• Archives of Pharmacal Research
• /
• v.26 no.7
• /
• pp.554-558
• /
• 2003

Platelet activating factor acetylhydrolase (PAF-AH) activity has been identified in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples taken from children with meningitis. We reported that PAF-AH activity is significantly increased, by about 3 fold, in patients with meningitis compared to control subjects. Because of limited knowledge about this enzyme in CSF, we examined the biochemical properties of CSF PAF-AH. PAF-AH of CSF was calcium independent, showed a broad pH spectrum and was relatively heat stable. In addition, this enzyme activity was strongly inhibited by phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride (PMSF), partially inhibited by p-bromophenacylbromide (p-BPB), uninhibited by iodoacetamide, and moderately stimulated by dithiothreitol (DTT). PAF-AH of CSF did not degrade phospholipid with a long chain fatty acyl group at sn-2 position. This enzyme hydrolyzed PAF and oxidatively modified phosphatidylcholine. Furthermore, we identified a monomeric polypeptide with a molecular weight of approximately 45 kDa by Western blot using human plasma PAF-AH antibody. These results suggested that plasma type PAF-AH activity exist in CSF taken from children with meningitis.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.670-675
• /
• 2008

A laccase was isolated from the culture filtrate of the basidiomycete Fomitella fraxinea. The enzyme was purified to electrophoretical homogeneity using ammonium sulfate precipitation, anion-exchange chromatography, and gel-filtration chromatography. The enzyme was identified as a monomeric protein with a molecular mass of 47 kDa by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and gel-filtration chromatography, and had an isoelectric point of 3.8. The N-terminal amino acid sequence for the enzyme was ATXSNXKTLAAD, which had a very low similarity to the sequences previously reported for laccases from other basidiomycetes. The optimum pH and temperature for 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate) (ABTS) were 3.0 and $70^{\circ}C$, respectively. The enzyme also showed a much higher level of specific activity for ABTS and 2,6-dimethoxyphenol (DMP), where the $K_m$ values of the enzyme for ABTS and 2,6-DMP were 270 and $426{\mu}M$, respectively, and the $V_{max}$ values were 876 and $433.3{\mu}M/min$, respectively. The laccase activity was completely inhibited by L-cysteine, dithiothreitol (DTT), and sodium azide, significantly inhibited by $Ni^+,\;Mn^{2+}$, and $Ba^{2+}$, and slightly stimulated by $K^+$ and $Ca^{2+}$.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.47 no.2
• /
• pp.129-134
• /
• 2014

Two neuropeptides were purified from the acidified tube feet extract of the starfish Asterias amurensis by C18 reversed phase and size-exclusion high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The tube feet extract and the purified peptides (AST-I and AST-II) showed potent contractile activity on dorsal retractor muscle (DRM) of the starfish Asterina pectinifera and intestine (smooth muscle) of the panther puffer Takifugu pardalis. Treatment of the purified peptides with dithiothreitol (DTT) for 60 min at $37^{\circ}C$ significantly altered their retention times, suggesting that these compounds contained disulfide bonds. The molecular weights of AST-I and AST-II were determined to be 2064.2 Da and 6137.2 Da, respectively, by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry.

• Mycobiology
• /
• v.35 no.4
• /
• pp.219-225
• /
• 2007

A keratinolytic enzyme secreted by Aspergillus flavus K-03 cultured in feather meal basal medium (FMBM) containing 2% (w/v) chicken feather was purified and characterized. Keratinolytic enzyme secretion was the maximal at day 16 of the incubation period at pH 8 and $28^{\circ}C$. No relationship was detected between enzyme yield and increase of fungal biomass. The fraction obtained at 80% ammonium sulfate saturation showed 2.39-fold purification and was further purified by gel filtration in Sephadex G-100 followed by ion exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sephadex A-50, yielding an active protein peak showing 11.53-fold purification. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and zymograms indicated that the purified keratinase is a monomeric enzyme with 31 kDa molecular weight. The extracellular keratinase of A. flavus was active in a board range of pH ($7{\sim}10$) and temperature ($30^{\circ}C{\sim}70^{\circ}C$) profiles with the optimal for keratinase activity at pH 8 and $45^{\circ}C$. The keratinase activity was totally inhibited by protease inhibitors such as phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF), iodoacetic acid, and ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) while no reduction of activity by the addition of dithiothreitol (DTT) was observed. N-terminal amino acid sequences were up to 80% homologous with the fungal subtilisins produced by Fusarium culmorum. Therefore, on the basis of these characteristics, the keratinase of A. flavus K-03 is determined to be subtilisins-like.

• Journal of Photoscience
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.17-22
• /
• 1998

Changes of chlorophyll fluorescence and xanthophyll cycle pigment contents in maize leaves were investigated dunng desiccation in darkness or in the light. In darkness, a drastic dehydration of detached maize leaves down to 50% relative water content (RWC) affected photochemical efficiency of photosystem II (Fv/Fm) and pht)tochemical quenching (qP) only slightly. In contrast, desiccation in the light with a moderate intensity led to a pronounced reduction in Fv/Fm with a Fo quenching when RWC was greater than 70%. This reduction in Fv/Fm could be recovered in darkness under hutrod condition. In leaves with RWC below 70%, significant reduction in Fv/Fm was accompanied by an increase of Fo, which could not be reversed within 5 h in darkness under humid condition. The nonphotochemical quenching increased during desiccation in the light with a concomitant rise in zeaxanthin at the expense of violaxanthin. Pretreatment with dithiothreitol (DTT), an inhibitor of zeaxanthin synthesis, inhibited the development of nonphotochemical quenching and prevented the xanthophyll interconversion during desiccation in the light. These results suggest that even light with a moderate intensity becomes excessive under dehydration and zeaxanthin-associated photoprotection of photosynthetic apparatus against photodamage is involved, but the protection is not complete against severe desiccation.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• v.2 no.4
• /
• pp.427-433
• /
• 1998

