• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.35 no.9
• /
• pp.2673-2678
• /
• 2014

The detailed mechanisms of the efficient $\small{L}$-proline and pyrrolidine catalyzed transamidation of acetamide with benzylamine have been investigated using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Our calculated results show: (1) the mechanisms of two catalytic cycle reactions are similar. However, the rate-determining steps of their reactions are different for the whole catalytic process. One is the intramolecular nucleophilic addition reaction of 1-COM, the other is hydrolysis reaction of 2-C. (2) COOH group of $\small{L}$-proline is essential for efficient transamidation. The computational results are in good agreement with the experiment finding and mechanism resported by Rao et al. for $\small{L}$-proline-catalyzed synthesis of amidesin good to excellent yields.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.51 no.1
• /
• pp.5-13
• /
• 2018

Formation of toxic protein aggregates is a common feature and mainly contributes to the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs), which include amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's, and prion diseases. The transglutaminase 2 (TG2) gene encodes a multifunctional enzyme, displaying four types of activity, such as transamidation, GTPase, protein disulfide isomerase, and protein kinase activities. Many studies demonstrated that the calcium-dependent transamidation activity of TG2 affects the formation of insoluble and toxic amyloid aggregates that mainly consisted of NDD-related proteins. So far, many important and NDD-related substrates of TG2 have been identified, including $amlyoid-{\beta}$, tau, ${\alpha}-synuclein$, mutant huntingtin, and ALS-linked trans-activation response (TAR) DNA-binding protein 43. Recently, the formation of toxic inclusions mediated by several TG2 substrates were efficiently inhibited by TG2 inhibitors. Therefore, the development of highly specific TG2 inhibitors would be an important tool in alleviating the progression of TG2-related brain disorders. In this review, the authors discuss recent advances in TG2 biochemistry, several mechanisms of molecular regulation and pleotropic signaling functions, and the presumed role of TG2 in the progression of many NDDs.

• Polymer(Korea)
• /
• v.35 no.2
• /
• pp.176-182
• /
• 2011

Liquid crystalline aromatic polyesters (LCPs) are representative examples of thermotropic liquid crystalline polymers, whose structure-property relationships have been the subject of many researches. In this study, we synthesized organo-soluble liquid crystalline aromatic polyesters, and their composites with acetylene-terminated thermoset resins were prepared and characterized. Soluble LCPs were synthesized by employing 6-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid, terephthalic acid, isophthalic acid, and 4-aminophenol as monomers via condensation polymerization based on transesterfication and transamidation. Acetylene-terminated thermoset resins were synthesized by the reaction of 4-ethynylaniline with terephthaloyl dichloride, isophthaloyl dichloride or 4,4'-biphenyldicarbonyl dichloride. We prepared the soluble LCP/thermoset composites by solution blending followed by thermal treatment. The thermal stability, thermal expansion coefficient, and dielectric properties of the composite were studied.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.121-128
• /
• 2006

Maitotoxin (MTX) is known as one of the most potent marine toxins involved in Ciguatera poisoning, but intracellular signaling pathways caused by MTX was not fully understood. Thus, we have investigated whether intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) are involved in MTX-induced cellular responses in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. MTX induced a dose-dependent increase of intracellular [$Ca^{2+}$]. MTX stimulated the production of intracellular ROS in a dose- and time-dependent manner, which was suppressed by BAPTA-AM, an intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ chelator. Ionomycin also elevated the ROS production in a dose-dependent manner. MTX elevated transamidation activity in a time-dependent manner and the activation was largely inhibited by transfection of tissue transglutaminase siRNA. The activation of tissue transglutaminase and ERK1/2 by MTX was suppressed by BAPTA-AM or ROS scavengers. In addition, MTX-induced cell death was significantly delayed by BAPTA-AM or a ROS scavenger. These results suggest that [$Ca^{2+}$]-dependent generation of intracellular ROS, at least in part, play an important role in MTX-stimulated cellular responses, such as activation of tTGase, ERK phosphorylation, and induction of cell death, in human umbilical vein endothelial cells.