• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.125-140
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• 2010

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to examine from various angles the protective effect of Gastrodia elata Blume (GEB) against nerve cell death induced by $\beta$-amyloid by using the cell line SH-SY5Y, which is commonly utilized for toxicity testing in nerve cells, and to find out its mechanism of action. Methods : To begin with, as a result of assessing the rate of cell survival by employing MTT reduction assay, the treatment with $\beta$-amyloid at different concentrations caused cytotoxicity, which was inhibited by preprocessing GEB extract. In addition, after $\beta$-amyloid was processed with the cell SH-SY5Y, apoptosis progressed, which was reduced effectively by processing GEB extract. Results : When cytotoxicity was caused by using hydrogen peroxide, a representative ROS, in order to examine the antioxidant effect of GEB, its protective effect was also observed. Apart from ROS, reactive nitrogen species (RNS) are also known to play a crucial role in nerve cell death. The treatment with the NO donor SNAP increased the production of nitric oxide and the expression of iNOS, which was also inhibited by GEB extract. Meanwhile, as an attempt to find out the mechanism of action explaining the antioxidant effect, the intracellular antioxidant enzyme expressions were measured by RT-PCR, which showed that GEB extract increased the expressions of heme oxygenase-1, GAPDH and $\gamma$-glutamate cysteine ligase. Lastly, GEB extract had a protective effect against impaired memory induced by scopolamine in animal models (in vivo). Conclusions : These findings indicate that GEB has a protective effect against the death of cranial nerve cells, suggesting possibilities for the prevention and treatment of AD.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.370-375
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• 2014

BACE2 is a membrane-bound aspartic protease that is highly homologous with BACE1. While BACE1 processes the amyloid precursor protein (APP) at a key step in generating ${\beta}$-amyloid peptide and presumably causes Alzheimer's disease (AD), BACE2 has not been demonstrated to be involved in APP processing directly, and its physiological functions are unknown. To determine its function and to develop inhibitors from marine sources, we constructed an overexpression vector for producing BACE2. The gene encoding human BACE2 protease was amplified using the polymerase chain reaction and cloned into the pET11a expression vector, resulting in pET11a/BACE2. Recombinant BACE2 protease was overexpressed successfully in E. coli as inclusion bodies, refolded using the rapid-dilution method, and purified via two-step fast protein liquid chromatography using Sephacryl S-300 gel filtration and Resource-Q column chromatography. The BACE2 protease produced was an active form. This study provides an efficient method not only for studying the basic properties of BACE2, but also for developing inhibitors from natural marine sources.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.230-237
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• 2013

Amyloid ${\beta}$ peptide (A${\beta}$) still best known as a molecule to cause Alzheimer's disease (AD). AD is characterized by the accumulation and deposition of A${\beta}$ within the brain, leading to neuronal cell loss and perturbation of synaptic function by causing free radical formation, inflammation and apoptosis. We investigated the inflammatory action of A${\beta}$ on two types of brain cells, neuronal cells (SH-SY5Y) and neuroglia cells (C6), and its mechanism. We measured the production of NO-iNOS, TNF-${\alpha}$, and ICAM-1 using RT-PCR and Western blot analysis less than the concentration of cytotoxic effects (> 70% survivability). A${\beta}$ had no effect on the production of NO and TNF-${\alpha}$, but significantly increases of iNOS and ICAM-1. Based on this, we suggest that the inflammatory effect of A${\beta}$ results from the action of ICAM-1 in neuronal cells, rather than the release of inflammatory mediators such as NO and TNF-${\alpha}$ in neuroglia cells. In addition, we confirmed whether p53 was related to the action of A${\beta}$ by using SH-SY5Y ($p53^{-/-}$) dominant cells. Neither the expression of p53 nor the cytotoxicity of SH-SY5Y ($p53^{-/-}$) cells were directly affected by A${\beta}$. However, ICAM-1 was not expressed in SH-SY5Y ($p53^{-/-}$) cells. This means that p53- independent pathway exists in the expression of ICAM-1 by A${\beta}$ while p53 plays a role as an on-and-off switch.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.838-842
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• 2004

