• BMB Reports
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• 제55권12호
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• pp.645-650
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• 2022

Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-subtype gastric cancers have the worst prognosis due to their higher recurrence rate, higher probability of developing metastases and higher chemo-resistance compared to those of other molecular subtypes. Pharmacologically actionable somatic mutations are rarely found in EMT-subtype gastric cancers, limiting the utility of targeted therapies. Here, we conducted a high-throughput chemical screen using 37 gastric cancer cell lines and 48,467 synthetic small-molecule compounds. We identified YK-135, a small-molecule compound that showed higher cytotoxicity toward EMT-subtype gastric cancer cell lines than toward non-EMT-subtype gastric cancer cell lines. YK-135 exerts its cytotoxic effects by inhibiting mitochondrial complex I activity and inducing AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)-mediated apoptosis. We found that the lower glycolytic capacity of the EMT-subtype gastric cancer cells confers synthetic lethality to the inhibition of mitochondrial complex I, possibly by failing to maintain energy homeostasis. Other well-known mitochondrial complex I inhibitors (e.g., rotenone and phenformin) mimic the efficacy of YK-135, supporting our results. These findings highlight mitochondrial complex I inhibitors as promising therapeutic agents for EMT-subtype gastric cancers and YK-135 as a novel chemical scaffold for further drug development.

• Molecules and Cells
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• 제45권12호
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• pp.911-922
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• 2022

A structural protein of SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2), nucleocapsid (N) protein is phosphorylated by glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)-3 on the serine/arginine (SR) rich motif located in disordered regions. Although phosphorylation by GSK-3β constitutes a critical event for viral replication, the molecular mechanism underlying N phosphorylation is not well understood. In this study, we found the putative alpha-helix L/FxxxL/AxxRL motif known as the GSK-3 interacting domain (GID), found in many endogenous GSK-3β binding proteins, such as Axins, FRATs, WWOX, and GSKIP. Indeed, N interacts with GSK-3β similarly to Axin, and Leu to Glu substitution of the GID abolished the interaction, with loss of N phosphorylation. The N phosphorylation is also required for its structural loading in a virus-like particle (VLP). Compared to other coronaviruses, N of Sarbecovirus lineage including bat RaTG13 harbors a CDK1-primed phosphorylation site and Gly-rich linker for enhanced phosphorylation by GSK-3β. Furthermore, we found that the S202R mutant found in Delta and R203K/G204R mutant found in the Omicron variant allow increased abundance and hyper-phosphorylation of N. Our observations suggest that GID and mutations for increased phosphorylation in N may have contributed to the evolution of variants.

• BMB Reports
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• 제57권4호
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• pp.167-175
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• 2024

Cancer progression is driven by genetic mutations, environmental factors, and intricate interactions within the tumor microenvironment (TME). The TME comprises of diverse cell types, such as cancer cells, immune cells, stromal cells, and neuronal cells. These cells mutually influence each other through various factors, including cytokines, vascular perfusion, and matrix stiffness. In the initial or developmental stage of cancer, neurotrophic factors such as nerve growth factor, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor are associated with poor prognosis of various cancers by communicating with cancer cells, immune cells, and peripheral nerves within the TME. Over the past decade, research has been conducted to prevent cancer growth by controlling the activation of neurotrophic factors within tumors, exhibiting a novel attemt in cancer treatment with promising results. More recently, research focusing on controlling cancer growth through regulation of the autonomic nervous system, including the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, has gained significant attention. Sympathetic signaling predominantly promotes tumor progression, while the role of parasympathetic signaling varies among different cancer types. Neurotransmitters released from these signalings can directly or indirectly affect tumor cells or immune cells within the TME. Additionally, sensory nerve significantly promotes cancer progression. In the advanced stage of cancer, cancer-associated cachexia occurs, characterized by tissue wasting and reduced quality of life. This process involves the pathways via brainstem growth and differentiation factor 15-glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor receptor alpha-like signaling and hypothalamic proopiomelanocortin neurons. Our review highlights the critical role of neurotrophic factors as well as central nervous system on the progression of cancer, offering promising avenues for targeted therapeutic strategies.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• 제20권5호
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• pp.36.1-36.13
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• 2020

