• Journal of Plant Biology
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.77-84
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• 1992

In view of the well-established role of protein kinase C effector element in signal transduction of animal systems, the possibility of diacylglycerol (DAG) and its analog 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol13-acetate (TPA) having an effect on auxin-induced growih of com coleoptiles was explored. Both DAG and TP A were found to promote cell elongation in the coleoptile tissue_ Treatment of tissue with these protein kinase C-activating agents resulted in increase in the growth rate over the control by about 300%. When 1M was applied to TPA-pretreated coleoptiles. auxin effect appeared synergistic. Morever. coleoptile growth was found to be inhibited by staurosporine and methylated TPA, both of which are known to specifically inhibit protein kinase C. Electrophoretic and autoradiographic patterns of soluble proteins from the coeoptiles indicated that either 1M or TPA tereatment resulted in increased phosphorylation of certain proteins of 205 Kd. 66 Kd and 32 Kd in size. The results obtained from the present work suggest that protein kinase C may be associated with auxin action on cell elongation in the corn coleoptile segments.gments.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.229-232
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• 1998

Lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) has been reported to be responsible for the sustained activation of protein kinase C (PKC). As chondroqenesis is known to be regulated by PKC, this study was performed to investigate the effects of LPC on chondrogenesis of chick limb bud mesenchymes in vitro. LPC treatment of mesenchymes during micromass culture significantly enhanced chondrogenic differentiation. The most effective time of LPC on the stimulation of chondrogenesis was the first day of micromass culture. Analysis of LPC effects on the expression of PKC isoforms revealed that LPC treatment increased expression of PKCa, among the multiple PKC isoforms, in the membrane fraction on day one of culture. The stimulatory effect of LPC on chondrogenesis was abolished if PKCa was down regulated by the prolonged treatment of cells with phorbol ester. The results suqqest that LPC promotes chondrogenesis through the activation of PKCa at the early stage of chondrogenic differentiation.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.140-146
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• 1998

Hypoglycemic action of brazilin was found to be based on the improvement of peripheral glucose utility, and this action might be correlated with the insulin action pathway. In the present study we investigated the effect of brazilin on the insulin receptor autophosphorylation, protein kinase C (PKC), protein phosphatase and insulin receptor serine kinase in order to confirm whether the hypoglycemic mechanism is concerned with insulin action pathway. Brazilin was found to inhibit PKC and insulin receptor serine kinase, which are involved in the regulation of insulin signal pathway. But any significant effect was not shown on insulin receptor tyrosine kinase activity, autophosphorylation and phosphatase activity. These findings suggest that brazilin might enhance insulin receptor function by decreasing serine phosphorylation, which might mediate hypoglycemic effect of brazilin.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.428-432
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• 1997

The dephosphorylation specificity of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A), calcineurin (PP2B) and protein phosphatase 2C (PP2C) were studied in vitro using myelin basic protein (MBP) as a model substrate which was fully phosphorylated at multiple sites by protein kinase C (PKC) or cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA). In order to determine the site specificity of phosphates in myelin basic protein, the protein was digested with trypsin and the radioactive phosphopeptide fragments were isolated by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) on reversed-phase column. Subsequent analysis and/or sequential manual Edman degradation of the purified phosphopeptides revealed that Thr-65 and Ser-115 were most extensively phophorylated by PKA and Ser-55 by PKC. For the dephosphorylation kinetics, the phosphorylated MBP was treated with calcineurin or PP2C with various time intervals and the reaction was terminated by direct tryptic digest. Both Thr-65 and Ser-115 residues were dephosphorylated more rapidly than any other ones by phosphatases. However it can be differentiated further by first-order kinetics that the PP2B dephosphorylated both Thr-65 and Ser-115 with almost same manner, whereas PP2C dephosphorylated somewhat preferentially the Ser-115.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 1993.04a
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• pp.135-135
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• 1993

