• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.6 no.5
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• pp.405-413
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• 2012

Rho iso-alpha acids-rich extract (RIAA) from Humulus lupulus (hops) and proanthocyanidins-rich extracts (PAC) from Acacia nilotica exert anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic activity in vitro and in vivo. We hypothesized that a combination of these two extracts would exert enhanced effects in vitro on inflammatory markers and insulin signaling, and on nonfasting glucose and insulin in db/db mice. Over 49 tested combinations, RIAA:PAC at 5:1 ($6.25{\mu}g/mL$) exhibited the greatest reductions in $TNF{\alpha}$-stimulated lipolysis and IL-6 release in 3T3-L1 adipocytes, comparable to $5{\mu}g/mL$ troglitazone. Pretreatment of 3T3-L1 adipocytes with this combination ($5{\mu}g/mL$) also led to a 3-fold increase in insulin-stimulated glucose uptake that was comparable to $5{\mu}g/mL$ pioglitazone or $901{\mu}g/mL$ aspirin. Finally, db/db mice fed with RIAA:PAC at 5:1 (100 mg/kg) for 7 days resulted in 22% decrease in nonfasting glucose and 19% decrease in insulin that was comparable to 0.5 mg/kg rosiglitazone and better than 100 mg/kg metformin. RIAA:PAC mixture may have the potential to be an alternative when conventional therapy is undesirable or ineffective, and future research exploring its long-term clinical application is warranted.

• Bioinformatics and Biosystems
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.89-94
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• 2006

Mass spectrometry (MS) is widely applied for high throughput proteomics analysis. When large-scale proteome analysis experiments are performed, it generates massive amount of data. To search these proteomics data against protein databases, fully automated database search algorithms, such as Mascot and SEQUEST are routinely employed. At present, it is critical to reduce false positives and false negatives during such analysis. In this review we have focused on aspects of automated protein identification using tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) spectra and validation of the protein identifications of two most common automated protein identification algorithms Mascot and SEQUEST.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.248-253
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• 2005

AfsR2, originally identified from Streptomyces lividans, is a global regulatory protein which stimulates antibiotic biosynthesis. Through its stable chromosomal integration, the high level of gene expression of afsR2 significantly induced antibiotic production as well as the sporulation of S. lividans, implying the presence of yet-uncharacterized AfsR2-target proteins. To identify and evaluate the putative AfsR2-target proteins involved in antibiotic regulation, the proteomics-driven approach was applied to the wild-type S. lividans and the afsR2-integrated actinorhodin overproducing strain. The 20 gel-electrophoresis gave approximately 340 protein spots showing different protein expression patterns between these two S. lividans strains. Further MALDI-TOF analysis revealed several AfsR2-target proteins, including glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, putative phosphate transport system regulator, guanosine penta phosphate synthetase/polyribonucleotide nucleotidyltransferase, and superoxide dismutase, which suggests that the AfsR2 should be a pleiotropic regulatory protein which controls differential expressions of various kinds of genes in Streptomyces species.

• BMB Reports
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.45-52
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• 2004

The goal of interaction proteomics that studies the protein-protein interactions of all expressed proteins is to understand biological processes that are strictly regulated by these interactions. The availability of entire genome sequences of many organisms and high-throughput analysis tools has led scientists to study the entire proteome (Pandey and Mann, 2000). There are various high-throughput methods for detecting protein interactions such as yeast two-hybrid approach and mass spectrometry to produce vast amounts of data that can be utilized to decipher protein functions in complicated biological networks. In this review, we discuss recent developments in analytical methods for large-scale protein interactions and the future direction of interaction proteomics.

• BMB Reports
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.59-74
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• 2004

The study of whole patterns of changes in protein expression and their modifications, or proteomics, presents both technological advances as well as formidable challenges to biological researchers. Nutrition research and the food sciences in general will be strongly influenced by the new knowledge generated by the proteomics approach. This review examines the different aspects of proteomics technologies, while emphasizing the value of consideration of "traditional" aspects of protein separation. These include the choice of the cell, the subcellular fraction, and the isolation and purification of the relevant protein fraction (if known) by protein chromatographic procedures. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of proteins and their peptides formed by proteolytic hydrolysis have been substantially enhanced by the development of mass spectrometry technologies in combination with nanoscale fluidics analysis. These are described, as are the pros and cons of each method in current use.

