• BMB Reports
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.230-235
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• 1996

The interaction of ${\alpha}-ketoglutarate$ dehydrogenase complex (${\alpha}-KGDC$) with a hydrophobic fluorescent probe [1,1'-bi(4-aniline)naphthalene-5,5'-disulfonic acid] (bis-ANS) was studied. The punfied ${\alpha}-KGDC$ was potently inhibited by bis-ANS with an apparent half maximal inhibitory concentration ($IC_{50}$) of 9.8 ${\mu}m$ at pH 8.0. The catalytic activities of both the E1o and E2o subunits were predominantly inhibited while that of the E3 component was hardly affected. The binding of bis-ANS to the enzyme caused a marked enhancement and blue shift from 523 nm to 482 nm in the fluorescence emission spectrum. The dissociation constant ($K_d$) and the number of binding sites (n) were calculated to be 0.87 mM and 158, respectively. Allosteric regulators such as purine nucleotides and divalent cations further increased the fluorescence intensity of the $bis-ANS-{\alpha}-KGDC$ binary complex. These data suggest that the binding of these allosteric regulators to ${\alpha}-KGDC$ may cause the conformational changes in the enzyme and that bis-ANS could be used as a valuable probe to study the interaction of the multi-enzyme complex and its allosteric regulators.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.67-73
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• 2015

The microcystin is a cyclic heptapeptide from metabolites of cyanobacteria in the genera mycrocystis, anabaeba as a result of eutrophication. It has been known that microcystin-LR is a potent inhibitor of the catalytic subunits of protein phosphatase-1 (PP-1) as well as powerful tumor promoter. The active site of microcystin actually has two metal ions $Fe^{2+}/Zn^{2+}$ close to the nucleophilic portion of PP-1-microcystin complex. We report the isolation and purification of this microcystin-LR from cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) obtained from Daechung Dam in Chung-cheong Do, Korea. Microcystin-LR was extracted from solid-phase extraction (SPE) sample preparation using a CN cartridge. The cyanobacteria extract was purified to obtain microcystin-LR by HPLC method and identified by LC/MS. The detail structural studies that can elucidate the possible role of monovalent and divalent metal ions in PP-1-microcystin complexation were carried out by utilizing molecular dynamics. Conformational changes in metal binding for ligands were monitored by molecular dynamic computation and potential of mean force (PMF) using the method of the free energy perturbation. The microcystin-metal binding PMF simulation results exhibit that microcystin can have very stable binding free energy of -10.95 kcal/mol by adopting the $Mg^{2+}$ ion at broad geometrical distribution of $0.5{\sim}4.5{\AA}$, and show that the $K^+$ ion can form a stable metal complex rather than other monovalent alkali metal ions.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.107-111
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• 2007

Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCC), a flavonoid, is the main component of green tea extracts. EGCG has been reported to be an inhibitor of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and cytochrom P450 3A(CYP3A4). This study investigated the effect of long-term administration of EGCG on the pharmacokinetics of verapamil in rats. Pharmacokinetic parameters of verapamil were determined after oral administration of verapamil (9 mg/kg) in rats pretreated with EGCG (7.5 mg/hg) for 3 and 9 days. Compared to oral control group, the presence of EGCG significantly (p<0.01) increased the area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) of verapamil by 102% (coad), 83.2% (3 days) and 52.3% (9 days), and the peak concentration $(C_{max})$ by 134% (coad), 120% (3 days) and 66.1% (9 days). The absolute bioavailability (A.B.%) of verapamil was significantly (p<0.01) higher by 8.4% (coad), 7.7% (3 days), 6.4% (9 days) compared to control (4.2%), and presence of EGCG was no significant change in the terminal half-life $(t_{1/2})$ and the time to reach the peak concentration $(T_{max})$ of verapamil. Our results indicate that EGCG significantly enhanced oral bioavailability of verapamil in rats, implying that presence of EGCG could be effective to inhibit the CYP3A4-mediated metabolism and P-gp efflux of verapamil in the intestine. Drug interactions should be considered in the clinical setting when verapamil is coadministrated with EGCG or EGCG-containing dietary.

