• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.152-155
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• 2000

The contents of various capsaicinoids viz. nordihydrocapsaicin (NDC), capsaicin (CAP), and dihydrocapsaicin (DHC) were determined in different parts of fruits (placenta, pericarps, seeds, and whole fruits) at different developmental stages after flowering and compared with the capsaicinoid synthetase (CS) activity. The capsaicinoid contents were very low up to 24 days after flowering (DAF), and there was a significant increase at 36 DAF in all parts of fruits. The enzyme activity of placenta increased to maximum at 24 DAF, and thereafter it gradually decreased. There were no significant amounts of enzyme activities in other parts of the fruits. In Subicho (inbred line) the content of DHC was slightly higher than CAP in all parts. of the fruits throughout the development stages of fruits, whereas in Chung Yang the CAP content was higher compared to the DHC content. The contents of total capsaicinoids in Chung Yang were also higher than Subicho. However, the crude enzyme extract obtained from Chung Yang led to the synthesis of DHC almost exclusively when the substrate, 8-methyl nonanoic acid, was added to the reaction mixture. Our results suggest that the composition of individual analogue of capsaicinoids depends upon the substrate available in the fruits.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.472-477
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• 1996

Natural human epidermal growth factor (nhEGF) was purified from pregnant human urine by benzoic acid adsorption, DEAE-Sepharose ion exchange, and immunoaffinity chromatography. The purified nhEGF was further separated into four fractions using Bondapak C$_{18}$ HPLC system. Following characterization by Western blot analysis and double immu- nodiffusion, we found that each fraction corresponds to four derivatives of the nhEGF. For biological analysis of nhEGF, we optimized the labeling time and serum concentration for the incorporatioin of 5-bromo-2'-deoxy uridine (BrdU), a non-radioactive alternative for [$^{3}$H]-thymidine uptake, into NIH 3T3 cells. The DNA synthesis of NIH 3T3 cells was gradually increased at the nhEGF concentrations between 0.1 - 10 ng/ml in the Dulbecco's Modified Eagles Medium (DMEM) containing 0.2% Fetal calf serum (FCS). When we assayed the biological activity of four fractions, the activity of the second fraction was superior to that of the others. Based on the results from the HPLC analysis spiked with recombinant human epidermal growth factor (rhEGF) and amino acid sequencing, we concluded that the second fraction was nhEGF and the other three fractions were the derivatives of nhEGF. In addition, the proportion of nhEGF was approximately 46% is compared with that of the other three derivatives.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.11
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• pp.1918-1923
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• 2016

Two baicalein derivatives, baicalin and oroxylin A, were synthesized in this study. These derivatives exhibit diverse biological activities, such as anxiolytic and anticancer activities as well as memory enhancement. In order to synthesize baicalin from aglycon baicalein using Escherichia coli, we utilized a glycosyltransferase that regioselectively transfers glucuronic acid from UDP-glucuronic acid to the 7-hydroxy group of baicalein. To increase baicalin productivity, an araA deletion E. coli mutant, which accumulates UDP-glucuronic acid, was used, and ugd, which converts UDP-glucose to UDP-glucuronic acid, was overexpressed. Using these strategies, approximately $720.3{\mu}M$ baicalin was synthesized from $1,000{\mu}M$ baicalein. Oroxylin A was then synthesized from baicalein. Two O-methyltransferases (OMTs), ROMT-15 and POMT-9, were tested to examine the production of oroxylin A from baicalein. E. coli harboring ROMT-15 and E. coli harboring POMT-9 produced reaction products that had different retention times, indicating that they are methylated at different positions; the structure of the reaction product from POMT-9 was consistent with oroxylin A, whereas that from ROMT-15 was 7-O-methyl baicalein. Using E. coli harboring POMT-9, approximately 50.3 mg/l of oroxylin A ($177{\mu}M$) was synthesized from 54 mg/l baicalein ($200{\mu}M$).

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.61-66
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• 2009

Leflunomide is an immunomodulatory agent used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Leflunomide known as a regulator of iNOS synthesis which largely decreases NO production in diverse cell type. However, the effect of leflunomide on chondrocyte is still poorly understood. In our previous studies, we have shown that direct production of Nitric oxide (NO) by treating chondrocytes with NO donor, sodium nitroprusside (SNP), causes apoptosis via p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase in association with elevation of p53 protein level, caspase-3 activation. In this study, we characterized the molecular mechanism by which A77 1726 inhibit apoptosis. We found that A77 1726 inhibit NO-induced apoptosis as determined by MTT (Thiazolyl Blue Tetrazolium Bromide) assay and DNA fragmentation. The inhibition of apoptosis by A77 1726 was accompanied by increased PI-3 kinase and AKT activities. So, inhibition of phosphatidylinositol (PI)-3kinase with LY294002 rescued apoptosis. Triciribine, the specific inhibitor of AKT, also abolished anti-apoptotic effect. Our results indicate that A77 1726, the active metabolite of leflunomide, mediates NO-induced apoptosis in chondrocytes by modulating up-regulation of PI-3 kinase and AKT.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.8
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• pp.2297-2304
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• 2013

