• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.57-65
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• 2013

Beta-lapachone (${\beta}$-Lap; 3,4-dihydro-2, 2-dimethyl-2H-naphthol[1, 2-b]pyran-5,6-dione) is a novel anti-cancer drug under phase I/II clinical trials. ${\beta}$-Lap has been demonstrated to cause apoptotic and necrotic death in a variety of human cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. The mechanisms underlying the ${\beta}$-Lap toxicity against cancer cells has been controversial. The most recent view is that ${\beta}$-Lap, which is a quinone compound, undergoes two-electron reduction to hydroquinone form utilizing NAD(P)H or NADH as electron source. This two-electron reduction of ${\beta}$-Lap is mediated by NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1), which is known to mediate the reduction of many quinone compounds. The hydroquinone forms of ${\beta}$-Lap then spontaneously oxidizes back to the original oxidized ${\beta}$-Lap, creating futile cycling between the oxidized and reduced forms of ${\beta}$-Lap. It is proposed that the futile recycling between oxidized and reduced forms of ${\beta}$-Lap leads to two distinct cell death pathways. First one is that the two-electron reduced ${\beta}$-Lap is converted first to one-electron reduced ${\beta}$-Lap, i.e., semiquinone ${\beta}$-Lap $(SQ)^{{\cdot}-}$ causing production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which then causes apoptotic cell death. The second mechanism is that severe depletion of NAD(P)H and NADH as a result of futile cycling between the quinone and hydroquinone forms of ${\beta}$-Lap causes severe disturbance in cellular metabolism leading to apoptosis and necrosis. The relative importance of the aforementioned two mechanisms, i.e., generation of ROS or depletion of NAD(P)H/NADH, may vary depending on cell type and environment. Importantly, the NQO1 level in cancer cells has been found to be higher than that in normal cells indicating that ${\beta}$-Lap may be preferentially toxic to cancer cells relative to non-cancer cells. The cellular level of NQO1 has been found to be significantly increased by divergent physical and chemical stresses including ionizing radiation. Recent reports clearly demonstrated that ${\beta}$-Lap and ionizing radiation kill cancer cells in a synergistic manner. Indications are that irradiation of cancer cells causes long-lasting elevation of NQO1, thereby sensitizing the cells to ${\beta}$-Lap. In addition, ${\beta}$-Lap has been shown to inhibit the repair of sublethal radiation damage. Treating experimental tumors growing in the legs of mice with irradiation and intraperitoneal injection of ${\beta}$-Lap suppressed the growth of the tumors in a manner more than additive. Collectively, ${\beta}$-Lap is a potentially useful anti-cancer drug, particularly in combination with radiotherapy.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.79 no.4
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• pp.257-266
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• 2016

Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a common interstitial lung disease; it is a chronic, progressive, and fatal lung disease of unknown etiology. Over the last two decades, knowledge about the underlying mechanisms of pulmonary fibrosis has improved markedly and facilitated the identification of potential targets for novel therapies. However, despite the large number of antifibrotic drugs being described in experimental pre-clinical studies, the translation of these findings into clinical practices has not been accomplished yet. NADH:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) is a homodimeric enzyme that catalyzes the oxidation of NADH to $NAD^+$ by various quinones and thereby elevates the intracellular $NAD^+$ levels. In this study, we examined the effect of increase in cellular $NAD^+$ levels on bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis in mice. Methods: C57BL/6 mice were treated with intratracheal instillation of bleomycin. The mice were orally administered with ${\beta}$-lapachone from 3 days before exposure to bleomycin to 1-3 weeks after exposure to bleomycin. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was collected for analyzing the infiltration of immune cells. In vitro, A549 cells were treated with transforming growth factor ${\beta}1$ (TGF-${\beta}1$) and ${\beta}$-lapachone to analyze the extracellular matrix (ECM) and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Results: ${\beta}$-Lapachone strongly attenuated bleomycin-induced lung inflammation and fibrosis, characterized by histological staining, infiltrated immune cells in BALF, inflammatory cytokines, fibrotic score, and TGF-${\beta}1$, ${\alpha}$-smooth muscle actin accumulation. In addition, ${\beta}$-lapachone showed a protective role in TGF-${\beta}1$-induced ECM expression and EMT in A549 cells. Conclusion: Our results suggest that ${\beta}$-lapachone can protect against bleomycin-induced lung inflammation and fibrosis in mice and TGF-${\beta}1$-induced EMT in vitro, by elevating the $NAD^+$/NADH ratio through NQO1 activation.

