• Title/Summary/Keyword: amyloid ${\beta}$

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Phagocytic Roles of Glial Cells in Healthy and Diseased Brains

  • Jung, Yeon-Joo;Chung, Won-Suk
    • Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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    • v.26 no.4
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    • pp.350-357
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    • 2018
  • Glial cells are receiving much attention since they have been recognized as important regulators of many aspects of brain function and disease. Recent evidence has revealed that two different glial cells, astrocytes and microglia, control synapse elimination under normal and pathological conditions via phagocytosis. Astrocytes use the MEGF10 and MERTK phagocytic pathways, and microglia use the classical complement pathway to recognize and eliminate unwanted synapses. Notably, glial phagocytosis also contributes to the clearance of disease-specific protein aggregates, such as ${\beta}$-amyloid, huntingtin, and ${\alpha}$-synuclein. Here we reivew recent findings showing that glial cells are active regulators in brain functions through phagocytosis and that changes in glial phagocytosis contribute to the pathogenesis of various neurodegenerative diseases. A better understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms of glial phagocytosis in healthy and diseased brains will greatly improve our current approach in treating these diseases.

Isolation of 6,6'-Bieckol from Grateloupia elliptica and its Antioxidative and Anti-Cholinesterase Activity

  • Lee, Bong Ho;Choi, Byoung Wook;Lee, Soo Young
    • Ocean and Polar Research
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    • v.39 no.1
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    • pp.45-49
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    • 2017
  • During the search for anticholinesterase compounds from marine organisms, we were able to isolate 6,6'-bieckol from a red alga, Grateloupia elliptica. This compound showed moderate acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory activity in a micromole range ($IC_{50}$ $44.5{\mu}M$). However, for butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE), a new target for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD), it showed particularly potent inhibitory activity ($IC_{50}$ $27.4{\mu}M$), which is more potent compared to AChE. It also inhibits BACE-1, a new target for reducing the generation of ${\beta}-amyloid$.

Effect of Samryungbaikchul-san on Astrocyte Activation and Apoptosis in Mouse Model of Alzheimer Disease (삼령백출산(蔘笭白朮散)이 Alzheimer's Disease 동물모델의 Astrocyte 활성화 및 Apoptosis에 미치는 영향)

  • Lee, Sang-Ryong
    • Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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    • v.23 no.2
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    • pp.374-380
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    • 2009
  • Samryungbaikchul-san(SRBCS) has been used in oriental medicine for the treatments of gastrointestinal and neurological disorders. Here, potential protective function of SRBCS was investigated in neural tissues in Alzheimer's disease(AD) mouse model. In primary cultured cells from the spinal cord of newborn rats, treatment of ${\beta}$-amyloid peptide elevated cell counts positive to glial fibrillary acidic protein(GFAP) or caspase 3 immunoreactivity, but the co-treatment of SRBCS reduced positive cell counts. In vivo administration of scopolamine, an inhibitor of muscarinic receptor, resulted in increases in the number of glial fibrillary acidic protein(GFAP) and caspase 3-positive cells in hippocampal subfields, which was then decreased by the treatment of SRBCS or acetylcholinesterase inhibitor galathamine. The present data suggest that SRBCS may play a protective role in damaged neural tissues caused by scopolamine treatments in mice.

Analysis of Dissociation Pathway of HET-s Prion Using Steered Pulling Simulation

  • Kim, Minwoo;Cho, Tony;Shin, Seokmin
    • Proceeding of EDISON Challenge
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    • 2017.03a
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    • pp.32-38
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    • 2017
  • Prion is a group of the proteins known for its infection mechanisms of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and other diseases. Solved structures and proven biological roles of fungal prions add tremendous potential to conducting computational simulations. Our research focuses on the binding dynamics of HET-s(218-289), one of the heterokaryon fungal prion originated from Podospora anserina, by calculating the binding free energy using umbrella sampling at 300 K. The binding free energy calculated was $-54.5kcal\;mol^{-1}$, relatively similar to the binding energy of other amyloid fibrils. The simulation result suggests the thermodynamic properties of ${\beta}$-solenoid of HET-s prion and its similarity in dissociation pathways compared to amyloids.

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