• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Toxicology Conference
• /
• 2003.10b
• /
• pp.136-136
• /
• 2003

Exposure of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) causes a variety of biological and toxicology effects, most of which are mediated by aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR). The ligand-bound AhR as a heterodimer with AhR nuclear translocator (ARNT) binds to its specific DNA recognition site, the dioxin-responsive element (DRE), and it results in increased transcription of CVP1A1 gene.(omitted)

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
• /
• 2003.10b
• /
• pp.119.2-119.2
• /
• 2003

Exposure of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) causes a variety of biological and toxicology effects, most of which are mediated by aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR). The ligand-bound AhR as a heterodimer with AhR nuclear translocator (ARNT) binds to its specific DNA recognition site, the dioxin-responsive element (DRE), and it results in increased transcription of CYP1A1 gene. Retinoic acid (RA) regulates the transcription of various genes for several essential functions through binding to two classes of nuclear receptors, the retinoic acid receptor (RAR) and retinoid X receptor (RXR). (omitted)

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
• /
• v.35 no.5
• /
• pp.791-796
• /
• 2003

Polyphenol oxidase isoforms were purified from the lotus roots using 50% acetone precipitation, conventional chromatographies of Q-Sepharose and hydrophobic interaction, and high performance liquid chromatographies of Mono-Q and Superdex 75 gel-filtration. Molecular mass of a purified PPO isoform (LPIII-2) was determined to be 56 kDa using gel-filtration chromatography. The active form of LPIII-2 appeared to bea heterodimer, as purified LPIII-2 on SDS-PAGE gel showed two bands that were determined to be 28 kDa and 26 kDa. To further characterize PPO, partially purified PPO isoforms (LP-II, LP-III) were obtained from Q-Sepharose anion-exchange chromatography. In substrate specificity, the partially purified PPO isoform LP-II showed a high affinity to catechol, while LP-III showed a high affinity to pyrogallol. The optimum pH of LP-II and LP-III was pH 7.0. Interestingly, the partially purified PPO isoforms showed high activities at low temperatures $(0{\sim}5^{\circ}C)$, and as temperatures rose, the activities decreased. Both PPO isoforms were stable at $40^{\circ}C$ and were inactivated by incubation at $60^{\circ}C$ for 40 min.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
• /
• 2001.10a
• /
• pp.109-113
• /
• 2001

Oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) has been shown to modulate transactivations by the peroxisome proliferator activated receptor (PPAR)$\gamma$ and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF$\kappa$B). In this study, the oxLDL signaling pathways involved with the NF$\kappa$B transactivation were investigated by utilizing a reporter construct driven by three upstream NF$\kappa$B binding sites, and various pharmacological inhibitors. OxLDL and its constituent lysophophatidylcholine (lysoPC) induced a rapid and transient increase of intracellular calcium and stimulated the NF-KB transactivation in resting RAW264.7 macrophage cells in an oxidation-dependent manner. The NF$\kappa$B activation by oxLDL or lysoPC was inhibited by protein kinase C inhibitors or an intracellular calcium chelator. Tyrosine kinase or PI3 kinase inhibitors did not block the NF$\kappa$B transactivation. Furthermore, the oxLDL-induced NF$\kappa$B activity was abolished by the PPAR$\gamma$ ligands. When the endocytosis of oxLDL was blocked by cytochalasin B, the NF$\kappa$B transactivation by oxLDL was synergistically increased, while PPAR transactivation was blocked. These results suggest that oxLDL activates NF-$\kappa$B in resting macrophages via protein kinase C- and/or calcium-dependent pathways, which does not involve the endocytic processing of oxLDL. The endocytosis-dependent PPAR$\gamma$ activation by oxLDL may function as an inactivation route of the oxLDL induced NF$\kappa$B signal. Short heterodimer partner (SHP), specifically expressed in liver and a limited number of other tissues, is an unusual orphan nuclear receptor that lacks the conventional DNA-binding domain. In this work, we found that SHP expression is abundant in murine macrophage cell line RAW 264.7 but suppressed by oxLDL and its constituent I3-HODE, a ligand for peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor y. Furthermore, SHP acted as a transcription coactivator of nuclear factor-$\kappa$B (NF$\kappa$B) and was essential for the previously described NF$\kappa$B transactivation by lysoPC, one of the oxLDL constituents. Accordingly, NF$\kappa$B, transcriptionally active in the beginning, became progressively inert in oxLDL-treated RAW 264.7 cells, as oxLDL decreased the SHP expression. Thus, SHP appears to be an important modulatory component to regulate the transcriptional activities of NF$\kappa$B in oxLDL-treated, resting macrophage cells.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.47 no.3
• /
• pp.287-291
• /
• 2009

The ${\alpha}/{\beta}$-tubulin heterodimer is the basic subunit of microtubules in eukaryotes. Polyclonal antibodies specific to recombinant ${\alpha}$-tubulin of Giardia lamblia were made, and found effective as a probe to specifically detect G. lamblia by immunofluorescence assays. Nucleotide sequences of ${\alpha}$-tubulin genes were compared between G. lamblia WB and GS strains, prototypes of assemblage A and assemblage B, respectively. A set of primers was designed and used to amplify a portion of the ${\alpha}$-tubulin gene from G. lamblia. PCR-RFLP analysis of this ${\alpha}$-tubulin PCR product successfully differentiated G. lamblia into 2 distinct groups, assemblages A and B.Theresults indicate that ${\alpha}$-tubulin can be used as a molecular probe to detect G.lamblia.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.279-287
• /
• 1999

