2-Thiouracil-5-sulphonic acid N-(4-acetylphenyl) Amide (1) was reacted with a series of aromatic aldehydes giving chalcones 2 (Claisen-Schemidt reaction), some of these chalcones were reacted with urea and thiourea giving pyrimidine-2-one and pyrimidine-2 thione derivatives respectively of the type 3a,b and 4a,b. In addition many chalcones were reacted with hydroxylamine hydrochloride giving isoxazoline derivatives 5a,b. They could also reacted with phenylhydrazine to give pyrazoline derivatives 5a,b, chalcones also were reacted withethylcyano acetate and/or malononitryl in pyridine giving pyran derivatives 7a,c and 8a,c. In another pathway chalcones were epoxidised by $H_{2}O_{2}$ giving epoxides 9a,c which in turn were reacted with phenylhydrazine giving 4-hydroxypyrazoline derivatives 10a,c. In another reaction chalcones were reacted with ethylcyanoacetate in presence of amm.acetate giving pyridone derivatives 11a,d which could be prepared also in exellent yield from compound 1 by its reaction with certain aromatic aldehydes and ethylcyanoacetate in presence of ammonium acetate. Finally, compound 1 was reacted with semicarbazide giving semicarbazone intermediate 12 which in turn was reacted with thionyl chloride giving thiadiazole derivative 13. The biological effects of some of the new synthesized compounds were also investigated.

N,N-Dialkylditihiocarbamate derivatives have been well known as broad-range fungicides. In this study, the triazole derivatives of ten new N,N-disubstituted dithiocarbamates (3a-j) were synthesized and their structures were identified by spectral and elemental analysis. Results of the antifungal activity studies showed that some of the compounds tested were active against M. canis, M. gypseum, and T rubrum at the concentration of 12.5 $\mu$g/mL when c1otrimazol was used as a standard.

6-[2-(Benzoxazol-2-ylmethylamino)ethoxy]-1-alkyl-1H-indole-2-carboxylic acids were designed and synthesized as $\beta$-amyloid (A$\beta$) fibril assembly inhibitors. Their inhibitory activity on A$\beta$, aggregation was evaluated by thioflavin T assay although their activities were insignificant.

Here we report the cytotoxic activity of three known compounds isolated for the first time from Corydalis pallida (Papaveraceae). An isoquinoline alkaloid, berberine, exhibited cytototoxic activity against two human cancer cell lines, HT-1080 (human fibrosarcoma) and SNU-638 (human stomach adenocarcinoma), with $IC_{50}$ values of 3.2 and 3.4 $\mu$g/mL, respectively. N­trans-feruloyltyramine and N-trans-feruloylmethoxytyramine were also isolated from this plant but were inactive.

Four compounds, including two novel macrolides, were isolated from an endophyte Streptomyces sp. Is9131 of Maytenus hookeri. Spectral data indicated that these compounds were dimeric dinactin (1), dimeric nonactin (2), cyclo-homononactic acid (3), and cyclo-nonactic acid (4). Bioassay results showed that dimeric dinactin had strong antineoplastic activity and antibacterial activity.

Two new biflavonoids, 3'-hydroxyamentoflavone-7-O-methyl ether (1) and 3'-hydroxyamentoflavone (2), were isolated from the fruits of Aristolochia contorta Bge. Their structures were elucidated by HR-ESI-MS, 1D-, and 2D-NMR spectroscopy.

A new phenolic glycoside, ophiopojaponin D (1), together with two known compounds, was isolated from the tubers of a famous traditional Chinese herb-Ophiopogon japonicus Ker-Gawl. The spectroscopic and chemical data revealed their structures to be 3-tetradecyloxy-4­hydroxy-allylbenzene-4-O-$\alpha$-L-rhamnopyranosyl (1$\rightarrow$6)-$\beta$-D-glucopyranoside (1), 3, 4-dihy-droxy-allylbenzene-4-O-$\alpha$-L-rhamnopyranosyl (1$\rightarrow$6)-$\beta$-D-glucopyranoside (2) and L-pyro­glutamic acid (3).

