• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.13-16
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• 2010

The active components in a plant extract can be represented as mass profiles. We introduce here a new, multi-compound discovery method known as Scaling of Correlations between Activity and Mass Profiles (SCAMP). In this method, a correlation coefficient is used to quantify similarities between the extract activity and mass profiles. The method was evaluated by first measuring the anti-oxidation activity of eleven fractions of an Astragali Radix extract using DPPH assays. Next, 15 T Fouriertransform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) MS was employed to generate mass profiles of the eleven fractions. A comparison of correlation coefficients indicated two compounds at m/z 285.076 and 286.076 that were strong antioxidants. Principal component analyses of these profiles yielded the same result. FT-ICR MS, which offers a mass resolving power of 500,000, was used to discern isotopic fine structures and indicated that the molecular formula corresponding to the peak at m/z 285.076 was $C_{16}H_{13}O_5$. SCAMP in combination with high-resolution MS can be applied to any type of mixture to study pharmacological activity and is a powerful tool for active compound discovery in plant extract studies.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.1597-1602
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• 2012

In this study, we determined the 3D-structure of Arabidopsis thaliana KAPAS by homology modeling. We then investigated the binding mode of compounds obtained from in-house library using computational docking methods. From the flexible docking study, we achieved high dock scores for the active compounds denoted in this study as compound $\mathbf{3}$ and compound $\mathbf{4}$. Thus, we highlight the flexibility of specific residues, Lys 312 and Phe 172, when used in active sites.

• Korean Journal of Weed Science
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.135-138
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• 1997

Sulfonylureas are highly active herbicides which can be applied at very low rate(10-50g/ha) to control broadleaf weeds. The nature of this category of compound is, however, very unstable toward hydrolysis. Therefore, the preparation of these compounds as liquid formulation was not possible. Most of the current formulations of sulfonylurea are in dry forms such as water dispersible granule or wettable powder. Even in these dry forms, the active ingredients also encounter significant chemical decomposition. This study involves the preparation of the sulfonylurea salts by reacting the parent compound with base such as sodium hydroxide. The salt becomes stable toward hydrolysis and it turns soluble when diluted with water. This discovery makes the preparation for liquid formulation or soluble granule of sulfonylurea possible. The stoichiometry of base added to the neutral sulfonylurea is controlled quite precisely. The base has to be added enough to quench the acidic impurities in the technical material and to convert the active ingredient into salt. However, the base should not be overused to cause further saponification of the sulfonylurea salts. The chemical nature of these compounds is presented and the chemical reaction is described. New soluble liquid formulation and solid granule formulation of sulfonylurea are suggested.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 1994.04a
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• pp.41-49
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• 1994

The most common conventional method of discovering a drug involves a massive screening of a large number of compounds in chemical libraries or in the extracts from natural sources such as plants or microbial broths followed by chemical modification of one or more active compounds to improve their properties as a drug. When the three-dimensional structure of the target molecule for which the drug is searched is known the drug discovery process can be significantly simplified, This is especially true when the three-dimensional structure of a complex between the target and a lead compound is known. In this lecture our experience on the structure-based drug design for human CDK2(cyclin-dependent protein kinase 2) will be discussed with special emphasis on the strength and weakness of this approach of drug discovery. The regulation of the activity of CDK2 plays an important role in the cell proliferation of normal and cancer cells.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.651-660
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• 2006

Natural products are a rich source of biologically active small molecules and a fertile area for lead discovery of new drugs [10, 52]. For instance, 5% of the 1,031 new chemical entities approved as drugs by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were natural products between 1981 and 2002, and another 23% were natural product-derived molecules [53]. These molecules have evolved through millions of years of natural selection to interact with biomolecules in the cells or organisms and offer unrivaled chemical and structural diversity [14, 37]. Nonetheless, a large percentage of nature remains unexplored, in particular, in the marine and microbial environments. Therefore, natural products are still major valuable sources of innovative therapeutic agents for human diseases. However, even when a natural product is found to exhibit biological activity, the cellular target and mode of action of the compound are mostly mysterious. This is also true of many natural products that are currently under clinical trials or have already been approved as clinical drugs [11]. The lack of information on a definitive cellular target for a biologically active natural product prevents the rational design and development of more potent therapeutics. Therefore, there is a great need for new techniques to expedite the rapid identification and validation of cellular targets for biologically active natural products. Chemical genomics is a new integrated research engine toward functional studies of genome and drug discovery [40, 69]. The identification and validation of cellular receptors of biologically active small molecules is one of the key goals of the discipline. This eventually facilitates subsequent rational drug design, and provides valuable information on the receptors in cellular processes. Indeed, several biologically crucial proteins have already been identified as targets for natural products using chemical genomics approach (Table 1). Herein, the representative case studies of chemical genomics using natural products derived from microbes, marine sources, and plants will be introduced.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.144-148
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• 2018