Amyloid peptide (A${\beta}$) is the major component of senile plaques found in the brain of patient of Alzheimer's disease. ${\beta}$-amyloid peptide (25-35) (A${\beta}$25-35) is biologically active fragment of A${\beta}$. The three-dimensional structure of A${\beta}$25-35 in aqueous solution with 50% (vol/vol) TFE determined by NMR spectroscopy previously adopts an ${\alpha}$-helical conformation from $Ala^{30}$ to $Met^{35}$. It has been proposed that A${\beta}$(25-35) exhibits pH- and concentration-dependent ${\alpha}-helix{\leftrightarrow}{\beta}$sheet transition. This conformational transition with concomitant peptide aggregation is a possible mechanism of plaque formation. Here, in order to gain more insight into the mechanism of ${\alpha}$-helix formation of A${\beta}$25-35 peptide by TFE, which particularly stabilizes ${\alpha}$-helical conformation, we studied the secondary-structural elements of A${\beta}$25-35 peptide by molecular dynamics simulations. Secondary structural elements determined from NMR spectroscopy in aqueous TFE solution are preserved during the MD simulation. TFE/water mixed solvent has reduced capacity for forming hydrogen bond to the peptide compared to pure water solvent. TFE allows A${\beta}$25-35 to form bifurcated hydrogen bonds to TFE as well as to residues in peptide itself. MD simulation in this study supports the notion that TFE can act as an ${\alpha}$-helical structure forming solvent.

• BMB Reports
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.5-13
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• 2018

Formation of toxic protein aggregates is a common feature and mainly contributes to the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs), which include amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's, and prion diseases. The transglutaminase 2 (TG2) gene encodes a multifunctional enzyme, displaying four types of activity, such as transamidation, GTPase, protein disulfide isomerase, and protein kinase activities. Many studies demonstrated that the calcium-dependent transamidation activity of TG2 affects the formation of insoluble and toxic amyloid aggregates that mainly consisted of NDD-related proteins. So far, many important and NDD-related substrates of TG2 have been identified, including $amlyoid-{\beta}$, tau, ${\alpha}-synuclein$, mutant huntingtin, and ALS-linked trans-activation response (TAR) DNA-binding protein 43. Recently, the formation of toxic inclusions mediated by several TG2 substrates were efficiently inhibited by TG2 inhibitors. Therefore, the development of highly specific TG2 inhibitors would be an important tool in alleviating the progression of TG2-related brain disorders. In this review, the authors discuss recent advances in TG2 biochemistry, several mechanisms of molecular regulation and pleotropic signaling functions, and the presumed role of TG2 in the progression of many NDDs.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.163-169
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• 2007

The neurotoxicity of amyloid $\beta(A\beta)$ is associated with an increased production of reactive oxygen species and apoptosis, and it has been implicated in the development of Alzheimer's disease. While(-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate(EGCG) suppresses $A\beta$-induced apoptosis, the mechanisms underlying this process have yet to be completely clarified. This study was designed to investigate whether EGCG plays a neuroprotective role by activating cell survival system such as protein kinase C(PKC), extracellular-signal-related kinase(ERK), c-Jun N-terminal kinase(JNK), and anti-apoptotic and pro-apoptotic genes in SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells. One ${\mu}M\;A{\beta}_{1-42}$ decreased cell viability, which was correlated with increased DNA fragmentation evidenced by DAPI staining. Pre-treatment of SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells with EGCG($1{\mu}M$) significantly attenuated $A{\beta}_{1-42}$-induced cytotoxicity. Potential cell signaling candidates involved in this neuroprotective effects were further examined. EGCG restored the reduced PKC, ERK, and JNK activities caused by $A{\beta}_{1-42}$ toxicity. In addition, gene expression analysis revealed that EGCG prevented both the $A{\beta}_{1-42}$-induced expression of a pro-apoptotic gene mRNA, Bad and Bax, and the decrease of an anti-apoptotic gene mRNA, Bcl-2 and Bcl-xl. These results suggest that the neuroprotective mechanism of EGCG against $A{\beta}_{1-42}$-induced apoptotic cell death includes stimulation of PKC, ERK, and JNK, and modulation of cell survival and death genes.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.229-234
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• 2012

