• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
• /
• 2003.10b
• /
• pp.144.1-144.1
• /
• 2003

We previously reported that the activation of p$21^{WAFl/Cip1}$ transcription by histone deacetylase inhibitor apicidin was mediated through Spl sites and pointed to the possible participation of protein kinase C (PKC). In this study, we investigated the role and identity of the specific isoforms of PKC involved and identified phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase) as an upstream effector in HeLa cells. Using an isoform-specific pharmacological inhibitor of PKC, a PKC$\varepsilon$ dominant-negative mutant, and antisense oligonucleotide to inhibit PKC$\varepsilon$ specifically, (omitted)

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.21 no.6
• /
• pp.447-453
• /
• 2013

Chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan (CSPG) inhibits neurite outgrowth of various neuronal cell types, and CSPG-associated inhibition of neurite outgrowth is mediated by the Rho/ROCK pathway. Mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs) have the potential to differentiate into neuron-like cells under specific conditions and have been shown to differentiate into neuron-like cells by co-treatment with the ROCK inhibitor Y27632 and the hypoxia condition mimicking agent $CoCl_2$. In this study, we addressed the hypothesis that a ROCK inhibitor might be beneficial to regenerate neurons during stem cell therapy by preventing transplanted MSCs from inhibition by CSPG in damaged tissues. Indeed, dose-dependent inhibition by CSPG pretreatment was observed during morphological changes of Wharton's jelly-derived MSCs (WJ-MSCs) induced by Y27632 alone. The formation of neurite-like structures was significantly inhibited when WJ-MSCs were pre-treated with CSPG before induction under Y27632 plus $CoCl_2$ conditions, and pretreatment with a protein kinase C inhibitor reversed such inhibition. However, CSPG treatment resulted in no significant inhibition of the WJ-MSC morphological changes into neuron-like cells after initiating induction by Y27632 plus $CoCl_2$. No marked changes were detected in expression levels of neuronal markers induced by Y27632 plus $CoCl_2$ upon CSPG treatment. CSPG also blocked the morphological changes of human bone marrow-derived MSCs into neuron-like cells under other neuronal induction condition without the ROCK inhibitor, and Y27632 pre-treatment blocked the inhibitory effect of CSPG. These results suggest that a ROCK inhibitor can be efficiently used in stem cell therapy for neuronal induction by avoiding hindrance from CSPG.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.32 no.12
• /
• pp.4435-4437
• /
• 2011

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.155-160
• /
• 2014

Thelephoric acid is an antioxidant produced by the hydrolysis of polyozellin, which is isolated from Polyozellus multiplex. In the present study, the inhibitory effects of polyozellin and thelephoric acid on 9 cytochrome P450 (CYP) family members (CYP1A2, CYP2A6, CYP2B6, CYP2C8, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2D6, CYP2E1, and CYP3A4) were examined in pooled human liver microsomes (HLMs) using a cocktail probe assay. Polyozellin exhibited weak inhibitory effects on the activities of all 9 CYPs examined, whereas thelephoric acid exhibited dose- and time-dependent inhibition of all 9 CYP isoforms ($IC_{50}$ values, $3.2-33.7{\mu}M$). Dixon plots of CYP inhibition indicated that thelephoric acid was a competitive inhibitor of CYP1A2 and CYP3A4. In contrast, thelephoric acid was a noncompetitive inhibitor of CYP2D6. Our findings indicate that thelephoric acid may be a novel, non-specific CYP inhibitor, suggesting that it could replace SKF-525A in inhibitory studies designed to investigate the effects of CYP enzymes on the metabolism of given compounds.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.48 no.2
• /
• pp.178-186
• /
• 2015