A new norditerpenoid and a known alkaloid were isolated from the alkaloidal fraction of the processed tubers of Aconitum carmichaeli. The structure of the new norditerpenoid alkaloid was elucidated as lipoforesaconitine (1) on the basis of spectroscopic analysis. The known norditerpenoid alkaloid was characterized as lipoyunanaconitine (2). In addition, a new flavonoid, 6'-O-acetylliquiritin (7), along with a known ceramide, (2S,3S,4R,8E)-2-[(2'R)-2'­hydroxylignoceroylamino]-8(E)-octadecene-1,3,4-triol (3), as well as a known steroid saponin, gracillin (8), and three known flavonoids, Iiquiritigenin (4), isoliquiritigenin (5), and liquiritin (6), were also isolated and characterized. All known compounds were isolated from this plant for the first time. The structures of the isolates were established by spectroscopic and chemical methods.

The anti-inflammatory activity of Eurya emarginata (Thumb) Makino, of which leaves have been traditionally used to treat ulcers or diuretic in Jeju Island, has been investigated in the present study. Through the phytochemical study from the methanol extract of E. emaginiata, eutigosides Band C were isolated as the active components. Sseveral inflammatory markers including TNF-$\alpha$, IL-1$\beta$, IL-6, NO, iNOS, and COX-2 were examined. Eutigosides Band C potentially inhibited production of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6 and TNF-$\alpha$) in a dose-dependent manner. Additionally, the intracellular contents of iNOS protein were markedly decreased after treatment with eutigosides Band C. The inhibition of iNOS activity was correlated with the decrease in nitrite levels. These results suggest that eutigoside Band C from E. emarginata may have anti-inflammatory activity through the inhibition of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-$\alpha$ and IL-6), iNOS and COX-2.

In this study, we evaluated the cytoprotective effects of antioxidative substances in hydrogen peroxide ($H_{2}O_{2}$) treated Mel-Ab melanocytes. Tested substances include selenium, quercetin, green tea (GT) extract, and several vitamins (ascorbic acid, Trolox, and folic acid). Of these, both quercetin and GT extract were found to have strong cytoprotective effects on $H_{2}O_{2}$­induced cell death. We also examined additive effects, but no combination of two of any of the above substances was found to act synergistically against oxidative damage in Mel-Ab cells. Nevertheless, a multi-combination of GT extract, quercetin, and folic acid appeared to prevent cellular damage in a synergistic manner, which suggests that combinations of antioxidants may be of importance, and that co-treatment with antioxidants offers a possible means of treating vitiligo, which is known to be related to melanocyte oxidative stress.

MMP-9 is a metalloproteinase capable of basement membrane degradation in vivo. Expression of MMP-9 can be found in normal conditions such as trophoblasts, osteoclasts, and leukocytes and their precursors. They also occur as well as in pathological conditions, such as the invasive growth of primary tumors, metastasis, angiogenesis, rheumatoid arthritis, and periodontal diseases. MMP-9 upregulation can be highly induced by a wide range of agents. These agents include growth factors, cytokines, cell-cell, and cell-ECM adhesion molecules, and agents altering cell shape. Here, we observed that TNF-$\alpha$ stimulated human monocytic cell line, HL-60 produced MMP-9 in a dose and time dependent manner. Real time PCR results indicated transcriptional upregulation of MMP-9 as early as 3 h post TNF-$\alpha$ stimulation. To investigate the signaling pathway underlined in TNF-$\alpha$ induced MMP-9 expression, three MAP kinase inhibitors were added to cells 1 h prior to TNF-$\alpha$ treatment. The ERK inhibitor completely abolished MMP-9 expression by TNF-$\alpha$. But neither p38 MAP kinase nor JNK inhibitor had an effect on TNF-$\alpha$ induced MMP-9 expression, suggesting that ERK activation is required for the MMP-9 induction by TNF-$\alpha$. Taken together, we found that TNF-$\alpha$ stimulation facilitates ERK activation, which results in the transcriptional upregulation of MMP-9 gene and subsequent MMP-9 production and secretion.

Recently, it was reported that reduction in serum adiponectin levels is correlated with the incidence of breast cancer. As an effort to explain this, we screened various human breast cancer cell lines to identify those in which proliferation is directly controlled by adiponectin. Among the five tested cell lines, proliferation of MDA-MB-231 cancer cell was significantly suppressed by adiponectin within the range of physiological concentration. Furthermore, prolonged adiponectin treatment caused cell growth arrest and even apoptosis of MDA-MB-231. This result is the first to show that adiponectin can directly control cancer cell growth and provides a rationale for the theory that reduction in plasma adiponectin levels could be a risk factor for breast cancer.

