• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.58 no.5
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• pp.337-342
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• 2014

The present study was undertaken to investigate the influence of diosgenin on vascular smooth muscle contractility and to determine the mechanism involved. We hypothesized that diosgenin, the primary ingredient of Dioscorea villosa, plays a role in vascular relaxation through inhibition of Rho-kinase in rat aortae. Denuded arterial rings from male Sprague-Dawley rats were used and isometric tensions were recorded using a computerized data acquisition system. Interestingly, diosgenin inhibited fluoride-induced contraction but didn't inhibit phorbol ester-induced contraction suggesting that additional pathways different from endothelial nitric oxide synthesis such as inhibition of Rho-kinase might be involved in the vasorelaxation. Furthermore, diosgenin didn't inhibit thromboxane $A_2$-induced increases in pERK1/2 levels suggesting the mechanism excluding inhibition of thromboxane $A_2$-induced increases in ERK1/2 phosphorylation. This study provides evidence that diosgenin induces vascular relaxation through inhibition of Rho-kinase in rat aortae.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.21-31
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• 2022

Potentiodynamic polarization, EIS measurements, quantum chemical calculations, and molecular dynamic simulations were used to investigate the corrosion behavior of mild steel in 0.5 M aqueous hydrochloric acid medium in the presence or absence of nystatin drug. Potentiodynamic tests suggested that this molecule could act as a mixed inhibitor due to its adsorption on the mild steel surface. The objective of this study was to exploit theoretical calculations to gain a better understanding mechanism of inhibition. Calculating the adsorption behavior of the investigated molecule on Fe (1 1 0) surface was accomplished using Monte Carlo simulation. Molecules were also investigated using Density Functional Theory (DFT), specifically PBE functional, in order to identify the link between molecular structure and corrosion inhibition behavior of the compound under investigation. Adsorption energies between nystatin and iron were estimated more accurately by utilizing Molecular Mechanics calculation with Periodic Boundary Conditions (PBC). Estimated theoretical parameters significantly assisted our understanding of the corrosion inhibition mechanism exhibited by this molecule. They were found to be in accord with experimental results.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.114-122
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• 1994

A study on the absorption mechanism of cefixime(CF), an oral ${\alpha}-amino$ group deficient cephalosporin antibiotic, has been undertaken through the rat jejunum and nasal cavity using an in situ simultaneous perfusion technique developed in our laboratory. CF was well absorbed in the jejunum and nasal cavity of rats at pH 5.0, but not at pH 7.0. CF absorption was studied over four orders of magnitude in concentration to determine saturability. Disappearance of CF in the perfusate followed first-order kinetics at all tested concentrations. The apparent first-order absorption rate constant was found to be dependent on the concentration over the range of $0.1\;mM{\sim}3\;mM$ in the jejunum and nasal cavity of rats. Inhibitors were added to determine the competitive inhibition of CF absorption. The presence of L-tyrosine, L-phenylalanine, alanine-alanine, glycine-glycine and cefadroxil produced the significant inhibition of CF absorption in the nasal cavity and jejunum. However, there was no evidence of the inhibition in the presence of cefazolin. In addition, The CF absorption in the nasal cavity and jejunum was inhibited significantly by ouabain and 2,4-dinitrophenol(DNP). This study suggested that CF is absorbed across the rat nasal cavity and jejunum by carrier-mediated transport mechanism and energy consuming system.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.15-20
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• 1997

Kinetic studies were done to elucidate the reaction mechanism of purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) in Micrococcus Luteus. PNP catalyzes the reversible phosphorolysis of ribonucleosides to their respective base. The effect of alternative competing substrates suggested that a single enzyme was involved in binding to the active site for all purine nucleosides, inosine, deoxyiosine, guanosine, deoxyguanosine, adenosine and deoxyadenosine. Affinity studies showed that pentose moiety reduced the binding capacity and methylation of ring N-1 of inosine and guanosine had little effect on binding to bacterial enzyme, whereas these compounds did not bind to the mammalian enzymes. The initial velocity and product inhibition studies demonstrated that the predominant mechanism of reaction was an ordered bi, bi reaction. The nucleoside bound to the enzyme first, followed by phosphate. Ribose 1-phosphate was the first product to leave, followed by base.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.288-292
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• 2001

The kinetic mechanism of Hafnia alvei aspartase in the amination direction has been determined in the absence of metal. The initial velocity pattern obtained by varying the concentration of fumarate at several fixed concentrations of NH4+ , shows an intersection on the left of the ordinate at pH 7.0, indicating that the kinetic mechanism is a sequential mechanism in which substrate inhibition by fumarate is observed. The dead-end inhibition pattern by varying the concentration of NH4+ at several fixed concentration of succinate shows an intersection on the left of the ordinate. These data are consistent with random addition of NH4+, or fumarate. The Haldane relationship gives a Keq of 1.18 ${\times}$10-3 M at pH 7.0, which is in agreement with the values obtained from the direct determination of reaction concentrations at equilibrium (6.0 $\pm0.2$ ${\times}$10-3 M).

