• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.599-607
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• 2017

Most normal cells express L-type amino acid transporter 2 (LAT2). However, L-type amino acid transporter 1 (LAT1) is highly expressed in many tumor cells and presumed to support their increased growth and proliferation. This study examined the effects of JPH203, a selective LAT1 inhibitor, on cell growth and its mechanism for cell death in Saos2 human osteosarcoma cells. FOB human osteoblastic cells and Saos2 cells expressed LAT1 and LAT2 together with their associating protein 4F2 heavy chain, but the expression of LAT2 in the Saos2 cells was especially weak. JPH203 and BCH, a non-selective L-type amino acid transporter inhibitor, potently inhibited L-leucine uptake in Saos2 cells. As expected, the intrinsic ability of JPH203 to inhibit L-leucine uptake was far more efficient than that of BCH in Saos2 cells. Likewise, JPH203 and BCH inhibited Saos2 cell growth with JPH203 being superior to BCH in this regard. Furthermore, JPH203 increased apoptosis rates and formed DNA ladder in Saos2 cells. Moreover, JPH203 activated the mitochondria-dependent apoptotic signaling pathway by upregulating pro-apoptotic factors, such as Bad, Bax, and Bak, and the active form of caspase-9, and downregulating anti-apoptotic factors, such as Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL. These results suggest that the inhibition of LAT1 activity via JPH203, which may act as a potential novel anti-cancer agent, leads to apoptosis mediated by the mitochondria-dependent intrinsic apoptotic signaling pathway by inducing the intracellular depletion of neutral amino acids essential for cell growth in Saos2 human osteosarcoma cells.

• BMB Reports
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.180-188
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• 2007

In vivo studies have demonstrated that aldosterone is an independent contributor to glomerulosclerosis. In the present study, we have investigated whether aldosterone itself mediated glomerulosclerosis, as angiotensin II (Ang II) did, by inducing cultured renal mesangial cells to produce plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), and whether these effects were mediated by aldosterone-induced increase in transforming growth factor $\beta_1$ (TGF-$\beta_1$) expression and cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) activity. Quiescent rat mesangial cells were treated by aldosterone alone or by combination of aldosterone and spironolactone, Ang II, neutralizing antibody to TGF-$\beta_1$ or antioxidant Nacetylcysteme (NAC). This study indicate that aldosterone can increase PAI-1 mRNA and protein expression by cultured mesangial cells alone, which is independent of aldosterone-induced increases in TGF-$\beta_1$ expression and cellular ROS. The effects on PAI-1, TGF-$\beta_1$ and ROS generation were markedly attenuated by spironolactone, a mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist, which demonstrate that mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) may play a role in mediating these effects of aldosterone.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.5-14
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• 2006

Streptomycetes are Gram-positive microorganisms producing secondary metabolites through unique physiological differentiation [4]. The microbes show unusual morphological differentiation to form substrate mycelia, aerial mycelia, and arthrospores on solid medium [19]. Substrate mycelium growth is sustaining with sufficient nutrients in the culture medium. The concentration of a specific individual substrate in the culture environment is the most important extracellular factor allowing vegetative mycelia growth, where extracellular hydrolytic enzymes participate in the utilization of waterinsoluble substrates. However, with starvation of nutrients in the culture medium, the vegetative mycelia differentiate to aerial mycelia and spores. It has been considered that shiftdown of essential nutrients for mycelia growth is the most important factor triggering morphological and physiological differentiation in Streptomyces spp. Since proteineous macromolecule compounds are the major cellular components, these are faced to endogenously metabolize following a severe depletion of nitrogen source in culture nutrients (Fig. 1). Various proteases were identified of which production was specifically related with the phase of mycelium growth and also morphological differentiation. The involvement of proteases and protease inhibitor is reviewed as a factor explaining the mycelium differentiation in Streptomyces spp.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.37.1-37.11
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• 2020

BET inhibitor, as an epigenetic regulator inhibitor, reduces the expression of oncogenes such as Myc and Bcl-2, which affects cancer growth and development. However, it has modest activity because of the narrow therapeutic index. Therefore, combination therapy is necessary to increase the anti-tumor effect. Paclitaxel, an anti-mitotic inhibitor, is used as second-line therapy for gastric cancer (GC) as a monotherapy or combination. In this study, we performed RNA sequencing of GC cells treated with iBET-151 and/or paclitaxel to identify the differentially expressed genes associated with possible mechanisms of synergistic effect. We also performed Gene Ontology enrichment and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analyses to determine the most enriched terms and pathways of upregulated and downregulated genes. We found 460 genes in which iBET-151 and paclitaxel combination treatment changed more than single-treatment or no-treatment. Thus, additional functional studies are needed, but our results provide the first evidence of the synergistic effect between iBET-151 and paclitaxel in regulating the transcriptome of GC cells.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Toxicology Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.41-42
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• 2003

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) inhibitors were screened from Metasequoia glyptostroboides and one potent inhibitor, dihydrohinokiflavone (DHHF), a biflavonoid, was selected. DHHF inhibited proliferation of HT1080, human fibrosarcoma cells in a dose-dependent manner. Noncytotoxic levels of DHHF dramatically decreased MMP-9 and MMP-2 production in unistimulated cells, but did not change the level of tissue inhibited of metalloproteinase (TIMP)-1, an inhibitor of MMP-9.(omitted)

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.194-197
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• 2014