• ALGAE
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.49-59
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• 2016

Ulva pertusa, a common bloom-forming green alga, was used as a model system to examine the effects of elevated carbon dioxide (CO₂) and temperature on growth and photosynthetic performance. To do this, U. pertusa was grown under four temperature and CO₂ conditions; ambient CO₂ (400 μatm) and temperature (16℃) (i.e., present), elevated temperature only (19℃) (ET; i.e., warming), elevated CO₂ only (1,000 μatm) (EC; i.e., acidification), and elevated temperature and CO₂ (ET and EC; i.e., greenhouse), and its steady state photosynthetic performance evaluated. Maximum gross photosynthetic rates (GP_max) were highest under EC conditions and lowest under ET conditions. Further, ET conditions resulted in decreased rate of dark respiration (R_d), but growth of U. pertusa was higher under ET conditions than under ambient temperature conditions. In order to evaluate external carbonic anhydrase (eCA) activity, photosynthesis was measured at 70 μmol photons m⁻² s⁻¹ in the presence or absence of the eCA inhibitor acetazolamide (AZ), which inhibited photosynthetic rates in all treatments, indicating eCA activity. However, while AZ reduced U. pertusa photosynthesis in all treatments, this reduction was lower under ambient CO₂ conditions (both present and warming) compared to EC conditions (both acidification and greenhouse). Moreover, Chlorophyll a and glucose contents in U. pertusa tissues declined under ET conditions (both warming and greenhouse) in conjunction with reduced GP_max and R_d. Overall, our results indicate that the interaction of EC and ET would offset each other’s impacts on photosynthesis and biochemical composition as related to carbon balance of U. pertusa.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.10
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• pp.1508-1513
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• 2006

Myostatin (MSTN) and insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) are a known inhibitor and stimulators of proliferation and differentiation of muscle cells, respectively. The present study was performed to investigate the relationship of MSTN-induced growth inhibition to expression of the IGF system components and myogenin, a muscle cell-specific transcription factor, in rat L6 myoblasts. The L6 cells transfected with a green fluorescent protein-MSTN plasmid expression construct had a 47% less cell number than mock-transfected cells after 3-d serum-free culture, accompanied by delayed differentiation which was suggested by inhibited aggregation of cells. Moreover, cells transfected with the expression construct had decreased expression of IGF-II and myogenin genes, but not IGF-I or its receptor genes, as examined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The reduced mitosis of the L6 cells transfected with the MSTN-expression construct increased following an addition of either IGF-I or IGF-II to the culture medium, but not to the level of mock-transfected cells. By contrast, myogenin gene expression in these cells increased after the addition of either IGF to the level of mock-transfected cells. Collectively, these results suggest that the inhibitory effect of MSTN on L6 cell proliferation and differentiation is likely to be partly mediated by serially suppressed expression of IGF-II and myogenin genes, not IGF-I gene.

• BMB Reports
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.537-543
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• 2001

In the present study, an in vitro ELISA system to assess the interaction between Src homology (SH)2 domains and phosphotyrosine that contain peptides was established using purified GST-conjugated SH2 proteins and synthetic biotinylated phosphotyrosine that contain oligopeptides. The SH2 domains bound the relevant phosphopeptides that were immobilized in the streptavidin-coated microtiter plate in a highly specific and dose-dependent manner. The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-, T antigen (T Ag)-, and platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR)-derived phosphopeptides interacted with the growth factor receptor binding protein (Grb)2/SH2, Lck/SH2, and phosphatidyl inositol 3-kinase (PI3K) p85/SH2, respectively. No cross-reactions were observed. Competitive inhibition experiments showed that a short phosphopeptide of only four amino acids was long enough to determine the binding specificity. Optimal concentrations of the GST-SH2 fusion protein and phosphopeptide in this new ELISA system for screening the binding blockers were chosen at 2nM and 500nM, respectively. When two candidate compounds were tested in our ELISA system, they specifically inhibited the Lck/SH2 and/or p85/SH2 binding to the relevant phosphopeptides. Our results indicate that this ELISA system could be used as an easy screening method for the discovery of specific binding blockers of protein-protein interactions via SH2 domains.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.11
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• pp.1932-1941
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• 2017

DFC-2, a methyl 5-[2-(dimethylamino)ethoxy]-7,12-dioxo-7,12-dihydrodinaphtho[1,2-b:2',3'-d]furan-6-carboxylate, is reported to have antitubercular effects against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. At concentrations ranging from 0.19 to $0.39{\mu}g/ml$, DFC-2 inhibited both drugusceptible and -resistant strains of M. tuberculosis. Microarray analyses were employed to gain insights into the molecular mechanisms of DFC-2's action in M. tuberculosis. The most affected functional gene category was "lipid biosynthesis," which is involved in mycolic acid synthesis. The decrease in transcription of genes related to mycolic acid synthesis was confirmed by RT-PCR. Furthermore, we found that DFC-2 triggered a reduction in mycolic acid levels, showing a similar pattern to that of mycolic acid synthesis inhibitor isoniazid. These results may explain how this compound kills mycobacteria efficiently by inhibiting mycolic acid synthesis.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.331-339
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• 2009