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.293-300
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• 2022

Lipoteichoic acid (LTA) regulates the immune system, including inflammatory responses, through TLR2-mediated signaling pathways. LTA isolated from Staphylococcus aureus (aLTA) has been shown to induce apoptosis, but the detailed mechanism has not been identified. We found that aLTA induced apoptosis through an autocrine mechanism in the human monocyte-like cell line, THP-1. We observed that the expression level of the anti-apoptosis protein, Bcl2, was suppressed in LTA-treated THP-1 cells. In addition, the cytokines, TNF-α and IFN-γ, which have been shown to induce apoptosis in some cell lines, were involved in THP-1 cell death via the modulation of Bcl2. The suppression of Bcl2 by aLTA was recovered when the negative regulator, SOCS-1, was knocked down. Taken together, these results showed that aLTA induced apoptosis in THP-1 cells through an autocrine mechanism of cytokines and SOCS-1-mediated Bcl2 inhibition.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.28 no.12
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• pp.1079-1095
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• 1995

Recently endogenous digitalis-like substances were found in the blood of various cardiovascular diseases and they have been considered one of the causes of evoking hypertension. However, the mechanism of endogenous digitalis-like substances-induced hypertension is not clarified yet. Therefore, the effects of Na-K pump inhibition on the contractility of vascular smooth muscle[conduit and resistant artery were investigated, using organ bath and bioassay experiment. Aortic and carotid arterial rings[conduit artery and the branches of brachial and superior mesenteric artery[resistant artery were used to find the effect of Na-K pump inhibition. The results obtained were as followes;The magnitudes of contractions induced by norepinephrine, serotonin, or acetylcholine in all these arteries were significantly increased by the inhibition of Na-K pump. The increased contractile responses to these agonists, especially to serotonin, were much more prominant in resistant arteries. Nitroprusside-induced relaxations were attenuated by Na-K pump inhibition and there were no significant differences in the effects of Na-K pump inhibition on nitroprusside-induced relaxations of these blood vessels. Endothelium-dependent relaxation was suppressed by the inhibition of Na-K pump, especially by the administration of ouabain, and this inhibitory effect was much more prominent in the branches of superior mesenteric artery, compared with other arteries. In the branches of superior mesenteric arteries, endothelium-dependent relaxation was completely blocked by ouabain. The release of EDRF was partially suppressed by Na-K pump inhibition.From the above results, it is suggested that the hypertension due to the increase in vascular resistance can be evoked by the inhibition of Na-K pump and endogenous digitalis-like substances induce hypertension through this mechanism.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.380-386
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• 2016

Silymarin from milk thistle (Silybum marianum) has been reported to show an anti-cancer activity. In previous study, we reported that silymarin induces cyclin D1 proteasomal degradation through NF-${\kappa}B$-mediated threonine-286 phosphorylation. However, mechanism for the inhibition of Wnt signaling by silymarin still remains unanswered. Thus, we investigated whether silymarin affects Wnt signaling in human colorectal cancer cells to elucidate the additional anti-cancer mechanism of silymarin. Transient transfection with a TOP and FOP FLASH luciferase construct indicated that silymarin suppressed the transcriptional activity of ${\beta}$-catenin/TCF. Silymarin treatment resulted in a decrease of intracellular ${\beta}$-catenin protein but not mRNA. The inhibition of proteasome by MG132 and $GSK3{\beta}$ inhibition by SB216763 blocked silymarin-mediated downregulation of ${\beta}$-catenin. In addition, silymarin increased phosphorylation of ${\beta}$-catenin and a point mutation of S33Y attenuated silymarin-mediated ${\beta}$-catenin downregulation. In addition, silymarin decreased TCF4 and increased Axin expression in both protein and mRNA level. From these results, we suggest that silymarin-mediated downregulation of ${\beta}$-catenin and TCF4 may result in the inhibition of Wnt signaling in human colorectal cancer cells.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.231-243
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• 2019

The methanolic extracts of the leaves and stem of the plant Lepidagathis keralensis were evaluated for anticorrosion behavior against mild steel in 1M HCl. Corrosion inhibition studies were done by gravimetric method, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and potentiodynamic polarization methods. Surface morphology of mild steel in the presence and absence of inhibitors were studied using SEM analysis. UV-Vis studies were also done to evaluate the mechanism of inhibition. Both the extracts showed good inhibition efficiency which increased with increase in concentration of the inhibitor and decreased with increase in temperature. The mechanism of inhibition was explained by adsorption which obeyed Langmuir adsorption isotherm. Thermodynamic calculations revealed a combination of both physisorption and chemisorption of the inhibitor on the surface of mild steel. The extracts behaved as mixed type inhibitors as determined by polarization studies. Quantum chemical studies on Phenoxyethene, one of the major components in the leaf extract of the plant was also carried out to support the experimental results.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.57 no.5
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• pp.376-381
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• 2013

The present study was undertaken to investigate the influence of curcumin on vascular smooth muscle contractility and to determine the mechanism involved. We hypothesized that curcumin, the primary ingredient of Curcuma longa, plays a role in vascular relaxation through inhibition of Rho-kinase in rat aortae. Denuded arterial rings from male Sprague-Dawley rats were used and isometric tensions were recorded using a computerized data acquisition system. Interestingly, curcumin inhibited fluoride-induced contraction but didn't inhibit phorbol ester-induced contraction suggesting that additional pathways different from endothelial nitric oxide synthesis might be involved in the vasorelaxation. Furthermore, curcumin significantly inhibited fluoride-induced increases in pMYPT1 levels. On the other hand, it didn't significantly inhibit phorbol ester-induced increases in pERK1/2 levels suggesting the mechanism involving inhibition of fluoride-induced MYPT1 phosphorylation. This study provides evidence that curcumin induces vascular relaxation through inhibition of Rho-kinase in rat aortae.