• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.56 no.12
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• pp.2208-2213
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• 2007

In this study we have developed a hyperspectrum imaging system for highly sensitive and effective imaging analysis. An optical setup was designed using acoustic optical tunable filter (AOTF) for high sensitive hyperspectrum imaging. Light emitted by mercury lamp gets split in to diffracted and undiffracted beams while passing though AOTF. GFP transfected HEK-293 cell line was used as a model for in vitro imaging analysis. Cells were first, analyzed by fluorescence microscope followed by flow cytometric analysis. Flow cytometric analysis showed 66.31% transfection yield in GFP transfected HEK-293 cells. Various images of GFP transfected HEK-293 cell were grabbed by collecting the diffracted light using a CCD over a dynamic range of frequency of 129-171 MHz with an interval of 3 MHz. Subsequently, for in vivo image analysis of GFP transfected cells in mouse, a whole-body-imaging system was constructed. The blue light of 488 nm wavelength was obtained from a Xenon arc lamp using an appropriate filter and transmitted through an optical cable to a ring illuminator. To check the efficacy of the newly developed whole-body-imaging system, a comparative imaging analysis was performed on a normal mouse in presence and absence of Xenon arc irradiation. The developed hyperspectrum imaging analysis with AOTF showed the highest intensity of green fluorescent protein at 153 MHz of frequency and 494 nm of wavelength. However, the fluorescence intensity remained same as that of the background below 138 MHz (475 nm) and above 162 MHz (532 nm). The mouse images captured using the constructed whole-body-imaging system appeared monochromatic in absence of Xenon arc irradiation and blue when irradiated with Xenon arc lamp. Nevertheless, in either case mouse images appeared clearly.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.315-321
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• 2008

Eugenol is widely used in dentistry to relieve pain. We have recently demonstrated voltage-gated $Na^+$ and $Ca^{2+}$ channels as molecular targets for its analgesic effects, and hypothesized that eugenol acts on $P2X_3$, another pain receptor expressed in trigeminal ganglion (TG), and tested the effects of eugenol by whole-cell patch clamp and $Ca^{2+}$ imaging techniques. In the present study, we investigated whether eugenol would modulate 5'-triphosphate (ATP)-induced currents in rat TG neurons and $P2X_3$-expressing human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells. ATP-induced currents in TG neurons exhibited electrophysiological properties similar to those in HEK293 cells, and both ATP- and $\alpha$, $\beta$-meATP-induced currents in TG neurons were effectively blocked by TNP-ATP, suggesting that $P2X_3$ mediates the majority of ATP-induced currents in TG neurons. Eugenol inhibited ATP-induced currents in both capsaicin-sensitive and capsaicin-insensitive TG neurons with similar extent, and most ATP-responsive neurons were IB4-positive. Eugenol inhibited not only $Ca^{2+}$ transients evoked by $\alpha$, $\beta$-meATP, the selective $P2X_3$ agonist, in capsaicin-insensitive TG neurons, but also ATP-induced currents in $P2X_3$-expressing HEK293 cells without co-expression of transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1). We suggest, therefore, that eugenol inhibits $P2X_3$ currents in a TRPV1-independent manner, which contributes to its analgesic effect.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.43-49
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• 2008

Cancer Osaka thyroid, also known as Tpl-2 (Cot) is a member of the MAP3K kinase family and plays a key role in the regulation of the immune response to pro-inflammatory stimuli such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and tumour necrosis $factor-{\alpha}$ ($TNF-{\alpha}$). A series of Cot constructs with an N-terminal 6xHis tag were transiently expressed in HEK293 cells: $Cot_{130-399}$ (kinase domain), $Cot_{1-388}$ (N-terminal and kinase do-mains), $Cot_{1-413}$, $Cot_{1-438}$ (containing a putative PEST sequence), $Cot_{1-457}$ (containing both PEST and degron sequences) and $Cot_{1-467}$ (full-length protein). These Cot proteins were pulled down using an anti-6xHis antibody and separated by 2D electrophoresis. The gels were silver-stained and 21 proteins were detected that did not appear, or had substantially reduced intensity, in the control sample. Three of these were identified by MS and MS/MS analysis as Hsp90, Hsp70 and Grp78. Hsp90 appeared to bind to the kinase domain of Cot and this interaction was further investigated using co-immuno-precipitation with both overexpressed Cot in HEK293 cells and endogenous Cot in Hela cells.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.395-400
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• 2006

Glutathione S-transferase P1 (GSTP1) plays an important role in detoxification and the metabolism of xenobiotics. Here we show that GSTP1 also regulates the MEKK1-MKK7 signaling pathway. Over-expression of GSTP1 in HEK293 cells inhibited both ${\Delta}MEKK1$- and etoposide-induced apoptosis, and inhibited procaspase-3 activation and PARP cleavage. MEKK1- induced apoptosis requires both its kinase activity and proteolytic cleavage. ${\Delta}MEKK1$ activity was inhibited by over-expression of GSTP1 in vivo and MEKK1 kinase activity was also inhibited by GSTP1 in vitro when assayed with bacterially-expressed MKK7(KM) protein as substrate. GSTP1 inhibition of etoposide-induced cell apoptosis was mainly due to its ability to suppress MEKK1 kinase activity. The glutathione-conjugating activity of GSTP1 was essential for the above effects. These findings provide insight into the mechanism by which GSTP1 protects cells from genotoxin-induced apoptosis.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.448-453
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• 2010

