• BMB Reports
• /
• v.51 no.10
• /
• pp.508-513
• /
• 2018

Fibronectin fragments found in the synovial fluid of patients with osteoarthritis (OA) induce the catabolic responses in cartilage. Nuclear high-mobility group protein Box 1 (HMGB1), a damage-associated molecular pattern, is responsible for the regulation of signaling pathways related to cell death and survival in response to various stimuli. In this study, we investigated whether changes induced by 29-kDa amino-terminal fibronectin fragment (29-kDa FN-f) in HMGB1 expression influences the pathogenesis of OA via an HMGB1-modulated autophagy signaling pathway. Human articular chondrocytes were enzymatically isolated from articular cartilage. The level of mRNA was measured by quantitative real-time PCR. The expression of proteins was examined by western blot analysis, immnunofluorescence assay, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Interaction of proteins was evaluated by immunoprecipitation. The HMGB1 level was significantly lower in human OA cartilage than in normal cartilage. Although 29-kDa FN-f significantly reduced the HMGB1 expression at the mRNA and protein levels 6 h after treatment, the cytoplasmic level of HMGB1 was increased in chondrocytes treated with 29-kDa FN-f, which significantly inhibited the interaction of HMGB1 with Beclin-1, increased the interaction of Bcl-2 with Beclin-1, and decreased the levels of Beclin-1 and phosphorylated Bcl-2. In addition, the level of microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3-II, an autophagy marker, was down-regulated in chondrocytes treated with 29-kDa FN-f, whereas the effect was antagonized by mTOR knockdown. Furthermore, prolonged treatment with 29-kDa FN-f significantly increased the release of HMGB1 into the culture medium. These results demonstrated that 29-kDa FN-f inhibits chondrocyte autophagy by modulating the HMGB1 signaling pathway.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.275-281
• /
• 2014

Autophagy is a series of catabolic process mediating the bulk degradation of intracellular proteins and organelles through formation of a double-membrane vesicle, known as an autophagosome, and fusing with lysosome. Autophagy plays an important role of death-survival decisions in neuronal cells, which may influence to several neurodegenerative disorders including Parkinson's disease. Chebulagic acid, the major constituent of Terminalia chebula and Phyllanthus emblica, is a benzopyran tannin compound with various kinds of beneficial effects. This study was performed to investigate the autophagy enhancing effect of chebulagic acid on human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cell lines. We determined the effect of chebulagic acid on expression levels of autophagosome marker proteins such as, DOR/TP53INP2, Golgi-associated ATPase Enhancer of 16 kDa (GATE 16) and Light chain 3 II (LC3 II), as well as those of its upstream pathway proteins, AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and Beclin-1. All of those proteins were modulated by chebulagic acid treatment in a way of enhancing the autophagy. Additionally in our study, chebulagic acid also showed a protective effect against 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium ($MPP^+$) - induced cytotoxicity which mimics the pathological symptom of Parkinson's disease. This effect seems partially mediated by enhanced autophagy which increased the degradation of aggregated or misfolded proteins from cells. This study suggests that chebulagic acid is an attractive candidate as an autophagy-enhancing agent and therefore, it may provide a promising strategy to prevent or cure the diseases caused by accumulation of abnormal proteins including Parkinson's disease.

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
• /
• v.24 no.3
• /
• pp.261-267
• /
• 2008

The tendency of metabolism in oyster, Crassostrea gigas, was investigated in relation to the water temperature and salinity. Oxygen consumption and ammonia excretion were measured and O:N ratio were calculated according to the water temperature from February 2007 to September 2008 and body size. The relationship between oxygen consumption and body weight has been examined in C. gigas. The weight-specific oxygen consumption rate (mg $O_2$/g/h) varied inversely with size. Oxygen consumption and ammonia excretion increased with an increase in water temperature. O:N ratio measured in this study ranged from 8 to 40 under ordinary sea water and the ratio was 8 at $25^{\circ}C$ and 16 at $10^{\circ}C$. This indicates that oyster mainly use the protein as the primary catabolic substrate during gametogenesis. Lower O:N ratio in winter suggests that oysters have to meet their energy demand by metabolizing protein to survive in stressful conditions such as low temperature and lack of sufficient food supply. This studies will provide the basic data for oyster culture farm in assessing the carrying capacity and sustainable management.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
• /
• v.23 no.4
• /
• pp.767-779
• /
• 2015