• BMB Reports
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• v.49 no.11
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• pp.617-622
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• 2016

Oxidative stress is closely associated with various diseases and is considered to be a major factor in ischemia. NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) protein is a known antioxidant protein that plays a protective role in various cells against oxidative stress. We therefore investigated the effects of cell permeable Tat-NQO1 protein on hippocampal HT-22 cells, and in an animal ischemia model. The Tat-NQO1 protein transduced into HT-22 cells, and significantly inhibited against hydrogen peroxide ($H_2O_2$)-induced cell death and cellular toxicities. Tat-NQO1 protein inhibited the Akt and mitogen activated protein kinases (MAPK) activation as well as caspase-3 expression levels, in $H_2O_2$ exposed HT-22 cells. Moreover, Tat-NQO1 protein transduced into the CA1 region of the hippocampus of the animal brain and drastically protected against ischemic injury. Our results indicate that Tat-NQO1 protein exerts protection against neuronal cell death induced by oxidative stress, suggesting that Tat-NQO1 protein may potentially provide a therapeutic agent for neuronal diseases.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.93-98
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• 2010

Our previous study demonstrated that methanolic extract of Chrysanthemum zawadskii Herbich var. latilobum Kitamura (Compositae) has the potential to induce detoxifying enzymes such as NAD(P)H:(quinone acceptor) oxidoreductase 1 (EC 1.6.99.2) (NQO1, QR) and glutathione S-transferase (GST). In this study we further fractionated methanolic extract of Chrysanthemum zawadskii and investigated the detoxifying enzyme-inducing potential of each fraction. The fraction (CZ-6) shown the highest QR-inducing activity was found to contain (+)-(3S,4S,5R,8S)-(E)-8-acetoxy-4-hydroxy-3-isovaleroyloxy-2-(hexa-2,4-diynyliden)-1,6-dioxaspiro [4,5] decane and increased QR enzyme activity in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, CZ-6 fraction caused a dose-dependent enhancement of luciferase activity in HepG2-C8 cells generated by stably transfecting antioxidant response element-luciferase gene construct, suggesting that it induces antioxidant/detoxifying enzymes through antioxidant response element (ARE)-mediated transcriptional activation of the relevant genes. Although CZ-6 fraction failed to induce hepatic QR in mice over the control, it restored QR activity suppressed by $CCl_4$ treatment to the control level. Hepatic injury induced by $CCl_4$ was also slightly protected by pretreatment with CZ-6. In conclusion, although CZ-6 fractionated from methanolic extract of Chrysanthemum zawadskii did not cause a significant QR induction in mice organs such as liver, kidney, and stomach, it showed protective effect from liver damage caused by $CCl_4$.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.135-145
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• 2018

Due to the critical location and physiological activities of the retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cell, it is constantly subjected to contact with various infectious agents and inflammatory mediators. However, little is known about the signaling events in RPE involved in Toxoplasma gondii infection and development. The aim of the study is to screen the host mRNA transcriptional change of 3 inflammation-related gene categories, PI3K/Akt pathway regulatory components, blood vessel development factors and ROS regulators, to prove that PI3K/Akt or mTOR signaling pathway play an essential role in regulating the selected inflammation-related genes. The selected genes include PH domain and leucine- rich-repeat protein phosphatases (PHLPP), casein kinase2 (CK2), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF), glutamate-cysteine ligase (GCL), glutathione S-transferase (GST), and NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1). Using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), we found that T. gondii up-regulates PHLPP2, $CK2{\beta}$, VEGF, GCL, GST and NQO1 gene expression levels, but down-regulates PHLPP1 and PEDF mRNA transcription levels. PI3K inhibition and mTOR inhibition by specific inhibitors showed that most of these host gene expression patterns were due to activation of PI3K/Akt or mTOR pathways with some exceptional cases. Taken together, our results reveal a new molecular mechanism of these gene expression change dependent on PI3K/Akt or mTOR pathways and highlight more systematical insight of how an intracellular T. gondii can manipulate host genes to avoid host defense.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.10
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• pp.1708-1716
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• 2016

