• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• 제27권5호
• /
• pp.878-895
• /
• 2017

Phosphorylation, a critical mechanism in biological systems, is estimated to be indispensable for about 30% of key biological activities, such as cell cycle progression, migration, and division. It is synergistically balanced by kinases and phosphatases, and any deviation from this balance leads to disease conditions. Pathway or biological activity-based abnormalities in phosphorylation and the type of involved phosphatase influence the outcome, and cause diverse diseases ranging from diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and numerous cancers. Protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) are of prime importance in the process of dephosphorylation and catalyze several biological functions. Abnormal PTP activities are reported to result in several human diseases. Consequently, there is an increased demand for potential PTP inhibitory small molecules. Several strategies in structure-based drug designing techniques for potential inhibitory small molecules of PTPs have been explored along with traditional drug designing methods in order to overcome the hurdles in PTP inhibitor discovery. In this review, we discuss druggable PTPs and structure-based virtual screening efforts for successful PTP inhibitor design.

• 생명과학회지
• /
• 제14권1호
• /
• pp.17-20
• /
• 2004

대장균 트립토판 합성효소의 $\beta$반응의 빠른 속도 반응에 일가 양이온의 영향을 D56N과 D56G 잔기치환체를 대상으로 조사하였다. 일가 양이온을 처리하였을 때 생성되는 중간반응 생성물의 생성과 분해 속도가 영향을 받았다. 56번 자리 잔기치환체도 야생형에 비해 반응의 중간산물의 생성과 분해에 있어 모두 느린 속도를 보여주고 있다. 이들 잔기 치환체에 미치는 일가 양이온의 영향 또한 달라졌다. 이 결과는 대장균의 효소에서도 56번잔기가 이소조절에 관여하고 있고, 이 과정에서 일가 양이온들이 이소조절 리간드역할을 수행하는 것을 보여준다.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• 제20권2호
• /
• pp.133-143
• /
• 2012

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a subfamily of zinc-dependent proteases that are re-sponsible for degradation and remodeling of extracellular matrix proteins. The activity of MMPs is tightly regulated at several levels including cleavage of prodomain, allosteric activation, com-partmentalization and complex formation with tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMPs). In the central nervous system (CNS), MMPs play a wide variety of roles ranging from brain devel-opment, synaptic plasticity and repair after injury to the pathogenesis of various brain disorders. Following general discussion on the domain structure and the regulation of activity of MMPs, we emphasize their implication in various brain disorder conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, ischemia/reperfusion and Parkinson's disease. We further highlight accumu-lating evidence that MMPs might be the culprit in Parkinson's disease (PD). Among them, MMP-3 appears to be involved in a range of pathogenesis processes in PD including neuroinflamma-tion, apoptosis and degradation of ${\alpha}$-synuclein and DJ-1. MMP inhibitors could represent poten-tial novel therapeutic strategies for treatments of neurodegenerative diseases.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• 제11권5호
• /
• pp.183-188
• /
• 2007

Using BHK cells with stable expression of cardiac $Na^+/Ca^{2+}$ exchanger(BHK-NCX1), reverse mode(i.e. $Ca^{2+}$ influx mode) of NCX1 current was recorded by whole-cell patch clamp. Repeated stimulation of reverse NCX1 produced a cytosolic $Ca^{2+}$-dependent long-term inactivation of the exchanger activity. The degrees of inactivation correlated with NCX1 densities of the cells and were attenuated by reduced $Ca^{2+}$ influx via the reverse exchanger. The inactivation of NCX1 was attenuated by(i) inhibition of $Ca^{2+}$ influx with reduced extracellular $Ca^{2+}$, (ii) treatment with NCX1 blocker($Na^{2+}$), and (iii) increase of cytoplasmic $Ca^{2+}$ buffer(EGTA). In BHK-NCX1 cells transiently expressing TRPV1 channels, $Ca^{2+}$ influx elicited by capsaicin produced a marked inactivation of NCX1. We suggest that cytoplasmic $Ca^{2+}$ has a dual effect on NCX1 activities, and that allosteric $Ca^{2+}$ activation of NCX1 can be opposed by the $Ca^{2+}$-dependent long-term inactivation in intact cells.

