• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• 제24권1호
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• pp.1-9
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• 1994

In order to study systemic peptide delivery through the ocular route, the stabilities of methionine enkephalin (Met-Enk) and $[D-ala^2]-methionine$ enkephalinamide (YAGFM) in the corneal extracts of rabbits were investigated using reversed phase HPLC. Met-Enk was found to be hydrolyzed most rapidly in the corneal epithelium, but YAGFM was relatively stable. Aminopeptidases appeared to contribute over 60% to the degradation of Met-Enk and the degradation rate of Met-Enk followed the first order kinetics. The half-lives of Met-Enk in the extracts of the corneal epithelium and endothelium were 36 and 673 min, respectively. From the effects of enzyme inhibitors, it was found that the application of the mixture of amastatin, thimerosal and EDTA was very useful for the inhibition of peptide degradation.

• Journal of Photoscience
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• 제1권1호
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• pp.47-52
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• 1994

Effects of HgCl$_2$-treatment on electron transport, chlorophyll a fluorescence and its quenching were studied using isolated barley (Hordeum vulgare L. cv. Albori) chloroplasts. Depending on the concentration of HgCI$_2$, photosynthetic oxygen-evolving activities of photosystem II (PS II) were greatly inhibited, whereas those of photosystem I (PS I) were slightly decreased. The inhibitory effects of HgCl$_2$ on the oxygen-evolving activity was partially restored by the addition of hydroxyamine, suggesting the primary inhibition site by HgCl$_2$2-treatment is close to the oxidizing site of PS tl associated with water-splitting complex. Addition of 50 $\mu$M HgCI$_2$ decreased both photochemical and nonphotochemical quenching of chlorophyll fluorescence. Especially, energy dependent quenching (qE) was completely disappeared by HgCl$_2$-treatment as observed by NH$_4$CI treatment. In the presence of HgCI$_2$, F'o level during illumination was also increased. These results suggest that pH gradient across thylakoid membrane can not be formed in the presence of 0 $\mu$M HgCl$_2$. In addition, antenna pigment composition might be altered by HgCl$_2$-treatment.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• 제42권1호
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• pp.12-18
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• 1999

Sucrose synthase (EC 2.4.1.13) has been purified from the plant cytosolic fraction of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L. cv. Amethyst) nodules. The native enzyme had a molecular mass of $356{\pm}15kD$. The subunit molecular mass was $87{\pm}2kD$, and a tetrameric structure is proposed for sucrose synthase of chickpea nodule. Optimum activities in the sucrose cleavage and synthesis directions were at pH 6.5 and 9.0, respectively. The purified enzyme displayed typical hyperbolic kinetics with substrates in cleavage and synthesis reactions. Chickpea nodules sucrose synthase had a high affinity for UDP ($K_m$, $8.0{\mu}M$) and relatively low affinities for ADP ($K_m$, 0.23 mM), CDP ($K_m$, 0.87 mM), and GDP ($K_m$, 1.51 mM). The $K_m$ for sucrose was 29.4 mM. In the synthesis reaction, UDP-glucose ($K_m$, $24.1{\mu}M$) was a more effective glucosyl donor than ADP-glucose ($K_m$, 2.7 mM), and the $K_m$ for fructose was 5.4 mM. Divalent cations, such as $Ca^{2+}$, $Mg^{2+}$, and $Mn^{2+}$, stimulated the enzyme activity in both the cleavage and synthesis directions, and the enzyme was very sensitive to inhibition by $HgCl_2$ and $CuSO_4$.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• 제2권5호
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• pp.581-589
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• 1998

