• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.35 no.1
• /
• pp.62-68
• /
• 2014

Coptis chinensis 3'-hydroxy-N-methylcoclaurine 4'-O-methyltransferase (HOMT), an essential enzyme in the berberine biosynthetic pathway, catalyzes the methylation of 3'-hydroxy-N-methylcoclaurine (HMC) producing reticuline. A 3D model of HOMT was constructed by homology modeling and further subjected to docking with its ligands and molecular dynamics simulations. The 3D structure of HOMT revealed unique structural features which permitted the methylation of HMC. The methylation of HMC was proposed to proceed by deprotonation of the 4'-hydroxyl group via His257 and Asp258 of HOMT, followed by a nucleophilic attack on the SAM-methyl group resulting in reticuline. HOMT showed high substrate specificity for methylation of HMC. The study evidenced that Gly117, Thr312 and Asp258 in HOMT might be the key residues for orienting substrate for specific catalysis.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• v.14 no.6
• /
• pp.419-425
• /
• 2010

Mast cells are activated by specific allergens and also by various nonspecific stimuli, which might induce physical urticaria. This study investigated the functional expression of temperature sensitive transient receptor potential vanilloid (TRPV) subfamily in the human mast cell line (HMC-1) using whole-cell patch clamp techniques. The temperature of perfusate was raised from room temperature (RT, $23{\sim}25^{\circ}C$) to a moderately high temperature (MHT, $37{\sim}39^{\circ}C$) to activate TRPV3/4, a high temperature (HT, $44{\sim}46^{\circ}C$) to activate TRPV1, or a very high temperature (VHT, $53{\sim}55^{\circ}C$) to activate TRPV2. The membrane conductance of HMC-1 was increased by MHT and HT in about 50% (21 of 40) of the tested cells, and the I/V curves showed weak outward rectification. VHT-induced current was 10-fold larger than those induced by MHT and HT. The application of the TRPV 4 activator $3{\alpha}$-phorbol 12,13-didecanoate ($4{\alpha}$ PDD, $1\;{\mu}M$) induced weakly outward rectifying currents similar to those induced by MHT. However, the TRPV3 agonist camphor or TRPV1 agonist capsaicin had no effect. RT-PCR analysis of HMC-1 demonstrated the expression of TRPV4 as well as potent expression of TRPV2. The $[Ca^{2+}]_c$ of HMC-1 cells was also increased by MHT or by $4{\alpha}$ PDD. In summary, our present study indicates that HMC-1 cells express $Ca^{2+}$-permeable TRPV4 channels in addition to the previously reported expression of TRPV2 with a higher threshold of activating temperature.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
• /
• v.36 no.5
• /
• pp.187-192
• /
• 2022

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of herbal medicine complex (HMC) containing Camellia sinensis L., Duchoesna chrysantha, Houttuynia cordata Thunberg, Poncirus trifoliata Rafinesque on skin inflammation and atopic dermatitis. First, we examined the anti-inflammatory effect of HMC in TNF-α induced human keratinocytes (HaCaT cell). Real-time PCR and western blotting were performed to evaluate the expression of inflammatory cytokines (e.g., iNOS, COX-2, IL-6, IL-8) mRNA and protein. Four-weeks old male NC/Nga mice were treated with 1% 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) solution and used as an atopic dermatitis mice model. And, HMC (200 mg/kg or 400 mg/kg) was administered directly into the stomach of mice for 4 weeks, and blood or serum analysis, tissue staining were performed after oral gavage. As a result HMC inhibited the mRNA expression of iNOS, COX-2, IL-6, and IL-8, which had been increased by TNF-α in HaCaT cells. In addition, the protein expression was also significantly suppressed in the same way as the mRNA expression results. The in vivo experiment results showed that, HMC administration reduced thickening of the epidermis and infiltration of eosinophil into the skin stratum basale compared to DNCB treatment. In addition, HMC administration significantly reduced the inflammatory cytokines (IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, and IL-13) production and immunocyte (white blood cell, lymphocyte, neutrophil, and eosinophil) count compared to DNCB treatment. Moreover, the serum IgE and histamine level was decreased by HMC administration. These results suggest that HMC can be used as effective herbal medicine extract for skin inflammation and atopic dermatitis. And this study may contribute to the development of the herbal medicine-based drug for the treatment of skin inflammation and atopic dermatitis.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
• /
• v.33 no.4
• /
• pp.316-323
• /
• 2009