BACKGROUND: Herbal extracts have been screened for their inhibitory effect of seed germination and root development on weeds, but there is a scarcity of reports for crop growth regulation. The objective of this research was to develop a growth inhibitor on Brassica campestris, and its effective extraction method from herbal medicine extract. METHODS AND RESULTS: Eighty four herbal medicine extracts were tested for their plant growth inhibition activity on B. campestris. The alcohol extracts of Artemisia annua, Cinnamomum cassia, and Mentha arvensis inhibited over 30% of germination and the extract of A. annua, and C. cassia inhibited over 70% of radicle growth at 0.1 % w/w treatment. The partially purified extracts of A. annua, and C. cassia with dichloromethane and hexane showed stronger radicle growth inhibition than the crude extracts on B. campestris. The diethyl ether extract of A. annua showed a similar 50% radicle growth inhibition ($RI_{50}$ = 45 mg/L) to its partially purified extract with dichloromethane or hexane, but the diethyl ether extract of C. cassia showed a worse $RI_{50}$ than the purified extract. CONCLUSION: The alcohol extracts of A. annua, and C. cassia showed potent radicle growth inhibition properties on B. campestris. Diethyl ether proved to be a good solvent for simple extraction from A. annua.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.75 no.1
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• pp.9-17
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• 2013

Background: In cancer cells, autophagy is generally induced as a pro-survival mechanism in response to treatment-associated genotoxic and metabolic stress. Thus, concurrent autophagy inhibition can be expected to have a synergistic effect with chemotherapy on cancer cell death. Monensin, a polyether antibiotic, is known as an autophagy inhibitor, which interferes with the fusion of autophagosome and lysosome. There have been a few reports of its effect in combination with anticancer drugs. We performed this study to investigate whether erlotinib, an epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor, or rapamycin, an mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor, is effective in combination therapy with monensin in non-small cell lung cancer cells. Methods: NCI-H1299 cells were treated with rapamycin or erlotinib, with or without monensin pretreatment, and then subjected to growth inhibition assay, apoptosis analysis by flow cytometry, and cell cycle analysis on the basis of the DNA contents histogram. Finally, a Western blot analysis was done to examine the changes of proteins related to apoptosis and cell cycle control. Results: Monensin synergistically increases growth inhibition and apoptosis induced by rapamycin or erlotinib. The number of cells in the sub-$G_1$ phase increases noticeably after the combination treatment. Increase of proapoptotic proteins, including bax, cleaved caspase 3, and cleaved poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, and decrease of anti-apoptotic proteins, bcl-2 and bcl-xL, are augmented by the combination treatment with monensin. The promoters of cell cycle progression, notch3 and skp2, decrease and p21, a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, accumulates within the cell during this process. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that concurrent autophagy inhibition could have a role in lung cancer treatment.

• Mycobiology
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.150-156
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• 2015

2',4'-Dihydroxychalcone (2',4'-DHC) was identified from a heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90)-targeting library as a compound with Hsp90 inhibitory and antifungal effects. In the presence of 2',4'-DHC ($8{\mu}g/mL$), radial growth of Aspergillus fumigatus was inhibited 20% compared to the control, and green pigmentation was completely blocked. The expression of the conidiation-associated genes abaA, brlA, and wetA was significantly decreased (approximately 3- to 5-fold) by treatment with 2',4'-DHC. The expression of calcineurin signaling components, cnaA and crzA, was also significantly reduced. The inhibitory effects of 2',4'-DHC on metabolic activity and mycelial growth were significantly enhanced by combination treatment with itraconazole and caspofungin. Docking studies indicated that 2',4'-DHC bind to the ATPase domain of Hsp90. These results suggest that 2',4'-DHC act as an Hsp90-calcinurin pathway inhibitor.

• BMB Reports
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.182-186
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• 2011

Exogenous stimuli such as nerve growth factor (NGF) exert their effects on neurite outgrowth via Trk neurotrophin receptors. TrkA receptors are known to be ubiquitinated via proteasome inhibition in the presence of NGF. However, the effect of proteasome inhibition on neurite outgrowth has not been studied extensively. To clarify these issues, we investigated signaling events in PC12 cells treated with NGF and the proteasome inhibitor MG132. We found that MG132 facilitated NGF-induced neurite outgrowth and potentiated the phosphorylation of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase/mitogen-activated protein kinase (ERK/MAPK) and phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT pathways and TrkA receptors. MG132 stimulated internalization of surface TrkA receptor and stabilized intracellular TrkA receptor, and the $Ub^{K63}$ chain was found to be essential for stability. These results indicate that the ubiquitin-proteasome system potentiated neurite formation by regulating the stability of TrkA receptors.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.208-216
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• 1994

A radically new approach to the in situ synthesis of the consituent phases of a composite structure has enabled the production of a new WC/Co materials with an ultrafine microstructure. The process for synthesizing nanophase WC/Co powders consists of spray drying from solution to form a homogeneous precursor powder, and thermochemical conversion of the precursor powder to the nanophase WC/Co powder. Near theoretical density of pure nanophase WC-10 wt%Co has been obtained in only 30 sec at 140$0^{\circ}C$. But WC particles were grown up very rapidly with longer sintering time to get full density. To overcome coarsening of WC particle during sintering, VC, TaC and VC/TaC were used as the grain growth inhibitor with different amount respectively. VC/TaC doped WC-10 wt%Co was shown superior hardness and TRS and microstructure was maintained ultrafine scale (average WC size is less than 0.1 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$).