• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.55 no.10
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• pp.359-366
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• 2012

Although most enterovirus infections are not serious enough to be life threatening, several enteroviruses such as enterovirus 71 are responsible for severe, potentially life-threatening disease. The epidemic patterns of enteroviruses occur regularly during the year, but they may change due to environmental shifts induced by climate change due to global warming. Therefore, enterovirus epidemiological studies should be performed continuously as a basis for anti-viral studies. A great number of synthesized antiviral compounds that work against enteroviruses have been developed but only a few have demonstrated effectiveness in vivo. No proven effective antiviral agents are available for enterovirus disease therapy. The development of a new antiviral drug is a difficult task due to poor selective toxicity and cost. To overcome these limitations, one approach is to accelerate the availability of other existing antiviral drugs approved for antiviral effect against enteroviruses, and the other way is to screen traditional medicinal plants.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.30 no.7
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• pp.1445-1451
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• 2009

New benzotriazoles (5-8) or dibenzodiazepine derivatives (11-18) were synthesized starting from 3-[(2-amino- 4,5-disubstitutedphenyl)amino]-5,5-disubstitutedcyclohex-2-enones (1-4) through internal coupling of their diazonium salts or internal Mannich reaction in the presence of aromatic aldehydes. Pharmacological evaluation of benzotriazole and dibenzodiazepine derivatives for their clozapine-like properties revealed that dibenzodiazepine 11 bearing 4-bromophenyl group exhibited the same antipsychotic activity as the reference drug clozapine while the activity of benzotriazole 7 was 25% lesser than that of clozapine. Moreover, compounds 7 and 11 did not show significant CNS depressant activity as well as no or slight neurotoxicity on contrast to clozapine when tested in mice using forced swim, rotarod and horizontal screen tests.

• BMB Reports
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.7-14
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• 2007

Helicases are ubiquitous enzymes, which utilize the energy liberated during nucleotide triphosphate hydrolysis to separate double-stranded nucleic acids into single strands. These enzymes are very attractive targets for the development of new antibacterial compounds. The PcrA DNA helicase from Staphylococcus aureus is a good candidate for drug discovery. This enzyme is unique in the genome of S. aureus and essential for this bacterium. Furthermore, it has recently been published that it is possible to identify inhibitors of DNA helicases such as PcrA. In this report, we study the properties of recombinant PcrA from S. aureus purified from Escherichia coli to develop ATPase and helicase assays to screen for inhibitors.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.32-35
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• 2024

In vitro antimicrobial activities of hot water extracts of Chamaecyparis obtuse, for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was compared to commonly used conventional antimicrobial agents. All MRSA was susceptible to linezolid or vancomycin, but also to erythromycin. MIC range and MIC₉₀ to erythromycin, clindamycin, levofloxacin, tetracycline for MRSA were each 4 ㎍/mL, 2 ~ >128 ㎍/mL, ≤0.06 ~ >128 ㎍/mL, 0.25 ~ >128 ㎍/mL, 0.25~64 ㎍/mL and 4 ㎍/mL, .128 ㎍/mL, >128 ㎍/mL, >128 ㎍/mL, 64 ㎍/mL. The hot water extracts of leaf of C. obtuse had the lowest MIC range, MIC₅₀, and MIC₉₀ (0.125 µL/mL) for the MRSA tested, and it was possible more potent than various conventional antimicrobial agents. Screen antibacterial drug candidate with high antibacterial activity such as derivatives of C. obtuse leaf extract such as terpinen-4-ol or using combined therapy with commercialized antibacterial agents will likely be helpful in treating refractory MRSA infections.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.307-313
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• 2006

The development of in vitro assays has been recommended to screening and testing the potential endocrine disruptors (EDs). These assay systems focus only on identifying the estrogenic or antiestrogenic activity of EDs, whereas a few studies have been carried out to screen the thyroid hormone (TH) disruptors. The aim of this study was to evaluate a test system to detect TH disruptors using rat pituitary tumor $GH_3$ cells. The test system is based on the TH-dependent increase in growth rate. As expected, L-3,5,3-triiodothyronine ($(T_3)$ markedly induced a morphological change in $GH_3$ cells from flattened fibroblastic types to rounded or spindle-shaped types. $T_3$ stimulated $GH_3$ cell growth in a dose-dependent manner with the maximum growth-stimulating effect being observed at a concentration $1{\times}10^9M$. In addition, $T_3$ increased the release of growth hormone and prolactin into the medium of the $GH_3$ cells culture. Using this assay system, the TH-disrupting activities of bisphenol A (BPA) and its related compounds were examined. BPA, dimethy/bisphenol A (DMBPA), and TCI-EP significantly enhanced the growth of $GH_3$ cells in the range of $1{\times}10^{-5}M\;to\;1{\times}10^{-6}M$ concentrations. In conclusion, this in vitro assay system might be useful for identifying potential TH disruptors. However, this method will require further evaluation and standardization before it can be used as a broad-based screening tool.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.419-425
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• 2008

