• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제18권2호
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• pp.152-158
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• 2010

Melanin concentrating hormone is a neuropeptide highly expressed in the brain that regulates several physiological functions mediated by receptors in the G-protein coupled receptor family, especially plays an important role in the complex regulation of energy balance and body weight mediated by the melanin concentrating hormone receptor subtype 1 (MCH1). Compelling pharmacological evidence implicating MCH1 signaling in the regulation of food intake and energy expenditure has generated a great deal of interest by pharmaceutical companies as MCH1 antagonists may have potential therapeutic benefit in the treatment of obesity and metabolic syndrome. Although fluorescence-based calcium mobilization assay platform has been one of the most widely accepted tools for receptor research and drug discovery, fluorescence interference and shallow assay window limit their application in high throughput screening and have led to a growing interest in alternative, luminescence-based technologies. Herein, a luminescence-based functional assay system for the MCH1 receptor was developed and validated with the mitochondrial targeted aequorin. Aequorin based functional assay system for MCH1 presented excellent Z' factor (0.8983) and high signal-to-noise ratio (141.9). The nonpeptide MCH1 receptor antagonist, SNAP 7941 and GSK 803430, exhibited $IC_{50}$ values of 0.62 ${\pm}$ 0.11 and 12.29 ${\pm}$ 2.31 nM with excellent correlation coefficient. These results suggest that the aequorin based assay system for MCH1 is a strong alternative to the traditional GPCR related tools such as radioligand binding experiments and fluorescence functional determinations for the compound screening and receptor research.

• 분석과학
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• 제27권3호
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• pp.121-139
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• 2014

In this review, we will discuss aptamer technologies including in vitro selection, signal transduction mechanisms, and designing aptamers and aptazyme for label-free biosensors and catalysts. Dye-displacement, a typical label-less method, is described here which allows avoiding relatively complex labeling steps and extending this application to any aptamers without specific conformational changes, in a more simple, sensitive and cost effective way. We will also describe most recent and advanced technologies of signaling aptamer and aptazyme for the various analytical and clinical applications. Quantum dot biosensor (QDB) is explained in detail covering designing and adaptations for multiplexed protein detection. Application to aptamer array utilizing self-assembled signaling aptamer DNA tile and the novel methods that can directly select smart aptamer or aptazyme experimentally and computationally will also be finally discussed, respectively.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• 제62권4호
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• pp.347-353
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• 2019

Stings of jellyfish, which frequently occur in a warm season, cause severe pain, inflammation and sometimes irreversible results such as the death. Harmful venoms from jellyfish, therefore, have been studied for finding the therapeutic agents to relieve pain or to neutralize toxic components. However, it is still unclear if and how jellyfish venom reveal neuronal toxicity even though pain induction seems to result from the activation of nociceptors such as nerve endings. In this study, using HT-22 cell line, we investigated neurotoxic effects of the venom of Chrysaora pacifica (CpV) which appears in South-East ocean of Korea. In 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide assay, CpV significantly reduced the viability of HT-22 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Additionally, in 2',7'-Dichlorofluorescin diacetate fluorescence test under the culture condition lacking dominant inflammatory factors, CpV remarkably increased the production of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS). Reduced responsive fluorescence to Rhodamine123 and increased expression of intracellular cytochrome c were also observed in HT-22 cells treated with CpV. These indicate that CpV-reduced viability of HT-22 cells may be due to the activation of apoptotic signalings mediated with oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction. Furthermore, removing Ca²⁺ ion or adding N-acetyl-Lcystein remarkably blocked the CpV effect to reduce the viability of HT-22 cells. The findings in this study clearly demonstrate that CpV may activate Ca²⁺-mediated ROS signalings and mitochondrial dysfunction resulting in neuronal damage or death, and suggest that blocking Ca²⁺ pathway is a therapeutic approach to possibly block toxic effects of jellyfish venoms.

