• Genomics & Informatics
• /
• 제15권4호
• /
• pp.142-146
• /
• 2017

More effective production of human insulin is important, because insulin is the main medication that is used to treat multiple types of diabetes and because many people are suffering from diabetes. The current system of insulin production is based on recombinant DNA technology, and the expression vector is composed of a preproinsulin sequence that is a fused form of an artificial leader peptide and the native proinsulin. It has been reported that the sequence of the leader peptide affects the production of insulin. To analyze how the leader peptide affects the maturation of insulin structurally, we adapted several in silico simulations using 13 artificial proinsulin sequences. Three-dimensional structures of models were predicted and compared. Although their sequences had few differences, the predicted structures were somewhat different. The structures were refined by molecular dynamics simulation, and the energy of each model was estimated. Then, protein-protein docking between the models and trypsin was carried out to compare how efficiently the protease could access the cleavage sites of the proinsulin models. The results showed some concordance with experimental results that have been reported; so, we expect our analysis will be used to predict the optimized sequence of artificial proinsulin for more effective production.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• 제26권11호
• /
• pp.1845-1854
• /
• 2016

The transglycosylation activity of amylosucrase (ASase) has received significant attention owing to its use of an inexpensive donor, sucrose, and broad acceptor specificity, including glycone and aglycone compounds. The transglycosylation reaction of recombinant ASase from Deinococcus radiopugnans (DRpAS) was investigated using various phenolic compounds, and quercetin-3-O-rutinoside (rutin) was found to be the most suitable acceptor molecule used by DRpAS. Two amino acid residues in DRpAS variants (DRpAS Q299K and DRpAS Q299R), assumed to be involved in acceptor binding, were constructed by site-directed mutagenesis. Intriguingly, DRpAS Q299K and DRpAS Q299R produced 10-fold and 4-fold higher levels of rutin transglycosylation product than did the wild-type (WT) DRpAS, respectively. According to in silico molecular docking analysis, the lysine residue at position 299 in the mutants enables rutin to more easily position inside the active pocket of the mutant enzyme than in that of the WT, due to conformational changes in loop 4.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• 제28권8호
• /
• pp.1401-1411
• /
• 2018

The serine-threonine kinase AKT plays a pivotal role in tumor progression and is frequently overactivated in cancer cells; this protein is therefore a critical therapeutic target for cancer intervention. We aimed to identify small molecule inhibitors of the pleckstrin homology (PH) domain of AKT to disrupt binding of phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5-trisphosphate (PIP3), thereby downregulating AKT activity. Liposome pulldown assays coupled with fluorescence spectrometry were used to screen flavonoids for inhibition of the AKT PH-PIP3 interaction. Western blotting was used to determine the effects of the inhibitors on AKT activation in cancer cells, and in silico docking was used for structural analysis and optimization of inhibitor structure. Several flavonoids showing up to 50% inhibition of the AKT PH-PIP3 interaction decreased the level of AKT activation at the cellular level. In addition, the modified flavonoid showed increased inhibitory effects and the approach would be applied to develop anticancer drug candidates. In this study, we provide a rationale for targeting the lipid-binding domain of AKT, rather than the catalytic kinase domain, in anticancer drug development.

• ALGAE
• /
• 제38권4호
• /
• pp.295-306
• /
• 2023

Human coronavirus diseases, particularly severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, still remain a persistent public health issue, and many recent studies are focusing on the quest for new leads against coronaviruses. To contribute to this growing pool of knowledge and explore the available marine natural products against coronaviruses, this study investigated the antiviral effects of fucoxanthin isolated from Sargassum siliquastrum-a brown alga found on Jeju Island, South Korea. The antiviral effects of fucoxanthin were confirmed in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2-infected Vero cells, and its structural characteristics were verified in silico using molecular docking and molecular dynamic simulations and in vitro colorimetric method. Fucoxanthin inhibited the infection in a concentration-dependent manner, without showing cytotoxicity. Molecular docking simulations revealed that fucoxanthin binds to the angiotensinconverting enzyme 2-spike protein (binding energy -318.306 kcal mol^-1) and main protease (binding energy -205.118 kcal mol^-1). Moreover, molecular dynamic simulations showed that fucoxanthin remains docked to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2-spike protein for 20 ns, whereas it breaks away from main protease after 3 ns. Also, the in silico prediction of the fucoxanthin was verified through the in vitro colorimetric method by inhibiting the binding between angiotensinconverting enzyme 2 and spike protein in a concentration-dependent manner. These results indicate that fucoxanthin exhibits antiviral effects against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 by blocking the entry of the virus. Therefore, fucoxanthin from S. siliquastrum can be a potential candidate for treating coronavirus infection.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• 제28권5호
• /
• pp.447-453
• /
• 2009