Glucose dehydrogenase (GDH) is an oxidoreductase enzyme and is used as a biocatalyst to regenerate NAD(P)H in reductase-mediated chiral synthesis reactions. In this study, the glucose 1-dehydrogenase B gene (gdhB) was cloned from Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki, and wild-type (GDH-BT^WT) and His-tagged (GDH-BT^N-His, GDH-BT^C-His) enzymes were produced in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). All enzymes were produced in the soluble forms from E. coli. GDH-BT^WT and GDH-BT^N-His showed high specific enzymatic activities of 6.6 U/mg and 5.5 U/mg, respectively, whereas GDH-BT^C-His showed a very low specific enzymatic activity of 0.020 U/mg. These results suggest that the intact C-terminal carboxyl group is important for GDH-BT activity. GDH-BT^WT was stable up to 65℃, whereas GDH-BT^N-His and GDH-BT^C-His were stable up to 45℃. Gel permeation chromatography showed that GDH-BT^WT is a dimer, whereas GDH-BT^N-His and GDH-BT^C-His are monomeric. These results suggest that the intact N- and C-termini are required for GDH-BT to maintain thermostability and to form its dimer structure. The homology model of the GDH-BT^WT single subunit was constructed based on the crystal structure of Bacillus megaterium GDH (PDB ID 3AY6), showing that GDH-BT^WT has a Rossmann fold structure with its N- and C-termini located on the subunit surface, which suggests that His-tagging affected the native dimer structure. GDH-BT^WT and GDH-BT^N-His regenerated NADPH in a yeast reductase-mediated chiral synthesis reaction, suggesting that these enzymes can be used as catalysts in fine-chemical and pharmaceutical industries.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.937-945
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• 2020

N-acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL)-mediated quorum sensing (QS) plays a major role in development of biofilms, which contribute to rise in infections and biofouling in water-related industries. Interference in QS, called quorum quenching (QQ), has recieved a lot of attention in recent years. Rhodococcus spp. are known to have prominent quorum quenching activity and in previous reports it was suggested that this genus possesses multiple QQ enzymes, but only one gene, qsdA, which encodes an AHL-lactonase belonging to phosphotriesterase family, has been identified. Therefore, we conducted a whole genome sequencing and analysis of Rhodococcus sp. BH4 isolated from a wastewater treatment plant. The sequencing revealed another gene encoding a QQ enzyme (named jydB) that exhibited a high AHL degrading activity. This QQ enzyme had a 46% amino acid sequence similarity with the AHL-lactonase (AidH) of Ochrobactrum sp. T63. HPLC analysis and AHL restoration experiments by acidification revealed that the jydB gene encodes an AHL-lactonase which shares the known characteristics of the α/β hydrolase family. Purified recombinant JydB demonstrated a high hydrolytic activity against various AHLs. Kinetic analysis of JydB revealed a high catalytic efficiency (k_cat/K_M) against C4-HSL and 3-oxo-C6 HSL, ranging from 1.88 x 10⁶ to 1.45 x 10⁶ M^-1 s^-1, with distinctly low K_M values (0.16-0.24 mM). This study affirms that the AHL degrading activity and biofilm inhibition ability of Rhodococcus sp. BH4 may be due to the presence of multiple quorum quenching enzymes, including two types of AHL-lactonases, in addition to AHL-acylase and oxidoreductase, for which the genes have yet to be described.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.386-390
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• 1997

The characteristics of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH, EC 1.1.1.1, alcohol:NAD oxidoreductase) of thermotolerant alcohol-producing yeasts, Saccharomyces cerevisiae RA-74-2 and Kluyveromyces marxianus RA-912, were compared with that of mesophilic S. cerevisiae D, an industrial strain. Under anaerobic culture condition, both S. cerevisiae RA-74-2 and D had similar level of ADH activity at 30$\circ$C, and the activity of S. cerevisiae RA-74-2 at 37$\circ$C was the same level at 30$\circ$C. However, the level of ADH activity of S. cerevisiae D at 37$\circ$C decreased about 70% of that at 30$\circ$C. The level of enzyme activity of K. marxianus RA-912, which showed lower alcohol productivity than S. cerevisiae RA-74-2 and D, was about 43% of those strains at 30$\circ$C, and decreased somewhat at 37$\circ$C. The results showed a good correlation between the alcohol productivities and the level of ADH activities of these strains grown at 30$\circ$C and 37$\circ$C. And the higher heat stability of ADH of S. cerevisiae RA-74-2 than that of S. cerevisiae D seemed to reflect the ability of high temperature fermentation. Despite of its fermentation ability even at 45$\circ$C, however, the ADH of K. marxianus RA-912 showed lower heat stability than that of S. cerevisiae D. Both S. cerevisiae RA-74-2 and D showed similar patterns of two bands of ADH isozyme, and the low band of S. cerevisiae RA-74-2 moved slightly faster than that of S. cerevisiae D. The staining intensity of the bands of S. cerevisiae D at 37$\circ$C was weaker than those at 30$\circ$C. However, S. cerevisiae RA-74-2 showed no differences in total intensity of the bands of 30$\circ$C and 37$\circ$C. As the patterns of cellular proteins and ADH isozyme of K. marxianus RA-912 were different from S. cerevisiae RA-74-2 and D, K. marxianus might have its own characteristic ADH system.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2018.10a
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• pp.73-73
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• 2018

