• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• 제41권1호
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• pp.1-9
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• 2017

Panax ginseng Meyer, belonging to the genus Panax of the family Araliaceae, is known for its human immune system-related effects, such as immune-boosting effects. Ginseng polysaccharides (GPs) are the responsible ingredient of ginseng in immunomodulation, and are classified as acidic and neutral GPs. Although GPs participate in various immune reactions including the stimulation of immune cells and production of cytokines, the precise function of GPs together with its potential receptor(s) and their signal transduction pathways have remained largely unknown. Animal lectins are carbohydrate-binding proteins that are highly specific for sugar moieties. Among many different biological functions in vivo, animal lectins especially play important roles in the immune system by recognizing carbohydrates that are found exclusively on pathogens or that are inaccessible on host cells. This review summarizes the immunological activities of GPs and the diverse roles of animal lectins in the immune system, suggesting the possibility of animal lectins as the potential receptor candidates of GPs and giving insights into the development of GPs as therapeutic biomaterials for many immunological diseases.

• 비만대사연구학술지
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• 제2권2호
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• pp.71-75
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• 2023

Obesity is closely related to chronic diseases and cancer. The present case report aims to discuss the anti-obesity treatment strategy and the evaluation of the clinical progress in a patient with obesity and concurrent fatty liver disease. Following five months of treatment with liraglutide and rosuvastatin, the patient had a weight reduction of 3 kg (4.7%), a decrease in fasting blood sugar by 42 mg/dl (26.6%), a decrease in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol by 82 mg/dl (60.2%), and decrease in alanine transaminase. This case report documented the treatment of a patient with common chronic diseases encountered in the outpatient setting. Based on the therapeutic effects documented in clinical and laboratory indices, the anti-obesity treatment plan significantly aided in managing chronic diseases.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• 제23권2호
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• pp.113-123
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• 2006

Objectives : Deer antler Herbal-Acupuncture (DHA) solution represents one of the most commonly used medicine to treat rheumatoid arthritis. But, mechanisms of its antiarthritic activities are still poorly understood. Identification of common DHA aqua-acupuncture capable of affording protection or modulating the onset and severity of arthritis may have important human health implications. Results : We determined if DHA could prevent the binding of $IL-1{\beta}$ to its cellular receptors. DHA addition to rat chondrocytes treated with $IL-1{\beta}$ or with reactive oxygen species(ROS) prevents the activation of proteoglycan synthesis. After treatment with $IL-1{\beta}$, DHA increased the expression of mRNA encoding the type II $IL-1{\beta}$ receptor. These results emphasize the potential role of two regulating proteins of the $IL-1{\beta}$ signaling pathway that could account for the beneficial effect of DHA in osteRArthritis. The present study also identifies a novel mechanism of DHA-mediated anti-inflammatory activity. Conclusion : It is shown that DHA inhibits both $IL-1{\beta}-$ and $TNF-{\alpha}-induced$ NO production in normal human articular chondrocytes. The observed suppression of IL-1-induced NO production is associated with inhibition of inducible NO synthase(iNOS) mRNA and protein expression. In addition, DHA also suppresses the production of IL-1-induced cyclooxygenase-2 and IL-6. The constitutively expressed cyclooxygenase-1, however, was not affected by the sugar. These results demonstrate that DHA expresses a unique range of activities and identifies a novel mechanism for the inhibition of inflammatory processes.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• 제38권2호
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• pp.111-117
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• 1995

CRP (cAMP receptor protein)은 cAMP와 결합하여 cAMP-CRP 복합체를 형성하여 전사조절의 조절인자로서 작용한다. crp 유전자에 변이를 도입하여 cAMP의 비존재 상태에서 cAMP-CRP와 비슷한 기능을 가진 crp 유전자가 도입된 대장균 MK2001 (crp, cya::km)을 숙주로 사용하여 cAMP 혹은 cGMP의 비존재하에서도 mal 유전자의 발현을 촉진시키는 유전자 sfs (sugar fermentation stimulation) 수 종을 클로닝 하였다. 본 실험에서는 이미 밝혀진 nlp (Ner like protein) 유전자와 같이, sfs의 새로운 유전자를 탐색하여, 그 중 sfs4의 2126 bp 전 염기배열을 결정하고, 잠정적인 sfs4의 promoter 영역에는 CRP 단백질과의 결합 DNA 공통 염기배열(5' AAT TGTGA ACACCA TCACC CGT 3')이 존재함을 확인했다. lacZ 융합 유전자를 작성하여 TP2010R1 MK2001의 균주에서 cAMP를 첨가할 경우 각각 2.3배, 1.8배의 ${\beta}-galactosidase$ 활성이 증가하는 것으로 보아 sfs4는 cAMP-CRP에 의해 발현 조절을 받는 것으로 나타났다.