The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays a key role in angiogenesis, which is a process where new blood vessels develop from the endothelium of a pre-existing vasculature. VEGF exerts its activity by binding to its receptor tyrosine kinase, KDR/Flk-1, which is expressed on the surface of endothelial cells. A methanol extract and organic solvent (n-hexane, ethyl acetate, n-butanol, aqueous) fractions from Rubus coreanus were examined for their inhibitory effects on VEGF binding to the VEGF receptor. The methanol extract from the crude drug were found to significantly inhibit VEGF binding to the VEGF receptor ($IC_{50}$$\thickapprox$27 $\mu$g/mL). Among the fractions examined, the aqueous fraction from the medicinal plant showed potent inhibitory effects against the binding of KDR/Flk-1-Fc to immobilized $VEGF_{165}$ in a dose­dependent manner ($IC_{50}$$\thickapprox$11 $\mu$g/mL). Sanguiin H-6 was isolated as an active principle from the aqueous fraction, and inhibited the binding of KDR/Flk-1-Fc to immobilized $VEGF_{165}$ in a dose­dependent manner ($IC_{50}$$\thickapprox$0.3 $\mu$g/mL). In addition, sanguiin H-6 efficiently blocked the VEGF­induced HUVEC proliferation in a dose-dependent manner ($IC_{50}$$\thickapprox$7.4 $\mu$g/mL) but had no effect on the growth of HT1080 human fibrosarcoma cells. This suggests that sanguiin H-6 might be a potential anti-angiogenic agent.

The $G_{q/11}$ protein-coupled receptors, such as muscarinic (M1 & M3) receptors, have been shown to regulate the release of a soluble amyloid precursor protein (sAPP$\alpha$) produced from $\alpha$-secretase processing. However, there is no direct evidence for the precise characteristics of G proteins, and the signaling mechanism for the regulation of $G_{q/11}$ protein-coupled receptor mediated sAPP$\alpha$ release is not clearly understood. This study examined whether the muscarinic receptor-mediated release of sAPP$\alpha$ is directly regulated by $G\alpha_{q/11}$ proteins. The HEK293 cells were transiently cotransfected with muscarinic M3 receptors and a dominant-negative minigene construct of the G protein $\alpha$ subunit. The sAPP$\alpha$ release in the media was measured using an antibody specific for sAPP. The sAPP$\alpha$ release enhancement induced by muscarinic receptor stimulation was decreased by a $G_{q/11}$ minigene construct, whereas it was not blocked by a control minigene construct (the G$\alpha$ carboxy peptide in random order, G$\alpha_{q}$R) or $G\alpha_{j}$ constructs. This indicated a direct role of the $G\alpha_{q/11}$ protein in the regulation of muscarinic M3 receptor-mediated sAPP$\alpha$ release. We also investigated whether the transactivation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) by a muscarinic agonist could regulate the sAPP$\alpha$ release in SH-SY5Y cells. Pretreatment of a specific EGFR kinase inhibitor, tyrophostin AG1478 (250 nM), blocked the EGF-stimulated sAPP$\alpha$ release, but did not block the oxoM­stimulated sAPP$\alpha$ release. This demonstrated that the transactivation of the EGFR by muscarinic receptor activation was not involved in the muscarinic receptor-mediated sAPP$\alpha$ release.

The in vivo immunomodulatory function of the activity of murine natural killer (NK) cells induced by high mannuronic acid-containing alginate (HMA) was examined. HMA was injected i.p at doses of 25 and 100 mg/kg. The NK activity was 3 times higher with 100 mg/kg HMA than the baseline. In addition, in vitro studies of splenocytes cultured with HMA for 20 h showed a significant increase in NK activity at E:T ratio of 100: 1; a 160$\%$ and 210$\%$ increase at 10 and 100 $\mu$g/mL, respectively. There was a six fold increase in interferon-$\gamma$ production in a postculture of splenocytes with 100 $\mu$g/mL HMA. HMA had no suppressive effects on the lymphocyte function in the presence or absence of mitogens. This suggests that HMA is useful in cancer immunotherapy.

KR-33028 (N-[4-cyano-benzo[b]thiophene-2-carbonyl]guanidine) is a new cardioprotective agent for preventing ischemia-reperfusion injury. This study was performed to identify the metabolic pathway of KR-33028 in human liver microsomes and to compare its metabolism with that of cryopreserved human hepatocytes. Human liver microsomal incubation of KR-33028 in the presence of NADPH and UDPGA resulted in the formation of four metabolites, M1, M2, M3, and M4. M1 and M2 were identified as 5-hydroxy-KR-33028 and 7-hydroxy-KR-33028, respectively, on the basis of LC/MS/MS analysis with the synthesized authentic standard. M3 and M4 were suggested to be dihydroxy-KR-33028 and hydroxy-KR-33028-glucuronide, respectively. Metabolism of KR-33028 in cryopreserved human hepatocytes resulted in the formation of M1, M2, and M4. These data show a good correlation between major metabolites formed in human liver microsomes and cryopreserved human hepatocytes. In addition, KR­33028 was found to inhibit moderately the metabolism of CYP1A2 substrates. Based on the results obtained metabolic pathway of KR-33028 is proposed.

