• Journal of Plant Biology
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.297-302
• /
• 1991

The effects of polyamines on auxin polar transport were studied in corn coleoptile segments. Among putresine, spermidine and spermine tested in labelled auxin transport, spermidine inhibited auxin polar transport most strongly. Its inhibitory effect appeared after 1 h of transport period. Spermidine inhibited labelled auxin and 14C-benzoic acid accumulation into the tissue in the various pH range tested (pH 4.0-8.0). These results suggest that the inhibition of auxin transport may not be due to decrease in pH by spermine the effect of decreased pH in the extracellular space.

• Journal of Plant Biology
• /
• v.36 no.1
• /
• pp.67-74
• /
• 1993

Both polar and gravity-induced lateral transport of auxin was markedly reduced in corn coleoptile segments by octanol treatment. Octanol enhance net auxin uptake without affecting that of benzoic acid, suggesting that the effect did not result from a nonspecific action on general membrane permeability. Since naphthylphthalamic acid (NPA) action on both transport and net uptake of auxin was substantially decreased in the presence of octanol, a specific interaction of octanol with the NPA site (efflux carrier) can be postulated. Studies on in vitro binding of NPA to membrane vesicles indicated that octanol did not interfere with NPA binding. When basipetal transport of auxin was impared by plasmolysis, octanol still inhibited auxin transport in the plasmolyzed tissues. The results ruled out the possibility of octanol acting at the plasmodesmata. Kinetic analysis of growth indicated that IAA-sustained growth was rapidly blocked by octanol implicating a common system by which auxin transport is linked to auxin action. Possible mechanisms for octanol action will be discussed.

• Journal of Plant Biology
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.317-323
• /
• 1991

Partial recovery in auxin transport capacity from inhibition by N-naphthylphthalamic acid (NPA) was observed when corn coleoptile segments were subjected to a prolonged NPA treatment. Kinetic data indicated that the recovery time is a function of the concentration of NPA applied. Desensitization to NPA was also seen in tissue slices where NPA increased net uptake of auxin, indicating that the apparant adaptation in the auxin transport system did not results possibly from auxin accumulated during transport inhibition. Studies on in vitro binding of NPA to membrane vesicles isolated from the coleoptile indicated that preincubation of the tissue with NPA resulted in the reduced binding activity. Scatchard analysis of the data indicated that this was due to decreases in the number of NPA binding sites. The possibility of causal relationship of modified NPA receptors to the sensory adaptation in auxin transport observed in coleoptile segments will be discussed.

• Journal of Plant Biology
• /
• v.38 no.4
• /
• pp.343-348
• /
• 1995

Treatment of Pisum sativum tissue with the protein kinase inhibitor staurosphorine resulted in impairment of 3H-indoleacetic acid transport in etiolated stem segments. The transport inhibitiion was accompanied by an increase in net uptake of labeled auxin in the tissue. The magnitude of auxin accumulation in tissue treated with the phytotropin N-1-naphthylphthalaic acid (NPA) which specifically blocks the efflux of auxin in the plasma membrane was reduced by the protein kinase inhibitor, suggesting that inhibition of protein phosphorylation could lead to hindrance of the auxin-exporting function of NPA receptors. The flavonoid genistein which is also known to inhibit protein kinase likewise reduced NPA-induced auxin accumulation. However, the flavonoid did not bring about auxin accumulation by itself, nor did it inhibit auxin transport. In view of the finding that the flavonoid also competes with NPA for a common binding site, a mechanism for the flavonoid effect on the NPA action will be proposed.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.81-84
• /
• 2004

Branched broomrape (Orobanche ramosa) is a holo-parasitic flowering plant that attaches to the root of its host, green plant, by means of a specialized structure known as haustorium. Following successful contact and penetration on susceptible plant root, complex tissue of Orobanche cells is formed which is known as the tubercle. Newly formed tubercles contain high activity ofindole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Triiodobenzoic acid (TIBA), as an inhibitor of IAA polar transport, was utilized to investigate the supply and requirement of auxin to the developing O. ramosa on tomato plant. There was no significant reduction in the incidence of O. ramosa per pot of different TIBA treatments. However, infection severity in terms of the number of O. ramosa shoots that emerged per plant and number of attachments per plant root system were significantly reduced by 60 % and 45 % on TIBA treated plants, respectively. Histo-logical studies revealed conspicuous delay in the initiation of xylem vessel differentiation inside tubercles of the TIBA treated tomato plants. Also, differentiated vessels showed thinner secondary wall deposition, and improper alignment within bundles inside those tubercles. They were wider and shorter in diameter in comparison to those of untreated plants. These findings were attri-buted to the short supply of IAA required for normal development, and to the xylem vessel differentiation of O. ramosa tubercles on infected tomato. Hence, this parasitic flowering plant seems to depend upon its host in its requirements for IAA, in a source to sink relation-ship.