The quorum sensing (QS) inhibitors that antagonize TraR, a receptor protein for N-3-oxo-octanoyl-L-homoserine lactones (3-oxo-C8-HSL), a QS signal of Agrobacterium tumefaciens were developed. The structural analogues of 3-oxo-C8-HSL were designed by in silico molecular modeling using SYBYL packages, and synthesized by the solid phase organic synthesis (SPOS) method, where the carboxamide bond of 3-oxo-C8-HSL was replaced with a nicotinamide or a sulfonamide bond to make derivatives of N-nicotinyl-L-homoserine lactones or N-sulfonyl-L-homoserine lactones. The in vivo inhibitory activities of these compounds against QS signaling were assayed using reporter systems and compared with the estimated binding energies from the modeling study. This comparison showed fairly good correlation, suggesting that the in silico interpretation of ligand-receptor structures can be a valuable tool for the pre-design of better competitive inhibitors. In addition, these inhibitors also showed anti-biofilm activities against Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

• 한국산학기술학회논문지
• /
• 제22권4호
• /
• pp.483-492
• /
• 2021

곽향은 식욕부진, 메스꺼움 등의 치료에 사용될 뿐만 아니라 최근에는 항당뇨 효능도 알려졌다. 본 연구에서는 곽향의 항산화력과 주요 성분들을 조사한 다음, in-silico 방법론을 적용하여 타겟 단백질들을 예측하였다. 먼저 메탄올 추출물의 DPPH와 ABTS 라디칼 소거능의 EC50 값은 각각 78.6 ㎍/mL과 31.0 ㎍/mL이었다. 이것은 ascorbic acid의 값(9.9 ㎍/mL, 5.2 ㎍/mL)과 비교할 때 항산화력이 뛰어나다고 할 수 있다. HPLC-PDA-MS/MS를 이용하여 성분들을 정성 분석한 결과, 추출물의 주요 화합물로 rosmarinic acid, tilianin, agastachoside 그리고 acacetin을 확인하였다. 이들 성분들의 항당뇨 작용 타겟 단백질을 DIA-DB 서버를 사용하여 구조 유사도와 inverse doking 방법론을 적용하여 예측하였다. 본 가상 탐색 결과, 주요 타겟 단백질들은 PPAR-γ, DPP IV, glucokinase, α-glucosidase, SGLT2, aldose reductase, corticosteroid 11-beta-dehydrogenase로 예측되었다. 그리고 이들 단백질들 중 일부는 이미 실험적으로 검증된 타겟 단백질이었다. 따라서 in silico 검색 방법이 유효하다고 생각할 수 있다. 마지막으로 활성성분들의 최적의 추출 조건을 결정하기 위하여 여러 추출 용매들로 곽향을 추출하였다. 여러 유기 용매들 중에는 메탄올이 그리고 에탄올-물 혼합용매에서는 80% 에탄올이 가장 효과적인 추출 용매로 확인되었다.

• Genomics & Informatics
• /
• 제19권1호
• /
• pp.7.1-7.13
• /
• 2021

Levodopa (L-DOPA) therapy is normally practised to treat motor pattern associated with Parkinson disease (PD). Additionally, several inhibitory drugs such as Entacapone and Opicapone are also cosupplemented to protect peripheral inactivation of exogenous L-DOPA (~80%) that occurs due to metabolic activity of the enzyme catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT). Although, both Entacapone and Opicapone have U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval but regular use of these drugs is associated with high risk of side effects. Thus, authors have focused on in silico discovery of phytochemicals and evaluation of their effectiveness against human soluble COMT using virtual screening, molecular docking, drug-like property prediction, generation of pharmacophoric property, and molecular dynamics simulation. Overall, study proposed, nine phytochemicals (withaphysalin D, withaphysalin N, withaferin A, withacnistin, withaphysalin C, withaphysalin O, withanolide B, withasomnine, and withaphysalin F) of plant Withania somnifera have strong binding efficiency against human COMT in comparison to both of the drugs i.e., Opicapone and Entacapone, thus may be used as putative bioenhancer in L-DOPA therapy. The present study needs further experimental validation to be used as an adjuvant in PD treatment.