Flavonoids, a group of low molecular weight phenylbenzopyrones, have various pharmacological properties including antioxidant, anticancer, bactericidal, and anti-inflammatory. We carried out anti-herpetic assays on 18 flavonoids in five classes and a virus-induced cytopathic effect (CPE) inhibitory assay, plaque reduction assay, and yield reduction assay were performed. When flavonoids were applied at various concentrations to Vero cells infected by HSV-1 and 2, most of the f1avonoids showed inhibitory effects on virus-induced CPE. Among the flavonoids, EC, ECG (flavanols), genistein (isoflavone), naringenin (flavanone), and quercetin (flavonol) showed a high level of CPE inhibitory activity. The antiviral activity of flavonoids were also examined by a plaque reduction assay. EC, ECG, galangin, and kaempferol showed a strong antiviral activity, and catechin, EGC, EGCG, naringenin, chrysin, baicalin, fisetin, myricetin, quercetin, and genistein showed moderate inhibitory effects against HSV-1. In these experiments, flavanols and flavonols appeared to be more active than flavones. Furthermore, treatment of Vero cells with ECG and galangin (which previously showed strong antiviral activities) before virus adsorption led to a slight enhancement of inhibition as determined by a yield reduction assay, indicating that an intracellular effect may also be involved.

Glucosylated polyethylenimine (GPEI) was synthesized as a tumor-targeting gene carrier through facilitative glucose metabolism by tumor glucose transporter. Particle sizes of GPEI/DNA complex increased in proportion to glucose content of GPEI, whereas surface charge of the complex was not dependent on glucosylation, partially due to inefficient shielding of the short hydrophilic group introduced. GPEI with higher glucosylation (36 mol-$\%$) had no cytotoxic effect on cells even at polymer concentrations higher than 200 $\mu$g/mL. Compared to unglucosylated PEl. glucosylation induced less than one-order decrease of transfection efficiency. Transfection of GPEI/DNA complex into tumor cells possibly occurred through specific interaction between glucose-related cell receptors and glucose moiety of GPEI. Gamma imaging technique revealed GPEI/DNA complex was distributed in liver. spleen. and tumors.

To better define the relationship between dermal regeneration and wound contraction and scar formation, the effects of epidermal growth factor (EGF) loaded in collagen sponge matrix on the fibroblast cell proliferation rate and the dermal mechanical strength were investigated. Collagen sponges with acid-soluble fraction of pig skin were prepared and incorporated with EGF at 0, 4, and 8 $\mu$g/1.7 $cm^{2}$. Dermal fibroblasts were cultured to 80$\%$ confluence using DMEM, treated with the samples submerged, and the cell viability was estimated using MTT assay. A deep, $2^{nd}$ degree- burn of diameter 1 cm was prepared on the rabbit ear and the tested dressings were applied twice during the 15-day, post burn period. The processes of re-epithelialization and dermal regeneration were investigated until the complete wound closure day and histological analysis was performed with H-E staining. EGF increased the fibroblast cell proliferation rate. The histology showed well developed, weave-like collagen bundles and fibroblasts in EGF-treated wounds while open wounds showed irregular collagen bundles and impaired fibroblast growth. The breaking strength (944.1 $\pm$ 35.6 vs. 411.5 $\pm$ 57.0 Fmax, $gmm^{-2}$) and skin resilience (11.3 $\pm$ 1.4 vs. 6.5 $\pm$ 0.6 mJ/$mm^{2}$) were significantly increased with EGF­treated wounds as compared with open wounds, suggesting that EGF enhanced the dermal matrix formation and improved the wound mechanical strength. In conclusion, EGF-improved dermal matrix formation is related with a lower wound contraction rate. The impaired dermal regeneration observed in the open wounds could contribute to the formation of wound contraction and scar tissue development. An extraneous supply of EGF in the collagen dressing on deep, $2^{nd}$ degree-burns enhanced the dermal matrix formation.