Capsaicin is a very important secondary metabolite that is unique to Capsicum. Capsaicin biosynthesis is regulated developmentally and environmentally in the placenta of hot pepper. To investigate regulation of capsaicin biosynthesis, the promoter (1,537 bp) of pepper capsaicin synthase (CS) was fused to GUS and introduced into Arabidopsis thaliana (Col-0) via Agrobacterium tumefaciens to produce CSPRO::GUS transgenic plants. The CS was specifically expressed in the placenta tissue of immature green fruit. However, the transgenic Arabidopsis showed ectopic GUS expressions in the leaves, flowers and roots, but not in the stems. The CSPRO activity was relatively high under light conditions and was induced by both heat shock and wounding, as CS transcripts were increased by wounding. Exogenous capsaicin caused strong suppression of the CSPRO activity in transgenic Arabidopsis, as demonstrated by suppression of CS expression in the placenta after capsaicin treatment. Furthermore, the differential expression levels of Kas, Pal and pAmt, which are associated with the capsaicinoid biosynthetic pathway, were also suppressed in the placenta by capsaicin treatment. These results support that capsaicin, a feedback inhibitor, plays a pivotal role in regulating gene expression which is involved in the biosynthesis of capsaicinoids.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.25-30
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• 2009

${\beta}$-Arrestins turn off G protein-mediated signals and initiate distinct G protein-independent signaling pathways. We previously demonstrated that angiotensin $AT_1$ receptorbound ${\beta}$-arrestin 1 is cleaved after $Phe^{388}$ upon angiotensin II stimulation. The mechanism and signaling pathway of angiotensin II-induced ${\beta}$-arrestin cleavage remain largely unknown. Here, we show that protein Tyr phosphatase activity is involved in the regulation of ${\beta}$-arrestin 1 cleavage. Tagging of green fluorescent protein (GFP) either to the N-terminus or C-terminus of ${\beta}$-arrestin 1 induced conformational changes and the cleavage of ${\beta}$-arrestin 1 without angiotensin $AT_1$ receptor activation. Orthovanadate and molybdate, inhibitors of protein Tyr phosphatase, attenuated the cleavage of C-terminal GFP-tagged ${\beta}$-arrestin 1 in vitro. The inhibitory effects of okadaic acid and pyrophosphate, which are inhibitors of protein Ser/Thr phosphatase, were less than those of protein Tyr phosphatase inhibitors. Cell-permeable pervanadate inhibited angiotensin II-induced cleavage of ${\beta}$-arrestin 1 in COS-1 cells. Our findings suggest that Tyr phosphorylation signaling is involved in the regulation of angiotensin II-induced ${\beta}$-arrestin cleavage.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.81-84
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• 2004

Branched broomrape (Orobanche ramosa) is a holo-parasitic flowering plant that attaches to the root of its host, green plant, by means of a specialized structure known as haustorium. Following successful contact and penetration on susceptible plant root, complex tissue of Orobanche cells is formed which is known as the tubercle. Newly formed tubercles contain high activity ofindole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Triiodobenzoic acid (TIBA), as an inhibitor of IAA polar transport, was utilized to investigate the supply and requirement of auxin to the developing O. ramosa on tomato plant. There was no significant reduction in the incidence of O. ramosa per pot of different TIBA treatments. However, infection severity in terms of the number of O. ramosa shoots that emerged per plant and number of attachments per plant root system were significantly reduced by 60 % and 45 % on TIBA treated plants, respectively. Histo-logical studies revealed conspicuous delay in the initiation of xylem vessel differentiation inside tubercles of the TIBA treated tomato plants. Also, differentiated vessels showed thinner secondary wall deposition, and improper alignment within bundles inside those tubercles. They were wider and shorter in diameter in comparison to those of untreated plants. These findings were attri-buted to the short supply of IAA required for normal development, and to the xylem vessel differentiation of O. ramosa tubercles on infected tomato. Hence, this parasitic flowering plant seems to depend upon its host in its requirements for IAA, in a source to sink relation-ship.