soil microbial activities and diversities in a newly reclaimed soil. Soil chemical properties, population of microbe, microbial biomass, and properties of microbial community were investigated under 4 different treatment (animal manure compost+green manure, chemical fertilizer, and without fertilizer). The experiment was conducted for 3 years from 2012 to 2014. The most of chemical properties in the animal manure compost+green manure treatment were increased continually compare to chemical fertilizer and without fertilizer. The population of bacteria and fungi were higher in the animal manure compost+green manure treatment, however, there was no difference on actinomyces. Soil microbial biomass C content was higher in the animal manure compost+green manure treatment than in chemical fertilizer and without fertilizer. Biolog examination showed that catabolic diversities of bacterial communities were higher in the treatment of animal manure compost+green manure. It was showed that principle component analysis of the Biolog data differentiated the organic matter amended soils from NPK and control. These results indicated that application of animal manure compost+green manure had a beneficial effect on soil microbial properties.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.14 no.12
• /
• pp.1769-1774
• /
• 2001

Bacillus licheniformis strains L-25 and PWD-1 are two thermophilic feather-degrading bacteria. Despite isolated from different environmental conditions, they were both capable of breaking down chicken feathers and growing in a medium in which feather was the only source of carbon and nitrogen. A 1.46-kb keratinase gene (ker B) was isolated from strain L-25 by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using L-25 genomic DNA as templates. Sequencing results reveal that ker B shares great sequence identity with a previously published keratinase gene of B. licheniformis PWD-1 (ker A). Only two amino acids differences were found in the deduced amino acid sequence between the keratinases from L-25 and PWD-1. However several nucleotide changes were found upstream of the putative promoter region. Protease inhibition studies indicated that neutral protease activity accounted for approximate 25 to 30% of total extracellular proteolytic activity produced by strain L-25 in the feather medium. In contrast, no measurable neutral protease activity was produced by strain PWD-1 in the feather medium. When glucose (1%), a common catabolic repressor, was added into the feather medium, L-25 was still able to grow and produce keratinase. Strain PWD-1 produced no neutral protease activity and its growth was severely inhibited in the feather medium containing glucose. L-25 produced an enhanced level of keratinase in the feather medium in comparison with PWD-1.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
• /
• v.41 no.1
• /
• pp.45-51
• /
• 2016

Rutin (3,3',4',5,7-pentahydroxyflavone-3-rhamnoglucoside) is a bioactive flavonoid from the plant kingdom. Rutin has been studied as potential anticancer agent due to its wide range of pharmacological properties including antioxidative, anti-inflammatory and anticancer. Autophagy is a conserved intracellular catabolic pathway to maintain cell homeostasis by formation of autophagosome. Processing of autophagy involves various molecules including ULK1 protein kinase complex, Beclin-1-Vps34 lipid kinase complex, ATG5, ATG12, and LC3 (light chain 3). Cargo-carried autophagosomes fuse with lysosomes resulting in autophagolysosome to eliminate vesicles and degrade cargo. However, the actions of rutin on autophagy are not clearly understood. In this study, we analyzed the effect of rutin on autophagy and inflammation in cancer cell lines. Interestingly, rutin induced autophagy in leukemia (THP-1), oral (CA9-22), and lung (A549) cell lines. TNF-${\alpha}$, key modulator of inflammation, was upregulated by inhibition of rutin-induced autophagy. Taken together, these data indicated that rutin induced autophagy and consequently suppressed TNF-${\alpha}$ production.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.23-36
• /
• 2009