• Natural Product Sciences
• /
• 제27권3호
• /
• pp.208-215
• /
• 2021

𝛽-Patchoulene (𝛽-PAE) is a tricyclic sesquiterpene which performed many potential bioactivities and can be found in patchouli oil but in very low concentration. This study aimed to obtained 𝛽-PAE in high concentration by conversion of patchouli alcohol (PA) in patchouli oil under acid catalyzed reaction. Patchouli oil was fractinated by vacuum distillation at 96 kPa to get the fraction with the highest PA content. H₂SO₄ and ZnCl₂ were used respectively as homogeneous and heterogeneous acid catalysts in the conversion reaction of the selected fraction. Patchouli oil, the fractions and the products were analysed by using GC-MS and FTIR instruments. Moreover, the interaction of 𝛽-PAE to COX-2 protein was studied to understand the antiinflammation activity of 𝛽-PAE. The results showed that patchouli oil contains 25.3% of PA. The selected fraction which has the highest PA content (70.3%) was distilled at 151 - 152 ℃. The application of ZnCl₂ catalyst in conversion reaction did not succeed. In contrast, H₂SO₄ as a catalyst in acetic acid solvent succeeded in converting the overall fraction of PA to 𝛽-PAE. Furthermore, the molecular docking study of 𝛽-PAE against COX-2 enzyme showed van der Waals and alkyl-alkyl stacking interactions on ten amino acid residues.

• 대한약침학회지
• /
• 제27권1호
• /
• pp.1-13
• /
• 2024

Background: Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is one of the major complications of chronic hyperglycaemia affecting normal kidney functioning. The ayurvedic medicine curcumin (CUR) is pharmaceutically accepted for its vast biological effects. Objectives: The Curcuma-derived diferuloylmethane compound CUR, loaded on Poly (lactide-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA) nanoparticles was utilized to combat DN-induced renal apoptosis by selectively targeting and modulating Bcl2. Methods: Upon in silico molecular docking and screening study CUR was selected as the core phytocompound for nanoparticle formulation. PLGA-nano-encapsulated-curcumin (NCUR) were synthesized following standard solvent displacement method. The NCUR were characterized for shape, size and other physico-chemical properties by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy studies. For in vivo validation of nephro-protective effects, Mus musculus were pre-treated with CUR at a dose of 50 mg/kg b.w. and NCUR at a dose of 25 mg/kg b.w. (dose 1), 12.5 mg/kg b.w (dose 2) followed by alloxan administration (100 mg/kg b.w) and serum glucose levels, histopathology and immunofluorescence study were conducted. Results: The in silico study revealed a strong affinity of CUR towards Bcl2 (dock score -10.94 Kcal/mol). The synthesized NCUR were of even shape, devoid of cracks and holes with mean size of ~80 nm having -7.53 mV zeta potential. Dose 1 efficiently improved serum glucose levels, tissue-specific expression of Bcl2 and reduced glomerular space and glomerular sclerosis in comparison to hyperglycaemic group. Conclusion: This study essentially validates the potential of NCUR to inhibit DN by reducing blood glucose level and mitigating glomerular apoptosis by selectively promoting Bcl2 protein expression in kidney tissue.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• 제35권8호
• /
• pp.2317-2325
• /
• 2014

P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is a member of the ATP-Binding Cassette transporter superfamily and mediates transmembrane efflux of many drugs. Since it is involved in multi-drug resistance activity in various cancer cells, the development of P-gp inhibitor is one of the major concerns in anticancer therapy. Human P-gp protein has at least two "functional" drug binding sites that are called "H" site and "R" site, hence it has multi-binding-specificities. Though the amino acid residues that constitute in drug binding pockets have been proposed by previous experimental evidences, the shapes and the binding poses are not revealed clearly yet. In this study, human P-gp structure was built by homology modeling with available crystal structure of mouse P-gp as a template and docking simulations were performed with inhibitors such as verapamil, hoechst33342, and rhodamine123 to construct the interaction between human P-gp and its inhibitors. The docking simulations were performed 500 times for each inhibitor, and then the interaction frequency of the amino acids at the binding poses was analyzed. With the analysis results, we proposed highly contributing residues that constitute binding pockets of the human P-gp for the inhibitors. Using the highly contributing residues, we proposed the locations and the shapes of verapamil binding site and "R" site, and suggested the possible position of "H" site.