신호전달과정에 중요한 역할을 하고 있는 다기능 serinei/threonine 단백질인산화효소인 protein kinase C(PKC)의 연구를 위해 이 효소의 정제를 뇌에서 착수하였다 PKC의 활성측정을 myelin basic protein을 기질로 하여 20 mM Tris 완충용액 PH 7.5, 0.15 mM [${\gamma}$-$^{32}$P]ATP(3 $\times$ $10^{5}$ cpm), 0.1 mM $Ca^{2＋}$, 10$\mu\textrm{g}$ phosphatidylserine과 2$\mu\textrm{g}$ diolein을 넣어 반응시켰다. 반응은 TCA로 정지시킨 후 방사성 단백질을 Millipore filter paper로 걸러 섬광 계수기로 읽었다. Cytosol PKC의 정제과정은 첫 단계에서 DEAE-cellulose를 사용하였으며, phenyl sepharose CL-4B와 protamine agarose를 연속적으로 이용하여 800배의 정제에 성공했다. SDS-PACE 상에서 80 kD로 나타났으며 순도는 95 % 이상이였다. 이를 이용 PKC의 각종 기질 연구에 착수하기 시작했으며, 이중 MBP의 인산화연구를 통한 myelin의 안정성과 MBP와의 구조 관계가 일부 수행되고 있다 연차적으로 PKC와 이와 관련된 단백질의 특성을 살피기 위해 뇌의 PKC 기질 중 cold stress를 통해 환경에 민감한 것을 찾고 있으며, 현재 autoradiography를 이용해 80 kD, 54 kD, 49 kD와 35 kD의 단백질이 연구대상이 되고있다. 그 중 49 kD는 B-50(또는 GAP43, neuromodulin이라고도 함)일 가능성이 높아 이 단백질 조절과 PKC 활성화 사이의 관계 정립이 흥미로운 과제로 대두되고 있다.다.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.263-271
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• 2001

Objective : Glioblastomas, the most common type of primary brain tumors, are highly invasive and cause massive tissue destruction at both the tumor invading edges and in areas that are not in direct contact with glioma cells. As a result, patients with high-grade gliomas are faced with a poor prognosis. Such grim statistics emphasize the need to better understand the mechanisms that underlie glioma invasion, as these may lead to the identification of novel targets in the therapy of high grade gliomas. Protein kinase C(PKC) is a family of serine/threonine kinases and an important signal transduction enzyme that conveys signals generated by ligand-receptor interaction at the cell surface to the nucleus. PKC appears to be critical in regulating many aspects of glioma biology. The purpose of this study was to assess accurately the role of PKC in the invasion regulation of human gliomas based on hypothesis that protein kinase C(PKC) is functional in the process of glial tumor cell invasion. Method : To test this hypothesis, U-87 malignant glioma cell line intracellular PKC levels were up and down regulated and their invasiveness was tested. Intracellular PKC level was characterized using PKC activity assays. Invasion assays including barrier migration and spheroid confrontation were used to study the relationship between PKC concentration and invasiveness. Result : The cell line which were treated by PKC inhibitor tamoxifen and hypericin exhibited decreased PKC activity and decreased invasive abilities dose dependently both in matrigel invasion assay and tumor spheroid fetal rat brain aggregates(FRBA) confrontation assay. However, the cell line that was treated by PKC activator 12-O-tetradecanylphorbol-13acetate(TPA) did not exhibit increases in either PKC activity or invasive ability. Conclusion : These studies suggest that PKC may be a useful molecular target for the chemotherapy of glioblastoma and other malignancies and that a therapeutic approach based on the ability of PKC inhibitors may be helpful in preventing invasion.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.29-37
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• 1997

Protein Kinase C (PKC) is generally believed to play a central role in signal transduction, cellular growth control, gene expression, and tumor promotion. And it has been suggested that inhibitors of PKC might play important roles for the prevention and treatment of cancer. In order to investigate the possible inhibitors of PKC from natural products, PKC receptor binding assay was performed using bovine brain particulate as a source of PKC and the amount of $[^3H]Phorbol$ 12,13-dibutyrate (PDBu) bound to PKC was measured in the presence of test materials. Total methanol extracts from 100 kinds of natural products were partitioned into 3 fractions (n-hexane, ethyl acetate and aqueous layer) and their binding ability to the regulatory domain of PKC was evaluated. The ethyl acetate fractions of Morus alba $(roots,\;IC_{50}:\;156.6\;{\mu}g/ml)$, Rehmannia glutinosa $(roots,\;IC_{50}:\;134.3\;{\mu}g/ml)$, Lysimachia foenum-graecum $(roots,\;IC_{50}:\;167.8\;{\mu}g/ml)$, Polygonum cuspidata $(roots,\;IC_{50}:\;157.3\;{\mu}g/ml)$, Cnidium officinale $(aerial\;parts,\;IC_{50}:\;145.2\;{\mu}g/ml)$, and the hexane $(IC_{50}:\;179.3\;{\mu}g/ml)$ and the EtOAc fraction of Symplocarpus nipponicus $(roots,\;IC_{50}:\;155.9\;{\mu}g/ml)$ showed inhibitory activity of $[^3H]PDBu$ binding to PKC.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.129-135
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• 2006