• 한국자기공명학회논문지
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• 제21권2호
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• pp.72-77
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• 2017

${\beta}-catenin$ is a key signaling protein which regulates cell signaling and gene transcription. Abnormal activation of ${\beta}-catenin$ is linked to many cancers, particularly with colorectal cancers. Although many genetic and biological studies on $Wnt/{\beta}-catenin$ have been reported and structures of the complex between ${\beta}-catenin$ and its diverse binding partners have been published, many of them have focused on armadillo repeat domain of ${\beta}-catenin$. Both N- and C-terminal domains have been suggested to regulate interactions of ${\beta}-catenin$ with other molecules, but still little is known about the C-terminal unstructured domain. To investigate the structure of this domain, construct of C-terminus was designed and structural studies were performed using size exclusion chromatography (SEC), circular dichroism (CD), fluorescence and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. We observed that not only the purified full-length construct but the purified C-terminal construct also dimerizes in solution by SEC, suggesting that this domain involves in dimerization of ${\beta}-catenin$. CD and fluorescence data indicate its flexibility and structural formation in the presence of membrane environments.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제31권3호
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• pp.285-297
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• 2023

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease with progressive memory loss and the cognitive decline. AD is mainly caused by abnormal accumulation of misfolded amyloid β (Aβ), which leads to neurodegeneration via a number of possible mechanisms such as down-regulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor-tropomyosin-related kinase B (BDNF-TRKB) signaling pathway. 7,8-Dihydroxyflavone (7,8-DHF), a TRKB agonist, has demonstrated potential to enhance BDNF-TRKB pathway in various neurodegenerative diseases. To expand the capacity of flavones as TRKB agonists, two natural flavones quercetin and apigenin, were evaluated. With tryptophan fluorescence quenching assay, we illustrated the direct interaction between quercetin/apigenin and TRKB extracellular domain. Employing Aβ folding reporter SH-SY5Y cells, we showed that quercetin and apigenin reduced Aβ-aggregation, oxidative stress, caspase-1 and acetylcholinesterase activities, as well as improved the neurite outgrowth. Treatments with quercetin and apigenin increased TRKB Tyr516 and Tyr817 and downstream cAMP-response-element binding protein (CREB) Ser133 to activate transcription of BDNF and BCL2 apoptosis regulator (BCL2), as well as reduced the expression of pro-apoptotic BCL2 associated X protein (BAX). Knockdown of TRKB counteracted the improvement of neurite outgrowth by quercetin and apigenin. Our results demonstrate that quercetin and apigenin are to work likely as a direct agonist on TRKB for their neuroprotective action, strengthening the therapeutic potential of quercetin and apigenin in treating AD.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• 제7권4호
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• pp.203-207
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• 2009

The target of rapamycin (TOR) signaling pathway conserved from yeast to human plays critical roles in regulation of eukaryotic cell growth. It has been shown that TOR pathway is involved in several cellular processes, including ribosome biogenesis, nutrient response, autophagy and aging. However, due to the functional diversity of TOR pathway, we do not know yet some key effectors of the pathway. To find unknown effectors of TOR signaling pathway, we took advantage of a green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged collection of budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We analyzed protein abundance changes by measuring the GFP fluorescence intensity of 4156 GFP-tagged yeast strains under inhibition of TOR pathway. Our proteomic analysis argues that 83 proteins are decreased whereas 32 proteins are increased by treatment of rapamycin, a specific inhibitor of TOR complex 1 (TORC1). We found that, among the 115 proteins that show significant changes in protein abundance under rapamycin treatment, 37 proteins also show expression changes in the mRNA levels by more than 2-fold under the same condition. We suggest that the 115 proteins indentified in this study may be directly or indirectly involved in TOR signaling and can serve as candidates for further investigation of the effectors of TOR pathway.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제32권10호
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• pp.1344-1354
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• 2022

Laryngeal cancer is one of the highest incidence, most prevalently diagnosed head and neck cancers, making it critically necessary to probe effective targets for laryngeal cancer treatment. Here, real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) and western blot analysis were used to detect gene expression levels in laryngeal cancer cell lines. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and subcellular fractionation assays were used to detect the subcellular location. Functional assays encompassing Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU), transwell and wound healing assays were performed to examine the effects of target genes on cell proliferation and migration in laryngeal cancer. The in vivo effects were proved by animal experiments. RNA-binding protein immunoprecipitation (RIP), RNA pulldown and luciferase reporter assays were used to investigate the underlying regulatory mechanisms. The results showed that KIF26B antisense RNA 1 (KIF26B-AS1) propels cell proliferation and migration in laryngeal cancer and regulates the toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling pathway. KIF26B-AS1 also recruits FUS to stabilize TLR4 mRNA, consequently activating the TLR4 signaling pathway. Furthermore, KIF26B-AS1 plays an oncogenic role in laryngeal cancer via upregulating TLR4 expression as well as the FUS/TLR4 pathway axis, findings which offer novel insight for targeted therapies in the treatment of laryngeal cancer patients.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• 제24권2호
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• pp.126-135
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• 2001