Ginseng saponins have various pharmacological effects on the immune system. 20(S)-protopanaxadiol (PPD) and 20(S)-protopanaxatriol (PPT) are the species of ginseng saponin metabolites that are formed by human intestinal bacteria and detected in circulation. The effects of PPD and PPT on the inflammatory mediator release from the activated mast cells were tested. Histamine release was evaluated in activated guinea pig lung mast cells, and the secretion of interleukin-4 (IL-4), interleukin-8 (IL-8), and the tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ (TNF-${\alpha}$) was assessed in an HMC-1 cell after treating it with ginseng saponin metabolites. The results are as follows. PPT, at its maximum concentration of $100\;{\mu}M$, completely abolished the secretion of IL-4 from the PMA-stimulated HMC-1 cell. It also inhibited IL-8 secretion from the same cells by about 40-50% of the PMA-treated DMSO control. PPD, at its maximum concentration of $100\;{\mu}M$, showed a tendency to induce histamine release from the guinea pig lung mast cells. It inhibited the secretion of IL-4 (by 89% of the PMA-treated DMSO control) in the PMA-stimulated HMC-1 cell, but did have a significant effect on the IL-8 release from the same cell. Both PPD and PPT showed no effects, however, on the release of TNF-${\alpha}$ from the PMA-stimulated HMC-1 cell. These results suggest that PPD and PPT are from the ginseng metabolites that are responsible for the immunomodulating activity of ginseng extracts when they are taken orally.

• Journal of Haehwa Medicine
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.121-134
• /
• 2006

This study saw the anti-allergy effect by the immunity regulation action of Yanghyelyoonbotang (YHYBT) consists 12 kinds of herbal medicine agents. Consequently, YHYBT controlled the amount of secretion of various infla- mmatory cytokines, chemokine, monocyte chemotactic protein and histamine from cells (HMC-1, THP-1, EoL-1) stimulated by PMA, A23187 or HDM. 1. YHYBT did not show cytotoxicity on cultured human fibroblast cells under 250 ${\mu}g/m\ell$ concentration. 2. YHYBT suppressed IL-8, TNF-$\alpha$, IL-6 mRNA expression in the HMC-1 cell stimulated with PMA and A23187. 3. YHYBT significantly suppressed IL-6 release in the THP-1 and EoL-1 cell stimulated with HDM. 4. YHYBT significantly suppressed histamine release in the HMC-1 cell stimulated with PMA and A23187 in a dose-dependent. 5. YHYBT significantly suppressed $\beta$-Hexosaminidase release in the HMC-1 cell stimulated with A23187 in a dose-dependent. 6. YHYBT suppressed NF-$\kappa$B gene expression in the RBL-2H3 cell stimulated with PMA in a dose-dependent. These results suggested that YHYBT has suppressive effects on allergic reaction and pro-inflammatory cytokines in various cell lines through the regulation of immune system. YHYBT has potential to use as an antiallergic agents.

• Journal of Haehwa Medicine
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.135-148
• /
• 2006