A regulating mechanism of the ATP-sensitive potassium channels $(K_{ATP}\;channels)$ is yet to fully explained. This study was carried out to investigate the effects of intracellular application of monocarboxylates (acetate, formate, lactate, and pyruvate) on $K_{ATP}$ channels in isolated rabbit ventricular myocytes. Single channel currents of $K_{ATP}$ channels were recorded using the excised inside-out or permeabilized attached (open-cell) patch-clamp technique at room temperature. Intracellular application of acetate, formate and pyruvate led to an inhibition of channel activity, whereas intracellular application of lactate increased channel activity. These effects were reversible upon washout. Analysis of single channel kinetics showed that monocarboxylates did not affect open-time constant and close-time constant. These results suggest that monocarboxylates participate in modulating $K_{ATP}$ channels activity in cardiac cells and that modulation of $K_{ATP}$ channels activity may resolve the discrepancy between the low $K_i$ in excised membrane patches and high levels of intracellular ATP concentration during myocardial ischemia or hypoxia.

• 대한화장품학회:학술대회논문집
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• 대한화장품학회 2003년도 IFSCC Conference Proceeding Book I
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• pp.440-447
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• 2003

Up until today, the key to contouring has been resumed in these two alternatives, either limiting the adipocyte storing capacity by modulating lipogenesis, or by stimulating lipolysis to eliminate adipocyte lipid content. Another interesting way could be the regulation of adipocyte differentiation. In this work, we have evaluated the effect of a brown algal extract of Sphacelaria scoparia (SSE) on the differentiation of pre-adipocytes into adipocytes. A pre-adipocyte line (3T3-L 1) was used. The differentiation was evaluated by the measure of produced lipids thanks to red oil coloration and spectrophotometry, and also by the expression of adipocyte differentiation markers: enzymes such as fatty acid synthase (FAS) and stearoyl CoA desaturase (SCD), or membrane proteins such as glucose transporters (GLUT -4) and fatty acid transporters (FAT) expressed on the surface of human adipocytes. These genes are under control of two transcription factors: CAAT-enhancer binding protein (c/EBP alpha) and sterol response element binding protein (SREBP1). All these markers were analysed at different stages of differentiation by RT -PCR. Sphacelaria extract (SSE) inhibits pre-adipocytes differentiating into adipocytes following a dose-dependant relation, using a kinetics similar to retinoic acid. It decreases the expression of mRNA specific to FAS, FAT, GLUT -4, SCD1, c/EBP alpha and SREBP1. Moreover, SSE regulated on collagen 1 and collagen 4 expression. A stimulation of collagen 1 was also measured in human skin fibroblasts. Thus, SSE performs as a genuine differentiation inhibitor and not only as a lipogenesis inhibitor, and could be used in slimming products.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• 제17권4호
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• pp.218-222
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• 1994

The natural product, spirostanol glycoside dioscin, was shown to directly inactivate human pleural fluid phospholipase $A_2{\;}(PLA_2)$ Inactivation was dose, and time dependent. The $IC_{50}$ was estimated at 18 .mu.M and virtually complete inactivation of the enzyme occurred at 50 .mu.M. Using Michaelis-Menten kinetics, dioscin inactivated the enzyme by a competitive inhibitory manner, the apparent Ki value was $6.9{\times}10_{-4}$. Reversibility was studied directly by dialysis method, the inhibition was reversible. Additioin of excess $Ca^{2+}$ concentration up to 8 mM did not antagonize the inhibitory activity of dioscin. Inactivation of several kinds of $PLA_2$ by dioscin is due to interaction with the active site of $PLA_2$ and may be a useful adjunt in the theraphy of inflammatory diseases.

• BMB Reports
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• 제44권12호
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• pp.805-810
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• 2011