In brain hypoxic-ischemia, an excess release of glutamate and a marked production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) occur in neuronal and non-neuronal cells. The present study investigated the effect of the biological antioxidants dihydrolipoic acid (DHLA) and lipoic acid (LA) on N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)- and ROS-induced neurotoxicity in cultured rat cortical neurons. DHLA enhanced NMDA-evoked rises in intracellular calcium concentration ($[Ca^{2+}]_i$). In contrast, LA did not alter the NMDA-evoked calcium responses but decreased after a brief treatment of dithiothreitol (DTT), which possesses a strong reducing potential. Despite the modulation of NMDA receptor-mediated rises in $[Ca^{2+}]_i$, neither DHLA nor LA altered the NMDA receptor-mediated neurotoxicity, as assessed by measuring the amount of lactate dehydrogenase released from dead or injured cells. DHLA, but not LA, prevented the neurotoxicity induced by xanthine/xanthine oxidase-generated superoxide radicals. Both DHLA and LA decreased the glutathione depletion-induced neurotoxicity. The present data may indicate that biological antioxidants DHLA and LA protect neurons from ischemic injuries via scavenging oxygen free radicals rather than modulating the redox modulatory site(s) of NMDA receptor.

• Animal cells and systems
• /
• v.15 no.3
• /
• pp.181-187
• /
• 2011

Transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 (TRPV1) receptor plays an important role as a molecular detector of noxious signals in primary sensory neurons. Activity of TRPV1 can be modulated by the change in the environment such as redox state and extracellular cations. In the present study, we investigated the effect of the mercury chloride ($HgCl_2$) on the activity of TRPV1 in rat dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons using whole-cell patch clamp technique. Extracellular $HgCl_2$ reversibly reduced the magnitudes of capsaicin-activated currents ($I_{cap}$) in DRG neurons in a dose-dependent manner. The blocking effect of $HgCl_2$ was prevented by pretreatment with the reducing agent dithiothreitol (DTT). Inhibition of $I_{cap}$ by $HgCl_2$ was abolished by point mutation of individual cysteine residues located on the extracellular surface of TRPV1. These results suggest that three extracellular cysteines of TRPV1, Cys616, Cys634 and Cys621, are responsible for the oxidative modulation of $I_{cap}$ by $HgCl_2$.

• The Journal of Natural Sciences
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.57-61
• /
• 1996

The $\beta$-glucosidase enzyme was purified from E. coli carrying Cellulomonas fimi $\beta$-glucosidase gene. SDS-PAGE and analytical gel filtration revealed that molecular weight of this enzyme was 56,000 dalton and consisted of a single polypeptide.Inhibition caused by heavy metals and activation by dithiothreitol suggest the existence of essential thiol group in the enzyme. The enzyme was not active on maltose (glucose $\alpha$-1,4-glucose) which has a $\alpha$-linkage, whereas it was active on lactose (glucose $\beta$-1,4-glucose), PNPG (p-nitrophenyl $\beta$-D-glucopyranoside) and PNPC (p-nitrophenyl $\beta$-D-cellobioside), although its reaction rates were different.

• Journal of IKEEE
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.320-330
• /
• 2017

Porous nanosilica (PNS) has been identified as a potential candidate for controlled drug delivery. However, unmodified PNS-based carriers exhibited an initial release of loaded bioactive agents, which may limit their potential clinical applications. In this study, the surface of PNS was functionalized with adamantylamine (ADA) via disulfide bonds (-S-S-), PNS-S-S-ADA, which was then modified with cyclodextrin (CD)-heparin (Hep) (CD-Hep), PNS-S-S-CDH, for redox triggered rhodamine B (RhB) delivery. The obtained samples were then characterized by proton nuclear magnetic resonance ($^{1}H\;NMR$), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and transmission electron microscope (TEM). These results showed that PNS-S-S-CDH was successfully formed with spherical shape and average diameter of $45.64{\pm}2.33nm$. In addition, RhB was relatively encapsulated in the PNS-S-S-CDH (RhB@PNS-S-S-CDH) and slowly released up to 3 days. The release of RhB, in particular, was triggered due to the cleavage of -S-S- in the presence of dithiothreitol (DTT). It might be anticipated that the modified PNS can be used as redox-responsive drug delivery system in cancer therapy.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.27 no.3
• /
• pp.161-170
• /
• 1989

The proteases of Toxoplasma gcndii were purified partially and characterisrd for some biochemical properties including various chromatographic patterns, major catalytic classes, and conditions to promote the activity of these enzymes. When Toxoplasma extract was incubated with 3H-casein at various pH, peak hydrolysis of casein was observed at pH 6.0 and at pH 8.5. Proteasfs working at pH 6.0 and at pH 8.5 were purified partially by conventional methods of chromatographies of DE52 anion rxchange, Sephadex G-200 gel permeation, and hydroxylapatite chromatography. Partially purified enzymes were tested by site-specific inhibitors and promotorf. The protease working at pH 6.0 was inactivated by iodoacetamide with LDso of 10-5 M and promoted by dithiothreitol, while the protease working at pH 8.5 was inhibited by phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride with LD50 of 10-5 M and was Promoted by ATP (excess ATP beyond 2 mM inhibited the activity reversely). The protease of pH 8.5 had the activity of ATPase which might exert the energy to its action. Therefore the former was referred to as a cysteinyl acid protease and the latter, ATP-dependent neutral serine protease.