Protease inhibitors (PI) of trypsin and papain as target proteases from the roe of bastard halibut Paralichthys olivaceus were fractionated out using ammonium sulfate precipitation (A), DEAE 650M anion exchange chromatography (D), and Sephacryl S-300 gel filtration (S). The recovery percentages of the fractions with the strongest inhibitory activity for each fractionation method were 13% for the A4 fraction, 21.2% for the D3 fraction, and 21.3% for the S2 fraction, with specific inhibitory activities of the fractions toward trypsin and casein of 168, 139, and 218 U/mg, respectively, while no inhibition of papain was observed. The $IC_{50}$ for the trypsin-specific substrate $N{\alpha}$-benzoyl-$\small{L}$-arginine-p-nitroanilide (BAPNA) was 0.65, 1.55, 2.26, and 2.85 mg/mL for the A4, S2, A3, and D3 fractions, respectively. These results suggest that chromatographic fractionation methods (D and S) based on the molecular mass and charge of the protein were more effective at fractionating PI than was ammonium sulfate precipitation based on protein solubility, and that the bastard halibut roe extract acts as a serine protease inhibitor. Therefore, the PI fraction from fish roe might be useful for inhibiting proteases in foodstuffs, and could constitute an alternative food-grade inhibitor for the surimi industry.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.53 no.4
• /
• pp.421-430
• /
• 2015

The parasite Plasmodium falciparum causes severe malaria and is the most dangerous to humans. However, it exhibits resistance to their drugs. Farnesyltransferase has been identified in pathogenic protozoa of the genera Plasmodium and the target of farnesyltransferase includes Ras family. Therefore, the inhibition of farnesyltransferase has been suggested as a new strategy for the treatment of malaria. However, the exact functional mechanism of this agent is still unknown. In addition, the effect of farnesyltransferase inhibitor (FTIs) on mitochondrial level of malaria parasites is not fully understood. In this study, therefore, the effect of a FTI R115777 on the function of mitochondria of P. falciparum was investigated experimentally. As a result, FTI R115777 was found to suppress the infection rate of malaria parasites under in vitro condition. It also reduces the copy number of mtDNA-encoded cytochrome c oxidase III. In addition, the mitochondrial membrane potential (${\Delta}{\Psi}m$) and the green fluorescence intensity of MitoTracker were decreased by FTI R115777. Chloroquine and atovaquone were measured by the mtDNA copy number as mitochondrial non-specific or specific inhibitor, respectively. Chloroquine did not affect the copy number of mtDNA-encoded cytochrome c oxidase III, while atovaquone induced to change the mtDNA copy number. These results suggest that FTI R115777 has strong influence on the mitochondrial function of P. falciparum. It may have therapeutic potential for malaria by targeting the mitochondria of parasites.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
• /
• v.36 no.4 s.143
• /
• pp.291-298
• /
• 2005

Anti-hyperglycemic effects of 17 medicinal plants that have been used for ameliorating diabetes in oriental medicine were evaluated using glucose transport assay in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Higher activities were obtained by treating water or alcohol extract of Phellodendri Cortex (PC), which showed enhancing effects both on basal and insulin-stimulated glucose uptake. The latter effect of PC was completely inhibited by wortmannin, a specific inhibitor for phosphatidyl inositol 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase), but not affected by SB203580, A specific inhibitor for p38 mitogen-activatedprotein kinase(MAPK). Genistein, an inhibitor for tyrosine kinases, abolished the PC effects completely. Treatment of vanadate, an inhibitor for tyrosine phosphatases, together with PC showed no significant synergic enhancement in glucose uptake. The results of inhibitors associated with insulin signaling pathway indicated that extracts of PC enhance glucose uptake by PI-3 kinase activation which is an upstream event for GLUT4 translocation. Antidiabetic effects of PC extract might be also due to enhanced tyrosine phosphorylation and reduced tyrosine dephosphorylation. In addition, PC accelerated insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in insulin-resistant cells, recovering the uptake level close to that of normal cells. These findings may offer a new way to utilize extracts of PC as novel anti-hyperglycemic agents.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.15 no.3
• /
• pp.137-144
• /
• 2007

