• BMB Reports
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.278-283
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• 2001

Antioxidant and redox enzyme activities are known to be involved in the cellular responses to various stresses. Their variations were observed according to the growth cycle of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Peroxidase activity appeared to be notably higher in the early exponential phase than in the mid-exponential and stationary phases. However, catalase activity showed a variation pattern resembling the growth curve. Glutathione S-transferase activity was higher in the early exponential and late stationary phases. Activities of the two redox enzymes, thioredoxin and thioltransferase (glutaredoxin), were high in the stationary phase. However, their activities appeared to increase from the early exponential to mid-exponential phase. Total glutathione content had a varying pattern similar to that of thioredoxin and thioltransferase. However, its content in the early exponential phase was high. These results propose that antioxidant and redox enzymes tested are also involved in the mechanism of cell growth.

• BMB Reports
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.262-267
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• 2001

A cDNA coding alkaline phosphatase (AP) homologue was isolated from a cDNA library of Schizosaccharomyces pombe by colony hybridization. The nucleotide sequence of the cloned cDNA appeared to lack the N-terminal coding region. The genomic DNA encoding alkaline phosphatase homologue was isolated from S. pombe chromosomal DNA using PCR. The amplified DNA fragment was ligated into plasmid pRS315 to generate the recombinant plasmid pSW20. The DNA insert was subcloned as two smaller fragments for nucleotide sequencing. The sequence contains 2,789 by and encodes a protein of 532 amino acids with a molecular mass of 58,666 daltons. The S. pombe cells containing plasmid pSW20 showed much higher AP activity compared with the yeast cells with vector only This indicates that the cloned AP gene apparently encodes AP The predicted amino acid sequence of the S. pombe AP shares homology with those of other known APs.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.116-119
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• 2015

Globotriaosylsphingosine (lyso-Gb3) is considered as one of the biological marker for Fabry disease. To date, a reliable biomarker that reflects disease severity and progression has not been discovered to guide the management of Fabry disease. A new method included a simple protein precipitation with acetonitrile in 100 μL of plasma following analyte separation on an Phenomenex Kintex- C18 column using a gradient elution (0.1% formic acid in 5-90% acetonitrile). Total run time was within 12 min including sample preparation and MS/MS analysis. The limit of detection and limit of quantitation were 1 ng/mL and 2 ng/mL, respectively. The calibration curve was linear over the concentration range of 2.0-200.0 ng/mL (r² = 0.9999). Inter-day accuracy and precision at 7 level were 93.4-100.7% with RSD of 0.55-5.97%. Absolute recovery was 97.6-98.6%. The method was applied to human and mice plasma, proved the suitability for quantification of lyso-Gb3 for screening, diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of Fabry disease patients.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.157-160
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• 2006

This study investigated the effect of clarithromycin on the pharmacokinetics of ambroxol in rats. The pharmacokinetic parameters of ambroxol in rats were determined after the oral administration of ambroxol (12 mg/kg) in the presence or absence of clarithromycin (5 or 10 mg/kg). Compared with the control (given ambroxol alone), coadministration of clarithromycin significantly (p<0.05 at 5 mg/kg; p<0.01 at 10 mg/kg) increased the area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC), peak plasma concentrations $(C_{max})$ and absorption rate constant $(K_a)$ of ambroxol. Clarithromycin increased the AUC of ambroxol in a dose dependent manner within the dose range of 5 to 10 mg/kg. The absolute bioavailability (AB%) of ambroxol in the presence of clarithromycin was significantly higher than that of the control (p<0.05 at 5 mg/kg; p<0.01 at 10 mg/kg), and the relative bioavailability (RB%) of ambroxol with clarithromycin was increased by 1.32-to 1.71-fold. However, there were no significant changes in time to reach peak concentration $(T_{max})$ and terminal half-life $(T_{1/2})$ of ambroxol in the presence of clarithromycin. Coadministration of clarithromycin enhanced the bioavailability of ambroxol, which may be due to the inhibition of intestinal and hepatic metabolism of ambroxol by CYP 3A4. Further studies for the potential drug interaction are necessary since ambroxol is often administrated concomitantly with clarithromycin in humans.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.151-155
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• 2008

Circadian variations of acebutolol and its main metabolite, diacetolol pharmacokinetics were studied after a single oral administration of acebutolol (10 mg/kg) to eight rabbits at 10 : 00 AM (in the morning) and 10 : 00 PM (at night). The plasma concentration profiles of acebutolol were significantly different (P<0.05) between 10 : 00 AM and 22 : 00 PM, suggesting circadian variations of pharmacokinetic behaviors. A significant circadian rhythm of pharmacokinetic parameters was noted in rabbits, showing higher total body clearance (CL/F), and lower the area under the plasma concentration-time curves (AUC) of acebutolol than that at night. The half-life ($t_{1/2}$) of acebutolol and diacetolol were also significantly shorter in the morning than at night (P<0.05). Metabolite-parent AUC ratio at night significantly decreased compared to in the morning, implying that night time could inhibit acebutolol metabolism than in the morning. From this study there was an administration-time difference of acebutolol pharmacokinetics in the rabbits. The optimized dosing regimen of acebutolol can be decided by considering circadian rhythm so that the effective therapies are established for patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.3705-3708
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• 2012

