• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2023

Eutylone, dibutylone, and dimethylone are potential psychotropic designer drugs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the in vitro metabolic pathways of synthetic cathinones with methylenedioxy groups. The three methylenedioxy derivatives were incubated with human liver microsomes. The metabolites were characterized based on liquid chromatography and quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Eutylone, dibutylone, and dimethylone were metabolized to yield three, six, and four metabolites, respectively. Reduction and demethylenation were the major metabolic pathways for all three drugs tested. However, dibutylone and dimethylone showed an additional metabolite generated via N-oxidation. These results provide evidence for the in vivo metabolism of methylenedioxy synthetic cathinones, and could be applied to the analysis of synthetic cathinones and their relevant metabolites in biological samples.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2007

We found that the main bacterial metabolite M1 is an active component of orally administered protopanxadiol-type ginsenosides, and that the anti-metastatic effect by oral administration of ginsenosides may be primarily mediated through the inhibition of tumor invasion, migration and growth of tumor cells by their metabolite M1. Pharmacokinetic study after oral administration of ginsenoside Rb1 revealed that M1 was detected in serum for 24 h by HPLC analysis but Rb1 was not detected. M1, with anti-metastatic property, inhibited the proliferation of murine and human tumor cells in a time- and concentration-dependent manner in vitro, and also induced apoptotic cell death (the ladder fragmentation of the extracted DNA). The induction of apoptosis by M1 involved the up-regulation of the cyclin-dependent kinase(CDK) inhibitor $p27^{Kip1}$ as well as the down-regulation of a proto-oncogene product c-Myc and cyclin D1 in a time-dependent manner. Thus, M1 might cause the cell-cycle arrest (G1 phase arrest) in honor cells through the up/down-regulation of these cell-growth related molecules, and consequently induce apoptosis. The nucleosomal distribution of fluorescence-labeled M1 suggests that the modification of these molecules is induced by transcriptional regulation. Tumor-induced angiogenesis (neovascularization) is one of the most important events concerning tumor growth and metastasis. Neovascularization toward and into tumor is a crucial step for the delivery of nutrition and oxygen to tumors, and also functions as the metastatic pathway to distant organs. M1 inhibited the tube-like formation of hepatic sinusoidal endothelial (HSE) cells induced by the conditioned medium of colon 26-L5 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. However, M1 at the concentrations used in this study did not affect the growth of HSE cells in vitro.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.8-15
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• 2021

More and more available fungal genome sequence data reveal a large amount of secondary metabolite (SM) biosynthetic 'dark matter' to be discovered. Heterogeneous expression is one of the most effective approaches to exploit these novel natural products, but it is limited by having to clone entire biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) without errors. So far, few effective technologies have been developed to manipulate the specific large DNA fragments in filamentous fungi. Here, we developed a fungal BGC-capturing system based on CRISPR/Cas9 cleavage in vitro. In our system, Cas9 protein was purified and CRISPR guide sequences in combination with in vivo yeast assembly were rationally designed. Using targeted cleavages of plasmid DNAs with linear (8.5 kb) or circular (8.5 kb and 28 kb) states, we were able to cleave the plasmids precisely, demonstrating the high efficiency of this system. Furthermore, we successfully captured the entire Nrc gene cluster from the genomic DNA of Neosartorya fischeri. Our results provide an easy and efficient approach to manipulate fungal genomic DNA based on the in vitro application of Cas9 endonuclease. Our methodology will lay a foundation for capturing entire groups of BGCs in filamentous fungi and accelerate fungal SMs mining.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.53-58
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• 2021

Previous in vitro studies have demonstrated that ginsenoside Rc inhibits UGT1A9, but there are no available data to indicate that ginsenoside Rc inhibits UGT1A9 in vivo. The effect of single and repeated intravenous injection of ginsenoside Rc was evaluated on the pharmacokinetics of mycophenolic acid. After injection of ginsenoside Rc (5 mg/kg for one day or 3 mg/kg for five days), 2-mg mycophenolic acid was intravenously injected, and the pharmacokinetics of mycophenolic acid and mycophenolic acid-β-glucuronide were determined. Concentrations of mycophenolic acid and its metabolite from rat plasma were analyzed using a liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. Single or repeated pretreatment with ginsenoside Rc had no significant effects on the pharmacokinetics of mycophenolic acid (P > 0.05): The mean difference in maximum plasma concentration (C_max) and area under the concentration-time curve (AUC_inf) were within 0.83- and 0.62-fold, respectively, compared with those in the absence of the ginsenoside Rc. These results indicate that ginsenoside Rc has a negligible effect on the disposition of mycophenolic acid in vivo despite in vitro findings indicating that ginsenoside Rc is a selective UGT1A9 inhibitor. As a result, ginsenoside Rc has little possibility of interacting with drugs that are metabolized by UGT1A9, including mycophenolic acid.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.30-34
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• 1999

When liriodendrin or syringin was incubated for 24 h with human intestinal bacteria, two metabolites, (+)-syringaresinol$\beta$--D-glucopyranoside and (+)-syringaresionl, from liriodendrin and one metabolite, synapyl alcohol, from syringin were produced. The metabolic time course of liriodendrin was as follows: at early time liriodendrin was converted to (+)-syringaresinol-$\beta$-D-glucopyranoside, and then (+)-syringaresinol. The in vitro cytotoxicities of these metabolites, (+)-syringaresinol and synapyl alcohol, were superior to those of liriodendrin and syringin.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.45-54
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• 2017