Methionine sulfoxide reductase A (MSRA) is a ubiquitous enzyme that has been demonstrated to reduce the S enantiomer of methionine sulfoxide (MetSO) to methionine (Met) and can protect cells against oxidative damage. In this study, we isolated a novel MSRA (SlMSRA2) from Micro-Tom (Solanum lycopersicum L. cv. Micro-Tom) and characterized it by subcloning the coding sequence into a pET expression system. Purified recombinant protein was assayed by HPLC after expression and refolding. This analysis revealed the absolute specificity for methionine-S-sulfoxide and the enzyme was able to convert both free and protein-bound MetSO to Met in the presence of DTT. In addition, the optimal pH, appropriate temperature, and $K_m$ and $K_{cat}$ values for MSRA2 were observed as 8.5, $25^{\circ}C$, $352{\pm}25\;{\mu}M$, and $0.066{\pm}0.009\;S^{-1}$, respectively. Disk inhibition and growth rate assays indicated that SlMSRA2 may play an essential function in protecting E. coli against oxidative damage.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• 제25권5호
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• pp.643-646
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• 2002

The succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase (SSADH) inhibitory component was isolated from the EtOAc fraction of Lactuca sativa through repeated column chromatography; then, it was identified as phytol, a diterpenoid, based on the interpretation of several spectral data. Incubation of SSADH with the phytol results in a time-dependent loss of enzymatic activity, suggesting that enzyme modification is irreversible. The inactivation followed pseudo-first-order kinetics with the second-rate order constant of $6.15{\times}10^{-2}mM^{-1}min^{-1}.$ Complete protection from inactivation was afforded by the coenzyme $NAD^{+}$, whereas substrate succinic semialdehyde failed to prevent the inactivation of the enzyme; therefore, it seems likely that phytol covalently binds at or near the active site of the enzyme. It is postulated that the phytol is able to elevate the neurotransmitter GABA levels in central nervous system through its inhibitory action on one of the GABA degradative enzymes, SSADH.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제20권10호
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• pp.1397-1402
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• 2010

Papyriflavonol A (PapA), a prenylated flavonoid [5,7,3',4'-tetrahydroxy-6,5'-di-(${\gamma},{\gamma}$-dimethylallyl)-flavonol], was isolated from the root barks of Broussonetia papyrifera. Our previous study showed that PapA has a broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against pathogenic bacteria and fungi. In this study, the mode of action of PapA against Candida albicans was investigated to evaluate PapA as an antifungal agent. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values were 10~25 ${\mu}g/ml$ for C. albicans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium), and Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus). The kinetics of cell growth inhibition, scanning electron microscopy, and measurement of plasma membrane florescence anisotrophy revealed that the antifungal activity of PapA against C. albicans and S. cerevisiae is mediated by its ability to disrupt the cell membrane integrity. Compared with amphotericin B, a cell-membrane-disrupting polyene antibiotic, the hemolytic toxicity of PapA was negligible. At 10~25 ${\mu}g/ml$ of MIC levels for the tested strains, the hemolysis ratio of human erythrocytes was less than 5%. Our results suggest that PapA could be a therapeutic fungicidal agent having potential as a broad spectrum antimicrobial agent.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• 제27권2호
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• pp.99-108
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• 1997

To evaluate the feasibility of mucosal delivery of thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) through various mucosae, enzymatic degradation and stabilization of TRH in the nasal, rectal and duodenal extracts of rabbits were studied. TRH in the extracts was assayed by HPLC and its degradation was found to follow apparent first-order kinetics. The residual concentrations of TRH in the mucosal extracts of nasal, rectal and duodenal segments after 24 hr of incubation were found to be $65.1({\pm}1.1),\;19.7({\pm}2.7)$ and 0%, and in the serosal extracts, $65.6({\pm}5.5),\;75.2({\pm}1.1)$ and $68.7({\pm}1.4)%$, respectively. This result suggests that there is a significant difference in the activity of TRH-degrading enzymes among the sites of administration. The inhibition of TRH degradation in the mucosa extracts was kinetically investigated using various additives such as thimerosal, benzalkonium chloride, disodium edetate, ${\sigma}-phenanthroline$, dithiothreitol and dithioerythritol, and $IC_{50}$ values of inhibitors were calculated. The results obtained showed that thimerosal (0.5 mM) and benzalkonium chloride (0.141 mM) protected TRH from the enzymatic degradation in all the mucosa extracts more than 95% after 24 hr of incubation.