Sophorae Radix (SFR) is known as a therapeutic drug that has been used in Oriental traditional medicine for the treatment of skin and mucosal ulcers, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, diarrhea, inflammation and arrhythmia. In the present study, we examined the effects of the aqueous extract of SFR on anti-inflammation, anti-allergic and anti-oxidant effect in various cell lines; they include mouse lung fibroblast cells (hFCs), human mast cells (HMC-1), human monocytic cells (THP-1), and RAW 264.7 cells. Treatment with SFR extract at a concentration of 250 ${\mu}g$/ml for 24h showed no significant decrease in the survival rate of the hFCs. SFR decreased the mRNA expression of IL-8, TNF-$\alpha$, and IL-6 in HMC-1 cells. SFR extract treatment significantly inhi-bited the protein expression of IL-6 and, IL-8 induced by mite in THP-1 cells and it also did MCP-1 expression. We examined the alternation of histamine release in HMC-1 cells for investigating anti-allergic effect of SFR. Histamine secretion decreased after the treatment with SFR. In addition, SFR extract treatment at a concentration of 10 ${\mu}g$/ml, 100 ${\mu}g$ /ml, and 200 ${\mu}g$/ml lowered the $\beta$-hexosaminidase to 10.3%, 21.7%, and 50.8%, respectively. IC50 of SFR extract in RBL-2H3 cells was 196.85 ${\mu}g$/ml. Both activity of NF-$\kappa$B promoter in RBL-2H3 cells significantly diminished after the dose-dependent treatment of SFR. Therefore, our results indicate that SFR has anti-inflammatory and it may be useful for treating allergic diseases such as atopic dermatitis.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
• /
• 2005.11a
• /
• pp.148.1-148.1
• /
• 2005

• Communications for Statistical Applications and Methods
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.203-210
• /
• 2003

In a standard Metropolis-type Monte Carlo simulation, the proposal distribution cannot be easily adapted to "local dynamics" of the target distribution. To overcome some of these difficulties, Duane et al. (1987) introduced the method of hybrid Monte Carlo(HMC) which combines the basic idea of molecular dynamics and the Metropolis acceptance-rejection rule to produce Monte Carlo samples from a given target distribution. In this paper, using the HMC within Gibbs sampler, an asymptotical estimate of the smoothing mean and a general solution to state space modeling in Bayesian framework is obtaineds obtained.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.233-238
• /
• 2007

Objectives : Scutellariae Radix (Hwanggeum in Korean) is the root of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi. Scutellariae Radix is well known to be used as a medicine for common cold, upper respiratory infections, and to strengthen and regulate the immune system and anemia etc. Little is understood about the roles of Scutellariae Radix in the cytokine and chemokine secretion by immune cells. This study was designed to find out the effects of Scutellariae Radix on the cytokine and chemokine secretion in human mast cells (HMC-1). Methods : We treated hwanggeum according to consistency on HMC-1 and measured cytokines and chemokines levels using flow cytometry CBA system. Results : In hwanggeum treated group, the expression of interferon-inducible protein 10 (IP-10), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 9 (CXCL9, MIG), interleukin 8 (IL-8), interleukin 2 (IL-2), interleukin 4 (IL-4), interleukin 5 (IL-5), interleukin 10 (IL-10), and interferon ${\gamma}$ (IFN-${\gamma}$) were decreased significantly. Conclusion : These results suggest that hwanggeum may support some of immune diseases by means of amiliorating some chemokines or cytokines such as IP-10, MCP-1, MIG, IL-8, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-10, and IFN-${\gamma}$.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
• /
• v.26 no.6
• /
• pp.902-907
• /
• 2012

The worldwide prevalence and severity of allergic diseases including atopic dermatitis and asthma has increased dramatically over the past decade, especially in developed countries. Mast cells are important effector cells in allergic reactions. The purpose of this study was undertaken to investigate the anti-allergic activities of the extract of Duchesnea chrysantha (DCE). DCE was prepared by extracting with 80% ethanol. In the present study, we investigate the effect of DCE on the production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-${\alpha}$, interleukin (IL)-$1{\beta}$, IL-6, IL-8, and histamine in the human mast cell line (HMC-1 cells) and on the scratching behavior in hairless mice. Various concentrations of DCE were treated before the activation of HMC-1 cells with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) plus calcium ionophore A23187. PMA plus A23187 significantly increased TNF-${\alpha}$, IL-$1{\beta}$, IL-6, and IL-8 production compared with media control. We also show that the increased cytokines such as TNF-${\alpha}$ IL-$1{\beta}$, IL-6, and IL-8 were significantly inhibited by DCE in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, DCE inhibited the histamine release from HMC-1 cells stimulated by compound 48/80, which promotes histamine release. Futhermore, the administration of DCE reduced the scratching behavior induced by pruritogen (compound 48/80 or histamine) in hairless mice. These results suggest that DCE has a potential use as a medicinal plant for treatment against allergy-related disease.