Bacterial leaf blight(BLB), caused by X. oryzae pv. oryzae(Xoo), is one of the most destructive diseases of rice due to its high epidemic potential. Understanding BLB resistance at a genetic level is important to further improve the rice breeding that provides one of the best approaches to control BLB disease. In the present investigation, a collection of 192 accessions was used in the genome-wide association study (GWAS) for BLB resistance loci against four Korean races of Xoo that were represented by the prevailing BLB isolates under Xoo differential system. A total of 192 accessions of rice germplasm were selected on the basis of the bioassay using four isolated races of Xoo such as K1, K2, K3 and K3a. The selected accessions was used to prepare 384-plex genotyping by sequencing (GBS) libraries and Illumina HiSeq 2000 paired- end read was used for GBS sequencing. GWAS was conducted using T ASSEL 5.0. The T ASSEL program uses a mixed linear model (MLM). T he results of the bioassay using a selected set of 192 accessions showed that a large number of accessions (93.75%) were resistant to K1 race, while the least number of accessions (34.37%) resisted K3a race. For races K2 and K3, the resistant germplasm proportion remained between 66.67 to 70.83%. T he genotypic data produced SNP matrix for a total of 293,379 SNPs. After imputation the missing data was removed, which exhibited 34,724 SNPs for association analysis. GWAS results showed strong signals of association at a threshold of [-log10(P-value)] more than5 (K1 and K2) and more than4 (K3 and K3a) for nine of the 39 SNPs, which are plausible candidate loci of resistance genes. T hese SNP loci were positioned on rice chromosome 2, 9, and 11 for K1 and K2 races, whereas on chromosome 4, 6, 11, and 12 for K3 and K3a races. The significant loci detected have also been illustrated, NBS-LRR type disease resistance protein, SNARE domain containing protein, Histone deacetylase 19, NADP-dependent oxidoreductase, and other expressed and unknown proteins. Our results provide a better understanding of the distribution of genetic variation of BLB resistance to Korean pathogen races and breeding of resistant rice.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.310-317
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• 2017

Mammalian cells control cellular homeostasis using a variety of defensive enzymes in order to combat against environmental oxidants and electrophiles. NF-E2-related factor-2 (NRF2) is a transcription factor that, in response to an exposure to oxidative stress, translocates into the nucleus and modulates the inducible expression of various phase II cytoprotective enzymes by binding to the antioxidant response element (ARE). In the present study, we have acquired 400 ethanol extracts of traditional medicinal plants and attempted to find out possible extract(s) that can increase the NRF2/ARE-dependent gene expression in human keratinocytes. As a result, we have identified that ethanol extracts of Rheum undulatum and Inula japonica strongly activated the ARE-dependent luciferase activity in HaCaT- ARE-luciferase cells. Exposure of ethanol extracts of Rheum undulatum and Inula japonica increased the viability and activated transcription and translation of NRF2-dependent phase II cytoprotective enzymes in HaCaT cells, such as heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and NAD[P]H:quinone oxidorecutase-1 (NQO1). In addition, ethanol extracts of Rheum undulatum and Inula japonica suppressed 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-induced generation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), thereby inhibiting the formation of 8-hydroxyguanosine (8-OHG) and 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE) in HaCaT cells. Together, our results demonstrate that ethanol extracts of Rheum undulatum and Inula japonica exert anti-oxidant effects via the induction of NRF2/ARE-dependent gene expression in human keratinocytes.