• Nutritional Sciences
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.129-133
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• 2002

Obesity is a major public health problem in western countries. Genetic and environmental factors, separately or in combination are major determinants of fat mass. Both central effectors (primarily hypothalamus) and peripheral tissues (such as adipose tissue) are implicated in the pathogenesis of obesity. A significant number of studies have documented potential contribution of adipose tissue -via its newly discovered secretory function- to the pathogenesis of obesity and co-morbid conditions including cardiovascular disease, diabetes and hypertension. Applications of analytical techniques such as genomics and proteomics have enabled better understanding of biological sciences in general and have only being applied recently to nutritional sciences including obesity research. Here, we review the recent progress in adipose tissue functional genomics and proteomics, and the importance of these studies in energy metabolism and obesity research.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.187-198
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• 2006

The aromatic hydrocarbons (AHs), which include benzene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and dioxin, are important chemical and environmental contaminants in industry that usually cause various diseases. Over the years, numerous studies have described and evaluated the adverse health effects induced by AHs. Currently, "Omics" technologies, transcriptomics and proteomics, have been applied in AH toxicity studies. Proteomics has been used to identify molecular mechanisms and biomarkers associated with global chemical toxicity. It could enhance our ability to characterize chemical-induced toxicities and to identify noninvasive biomarkers. The proteomic approach (e.g. 2-dimensional electrophoresis [2-DE]), can be used to observe changes in protein expression during chemical exposure with high sensitivity and specificity. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and electrospray ionization-quadrupole (ESI-Q)-TOF MS/MS are recognized as the most important protein identification tools. This review describes proteomic technologies and their application in the proteomic analysis of AH toxicity.

• BMB Reports
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• v.45 no.12
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• pp.700-706
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• 2012

Obesity is a worldwide epidemic as well as being a major risk factor for diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and several types of cancers. Obesity is mainly due to the overgrowth of adipose tissue arising from an imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure. Adipose tissue, primarily composed of adipocytes, plays a key role in maintaining whole body energy homeostasis. In view of the treatment of obesity and obesity-related diseases, it is critical to understand the detailed signal transduction mechanisms of adipogenic differentiation. Adipogenic differentiation is tightly regulated by many key signal cascades, including insulin signaling. These signal cascades generally transfer or amplify the signal by using serial tyrosine phosphorylations. Thus, protein tyrosine kinases and protein tyrosine phosphatases are closely related to adipogenic differentiation. Compared to protein tyrosine kinases, protein tyrosine phosphatases have received little attention in adipogenic differentiation. This review aims to highlight the involvement of protein tyrosine phosphatases in adipogenic differentiation and the possibility of protein tyrosine phosphatases as drugs to target obesity.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.480-484
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• 2010

AfsR2 is a global regulatory protein that stimulates antibiotic biosynthesis in both Streptomyces lividans and S. coelicolor. Previously, various afsR2-dependent genes including a putative abaA-like regulatory gene, SCO4677, were identified through comparative DNA microarray analysis. To further identify the putative SCO4677-dependent proteins, the comparative proteomics-driven approach was applied to the SCO4677-overexpressing strains of S. lividans and S. coelicolor along with the wild-type strains. The 2D gel electrophoresis gave approximately 277 protein spots for S. lividans and 207 protein spots for S. coelicolor, showing different protein expression patterns between the SCO4677-overexpressing strains and the wild-type strains. Further MALDI-TOF analysis revealed that only 18 proteins exhibited similar expression patterns in both S. lividans and S. coelicolor, suggesting that the SCO4677 could encode an abaA-like regulator that controls a few cross-species common proteins as well as many species-specific proteins in Streptomyces species.

• Proceedings of the Korean Biophysical Society Conference
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• 2003.06a
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• pp.64-64
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• 2003

In growing number of diseases it has been shown that the aggregation of specific proteins has an important role in the pathogenesis of the disorder. This has been demonstrated in structural detail with the liver cirrhosis of ${\alpha}$$_1$-antitrypsin deficiency, and it is now believed that similar protein aggregation underlies many neurodegenerative disorders such as autosomal dominant Parkinson disease, prion diseases, Alzheimer disease, Huntington disease.