Hippo signaling pathways are evolutionarily conserved signal transduction mechanisms mainly involved in organ size control, tissue regeneration, and tumor suppression. However, in mammals, the primary role of Hippo signaling seems to be regulation of immunity. As such, humans with null mutations in STK4 (mammalian homologue of Drosophila Hippo; also known as MST1) suffer from recurrent infections and autoimmune symptoms. Although dysregulated T cell homeostasis and functions have been identified in MST1-deficient human patients and mouse models, detailed cellular and molecular bases of the immune dysfunction remain to be elucidated. Although the canonical Hippo signaling pathway involves transcriptional co-activator Yes-associated protein (YAP) or transcriptional coactivator with PDZ motif (TAZ), the major Hippo downstream signaling pathways in T cells are YAP/TAZ-independent and they widely differ between T cell subsets. Here we will review Hippo signaling mechanisms in T cell immunity and describe their implications for immune defects found in MST1-deficient patients and animals. Further, we propose that mutual inhibition of Mst and Akt kinases and their opposing roles on the stability and function of forkhead box O and β-catenin may explain various immune defects discovered in mutant mice lacking Hippo signaling components. Understanding these diverse Hippo signaling pathways and their interplay with other evolutionarily-conserved signaling components in T cells may uncover molecular targets relevant to vaccination, autoimmune diseases, and cancer immunotherapies.

• BMB Reports
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• 제49권2호
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• pp.69-70
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• 2016

Mutations of orthodentricle homeobox 2 (OTX2) in human and mice often cause retinal dystrophy and nyctalopia, suggesting a role of OTX2 in mature retina, in addition to its functions in the development of the eye and retina. In support of this, the number of bipolar cells in Otx2^+/− post-natal mouse retina was found to be significantly lower than normal. Degeneration of the cells becomes greater as the mice age, leading to the loss of vision. Especially, the type-2 OFF-cone bipolar cells, which do not express Otx2 mRNA but carry Otx2 protein, are most sensitive to Otx2 haplodeficiency. Interestingly, this bipolar cell subpopulation imports Otx2 protein from photoreceptors to protect itself from glutamate excitotoxicity in the dark. Moreover, in the bipolar cells, the exogenous Otx2 relocates to the mitochondria to support mitochondrial ATP synthesis. This novel mitochondrial activity of exogenous Otx2 highlights the therapeutic potential of Otx2 protein transduction in retinal dystrophy.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• 제57권8호
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• pp.337-344
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• 2014

Inherited bone marrow failure syndrome (IBMFS) encompasses a heterogeneous and complex group of genetic disorders characterized by physical malformations, insufficient blood cell production, and increased risk of malignancies. They often have substantial phenotype overlap, and therefore, genotyping is often a critical means of establishing a diagnosis. Current advances in the field of IBMFSs have identified multiple genes associated with IBMFSs and their pathways: genes involved in ribosome biogenesis, such as those associated with Diamond-Blackfan anemia and Shwachman-Diamond syndrome; genes involved in telomere maintenance, such as dyskeratosis congenita genes; genes encoding neutrophil elastase or neutrophil adhesion and mobility associated with severe congenital neutropenia; and genes involved in DNA recombination repair, such as those associated with Fanconi anemia. Early and adequate genetic diagnosis is required for proper management and follow-up in clinical practice. Recent advances using new molecular technologies, including next generation sequencing (NGS), have helped identify new candidate genes associated with the development of bone marrow failure. Targeted NGS using panels of large numbers of genes is rapidly gaining potential for use as a cost-effective diagnostic tool for the identification of mutations in newly diagnosed patients. In this review, we have described recent insights into IBMFS and how they are advancing our understanding of the disease's pathophysiology; we have also discussed the possible implications they will have in clinical practice for Korean patients.