The aromatic hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a cytosolic protein that binds the environmental pollutant, dioxin. The liganded AhR translocates into the nucleus where it heterimerizes with a constitutive nuclear protein, AhR nuclear translocator (Arnt). The N-terminal regions of both AhR and Arnt contain basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) and Per-AhR-Arnt-Sim (PAS) motifs that are required for DNA binding, dimerization, and ligand binding whereas the C-terminal regions of both AhR and Arnt contain transactivation domains. Here, results from the mammalian two-hybrid system indicate that Arnt can make a homodimer but AhR cannot. In the presence of dioxin, the interaction between AhR and Arnt is stronger than that of the Arnt homodimer, suggesting that Arnt prefers to make a heterodimer with the liganded AhR rather than a homodimer. Transfection analyses using the GAL4-driven reporter system suggest that AhR's N-terminal region represses its own transactivation domain, as well as exogenous transactivation domains such as Sp 1 and VP16. Interestingly, the repressed transactivation domains of AhR are activated by ligand-dependent heterodimerization with Arnt. These observations suggest that heterodimerzation with Arnt is necessary not only for DNA binding but also for activation of the repressed transactivation capability of AhR.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.42 no.11
• /
• pp.737-742
• /
• 2009

Hypoxia-inducible factor-$1{\alpha}/{\beta}$ (HIF-$1{\alpha}/{\beta}$) is a heterodimeric transcriptional activator that mediates gene expression in response to hypoxia. HIF-$1{\alpha}$ has been noted as an effective therapeutic target for ischemic diseases such as myocardiac infarction, stroke and cancer. By using a yeast two-hybrid system and a random peptide library, we found a 16-mer peptide named F29 that directly interacts with the bHLH-PAS domain of HIF-$1{\alpha}$. We found that F29 facilitates the interaction of the HIF-$1{\alpha/\beta}$ heterodimer with its target DNA sequence, hypoxia-responsive element (HRE). The transient transfection of an F29-expressing plasmid increases the expression of both an HRE-driven luciferase gene and the endogenous HIF-1 target gene, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Taken together, we conclude that F29 increases the DNA-binding ability of HIF-$1{\alpha}$, leading to increased expression of its target gene VEGF. Our results suggest that F29 can be a lead compound that directly targets HIF-$1{\alpha}$ and increases its activity.

• Biomedical Science Letters
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.137-142
• /
• 2004

The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor $\gamma$ (PPAR${\gamma}$) is the molecular target for a class of drugs, the antidiabetic thiazolidnediones (TZDs). The heterodimer of PPAR${\gamma}$ with retinoid X receptor (RXR) plays a central role in the regulation of adipogenesis and insulin sensitization. We synthesized two chemicals, DANA87 and DANA88, sharing structural characteristics with TZDs. Given this structural similarity, it was hypothesized that DANA87 and DANA88 may act as PPAR$\gamma$ ligands. In transient transfection assays, DANA87 and DANA88 caused slight increases in the endogenous expression of a luciferase reporter gene containing the PPAR responsive element in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. However, DANA87 and DANA88 significantly inhibited troglitazone-induced reporter gene activation when cells were treated with a combination of DANA87 or DANA 88 and troglitazone, one of the TZDs that activate PPAR$\gamma$. These results suggest that DANA87 and DANA88 are not only weak agonists of PPAR${\gamma}$ transactivation, but also competitively antagonize troglitazone-induced PPAR$\gamma$ reporter activity.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.49 no.3
• /
• pp.173-178
• /
• 2016

Liver cells experience hypoxic stress when drug-metabolizing enzymes excessively consume O₂ for hydroxylation. Hypoxic stress changes the transcription of several genes by activating a heterodimeric transcription factor called hypoxia-inducible factor-1α/β (HIF-1α/β). We found that hypoxic stress (0.1% O₂) decreased the expression of cytochrome P450 7A1 (CYP7A1), a rate-limiting enzyme involved in bile acid biosynthesis. Chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA), a major component of bile acids, represses CYP7A1 by activating a transcriptional repressor named small heterodimer partner (SHP). We observed that hypoxia decreased the levels of both CDCA and SHP, suggesting that hypoxia repressed CYP7A1 without inducing SHP. The finding that overexpression of HIF-1α increased the activity of the CYP7A1 promoter suggested that hypoxia decreased the expression of CYP7A1 in a HIF-1-independent manner. Thus, the results of this study suggested that hypoxia decreased the activity of CYP7A1 by limiting its substrate O₂, and by decreasing the transcription of CYP7A1.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.14 no.5
• /
• pp.1004-1008
• /
• 2004

An extracellular acid phytase from Pseudomonas fragi Y9451 was purified to homogeneity from the culture supernatant by salting-out, DEAE-Sepharose column chromatography, CM-Sepharose column chromatography, and Sephacryl S-300 gel filtration. The molecular weight of the purified enzyme was estimated to be 74 kDa on gel filtration and 54 kDa and 25 kDa on SDS-PAGE, suggesting that the native enzyme was a heterodimeric protein. The purified enzyme was most active at pH 4.5 and $70^{\circ}C$ and fairly stable from pH 4.0- 6.0. It was specific for phytate and exhibited a $K_{m}$ value of 27 mM (sodium phytate, pH 4.5, $50^{\circ}C$). The phytase activity was strongly inhibited (at maximum by 87%) by $Fe^{3+},\;Cu^{2+},\;Fe^{2+}$, and $Zn^{2+}$ at 5 mM concentration, and greatly inhibited by $Ca^{2+}$ at 10 mM concentration. However, EDTA notably stimulated the phytase activity at 10 mM concentration. With optimum pH and stability, Pseudomonas fragi phytase could be a potential candidate for animal feed applications.