Quinacrine (QU), a phospholipase-A2 (PLA-2) inhibitor has been used clinically as a chemotherapeutic adjuvant. To understand the mechanisms leading to its chemotherapeutic effect, we have investigated QU-induced apoptotic signaling pathways in human cervical squamous carcinoma HeLa cells. In this study, we found that QU induced cytochrome c-dependent apoptotic signaling. The release of pro-apoptotic cytochrome c was QU concentration- and time-dependent, and preceded activation of caspase-9 and -3. Flow cytometric FACScan analysis using fluorescence intensities of $DiOC_6$/ demonstrated that QU-induced cytochrome c release was independent of mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT), since the concentrations of QU that induced cytochrome c release did not alter mitochondrial membrane potential (${\blacktriangle}{\Psi}_m$). Moreover, kinetic analysis of caspase activities showed that cytochrome c release led to the activation of caspase-9 and downstream death effector caspase-3, Caspase-3 inhibitor (Ac-DEVD-CHO) partially blocked QU-induced apoptosis, suggesting the importance of caspase-3 in this apoptotic signaling mechanism. Supplementation with arachidonic acid (AA) sustained caspase-3 activation induced by QU. Using inhibitors against cellular arachidonate metabolism of lipooxygenase (Nordihydroxyguaiaretic Acid, NDGA) and cyclooxygenase (5,8,11,14-Eicosatetraynoic Acid, ETYA) demonstrated that QU-induced apoptotic signaling may be dependent on its role as a PLA-2 inhibitor. Interestingly, NDCA attenuated QU-induced cytochrome c release, caspase activity as well as apoptotic cell death. The blockade of cytochrome c release by NDCA was much more effective than that attained with cyclosporin A (CsA), a MPT inhibitor. ETYA was not effective in blocking cytochrome c release, except under very high concentrations. Caspase inhibitor z-VAD blocked the release of cytochrome c suggesting that this signaling event is caspase dependent, and caspase-8 activation may be upstream of the mitochondrial events. In summary, we report that QU induced cytochrome c-dependent apoptotic signaling cascade, which may be dependent on its role as a PLA-2 inhibitor. This apoptotic mechanism induced by QU may contribute to its known chemotherapeutic effects.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• 제33권5호
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• pp.1608-1612
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• 2012

Singlet oxygen ($^1O_2$) is an important species for oxidation in biological processes. $^1O_2$ is implicated in the genotoxic effect, and plays an important role in the cell-signaling cascade and in the induction of gene expression. However, the rapid detection of $^1O_2$ in biological environments with sufficient specificity and sensitivity is hampered by its extremely low emission probability. Here, a layer-by-layer (LbL) film of CdTe quantum dots (QDs), polymers, and ascorbate have been designed as a rapid, highly selective, and sensitive fluorescence probe for $^1O_2$ detection. Upon reaction with $^1O_2$, the probe exhibits a strong photoluminescence (PL) response even at trace levels. This remarkable PL change should enable the probe to be used for $^1O_2$ detection in many chemical and biological systems and as an environmental sensor.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제24권2호
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• pp.191-198
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• 2016

The vitamin D receptor (VDR) is a member of the nuclear receptor (NR) superfamily. The VDR binds to active vitamin $D_3$ metabolites, which stimulates downstream transduction signaling involved in various physiological activities such as calcium homeostasis, bone mineralization, and cell differentiation. Quercetin is a widely distributed flavonoid in nature that is known to enhance transactivation of VDR target genes. However, the detailed molecular mechanism underlying VDR activation by quercetin is not well understood. We first demonstrated the interaction between quercetin and the VDR at the molecular level by using fluorescence quenching and saturation transfer difference (STD) NMR experiments. The dissociation constant ($K_d$) of quercetin and the VDR was $21.15{\pm}4.31{\mu}M$, and the mapping of quercetin subsites for VDR binding was performed using STD-NMR. The binding mode of quercetin was investigated by a docking study combined with molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. Quercetin might serve as a scaffold for the development of VDR modulators with selective biological activities.