• Molecules and Cells
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• 제38권9호
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• pp.806-813
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• 2015

Gaucher disease (GD) is an autosomal recessive lysosomal storage disorder caused by mutations in the glucocerebrosidase gene (GBA), which encodes the lysosomal enzyme glucosylceramidase (GCase). Deficiency in GCase leads to characteristic visceral pathology and lethal neurological manifestations in some patients. Investigations into neurogenesis have suggested that neurodegenerative disorders, such as GD, could be overcome or at least ameliorated by the generation of new neurons. Bone marrowderived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) are potential candidates for use in the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders because of their ability to promote neurogenesis. Our objective was to examine the mechanism of neurogenesis by BM-MSCs in GD. We found that neural stem cells (NSCs) derived from a neuronopathic GD model exhibited decreased ability for self-renewal and neuronal differentiation. Co-culture of GBA-deficient NSCs with BM-MSCs resulted in an enhanced capacity for self-renewal, and an increased ability for differentiation into neurons or oligodendrocytes. Enhanced proliferation and neuronal differentiation of GBA-deficient NSCs was associated with elevated release of macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) from BM-MSCs. Our findings suggest that soluble M-CSF derived from BM-MSCs can modulate GBA-deficient NSCs, resulting in their improved proliferation and neuronal differentiation.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• 제33권1호
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• pp.34-42
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• 2017

Grapevine rupestris stem pitting-associated virus (GRSPaV) is a worldwide-distributed pathogen in grapevines with a high genetic variability. Our study revealed differences in the complexity of GRSPaV population in a single host. A single-variant GRSPaV infection was detected from the SK30 grapevine plant. On the contrary, SK704 grapevine was infected by three different GRSPaV variants. Variant-specific RT-PCR detection protocols have been developed in this work to study distribution of the three different variants in the same plant during the season. This study showed their randomized distribution in the infected SK704 grapevine plant. Comparative analysis of full-length genome sequences of four Slovak GRSPaV isolates determined in this work and 14 database sequences showed that population of the virus cluster into four major phylogenetic lineages. Moreover, our analyses suggest that genetic recombination along with point mutations could play a significant role in shaping evolutionary history of GRSPaV and contributed to its extant genetic diversification.

• BMB Reports
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• 제33권5호
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• pp.391-395
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• 2000

Calexcitin, a calcium-binding protein, was previously cloned and functionally characterized in the squid Loligo pealei. We now report the cloning of a second form of Calexcitin, Calexcitin-2, found in the squid Todarodes pacificus optic lobe. Calexcitin-2 has a significantly different carboxyl terminal region than Calexcitin-1. It lacks the CAAX motif, which is a farnesylation site. The amino acid sequence of Calexcitin-2 shows an 84% identity with Calexcitin-1 and also displays a strong cross immunoreactivity. Western blotting shows that Calexcitin-2 was expressed exclusively in the optic lobe region of squid, but not in other body organs. Regardless of its lack of conserved regions for GTP-binding, Calexcitin-2 shows moderately low affinity GTP-binding and also shows dramatic conformational change induced by GTP-binding. Three possible GTP-binding region mutations, K142A, D144A, and K157A, did not change the G TP binding affinity. This raises the possibility that Calexcitin-2 may have a novel GTP-binding motif.

• BMB Reports
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• 제31권3호
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• pp.287-295
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• 1998

Acetolactate synthase (ALS) is the first common enzyme in the biosynthesis of L-Ieucine, L-isoleucine, and L-valine. The sulfonylurea-resistant ALS gene from Nicotiana tabacum was cloned into the bacterial expression vector pGEX-2T. The resulting recombinant plasmid pGEX-ALS3 was used to transform Escherichia coli strain XL1-Blue, and the mutant tobacco ALS (mALS) was expressed in the bacteria as a protein fused with glutathione S-transferase (GST). The fusion product GST-mALS was purified in a single step on a glutathione-Sepharose column. ALS activities of 0.9-2.5 ${\mu}mol/min/mg$ protein were observed in the GST-mALS, and the Km values for pyruvate, FAD, and TPP were 10.8-24.1, $(1.9-8.9){\times}10^{-3}$, and 0.14-0.38 mM, respectively. The purified GST-mALS was resistant to both the sulfonylurea and the triazolopyrimidine herbicides, and lost its sensitivity to end products, L-valine and L-leucine. For comparision, the tobacco wild-type recombinant ALS fused with GST, GST-wALS, was also characterized with respect to its pyruvate and cofactor bindings. These results suggest that the purified mutant recombinant tobacco ALS was functionally active, that the mutations resulting in herbicide resistance has affected pyruvate and cofactor bindings," and that the two classes of herbicides interact at a common site on the plant ALS.