Vascular smooth muscle contraction is mediated by activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2, an isoform of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK). However, the role of stress-activated protein kinase/c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) in vascular smooth muscle contraction has not been defined. We investigated the role of JNK in the contractile response to norepinephrine (NE) in rat aortic smooth muscle. NE evoked contraction in a dose-dependent manner, and this effect was inhibited by the JNK inhibitor SP600125. NE increased the phosphorylation of JNK, which was greater in aortic smooth muscle from hypertensive rats than from normotensive rats. NE-induced JNK phosphorylation was significantly inhibited by SP600125 and the conventional-type PKC (cPKC) inhibitor Go6976, but not by the Rho kinase inhibitor Y27632 or the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibitor LY294002. Thymeleatoxin, a selective activator of cPKC, increased JNK phosphorylation, which was inhibited by $G{\ddot{o}}6976$. SP600125 attenuated the phosphorylation of caldesmon, an actin-binding protein whose phosphorylation is increased by NE. These results show that JNK contributes to NE-mediated contraction through phosphorylation of caldesmon in rat aortic smooth muscle, and that this effect is regulated by the PKC pathway, especially cPKC.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.249-254
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• 2006

It has been reported that liver is a very important organ to xenotransplantation. Pig is known to be a most suitable species in transplantation of human organs. However, the physiological function of pig hepatocytes is not clear elucidated. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) is known to be a mitogen in various cell systems. Thus, we examined the effect of EGF on cell proliferation and its related signal cascades in primary cultured pig hepatocytes. EGF stimulates cell proliferation in a dose (>1ng/ml) dependent manner. EGF-induced increase of $[^3H]-thymidine$ incorporation was blocked by AG 1478 ($10^{-6}M$, an EGF receptor antagonist) genistein and herbymycin A (tyrosine kinase inhibitors, $10^{-6}M$), suggesting the role of activation and tyrosine phosphorylation of EGF receptor. In addition, EGF-induced increase of $[^3H]-thymidine$ incorporation was prevented by neomycin $(10^{-4}M)$, U73122 $(10^{-5}M)$ (phospholipase C [PLC] inhibitors), staurosporine ($(10^{-8}M)$, or bisindolylmaleimide I $(10^{-6}M)$ (protein kinase C [PKC] inhibitors), suggesting the role of PLC and PKC. Moreover, EGF-induced increase of $[^3H]-thymidine$ incorporation was blocked by PD 98059 (a p44/42 mitogen activated protein kinase [MAPK] inhibitor), SB 203580 (a p38 MAPK inhibitor), and SP 600125 (a JNK inhibitor). EGF increased the translocation of PKC from cytosol to membrane fraction and activated p42/44 MAPK, p38 MAPK and JNK. In conclusion, EGF stimulates cell proliferation via PKC and MAPK in cultured pig hepatocytes.

• BMB Reports
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.639-645
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• 2005

Protein kinase C (PKC) isozymes, a family of serine-threonine kinases, are important regulators of cell proliferation and malignant transformation. Phorbol esters, the prototype PKC activators, cause PKC translocation to the plasma membrane in prostate cancer cells, and trigger an apoptotic response. Studies in recent years have determined that each member of the PKC family exerts different effects on apoptotic or survival pathways. $PKC{\delta}$, one of the novel PKCs, is a key player of the apoptotic response via the activation of the p38 MAPK pathway. Studies using RNAi revealed that depletion of $PKC{\delta}$ totally abolishes the apoptotic effect of the phorbol ester PMA. Activation of the classical $PKC{\alpha}$ promotes the dephosphorylation and inactivation of the survival kinase Akt. Studies have assigned a pro-survival role to $PKC{\varepsilon}$, but the function of this PKC isozyme remains controversial. Recently, it has been determined that the PKC apoptotic effect in androgen-dependent prostate cancer cells is mediated by the autocrine secretion of death factors. $PKC{\delta}$ stimulates the release of $TNF{\alpha}$ from the plasma membrane, and blockade of $TNF{\alpha}$ secretion or $TNF{\alpha}$ receptors abrogates the apoptotic response of PMA. Molecular analysis indicates the requirement of the extrinsic apoptotic cascade via the activation of death receptors and caspase-8. Dissecting the pathways downstream of PKC isozymes represents a major challenge to understanding the molecular basis of phorbol ester-induced apoptosis.