Catalytic enzyme Pyrazinamidase (PncA) from Mycobacterium tuberculosis can hydrolyze substrate pyrazinamide (PZA) to pyrazoic acid (POA) as active form of compound. Using NMR spectroscopy, pH-dependent catalytic properties were monitored including metal binding mode during converting PZA to POA. There seems to be a conformational change through zinc binding in active site from the perturbation of peak intensities in series of 2D HSQC spectra the conformation changes through zinc binding.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.285-291
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• 2005

The nonstructural protein 5B (NS5B) of hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), which is the essential catalytic enzyme for the viral replication and is an appealing target for the development of new therapeutic agents against HCV infection. A small amount of serum from a single patient with hepatitis C was used to get the genome of a Korean HCV isolate. Sequence analysis of NS5B 1701 nucleotides showed the genotype of a Korean isolate to be subtype 1b. The soluble recombinant HCV NS5B polymerase lacking the C-terminal 24 amino acids was expressed and purified to homogeneity. With the highly purified NS5B protein, we established in vitro systems for RdRp activity to identify potential polymerase inhibitors. The rhodanine family compounds were found to be potent and specific inhibitors of NS5B from high throughput screening (HTS) assay utilizing the scintillation proximity assay (SPA) system. The binding mode of an inhibitor was analyzed by measuring various kinetic parameters. Lineweaver-Burk plots of the inhibitor suggested it binds not to the active site of NS5B polymerase, but to an allosteric site of the enzyme. The activity of NS5B in in vitro polymerase reactions with homopolymeric RNA requires interaction with multiple substrates that include a template/primer and ribonucleotide triphosphate. Steady-state kinetic parameter, such as Km, was determined for the ribonucleotide triphosphate. One of compounds found interacts directly with the viral polymerase and inhibits RNA synthesis in a manner noncompetitively with respect to UTP. Furthermore, we also investigated the ability of the compound to inhibit NS5B-directed viral RNA replication using the Huh7 cell-based HCV replicon system. The investigation is potentially very useful for the utility of such compounds as anti-hepatitic agents.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.797-802
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• 2014

We screened a small molecular library that was designed and independently synthesized in vitro and found a new drug (MY-03-01) that is active against ovarian cancer. We established that MY-03-01 effectively inhibited SKOV-3 cell survival in a dose-dependent manner, based on cell viability rates, and that it not only induced SKOV-3 apoptosis by itself, but also did so synergistically with paclitaxel. Secondly, when MY-03-01 was applied at $40{\mu}M$, its hemolytic activity was less than 10%, compared with the control, and there was almost no damage to nor mal cells at this concentration. In addition, we used DAPI staining and flow cytometry to show that MY-03-01 could significantly induce apoptosis of SKOV-3 cells. Finally, we found that MY-03-01 likely induced SKOV-3 apoptosis by activating caspase3 and caspase9 through the mitochondrial pathway.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.279-287
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• 1999

Therapeutic use of anti-inflammatory steroids is limited due primarily to their systemic suppressive effects on pituitary function and the immune system.. To overcome the clinical limitation, a new approach toward the discovery of non-systemic anti-inflammatory steroids is based upon the antedrug concept introduced by this laboratory. The new concept describes locally active agents which are designed to undergo a predictable biotransformation to inactive metabolites upon entry into systemic circulation from the applied site. Thus, true antedrugs are devoid of systemic adverse effects. In a continuing effort, 16$\alpha$-carboxylate and isoxazoline derivatives of prednisolone have been synthesized and screened. In the croton oil-induced ear edema bioassay, the following relative potencies were obtained setting hydrocortisone=1.0; 3a, 1.5; 3b, 3.1; 4a, 4.0; 4b, 12.2; 5b, 8.2; 6b, 11.2; 7a, 1.9; 7b, 4.1; 8a, 3.3; 8b 6.8; 9a, 0.7; 9b 8.6; 10a 2.6; 10b, 7.4. Results of the five-day bioassay indicated that, in contrast to the parent compound, the novel steroidal antedrugs did not significantly alter body weight gain, thymus weights, adrenal weights or plasma corticosterone levels. Taken together, the antedrug concept appears to be a fundamentally sound strategy for the separation of local anti-inflammatory activity form systemic adverse effects.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.504-513
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• 2022

Chitin deacetylase (CDA) inhibitors were developed as novel antifungal agents because CDA participates in critical fungal physiological and metabolic processes and increases virulence in soil-borne fungal pathogens. However, few CDA inhibitors have been reported. In this study, 150 candidate CDA inhibitors were selected from the commercial Chemdiv compound library through structure-based virtual screening. The top-ranked 25 compounds were further evaluated for biological activity. The compound J075-4187 had an IC50 of 4.24 ± 0.16 µM for AnCDA. Molecular docking calculations predicted that compound J075-4187 binds to the amino acid residues, including active sites (H101, D48). Furthermore, compound J075-4187 inhibited food spoilage fungi and plant pathogenic fungi, with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) at 260 ㎍/ml and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) at 520 ㎍/ml. Therefore, compound J075-4187 is a good candidate for use in developing antifungal agents for fungi control.