A qualitative and quantitative analytical method was developed for detection of methamphetamine (MA) and its main metabolite amphetamine (AM) in oral fluid. Oral fluids of eleven drug abusers were provided by Police, specimens were collected by stimulation with a cotton swab treated with 20 mg of citric acid ($Salivette^{(R)}$; Sarstedt, USA). As the preliminary test, oral fluid samples were screened for amphetamines by Fluorescence Polarization Immunoassay (TDxFLx, Abbott Co.). Extraction for MA was performed using solid-phase extraction (SPE) by $RapidTrace^{TM}$ (Zymark, USA) with mixed mode cation exchange cartridge, CLEAN $SCREEN^{(R)}$ (130 mg/3 ml, UCT) after dilution with phosphate buffer. Samples were evaporated and derivatized by pentafluoropropionic acid anhydride (PFPA). Quantitation of MA and AM was performed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) using selective ion monitoring (SIM), the quantitation ions were m/z 204 (MA), 208 (MA-$D_5$), 190 (AM) and 194 (AM-$D_5$). The selectivity, linearity of calibration, limit of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) within- and between day precision, accuracy and recoveries were examined as parts of the method validation. All oral fluid samples gave positive results to immunoassay for MA (cut-off level, 50 ng/ml as d-amphetamine). Concentrations of MA and AM by GC-MS in eleven samples were ranged 104.2${\sim}$4603.3 ng/ml and 32.4${\sim}$268.6 ng/ml, respectively. Extracted calibration curves of MA and AM were linear over the two concentration range of 1${\sim}$100 and 50${\sim}$1000 ng/ml with correlation coefficient of above 0.999. LOQ of MA and AM was 1 and 3 ng/ml, respectively. The intraand inter-day run precisions (CV) for MA and AM were less than 10%, and the accuracies (bias) for MA and AM were also less than 10% at the two different concentrations 5 and 100 ng/ml at low calibration range, 50 and 1000 ng/ml at high calibration range. The absolute recoveries of MA and AM at low and high calibration ranges were more than 82% and 75%, respectively. In this study the qualitative and quantitative analytical method of MA in oral fluid was established. Oral fluid testing may detect drug use in past hours because of its shorter detection window than urine, and be useful in post-accident situations. So oral fluids will be most useful for testing drug abuse in the driving under the influence of drug (DUID) as the alternative specimens of urine.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Bioinformatics Conference
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• 2001.08a
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• pp.129-137
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• 2001

We used cDNA microarrays to assess gene expression profiles in 60 human cancer used in a drug discovery screen by the National Cancer Institute. Using these data, we linked bioinformatics and chemoinformatics by correlating gene expression and drug activity pattens in the NCI60 lines. Clustering the cell lines on the basis of gene expression yielded relationships very different from those obtained by clustering the cell lines on the basis of their response to drugs. Gene-drug relationships for the clinical agents 5-fluorouracil and L-asparaginase exemplify how variations in the transcript levels of particular genes relate to mechanisms of drug sensitivity and resistance. This is the first study to intergrate large databases on gene expression and molecular pharmacology.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.656-662
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• 2015

Natural products and natural product structures play a general and highly significant role in drug discovery and development process because it has various merits and potentials for new drug source that have extensive clinical experience, development time contraction, excellent stability and safety. In several neurological disorders, neuronal death and excessive activation of microglia (neuro-inflammation) are observed. A number of drug discovery-related neuronal cell death and neuro-inflammation was studied from natural products, respectively. However, until now, it has not been possible to study dual-protection molecules recorded in the Natural Product library. In the present study, using the natural product-derived library of the Institute for Korea Traditional Medical Industry, we investigated dual-protective molecules against glutamate (a classical excitatory neurotransmitter)-induced oxidative stress mediated neuronal cell death and LPS-induced excessive activated microglial cells (immune cells of the brain). Chrysophanol, extracted from Rheum palmatum, had dual-protective effects against both glutamate-induced neuronal cell death and LPS-induced NO production, triggering proinflammatory cytokines and microglia activation and resulting in neuroinflammation. Flow-cytometry analysis revealed that chrysophanol had a scavenger effect, scavenging glutamate- and LPS-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced by neuronal and microglial cells, respectively. Based on the present study, chrysophanol may have an important protective role against neuronal cell death and neuroinflammation in the brain. The results may be helpful for studying drug development candidates for treating central nervous system disorders.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.109-117
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• 2020

An edutainment system aims to help learners to recognize problems effectively, grasp and classify important information needed to solve the problems and convey the contents of what they have learned. Edutainment contents can be usefully applied to education and training in the both scientific and industrial areas. Our present work proposes an edutainment system that can be applied to a drug discovery process including virtual screening by using intuitive multi-modal interfaces. In this system, a stereoscopic monitor is used to make three-dimensional (3D) macro-molecular images, with supporting multi-modal interfaces to manipulate 3D models of molecular structures effectively. In this paper, our system can easily solve a docking simulation function, which is one of important virtual drug screening methods, by applying gaming factors. The level-up concept is implemented to realize a bio-game approach, in which the gaming factor depends on number of objects and users. The quality of the proposed system is evaluated with performance comparison in terms of a finishing time of a drug docking process to screen new inhibitors against target proteins of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in an e-drug discovery process.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.354-360
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• 2011

In order to screen new allogeneic mixed lymphocyte culture (allo-MLR) inhibitor which is expected to be immunomodulating drug lead, we have investigated allo-MLR inhibitory activity on the marine-derived symbiotic microorganisms (1,895 strains) from the marine algae. The potent inhibitory activities (over 45% inhibition of proliferation at 10 and 2 ${\mu}g/ml$) without cytotoxicity were observed in the extracts of 46 strains. While, the significant stimulating activities (over 100% proliferation at 10 and 2 ${\mu}g/ml$) without cytotoxicity were observed in the extracts of 5 strains. In the second assay using 46 bioactive strains, 14 strains exhibited again significant allo-MLR inhibitory activity. Finally, 11 strains among the 14 strains inhibited proliferation and IFN-${\gamma}$ production of CD4+ T cells during the stimulation with specific antigen in the third assay. On the basis of above results, the marine algae is nice source for isolation of immunomodulating microorganism, and the marine algae-associated microorganism is also nice target for development of the new immunomodulating drug lead.