Drug-induced long QT syndrome is known to be associated with the onset of torsades de pointes (TdP), resulting in a fatal ventricular arrhythmia. QT interval prolongation can result from blocking the human ether-a-go-go-related gene (hERG) channel, which is important for the repolarization of cardiac action potential. Nicardipine, a Ca-channel blocker and antihypertensive agent, has been reported to increase the risk of occasional serious ventricular arrhythmias. We studied the effects of nicardipine on hERG $K^+$ channels expressed in HEK293 cells and Xenopus oocytes. The cardiac electrophysiological effect of nicardipine was also investigated in this study. Our results revealed that nicardipine dose-dependently decreased the tail current of the hERG channel expressed in HEK293 cells with an $IC_{50}$ of 0.43 ${\mu}M$. On the other hand, nicardipine did not affect hERG channel trafficking. Taken together, nicardipine inhibits the hERG channel by the mechanism of short-term channel blocking. Two S6 domain mutations, Y652A and F656A, partially attenuated (Y652A) or abolished (F656A) the hERG current blockade, suggesting that nicardipine blocks the hERG channel at the pore of the channel.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.679-685
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• 2017

Stachys affinis tubers are known for its high content of stachyose and eaten as an edible vegetable. In this work, we assessed on the anti-inflammatory and anti-proliferation activity of a various type of extracts derived from S. affinis tubers. The n-hexane and dichloromethane fractions were showed the high cytotoxicity on the cell lines including RAW264.7 macrophages, HEK293 human kidney cell, A549 human lung cancer cell, KB human oral cancer cell, and a PC-3 human prostate cancer cell. N-butanol and water fractions were not exhibited cytotoxicity on the tested cancer cells, limited in anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer activities. Nevertheless, the ethyl acetate fraction showed little harm to RAW264.7 cells but inhibited the production of nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) significantly. In addition, it arrests the cell growth in A549, KB, and PC-3 cell while little cytotoxicity on HEK293 cells. Consequently, these results supported that the ethyl acetate fraction of S. affinis tubers could be a potential anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer ingredient.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.132-132
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• 2003

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2002.04a
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• pp.123.1-123.1
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• 2002

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.497-503
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• 2017

Recent reports claimed that glucosylsphingosine (GS) is highly accumulated and specifically evoking itch-scratch responses in the skins of atopic dermatitis (AD) patients. However, it was unclear how GS can trigger itch-scratch responses, since there were no known molecular singling pathways revealed yet. In the present study, it was verified for the first time that GS can activate mouse serotonin receptor 2a (mHtr2a) and 2b (mHtr2b), but not 2c (mHtr2c) that are expressed in HEK293T cells. Specifically, effects of GS on all mouse serotonin receptor 2 subfamily were evaluated by calcium imaging techniques. The GS-induced intracellular calcium increase was dose-dependent, and antagonists such as ketanserin (Htr2a antagonist) and RS-127445 (Htr2b antagonist) significantly blocked the GS-induced responses. Moreover, the proposed GS-induced responses appear to be mediated by phospholipase C (PLC), since pretreatment of a PLC inhibitor U-73122 abolished the GS-induced responses. Additionally, the GS-induced calcium influx is probably mediated by endogenous TRPC ion channels in HEK293T cells, since pretreatment of SKF-96365, an inhibitor for TRPC, significantly suppressed GS-induced response. In conclusion, the present study revealed for the first time that GS can stimulate mHtr2a and mHtr2b to induce calcium influx, by utilizing PLC-dependent pathway afterwards. Considering that GS is regarded as a pruritogen in AD, the present study implicates a novel GS-induced itch signaling pathway.

• BMB Reports
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.172-177
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• 2023

BEST family is a class of Ca²⁺-activated Cl- channels evolutionary well conserved from bacteria to human. The human BEST paralogs (BEST1-BEST4) share significant amino acid sequence homology in the N-terminal region, which forms the transmembrane helicases and contains the direct calcium-binding site, Ca²⁺-clasp. But the cytosolic C-terminal region is less conserved in the paralogs. Interestingly, this domain-specific sequence conservation is also found in the BEST1 orthologs. However, the functional role of the C-terminal region in the BEST channels is still poorly understood. Thus, we aimed to understand the functional role of the C-terminal region in the human and mouse BEST1 channels by using electrophysiological recordings. We found that the calcium-dependent activation of BEST1 channels can be modulated by the C-terminal region. The C-terminal deletion hBEST1 reduced the Ca²⁺-dependent current activation and the hBEST1-mBEST1 chimera showed a significantly reduced calcium sensitivity to hBEST1 in the HEK293 cells. And the C-terminal domain could regulate cellular expression and plasma membrane targeting of BEST1 channels. Our results can provide a basis for understanding the C-terminal roles in the structure-function of BEST family proteins.