• Journal of Plant Biology
• /
• v.39 no.4
• /
• pp.287-293
• /
• 1996

The effect of taxol and ethyl-N-phenylcarbamate (EPC) on the growth and gravitropism of maize roots and coleoptiles was studied. Taxol is known to promote the assembly of microtubules (MTs) and stabilizes MTs by preventing depolymerization. EPC, on the contrary, is an anti-microtubule drug that promotes disassembly of MTs. Taxol, at 1 $\mu$M, inhibited gravitropic response of maize roots to about 40%, but did not inhibit growth; at 10 $\mu$M, it inhibited the gravitropic response of coleoptile segments of maize by approximately 50%, but did not inhibit growth, while 0.5 mM EPC inhibited both the gravitropic response and growth of maize roots by approximately 50%. Taxol, which inhibited the gravitropic response of maize roots and coleoptile segments, had no effect on either the polar or the bilateral transport of auxin. These results indicated that MT polymerization could not occur normally with taxol or EPC, so that if there was any abnormal rearrangement of MT, the gravitropic response was inhibited, which resulted from the inhibition of neither growth nor auxin transport. This results suggested that gravitropic response was related to the MT arrangement, and that both straight growth and the differential growth in gravitropic response could be regulated by different mechanisms.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
• /
• 1997.04a
• /
• pp.119-119
• /
• 1997

Valacyclovir is a L-valyl ester prodrug of acyclovir which is a highly effective and selective antiviral agent in the treatment of herpes virus diseases. Valacyclovir is rapidly and almost completely converted to acyclovir and increases the oral bioavailability of acyclovir three to five fold. However, the intestinal absorption mechanism of valacyclovir is not clear. If the improved absorption mechanism of valacyclovir is fully understood, it will provide a rationale of designing the amino acid ester prodrugs of polar drugs containing hydroxyl group. The main objective of our present study is to characterize the membrane transport mechanism of valacyclovir. Methods : Intestinal absorption of valacyclovir was investigated by using in-situ rat perfusion study and its wall permeability was estimated by modified boundary layer model. The membrane transport mechanism was also investigated through the uptake study in Caco-2 cells and in CHO-hPepTl cells. Results : In the rat perfusion study, the wall permeability of valacyclovir was ten times higher than acyclovir and showed concentration dependency, Valacyclovir also demonstrated a D,L stereo-selectivity with L-isomer having an approximately five-fold higher permeability than D-isomer. Mixed dipeptides and cephalexin, which are transported by dipeptide carriers, strongly competed with valacyclovir for the intestinal absorption, while L-valine did not show any competition with valacyclovir. This indicated that the intestinal absorption of valacyclovir could be dipeptide carrier-mediated. In addition, the competitive uptake study in Caco-2 cells presented that dipeptides reduced the valacyclovir uptake but valine did not. Also, in IC$\sub$50/ study, valacyclovir showed strong inhibition on the $^3$H-gly-sar uptake in CHO-hPepTl cells over-expressing a human intestinal peptide transporter. Taken together, the result from our present study indicated that valacyclovir utilized the peptide transporter for the intestinal absorption.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.274-278
• /
• 2008

Ethanol extracts from the edible mushroom hinmogi (Tremella fuciformis, TF) were used in the investigation of effects on $\alpha$-glucosidase in vitro and on glucose-uptake in 3T3-L1 mature adipocytes. Addition of the extract significantly inhibited $\alpha$-glucosidase from small intestine of porcine and of rat (about 42 and 35% of control, respectively), and stimulated glucose uptake (about 100% of control), of which activity was higher than that of maitake (Grifola frondosa) X-fraction, a well known anti-diabetic substance. When the ethanol extracts were further partitioned successively by organic solvents and purified by silica gel chromatography, the non-polar layer (F-7) from hexane layer showed highest stimulatory activity of glucose-uptake among layers tested. The major components of the F-7 were 1-monooleoylglycerol and 1-monopalmitoylglycerol. Our report is the first description of TF with stimulatory activity of glucose-uptake. These results suggest that TF extracts may constitute a new source of glucose transport activator and could be employed as a potential anti-diabetic material for treatment and preventing diabetes.