• 통합자연과학논문집
• /
• 제5권1호
• /
• pp.32-37
• /
• 2012

Chemokine receptor antagonists have potential applications in field of drug discovery. Although the chemokine receptors are G-protein-coupled receptors, their cognate ligands are small proteins (8 to 12 kDa), and so inhibiting the ligand/receptor interaction has been challenging. The application of structure-based in-silico methods to drug discovery is still considered a major challenge, especially when the x-ray structure of the target protein is unknown. Such is the case with human CCR2 and CCR5, the most important members of the chemokine receptor family and also a potential drug target. Herein, we review the success stories of combined receptor modeling/mutagenesis approach to probe the allosteric nature of chemokine receptor binding by small molecule antagonists for CCR2 and CCR5 using Rhodopsin as template. We also urged the importance of recently available ${\beta}2$-andrenergic receptor as an alternate template to guide mutagenesis. The results demonstrate the usefulness and robustness of in-silico 3D models. These models could also be useful for the design of novel and potent CCR2 and CCR5 antagonists using structure based drug design.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• 제27권10호
• /
• pp.1867-1876
• /
• 2017

Most of the biosynthetic pathways for secondary metabolites are influenced by carbon metabolism and supply of cytosolic NADPH. We engineered carbon distribution to the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) and redesigned the host to produce high levels of NADPH and primary intermediates from the PPP. The main enzymes producing NADPH in the PPP, glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (encoded by zwf1 and zwf2) and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (encoded by zwf3), were overexpressed with opc encoding a positive allosteric effector essential for Zwf activity in various combinations in Streptomyces lividans TK24. Most S. lividans transformants showed better cell growth and higher concentration of cytosolic NADPH than those of the control, and S. lividans TK24/pWHM3-Z23O2 containing zwf2+zwf3+opc2 showed the highest NADPH concentration but poor sporulation in R2YE medium. S. lividans TK24/pWHM3-Z23O2 in minimal medium showed the maximum growth (6.2 mg/ml) at day 4. Thereafter, a gradual decrease of biomass and a sharp increase of cytosolic NADPH and sedoheptulose 7-phosphate between days 2 and 4 and between days 1 and 3, respectively, were observed. Moreover, S. lividans TK24/pWHM3-Z23O2 produced 0.9 times less actinorhodin but 1.8 times more undecylprodigiosin than the control. These results suggested that the increased NADPH concentration and various intermediates from the PPP specifically triggered undecylprodigiosin biosynthesis that required many precursors and NADPH-dependent reduction reaction. This study is the first report on bespoke metabolic engineering of PPP routes especially suitable for producing secondary metabolites that need diverse primary precursors and NADPH, which is useful information for metabolic engineering in Streptomyces.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
• /
• 제10권4호
• /
• pp.393-397
• /
• 2016

BACKGROUND/OBJECFTIVES: Artemisinin, a natural product isolated from Gaeddongssuk (artemisia annua L.) and its main active derivative, dihydroartemisinin (DHA), have long been used as antimalarial drugs. Recent studies reported that artemisinin is efficacious for curing diseases, including cancers, and for improving the immune system. Many researchers have shown the therapeutic effects of artemisinin on tumors such as breast cancer, liver cancer and kidney cancer, but there is still insufficient data regarding glioblastoma (GBM). Glioblastoma accounts for 12-15% of brain cancer, and the median survival is less than a year, despite medical treatments such as surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. In this study, we investigated the anti-cancer effects of DHA and transferrin against glioblastoma (glioblastoma multiforme, GBM). MATERIALS/METHODS: This study was performed through in vitro experiments using C6 cells. The toxicity dependence of DHA and transferrin (TF) on time and concentration was analyzed by MTT assay and cell cycle assay. Observations of cellular morphology were recorded with an optical microscope and color digital camera. The anti-cancer mechanism of DHA and TF against GBM were studied by flow cytometry with Annexin V and caspase 3/7. RESULTS: MTT assay revealed that TF enhanced the cytotoxicity of DHA against C6 cells. An Annexin V immune-precipitation assay showed that the percentages of apoptosis of cells treated with TF, DHA alone, DHA in combination with TF, and the control group were $7.15{\pm}4.15%$, $34.3{\pm}5.15%$, $66.42{\pm}5.98%$, and $1.2{\pm}0.15%$, respectively. The results of the Annexin V assay were consistent with those of the MTT assay. DHA induced apoptosis in C6 cells through DNA damage, and TF enhanced the effects of DHA. CONCLUSION: The results of this study demonstrated that DHA, the derivative of the active ingredient in Gaeddongssuk, is effective against GBM, apparently via inhibition of cancer cell proliferation by a pharmacological effect. The role of transferrin as an allosteric activator in the GBM therapeutic efficacy of DHA was also confirmed.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• 제32권8호
• /
• pp.2643-2647
• /
• 2011