A series of novel benzimidazole derivatives bearing a heterocyclic ring as oxadiazole (21-32), thiadiazole (33-34), triazole (35-36) were synthesized and evaluated for their activities against Coxsackie virus B3 and B6 in Vero cells. Compounds 21-26, 31-36 with moieties of 2'-pyridyl, 3'-pyridyl and 4'-pyridyl at the 2-position and oxadiazoles, thiadiazole, or triazole substituent at the 4- or 5-position generally displayed activities against CVB3 and CVB6. Especially compound 24 ($IC_{50}=1.08{\mu}g/mL$, SI = 61.7 against CVB3) was the promising candidate as lead compound for anti-enteroviral drug. It was observed in the incorporation of heterocyclic rings in benzimidazole at the 5-position could enhance their biological activities.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.44-52
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• 2006

New organotin(IV) derivatives with general formulae R_2SnL_2 and R_3SnL, where R = methyl, n-butyl, n-octyl and phenyl and HL is either 3-[N-(4-nitrophenyl)amido]-propenoic acid or 3-[N-(4-nitrophenyl)amido] propanoic acid have been synthesized in 1 : 2 and 1 : 1 molar ratio by different methods. The FTIR spectra clearly demonstrated that the organotin(IV) moieties react with [O,O] atoms of the ligands. The bonding and coordination behavior in these complexes are discussed on the basis of multinuclear (^1H,\,^{13}C,\,^{119}Sn) NMR and mass spectrometric studies. Antibacterial, and antifungal screening tests were performed for these compounds and reported here. These values were compared to those of the precursors and it was found that diorganotin(IV) complexes exhibit less activity as compared to triorganotin(IV) complexes . LD_{50} data were obtained by Brine Shrimp assay method. Insecticidal activity was performed for selective compounds by contact toxicity method.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.304-311
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• 2020

Methionyl-tRNA synthetase (MRS) is essential for translation. MRS mutants reduce global translation, which usually increases lifespan in various genetic models. However, we found that MRS inhibited Drosophila reduced lifespan despite of the reduced protein synthesis. Microarray analysis with MRS inhibited Drosophila revealed significant changes in inflammatory and immune response genes. Especially, the expression of anti-microbial peptides (AMPs) genes was reduced. When we measured the expression levels of AMP genes during aging, those were getting increased in the control flies but reduced in MRS inhibition flies age-dependently. Interestingly, in the germ-free condition, the maximum lifespan was increased in MRS inhibition flies compared with that of the conventional condition. These findings suggest that the lifespan of MRS inhibition flies is reduced due to the down-regulated AMPs expression in Drosophila.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.876-879
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• 2001

${\gamma}$ -Tubulin is an essential component involved in microtubule nucleation. The present work examined whether the fast proliferation of cancer cells can be retarded by the depletion of ${\gamma}$ -tubulin expression. Two different gastric cancer cell lines and one control cell line were treated with antisence oligonucleotides complementary to the messenger RNA of ${\gamma}$ -tubulin. The$[^3H]$ -thymidine incorporation in the two gastric cancer cell lines, SNU-1 and SNU-216, was dramatically reducd by treatment with the ${\gamma}$ -tubulin antisense oligonucleotides in a dosage-dependent manner. In contrast, the control cell line, NIH/3T3, showed no significant effect from the antisense oligonucleotides even at a high concentration. The ablation of ${\gamma}$ -tubulin expression in the tumor cells resulted in an altered DNA synthesis during mitosis and it decreased the cell progression. Accordingly, the use of antisense oligonucleotides may be an effective way of inhibiting the proliferation of human gastric cancers.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.59 no.2
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• pp.145-147
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• 2016

Recently, conjugates of medicinal herb-derived bioflavonoids, such as quercetin, and gold nanoparticles (GNPs) have gained attention as targeted drug delivery systems. In the present study, because quercetin is an important flavonoid with anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and anti-oxidant properties, GNP-quercetin complexes (GNPQs) were synthesized to investigate possible adverse effects such as cytotoxicity. We found that while quercetin was cytotoxic, GNPQs were not cytotoxic towards the RAW 264.7 and THP-1 cell lines. Therefore, GNPQs may serve as a potential drug delivery system for cancer treatment.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.367-373
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• 2000

In the present study we determined if NELL2, a neural tissue-specific protein containing 6 epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like repeat domains, plays an important role in the regulation of puberty initiation in the rat hypothalamus. We origin811y found that NELL2 is a new estrogen-responsive gene in hypothalami derived from estrogen-sterilized and control rats using a PCR differential display. In the 40-day-old female rat hypothalamus, NELL2 was up-regulated by neonatal estrogen treatment. In situ hybridization histochemistry showed that NELL2 is very abundant in the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus that is responsible for the control of sex behavior. NELL2 mRNA level in the medial basal hypothalamus showed a dramatic increase before female puberty onset, which suggests that NELL2 may be involved in the process regulating female puberty onset. We attemped to block NELL2 synthesis with intracerebroventricular injection of an antisense oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) to the NELL2 mRNA, and examined its effect on the puberty onset of the female rat. The antisense ODN significantly delayed puberty initiation determined by vaginal opening. In summary, NELL2 may play an important role in the regulation of female puberty onset.