Although lovastatin, a competitive inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMGCoA) reductase, has been shown to have anti-cancer actions, the effect on human hepatoma cells was not investigated. Moreover, the exact mechanism of this action is not fully understood. In this study we investigated the mechanism by which lovastatin induces apoptosis using HepG2 human hepatoblastoma cells. Lovastatin induced apoptotic cell death in a dose-dependent manner in the cells, assessed by the flow cytometric analysis. Treatment with mevalonic acid, a precursor of cholesterol, did not significantly suppress the lovastatin-induced apoptosis. Lovastatin induced a rapid and sustained increase in intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ concentration. Treatment with EGTA, an extracellular $Ca^{2+}$ chelator did not significantly alter the lovastatin-induced intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ increase and apoptosis, whereas intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ reduction with BAPTA/AM and intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ release blockers (dantrolene and TMB-8) completely blocked these actions of lovastatin. In addition, the lovastatin-induced apoptosis was significantly reduced by a calpain inhibitor, a broad spectrum caspase inhibitor z-VAD-fmk and inhibitors specific for caspase-9 and caspase-3 (z-LEHD-fmk and z-DEVD-fmk, respectively), but not by an inhibitor specific for caspase-8 (z-IETD-fmk). Collectively, these results suggest that lovastatin induced apoptosis of HepG2 hepatoma cells through intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ release and calpain activation, leading to triggering mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. These results further suggest that lovastatin may be valuable for the therapeutic management of human hepatoma.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.17
• /
• pp.7037-7041
• /
• 2014

Background: 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is the most commonly used drug in colon cancer therapy. However, despite impressive clinical responses initially, development of drug resistance to 5-Fu in human tumor cells is the primary cause of failure of chemotherapy. In this study, we established a 5-Fu-resistant human colon cancer cell line for comparative chemosensitivity studies. Materials and Methods: Real time PCR and Western blotting were used to determine gene expression levels. Cell viability was measured by MTT assay. Glucose uptake was assess using an Amplex Red Glucose/Glucose Oxidase assay kit. Results: We found that 5-Fu resistance was associated with the overexpression of Glut1 in colon cancer cells. 5-Fu treatment at low toxic concentration induced Glut1 expression. At the same time, upregulation of Glut1 was detected in 5-Fu resistant cells when compared with their parental cells. Importantly, inhibition of Glut1 by a specific inhibitor, WZB117, significantly increased the sensitivity of 5-Fu resistant cells to the drug. Conclusions: This study provides novel information for the future development of targeted therapies for the treatment of chemo-resistant colon cancer patients. In particular it demonstrated that Glut1 inhibitors such as WZB117 may be considered an additional treatment options for patients with 5-Fu resistant colon cancers.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.34 no.6
• /
• pp.517-525
• /
• 2001

Six renaturable protein kinases that utilize the myelin basic protein (MBP) as a substrate were activated during prolonged exposure of cardiac myocytes to okadaic acid (OA). We characterized the substrate preference and activation of these kinases, with particular emphasis on 3 novel kinases-MBPK-55, MBPK-62 and MBPK-87. The transcription factors c-Jun, Elk, ATF2, and c-Fos that are used to assess mitogen-activated protein kinase activation were all poor substrates for these three kinases. MAPKAPK2 was also not phosphorylated. In contrast, Histone IIIS was phosphorylated by MBPK-55 and MBPK-62. These protein kinases were activated in cultured cardiac fibroblasts, H9c2 cardiac myoblasts, and Cos cells. High concentrations (0.5 to $1\;{\mu}M$) of OA were essential for the activation of the protein kinases in all of the cell types examined, whereas calyculin A [an inhibitor of protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) and PP2A], cyclosporin A (a PP2B inhibitor), and an inactive OA analog all failed to activate these kinases. The high dose of okadaic acid that is required for kinase activation was also required for phosphatase inhibition, as assessed by immunoblotting whole cell lysates with anti-phosphothreonine antibodies. A variety of chemical inhibitors, including PD98059 (MEK-specific), genistein (tyrosine kinase-specific) and Bisindolylmaleimide I (protein kinase C-specific), failed to inhibit the OA activation of these kinases. Thus, MBPK-55 and MBPK-62 are also Histone IIIS kinases that are widely expressed and specifically activated upon exposure to high OA concentrations.