• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.179-183
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• 1990

New synthesis and electroanthennogram (EAG) responses of the pheromones of the diamond back moth Plutella xylostella L. are described. Lithium dianion of propargyl alcohol was alkylated with 1-bromononane to give 2-dodecyn-1-ol, which was converted to 11-dodecyn-1-ol by acetylene-zipper reaction. Dianion of 11-dodecyn-1-ol was alkylated with 1-bromobutane to provide 11-hexadecyn-1-ol, which was in turn reduced over Pd/BaSO4 to afford (Z)-11-hexadecen-1-ol (3). (Z)-11-Hexadecen-1-ol was oxidized and acetylated to (Z)-11-hexadecen-1-al (1) and (Z)-11-hexadecen-1-yl acetate (2), respectively. The electroantennogram (EAG) responses of the diamond back moth to the pheromone compouds thus synthesized were measured.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.57-63
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• 1989

Cigarette beetle(Lacioderma serricornine F.) is a serious pest of cured tobacco leaves. Of its pheromonal components, serricornin shows the strongest sexual stimulation. Other substances contribute as the supplementary factors cooperating with this component in the copulation of cigarette beetle. From spectroscopic evidence and synthetic studies, the structure of natural serricornin has been determined to be (4S,4S,7S)-4, 6-dimethyl-7-hydroxynonan-3-one. It has been suggested that the pheromonal components isolated from this beetle may be derived from polyketide biosynthesis. Two nonasymmetric syntheses of serricornin will be reviewed in detail.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.959-962
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• 2008

We have performed FlexX docking experiments to predict the best docking poses of 5-androst-16-en-3-ol or 5-androst-16-en-3-one to Boar salivary lipocalin (SAL). Since no steroids were found inside of the binding pocket of the X-ray structure of 1GM6, we tried to find docking structures after opening the pocket using the random tweak option implemented in SYBYL. This operation allowed the ligand to enter the pocket. The best poses generated from FlexX were different from the structures reported earlier, which calculated docking poses by manual docking followed by minimization. Analysis of docking poses allowed us to identify pharmacophores. From this information, virtual screening experiments using UNITY were performed. Among six candidates, 3-(3,7-dimethyloct-6-enylamino)propane-1,2-diol (Leadquest code name: 5755) was chosen for further development. Future work will involve synthesis of some derivatives of 5755 and biological experiments if any derivatives can control the biostimulation and improve reproductive efficiency in pigs.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.269-274
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• 2015

Chronic inflammation has been proposed as one of the main molecular mechanisms of aging and age-related diseases. Although evidence in humans is limited, short-term calorie restriction (CR) has been shown to have anti-inflammatory effects in aged experimental animals. We reported on the long-term treatment of daumone, a synthetic pheromone secreted by Caenorhabditis elegans in an energy deficient environment, extends the life-span and attenuates liver injury in aged mice. The present study examined whether late onset short-term treatment of daumone exerts anti-inflammatory effects in the livers of aged mice. Daumone was administered orally at doses of 2 or 20 mg/kg/day for 5 weeks to 24-month-old male C57BL/6J mice. Increased liver macrophage infiltration and gene expression of proinflammatory cytokines in aged mice were significantly attenuated by daumone treatment, suggesting that short-term oral administration of daumone may have hepatoprotective effects. Daumone also dose-dependently suppressed tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ (TNF-${\alpha}$ )-induced nuclear factor-${\kappa}B$ (NF-${\kappa}B$) phosphorylation in HepG2 cells. The present data demonstrated that short-term treatment of daumone has anti-inflammatory effects in aged mouse livers possibly through suppression of NF-${\kappa}B$ signaling and suggest that daumone may become a lead compound targeting aging and age-associated diseases.

• Entomological Research
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.448-452
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• 2018

The aggregation pheromone of Monochamus (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) beetles, 2-(undecyloxy) ethanol (hereafter referred to as monochamol), has gained considerable attention because of its usefulness in monitoring and population control of pine sawyer beetles. The hydroxyether structural motif is conserved in pheromones of the subfamily Lamiinae of the Cerambycidae. In this study, we investigated the effects of C10- and C12-chain length alkyl analogs of monochamol, 2-(decyloxy) ethanol and 2-(dodecyloxy) ethanol, on attracting M. saltuairus in Andong, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Korea. The C10 and C12 analogs attracted M. saltuarius when used in combination with ${\alpha}$-pinene and ethanol, but the responses of these alkyl chain analogs were lower than those of monochamol. Furthermore, the addition of either C10 or C12 analog to the use of monochamol with ${\alpha}$-pinene and ethanol had no effect on attraction of M. saltuarius, indicating high sensitivity of M. saltuarius to monochanol. Taken together, the results of this study suggest that chemical communication within a Monochamus species depends not only on monochamol, but also on other semiochemicals.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.503-513
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• 2008