A key molecule in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the ${\beta}$-amyloid peptide ($A{\beta}$) generated by ${\beta}$-secretase activity, an aspartic protease. This study was designed to evaluate inhibitory effect of the high-molecular weight water-soluble polysaccharides (Et-P) isolated and purified from Phellinus linteus fruiting body on ${\beta}$-secretase activity. The Et-P was purified from the hot water extract of Phellinus linteus fruiting body mainly by 75% ethanol precipitation and DEAE-Cellulose column chromatography. From the DEAE-Cellulose chromato-gram and molecular weight analysis, the Et-P was shown to be a mixture of three polysaccharides with molecular mass of 1,629, 1,294, and 21 kDa, respectively. The monosaccharide composition of Et-P was determined to be glu-cose, galactose, and mannose as major sugars, glucose being the most prominent one (48% in mole percentage). The elemental analysis and FT-IR analysis suggested that Et-P is typical polysaccharides having at least partially ${\beta}$-linkages and possible existing as complex with phenolic compounds. The laminarinase digestion and HPAEC-PAD analysis suggested that Et-P is a variant of beta-(1,3)-glucans. The Et-P showed DPPH radical scavenging activity and, especially, a significant inhibitory activity on ${\beta}$-secreatase activity (48% inhibitin at 100 ${\mu}g/mL$), suggesting that they may inhibit the formation of $A{\beta}$ which is the major causative of Alzheimer's disease. The results of this study suggest that the water soluble polysaccharides of Phellinus linteus fruiting body can be a potent material for the development of preventive or therapeutic agents for AD.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.7
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• pp.2065-2071
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• 2014

${\beta}$-Secretase (beta-amyloid converting enzyme 1 [BACE1]) is involved in the first and rate-limiting step of ${\beta}$-amyloid ($A{\beta}$) peptides production, which leads to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease(AD). Therefore, inhibition of BACE1 activity has become an efficient approach for the treatment of AD. Ligand-based and docking-based 3D-quantitative structure-activity relationship (3D-QSAR) studies of acyl guanidine analogues were performed with comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) and comparative molecular similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA) to obtain insights for designing novel potent BACE1 inhibitors. We obtained highly reliable and predictive CoMSIA models with a cross-validated $q^2$ value of 0.725 and a predictive coefficient $r{^2}_{pred}$ value of 0.956. CoMSIA contour maps showed the structural requirements for potent activity. 3D-QSAR analysis suggested that an acyl guanidine and an amide group in the $R_6$ substituent would be important moieties for potent activity. Moreover, the introduction of small hydrophobic groups in the phenyl ring and hydrogen bond donor groups in 3,5-dichlorophenyl ring could increase biological activity.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2003.10b
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• pp.82.2-83
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• 2003

Beta-amyloid peptide (A${\beta}$) is considered to be responsible for the pathogenesis of the Alzheimer's disease. Several lines of evidence support that A${\beta}$-amyloid-induced cytotoxicity is mediated through the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Agents that are able to scavenge excess ROS may be useful as protecting or reducing agents for development or progress of AD. Green tea extract has been known to have antioxidant property. Our previous studies also demonstrate that green tea extract protected ischemia/reperfusion-induced brain injury by reduction of cell death through scavenging of oxidative damages of macromolecules. (omitted)

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.173-194
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• 2002

Alzheimer's disease(AD) is a geriatric dementia that is widespread in old age. In the future AD will be the largest problem in public health service. From old times, Much medicines have been used for treatment of dementia, but there is no medicine having obvious effect. AD is one of brain retrogression disease. So We studied on herbal medicine that have a relation of brain retrogression. From old times, In Oriental Medicine, Rhizoma Acori Graminei has been used for disease in relation to brain retrogression. We studied on the effects of anti-Alzheimer in pCT105-induced neuroblastoma cell lines by Rhizoma Acori Graminei extract As the result of this study, In RAG group, the apoptosis in the nervous system is inhibited, the repair against the degerneration of Neuroblastoma cells by CT105 expression is promoted. These results indicate that RAG possess strong inhibitory effect of apoptosis in the nervous system and repair effect against the degeneration of Neuroblastoma cells by CT105 expression.