Our study aims to determine the metabolism and excretion of novel pulmonary-targeting docetaxel liposome (DTX-LP) using the in vitro and in vivo animal experimental models. The metabolism and excretion of DTX-LP and intravenous DTX (DTX-IN) in New Zealand rabbits were determined with ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. We found DTX-LP and DTX-IN were similarly degraded in vitro by liver homogenates and microsomes, but not metabolized by lung homogenates. Ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry identified two shared DTX metabolites. The unconfirmed metabolite $M_{un}$ differed structurally from all DTX metabolites identified to date. DTX-LP likewise had a similar in vivo metabolism to DTX-IN. Conversely, DTX-LP showed significantly diminished excretion in rabbit feces or urine, approximately halving the cumulative excretion rates compared to DTX-IN. Liposomal delivery of DTX did not alter the in vitro or in vivo drug metabolism. Delayed excretion of pulmonary-targeting DTX-LP may greatly enhance the therapeutic efficacy and reduce the systemic toxicity in the chemotherapy of non-small cell lung cancer. The identification of $M_{un}$ may further suggest an alternative species-specific metabolic pathway.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.35-44
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• 2015

We previously identified Streptomyces griseus as an anti-cancer agent (Kim et al., 2014). In this study, we isolated compounds from S. griseus and evaluated their anticancer effect and toxicity in vitro and in vivo. Preparative centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC) was used to obtain three compounds, cyclo($_{\small{L}}$-[4-hydroxyprolinyl]-$_{\small{L}}$-leucine], cyclo($_{\small{L}}$-Phe-trans-4-hydroxy-$_{\small{L}}$-Pro) and phenethyl acetate (PA). We chose PA, which had the highest anticancer activity, as a target compound for further experiments. PA induced the formation of apoptotic bodies, DNA fragmentation, DNA accumulation in $G_0/G_1$ phase, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation. Furthermore, PA treatment increased Bax/Bcl-xL expression, activated caspase-3, and cleaved poly-ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) in HL-60 cells. Simultaneous evaluation in vitro and in vivo, revealed that PA exhibited no toxicity in Vero cells and zebrafish embryos. We revealed, for the first time, that PA generates ROS, and that this ROS accumulation induced the Bcl signaling pathway.

• Proceedings of the Botanical Society of Korea Conference
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• 1995.06a
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• pp.40-56
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• 1995

During the past two decades, China has seen her great progress in plant biotechnology. Since the Chinese market of herb medicine is huge, while the plant resources are shrinking, particular emphasis has been placed in plant tissue and cell cultures of medicinal plants, this includes fast propagation, protoplast isolation and regeneration, cell suspension cultures and large scale fermentation. To optimize culture conditions for producing secondary compounds in vitro, various media, additives and elicitors have been tested. Successful examples of large scale culture for the secondary metabolite biosynthesis are quite limited : Lithospermum ery throrhizon and Arnebia euchroma for shikonin derivatives, Panax ginseng, P. notoginseng, P. quinquefolium for saponins, and a few other medicinal plants. Recent development of genetic transformation systems of plant cells offered a new approach to in vitro production of secondary compounds. Hairy root induction and cultures, by using Ri-plasmid, have been reported from a number of medicinal plant species, such as Artemisia annua that produces little artemisinin in normal cultured cells, and from Glycyrrhiza uralensis. In the coming five years, Chinese scientists will continue their work on large scale cell cultures of a few of selected plant species, including Taxus spp. and A. annua, for the production of secondary metabolites with medicinal interests, one or two groups of scientists will be engaged in molecular cloning of the key enzymes in plant secondary metabolism.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.379-383
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• 2000

Stanozolol (STZ, 17$\alpha$-methyl-17$\beta$-hydroxy-5$\alpha$-androstano-(3,2-c) pyrazole), an anabolic steroid, is an abused drug by body-builders or atheletes, as well as medicine for treatment of aplastic anemia and vascular thrombosis. In human volunteers, the major urinary metabolite of STZ was reported to be 3'-hydroxystanozolol that was identified by gas chromatography-mass selective detector (GC/MSD). The objective of this experiment is to investigate the in vitro metabolism of STZ in liver S-9 faction of polychlorinated biphenyl-induced rats. Reaction mixture including STZ as substrate and the S-9 faction was extracted with diethyl ether and quantified by the selected ion monitoring mode of GC/MSD. The selected concentration of substrate STZ is 100 nmole and the selected time for incubation in the reaction mixture was determined to 60 min. The amount of 3'-hydroxystanozolol produced was increased by about 6-fold in the reaction medium including the liver S-9 fraction of polychlorinated biphenyl-induced rats, compared to that of untreated rats. Inhibitors of cytochrome P450, SKF-525A and 7,8-benzoflavone, decreased the production of 3'-hydroxystanozolol by about 89~100% and 65~75%, respectively; In conclusion, hydroxylation of STZ into 3'-hydroxystanozolol is confirmed by GC/MSD and is catalyzed by cytochrome P450.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.51-56
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• 2008

The regioselective ring opening of epoxides using elemental iodine and bromine in the presence of methimazole (MMI, a anti-thyroid drug) and its metabolite methimazole-disulfide as new catalysts are studied. MMI easily converted in vitro to MMI-disulfide without any double activation presented in vivo. FT-Raman and UV spectroscopies are used to study the interaction of iodine with these catalysts. The results indicate that both catalysts are efficient in polyiodide formation, but MMI-disulfide can catalyze this reaction in higher yield and regioselectivity. The complex [(MMI-disulfide)I]+.I3- is considered to be formed initially which could be bulkier by addition of excess of iodine in the course of the reaction. These bulky nucleophiles have a fundamental role in the high regioselectivity by attacking the less sterically hindered epoxide carbon. In this study we suggest that MMI is readily converted to MMI-disulfide by interaction with iodine or activated iodine in thyroid gland, and this process is responsible for high anti-thyroid activity of MMI.