The vomeronasal organ (VNO) is a sensory organ that influences social and/or reproductive behavior and, in many cases, the survival of an organism. The VNO is believed to mediate responses to pheromones; however, many mechanisms of signal transduction in the VNO remain elusive. Here, we examined the expression of proteins involved in signal transduction that are found in the main olfactory system in the VNO. The localization of many signaling molecules in the VNO is quite different from those in the main olfactory system, suggesting differences in signal transduction mechanisms between these two chemosensory organs. Various signaling molecules are expressed in distinct areas of VNO sensory epithelium. Interestingly, we found the expressions of groups of these signaling molecules in glandular tissues adjacent to VNO, supporting the physiological significance of these glandular tissues. Our finding of high expression of signaling proteins in glandular tissues suggests that neurohumoral factors influence glandular tissues to modulate signaling cascades that in turn alter the responses of the VNO to hormonal status.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.15-20
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• 2007

To search of a new porcine pheromonal odorant for biostimulation control system technologies to offer a potentially useful and practical way to improve reproductive efficiency in livestock species, the two dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models between physicochemical parameters as descriptors of 2-cyclohexyloxytetrahydrofurane (A), 2-phenoxytetrahydrofurane (B) analogues and binding affinity constant ($p[Od.]_{50}$) for porcine odorant-binding protein (pOBP) as receptor of pig pheromones were derived and disscused. The statistical quality of the optimized 2D-QSAR model is good ($r^{2}=0.964$) and accounts for 96.4% of the variance in the binding affinity constants. It was found that the binding affinity constants were dependent upon the optimal value, $(SL)_{opt.}=1.418$ of substituent lipole (SL) in molecules. Therefore, the SL constant was very important factor for binding affinity.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.31-35
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• 2002

The major urinary proteins(MUPs) of mice that bind hydrophobic molecules known as pheromones are regulated in part by the actions of growth hormone. The expression of the MUPs was therefore investigated in transgenic mice that express a human growth hormone-releasing factor gene from a metallothionein gene promoter(MT-GRF) and as a result have elevated growth hormone levels. MUPs were severely down-regulated in the urine of these animals compared to normal mice or to control transgenic mice expressing another gene(the inhibin a subunit) from the same metallothionein promoter(MT-Inh) and more MUPs disappeared in male mice than female ones. MUPs were also down-regulated in the urine of the UT-GRF-injected mice. In addition, it was observed that the urine of the MT-GRF mice included a high molecular weight protein that co-migrates with the major serum protein albumin, indicating an impairment in glomerular filtration within the kidney. The urinary loss of serum proteins was more severe in male MT-GRF mice than female ones. Thus the overexpression of human GRF mimics changes observed in MUP protein expression and glomerular function in other models of growth hormone hypersecretion with sex-dependent differential effects.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.17-22
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• 2010

Sesquiterpenes are found naturally in plants and insects as defensive agents or pheromones. They are produced in the cytosolic acetate/mevalonate pathway for isoprenoid biosynthesis. The inducible sesquiterpene synthases (STS), which are responsible for the transformation of the precursor farnesyl diphosphate, appear to generate very few olefinic products that are converted to biologically active metabolites. In this study, we isolated the STS gene from Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer, designated PgSTS, and investigated the correlation between its expression and various abiotic stresses using real-time PCR. PgSTS cDNA was observed to be 1,883 nucleotides long with an open reading frame of 1,707 bp, encoding a protein of 568 amino acids. The molecular mass of the mature protein was determined to be 65.5 kDa, with a predicted isoelectric point of 5.98. A GenBank BlastX search revealed the deduced amino acid sequence of PgSTS to be homologous to STS from other plants, with the highest similarity to an STS from Lycopersicon hirsutum (55% identity, 51% similarity). Real-time PCR analysis showed that different abiotic stresses triggered significant induction of PgSTS expression at different time points.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.45-52
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• 2004

To search a new porcine pheromonal odorants, this research for biostimulation and role of pheromone was augmented by means of "control system technologies" to offer a potentially useful and practical way to improve reproductive efficiency in livestock species. Therefore the 13 physicochemical parameters such as similarity indice (S), hydrophobicity (logP) and van der Waals molecule volume (MV) etc. of 54 steroid analogues, which are analogous of substrate molecules, 5$\alpha$-androst-16-en-3-one (P1) and 5$\alpha$-androst-16-en-3-ol (P2) of lipocalin as receptor of pig pheromones were calculated and discussed. The physicochemical properties of these steroid analogues were mainly followed by steric dissimilar of A and D ring in steroid nucleus. And we found that from correlation with S values and MV constants of molecules, the more MV constants are small, the more S values tend to approach 1. Based on this results, the S-values of 4-androsten-3,17-dione (P1-1) and 5 $\alpha$ -androstan-3-one (P2-1) were 1.0, respectively. The two compounds of them were chosen because they showed the same value each other at a side of hydrophobicity, molar refractivity and molecular volume. It is expected that the new two compounds will be able to substitute for P1 and P2, porcine pheromonal odorants.