Effects of Cantharidinate on apoptosis of human colorectal cancer UTC-116 cells were investigated by means of 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, H and E staining, flow cytometry, and Raman Spectra analysis. The results showed Cantharidinate to exert inhibitory action on proliferation of human colorectal cancer UTC-116 cells, inducing apoptosis, arresting cells in G1 phase, with decline of S and G2 phases. In addition, the results of Raman spectrum showed significant changes in the UTC-116 cells chemical structure with stretching after the application of Cantharidinate. Taken together, these results suggest that the treatment of human colorectal cancer with Cantharidinate may be associated with multiple molecular mechanisms for apoptosis. Furthermore, similar to fluorouracil, Cantharidinate should be considered as novel assistant drug for controlling the growth of human colorectal cancer UTC-116 cells.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.59 no.4
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• pp.177-183
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• 2015

The mechanism of melanogenesis induced by cyclosporin A (CsA) was investigated in B16 melanoma cells. CsA stimulated the production of melanin in a dose-dependent manner in the cells. In addition, CsA increased intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ concentration in a dose-related fashion. Treatment with BAPTA/AM, an intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ chelator significantly inhibited the CsA-induced intracellular melanin synthesis. CsA profoundly induced $Cl^-$ efflux, which was significantly blocked by niflumic acid (NFA) and flufenamic acid (FFA), specific and nonspecific inhibitors of $Ca^{2+}$-activated $Cl^-$ channels (CaCCs), respectively. Furthermore, these inhibitors of CaCCs significantly inhibited the CsA-induced stimulation of melanin synthesis. Taken together, these results suggest that the activation of CaCCs may play an important role in the CsA-induced stimulation of melanin synthesis in B16 cells. These results further suggest that CaCCs may be a good target for the management of hyperpigmentation of the skin reported in the patients treated with CsA.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.237-242
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• 2011

This study was designed to investigate the effects of glipizide on the pharmacokinetics of carvedilol after oral or intravenous administration of carvedilol in rats. Clinically carvedilol and glipizide can be prescribed for treatment of cardiovascular diseases as the complications of diabetes, and then, Carvedilol and glipizide are all substrates of CYP2C9 enzymes. Carvedilol was administered orally or intravenously without or with oral administration of glipizide to rats. The effects of glipizide on cytochrome P450(CYP) 2C9 activity and P-gp activity were also evaluated. Glipizide inhibited CYP2C9 activity in a concentration-dependent manner with 50% inhibition concentration ($IC_{50}$) of 18 ${\mu}M$. Compared with the control group, the area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) was significantly increased by 33.0%, and the peak concentration ($C_{max}$) was significantly increased by 50.0% in the presence of glipizide after oral administration of carvedilol. Consequently, the relative bioavailability (R.B.) of carvedilol was increased by 1.13- to 1.33-fold and the absolute bioavailability (A.B.) of carvedilol in the presence of glipizide was increased by 36.8%. After intravenous administration, compared to the control, glipizide could not significantly change the pharmacokinetic parameters of carvedilol. Therefore, the enhanced oral bioavailability of carvedilol may mainly result from inhibition of CYP2C9-mediated metabolism rather than both P-gp-mediated effl ux in the intestinal or in the liver and renal elimination of carvedilol by glipizide.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.2123-2128
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• 2014

A current hurdle in cancer management is the intrinsic or acquired resistance of cancer cells to chemical agents that restricts the efficacy of therapeutic strategies. Accordingly, there is an increasing desire to discover new natural compounds with selective toxicity to combat malignancies. In present study, the cytotoxic and apoptosis-inducing activities of ferutinin, a terpenoid derivative from Ferula ovina, were investigated on human breast (MCF7) and bladder (TCC) cancer cells as well as normal fibroblasts (HFF3).The toxicity and DNA damage inducing effects of ferutinin were studied by MTT and comet assays, DAPI and PI staining and DNA laddering. The $IC_{50}$ values of ferutinin were identified and compared with routine prescribed drugs, doxorubicin and vincristine, by MTT test. Alkaline comet assay and DAPI staining revealed DNA damage due to ferutinin, which was significantly (p<0.001) higher in MCF7 and TCC than HFF3 cells. Apoptosis induction was evidenced by PI staining and DNA laddering. Our results suggest that ferutinin could be considered as an effective anticancer agent for future in vivo and clinical experiments.

• CELLMED
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.18.1-18.16
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• 2012

An oncology-specific database called OncoRx (http://bit.ly/cancerRx) was previously set up in cyberspace to aid clinicians in identifying interactions of anticancer drugs (ACDs) and chemotherapy regimens with traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) and complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs). Since then, users have requested the drug-CAM interactions (DCIs) of 5 specific CAMs (cranberry, melatonin, co-enzyme Q10, huachansu, reishi mushroom) to be updated in the database. Pharmacokinetic properties (metabolism, enzyme induction/inhibition, elimination), TCM properties and DCIs of each CAM were collated with 117 ACDs using 9 hardcopy compendia and online databases as resources. Additionally, individual ACDs and CAMs were used as keywords for PubMed searches in combination with the terms 'anticancer drugs', 'drug interactions', 'herb-drug/drug-herb interactions', 'pharmacokinetic interactions' and 'pharmacodynamic interactions'. DCI parameters consisted of interaction effects, evidence summaries, proposed management plans and alternative non-interacting CAMs, together with relevant citations and update dates of the DCIs. OncoRx is also used as a case to introduce the "Four Pharmaco-cybernetic Maxims" of quality, quantity, relationship and manner to developers of digital healthcare tools. Its role in Hayne's "5S" hierarchy of research evidence is also presented. OncoRx is meant to complement existing DCI resources for clinicians and alternative medicine practitioners as an additional drug information resource that provides evidence-based DCI information for ACD-CAM interactions.