the others, and were further purified by repeated silica gel, MCl gel CHP-20P, and Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography. Antioxidant chlorogenic acid, quercetin-3-sambubioside from n-BuOH fraction and methyl chlorogenate, kaempferol- and quercetin-3-rhamnosides, together with the inactive ursolic acid and$ 2{\alpha}$-hydroxyursolic acid from EtOAc fraction were isolated. Antioxidant flavonoids and chlorogenic acid also showed prominent inhibitory activity against free radical generation in dichlorofluorescein (DCF) method.

In our search for the anticonvulsant consitutent of Gastrodia elata repeated column chromatographies guided by activity assay led to isolation of an active compound, which was identified as gastrodin on the basis of spectral data. Brain succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase (SSADH) was inactivated by preincubation with gastrodin in a time-dependent manner and the reaction was monitored by absorption and fluorescene spectroscopic methods. The inactivation followed pseudo-first-order kinetics with the second-rate order constant of $1.2{\times}10^{3} M^{-1} min^{-1}$. The time course of the reaction was significantly affected by the coenzyme NAD^{+}$, which affected complete protection against the loss of the catalytic activity, whereas substrate succinic semialdehyde failed to prevent the inactivation of the enzyme. It is postulated that the gastrodin is able to elevate the neurotransmitter GABA levels in central nervous system by inhibitory action on one of the GABA degradative enzymes, SSADH.

A new acylcic deterpene (1) and a known acyclic diterpene 12(S)-hydroxygeranyleraniol (2) were isolated form the aerial parts of Carpesium divaricatum. The structure of 1 was determined to be (2E, 10E)-1, 12-dihydroxy-18-acetoxy-3,7,15-trimethylhexadeca-2,10,14-triene (1) on the basis of spectroscopic studies. Compounds 1 and 2 exhibited cytotoxicity against cultured human tumor cell lines, A549, SK-OV-3, SK-MEL-2, XF498, and $HCT_{15}$, with $ED_{50}$ values ranging from 4.3-10.2 ${\mu}g/ml$ and 4.1-8.3 ${\mu}g/ml$, respectively.