• 한국미생물·생명공학회지
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• 제34권4호
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• pp.289-298
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• 2006

3',5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) is an important molecule, which mediates diverse cellular processes. For example, it is involved in regulation of sugar uptake/catabolism, DNA replication, cell division, and motility in various acterial species. In addition, cAMP is one of the critical regulators for syntheses of virulence factors in many pathogenic bacteria. It is believed that cAMP acts as a signal for environmental changes as well as a regulatory factor for gene expressions. Therefore, intracellular concentration of cAMP is finely modulated by according to its rates of synthesis (by adenylate cyclase), excretion, and degradation (by cAMP phosphodiesterase). In the present review, we discuss the bacterial physiological characteristics governed by CAMP and the molecular mechanisms for gene regulation by cAMP. Furthermore, the effect of cAMP on phosphotransferase system is addressed.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• 제19권5호
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• pp.569-575
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• 1998

Investigation of the structure of the gangliosides has proven to be very important in the understanding of their biological roles. We have determined the tertiary structure of asialoganglioside GM1 $(GA_1)$ using NMR spectroscopy and distance geometry calculations. All of the structures are very similar except the glycosidic torsion angles in the ring IV and ring III linkages. There are two low-energy structures for GA1, G1 and G2. G1 differs from G2 only in the IV-III glycosidic linkages and the orientation of acetamido group in ring III. There is a stable intramolecular hydrogen bond between the third hydroxyl group in ring I and the ring oxygen atom in ring II. Also, there may be a weak hydrogen bond between the second hydroxyl group in ring IV and the acetamido group in ring III. Small coupling constants of $^3J_{IH3,IOH3}\; and\; ^3J_{IVH2,IVOH2}$ support this result. Overall structural features of $(GA_1)$ are very similar to those of $(GM_1)$. It implicates that specificities of the sugar moieties in GM1 are caused not by their tertiary foldings, but mainly by the electrostatic interactions between the polar sialic acid and its receptors. Since it is evident that $(GA_1)$ is more hydrophobic than $(GA_1)$, a receptor with a hydrophobic binding site can recognize the $(GA_1)$ better than $(GA_1)$. Studies on the conformational properties of $(GA_1)$ may lead to a better understanding of the molecular basis of its functions.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제32권11호
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• pp.1406-1415
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• 2022

The formation of macrophage foam cells stimulated by oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) is deemed an important cause of atherosclerosis. Transcription factor Yin Yang 1 (YY1), which is a universally expressed multifunctional protein, is closely related to cell metabolism disorders such as lipid metabolism, sugar metabolism, and bile acid metabolism. However, whether YY1 is involved in macrophage inflammation and lipid accumulation still remains unknown. After mouse macrophage cell line RAW264.7 cells were induced by ox-LDL, YY1 and proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) expressions were found to be increased while low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) expression was lowly expressed. Subsequently, through reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), Western blot analysis, Oil Red O staining and cholesterol quantification, it turned out that silencing of YY1 attenuated the inflammatory response and lipid accumulation in RAW264.7 cells caused by ox-LDL. Moreover, results from the JASPAR database, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay, luciferase reporter assay and Western blot analysis suggested that YY1 activated PCSK9 by binding to PCSK9 promoter and modulated the expression of LDLR in the downstream of PCSK9. In addition, the results of functional experiments demonstrated that the inhibitory effects of YY1 interference on ox-LDL-mediated macrophage inflammation and lipid accumulation were reversed by PCSK9 overexpression. To sum up, YY1 depletion inhibited its activation of PCSK9, thereby reducing cellular inflammatory response, cholesterol homeostasis imbalance, and lipid accumulation caused by ox-LDL.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• 제39권3호
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• pp.195-199
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• 1996

$crp^{\ast}$ 유전자가 도입된 대장균 MK2001($crp^{{\ast}1}$}, cya::km)을 숙주로 사용하여 mal 유전자 발현을 촉진시키는 유전자의 하나인 sfs1(sugar fermentation stimulation)의 구조해석 결과에 의하면, 잠정적인 sfs1의 promoter 영역에는 CRP 단백질과의 결합영역으로 보이는 염기배열이 존재하였다. 본 실험에서는 sfs1 유전자의 cAMP-CRP에 의한 발현 조절을 확인하고자, lacZ 와의 융합 유전자를 작성하였다. 작성된 융합 유전자는 cya 결손주인 Tp2010에서 cAMP의 첨가에 의해 ${\beta}-galactosidase$ 활성이 크게 증가하였으며, Western blotting의 실험에서도 같은 결과를 나타냈다. in vivo에서 발현이 확인된 전사산물은 cAMP에 의해 전사 촉진이 일어났으며, CRP의 결합부위로 예상되는 DNA 영역은 cAMP가 존재하면 CRP 단백질과 결합하는 특성을 나타내었다. 이상의 결과로 보아, sfs1 유전자의 발현은 UMP-CRP에 의한 전사촉진 현상을 받는 것으로 나타났다.

• 한국응용약물학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국응용약물학회 1996년도 제4회 추계심포지움
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• pp.65-73
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• 1996

LPS/LOS, the compound found only in gram-negative bacterial outer membrane, plays important roles in bacterial maintenance as well as its pathogenesis. We isolated and characterized several genes required for NTHi 2019 LOS biosynthesis, which encode enzymes required for sugar substrate synthesis or the transfer of substrates to receptor molecules. The htrB gene, however, appears to have more complex role. It has acryltransferase activity as well as various other activity, which may control regulation of LOS biosynthesis as well as its pathogenicity. Evidences supporting the latter come from the observations that the lipid A of the B29 induced significantly less TNF ${\alpha}$ from macrophages than that of the wild type LOS (unpublished data). H. influenzae A2-htrB mutant strain was also significantly less invasive than the wild type strain. The structural similarities of the enterobacterial LPS and the Haemophilus LOS enabled us to isolate the NTHi 2019 genes involved in LOS biosynthesis genes by using the S. typhimurium LPS deep core mutants. While a similar approach has been used for E. coli, this technique for selection of an LPS phenotype has not been applied to nonenterobacterial species. The difficulties inherent in the molecular manipulation of organism such as Neisseria and Haemophilus species make this approach particularly attractive in the identification and cloning LOS genes. Studies on genetic features of LPS/LOS biosynthesis would be useful for understanding bacterial pathogenesis as well as for developing vaccines for these gram-negative pathogenic bacteria.