In the present work, the metabolic network of primary metabolism of the slow-growing myxobacterium Sorangium cellulosum was reconstructed from the annotated genome sequence of the type strain So ce56. During growth on glucose as the carbon source and asparagine as the nitrogen source, So ce56 showed a very low growth rate of $0.23\;d^{-1}$, equivalent to a doubling time of 3 days. Based on a complete stoichiometric and isotopomer model of the central metabolism, $^{13}C$ metabolic flux analysis was carried out for growth with glucose as carbon and asparagine as nitrogen sources. Normalized to the uptake flux for glucose (100%), cells recruited glycolysis (51%) and the pentose phosphate pathway (48%) as major catabolic pathways. The Entner-Doudoroff pathway and glyoxylate shunt were not active. A high flux through the TCA cycle (118%) enabled a strong formation of ATP, but cells revealed a rather low yield for biomass. Inspection of fluxes linked to energy metabolism revealed that S. cellulosum utilized only 10% of the ATP formed for growth, whereas 90% is required for maintenance. This explains the apparent discrepancy between the relatively low biomass yield and the high flux through the energy-delivering TCA cycle. The total flux of NADPH supply (216%) was higher than the demand for anabolism (156%), indicating additional reactions for balancing of NADPH. The cells further exhibited a highly active metabolic cycle, interconverting $C_3$ and $C_4$ metabolites of glycolysis and the TCA cycle. The present work provides the first insight into fluxes of the primary metabolism of myxobacteria, especially for future investigation on the supply of cofactors, building blocks, and energy in myxobacteria, producing natural compounds of biotechnological interest.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.602-608
• /
• 2010

An atrazine-degrading bacterium, strain KU001, was obtained from a sugarcane field at the Cane and Sugar Research and Development Center at the Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen Campus, Thailand. Strain KU001 had a rod-to-coccus morphological cycle during growth. Biolog carbon source analysis indicated that the isolated bacterium was Arthrobacter histidinolovorans. Sequence analysis of the PCR product indicated that the 16S rRNA gene in strain KU001 was 99% identical to the same region in Arthrobacter sp. The atrazine degradation pathway in strain KU001 consisted of the catabolic genes trzN, atzB, and atzC. Strain KU001 was able to use atrazine as a sole nitrogen source for growth, and surprisingly, atrazine degradation was not inhibited in cells grown on ammonium, nitrate, or urea, as compared with cells cultivated on growth-limiting nitrogen sources. During the atrazine degradation process, the supplementation of nitrate completely inhibited atrazine degradation activity in strain KU001, whereas ammonium and urea had no effect on atrazine degradation activity. The addition of strain KU001 to sterile or nonsterile soils resulted in the disappearance of atrazine at a rate that was 4- to 5-fold more than that achieved by the indigenous microbial community. The addition of citrate to soils resulted in enhanced atrazine degradation, where 80% of atrazine disappeared within one day following nutrient supplementation.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
• /
• v.8
• /
• pp.81-86
• /
• 1967

Changes in the protein contents of various organs of the germinating soy bean as well as the effect of X-irradiation on the RNA content of cotyledon of it were investigated. 1) The protein content of germinating organs other than cotyledon increase while that of cotyledon decreases as germination proceeds, which is indicative of the fact that the former organs are anabolic and the latter catabolic in nature with regard to their protein metabolism during germination. 2) The cotyledon RNA content of soybean decreases until the 6 th day after germination initiated, and increases thereafter . When the seeds are exposed to $300{\gamma}$ X-irradiation, these tendencies seem to be accelerated, but when exposed to $600{\gamma}$ and $900{\gamma}$ X-irradiation the decrement of RNA in the early stage is prominent and the synthetic recovery in the later period is inhibited markedly due to radiation damage rather than radiation activation.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
• /
• v.33 no.4
• /
• pp.243-248
• /
• 2009

To examine the differential expression of proteins during the cycling (70~80% confluences) and G0/G1 (full confluences) phases in porcine fetal fibroblast cells, we used a global proteomics approach by 2-D gel electrophoresis (2-DE) and MALDI-TOF-MS. Cycling cell were harvested at approximately 70% to 80% confluent state while cells in G0/G1 phase were recovered after maintenance of a confluent state for 48 hr. Cellular proteins with isoelectric points ranging between 3.0~10.0, were analyzed by 2-DE with 2 replicates of each sample. A total of approximately 700 spots were detected by 2.D gels stained with Coomassie brilliant blue. On comparing the cell samples obtained from the cycling and G0/G1 phases, a total of 13 spots were identified as differentially expressed proteins, of which 8 spots were up-regulated in the cycling cell and 5 were up-regulated in the G0/G1 phase. Differentially expressed proteins included K3 keratin, similar to serine protease 23 precursor, protein disulfide-isomerase A3, microsomal protease ER-60, alpha-actinin-2, and heat-shock protein 90 beta. The identified proteins were grouped on the basis of their basic functions such as molecular binding, catabolic, cell growth, and transcription regulatory proteins. Our results show expression profiles of key proteins in porcine fetal fibroblast cells during different cell cycle status.