Efficient ditopic receptor, uranyl(II) N,N'-(ethylenedioxy)benzenebis(salicylideneimine) (3) for beryllium ion has been obtained upon functionalization of 1,2-ethylenedioxybenzene (1) with a uranyl-salphen (salphen = N,N'-phenylenebis(salicylideneimine)) unit. Binding affinities of the receptor, 3 in AN-DMSO (v/v 95:5) solution have been measured for alkali and alkaline earth metal ions by conductometry comparing 1. The results showed that both monotopic 1 and ditopic receptor 3 were selective for $Be^{2+}$ ions over other cations, while especially 3 that can complex both with cations (coordinated to basic oxygen of ethylenedioxybenzene) and anions (coordinated to the Lewis acidic uranyl center) results in an increase of the stability constants by a factor of $10^{2.42}$ with respect to 1. Furthermore, the $Be^{2+}$-3 interactions are demonstrated by $^1H$ NMR experiments in highly polar solvent medium, DMSO-$d_6$. Higher selectivities were also observed for $Be^{2+}$ when the ditopic receptor, 3 was incorporated into PVC membranes and tested as ion selective electrodes at neutral pH.

• BMB Reports
• /
• 제45권12호
• /
• pp.707-712
• /
• 2012

Human glutamate dehydrogenase isozymes (hGDH1 and hGDH2) have been known to be inhibited by palmitoyl-CoA with a high affinity. In this study, we have performed the cassette mutagenesis at six different Cys residues (Cys59, Cys93, Cys119, Cys201, Cys274, and Cys323) to identify palmitoyl-CoA binding sites within hGDH2. Four cysteine residues at positions of C59, C93, C201, or C274 may be involved, at least in part, in the inhibition of hGDH2 by palmitoyl-CoA. There was a biphasic relationship, depending on the levels of palmitoyl-CoA, between the binding of palmitoyl-CoA and the loss of enzyme activity during the inactivation process. The inhibition of hGDH2 by palmitoyl-CoA was not affected by the allosteric inhibitor GTP. Multiple mutagenesis studies on the hGDH2 are in progress to identify the amino acid residues fully responsible for the inhibition by palmitoyl-CoA.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• 제26권2호
• /
• pp.285-291
• /
• 2005

The nonstructural protein 5B (NS5B) of hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), which is the essential catalytic enzyme for the viral replication and is an appealing target for the development of new therapeutic agents against HCV infection. A small amount of serum from a single patient with hepatitis C was used to get the genome of a Korean HCV isolate. Sequence analysis of NS5B 1701 nucleotides showed the genotype of a Korean isolate to be subtype 1b. The soluble recombinant HCV NS5B polymerase lacking the C-terminal 24 amino acids was expressed and purified to homogeneity. With the highly purified NS5B protein, we established in vitro systems for RdRp activity to identify potential polymerase inhibitors. The rhodanine family compounds were found to be potent and specific inhibitors of NS5B from high throughput screening (HTS) assay utilizing the scintillation proximity assay (SPA) system. The binding mode of an inhibitor was analyzed by measuring various kinetic parameters. Lineweaver-Burk plots of the inhibitor suggested it binds not to the active site of NS5B polymerase, but to an allosteric site of the enzyme. The activity of NS5B in in vitro polymerase reactions with homopolymeric RNA requires interaction with multiple substrates that include a template/primer and ribonucleotide triphosphate. Steady-state kinetic parameter, such as Km, was determined for the ribonucleotide triphosphate. One of compounds found interacts directly with the viral polymerase and inhibits RNA synthesis in a manner noncompetitively with respect to UTP. Furthermore, we also investigated the ability of the compound to inhibit NS5B-directed viral RNA replication using the Huh7 cell-based HCV replicon system. The investigation is potentially very useful for the utility of such compounds as anti-hepatitic agents.