• The Korean Journal of Zoology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.177-184
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• 1988

The pattern of progesterone production and secretion of frog(R. dybowskii) follicles was investigated in follicle culture in vitro. Involvement of cAMP in the regulation of the steroid production by the follicles was also investigated by manipulating endogeneous cAMP level with forskolin and/or 3-isoburyl- 1 - methylxanthine(IBMX). Endogeneous follicular progesterone level increased rapidly in one hour of culture by treatment of frog pituitary homogenate(FPH) and reached peak level at 2 hours or later. But the absolute amount of progesterone produced (60-300 pg/follicle) or the peak time of the honnone level was different between individual animals. Basal level of progesterone in untreated sister follicles was very low (around 10 pg/follicle) and nearly undetectable in most cases regardless of culture lime. Secretion level of progesterone by the follicles obtained by measunng the honnone in the culture media was just the reflection of the intrafollicular level. Exogeneously added forskolin, an adenylate cyclase stimulator, and/or IBMX, a phosphodiesterase inhibitor, could mimic FPH action in terms of progesterone production and secretion. Thus, it seems clear that FPH regulates progesterone production via cAMP system in the follicle cells.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.29 no.8
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• pp.657-665
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• 2006

We recently reported that dimethylsphingosine (DMS), a metabolite of sphingolipids, increased intracellular pH and $Ca^{2+}$ concentration in U937 human monocytes. In the present study, we found that dimethylphytosphingosine (DMPH) induced the above responses more robustly than DMS. However, phytosphingosine, monomethylphytosphingosine or trimethylsphingosine showed little or no activity. Synthetic C3 deoxy analogues of sphingosine did show similar activities, with the C16 analogue more so than C18. The following structure-activity relationships were observed between DMS derivatives and the intracellular pH and $Ca^{2+}$ concentrations in U937 monocytes; 1) dimethyl modification is important for the DMS-induced increase of intracellular pH and $Ca^{2+}$, 2) the addition of an OH group on C4 enhances both activities, 3) the deletion of the OH group on C3 has a negligible effect on the activities, and 4) C16 appears to be more effective than C18. We also found that W-7, a calmodulin inhibitor, blocked the DMS-induced pH increase, whereas, KN-62, ML9, and MMPX, specific inhibitors for calmodulin-dependent kinase II, myosin light chain kinase, and $Ca^{2+}$-calmodulin-dependent phosphodiesterase, respectively, did not affect DMS-induced increases of pH in the U937 monocytes.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.41-50
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• 2003

General pharmacological properties of DA-8159, a new pyrazolopyrimidinone derivative were examined in laboratory animals to investigate its safety profile. The oral administration of DA-8159 (1, 5 or 30 mg/kg) in mice and rats had no effect on general behaviors and central nervous system of the animals in test systems, such as hexobarbital-induced sleeping time, motor coordination, normal body temperature, writhing syndromes induced by 0.75% acetic acid solution, chemo-shock produced by pentetrazole solution and rotar rod test. Anesthetized cats treated intravenously with DA-8159 (0.1, 0.3, 1, 3 or 10 mg/kg) showed transient and mild decrease in blood pressure. However, heart rate, respiration rate and tidal volume were not changed by intravenous DA-8159. In the isolated organs including ileum, heart (sinus rate of atria and contractility of papillary muscle), trachea of guinea pigs and phrenic nerve of rats, DA-8159 ($10^{-8}$ ∼$10^{-5}$ mg/L) did not elicit any effect or inhibitory action on the chemically or electrically stimulated contraction. DA-8159 did not influence gastric secretion, pH and total acid output in rats and intestinal propulsion in mice. The administration of DA-8159 in rats had no effect on the platelet aggregation induced by ADP in rabbit plasma, urinary volume and electrolyte ion ($Na^{+}$, $K^{+}$, $Cl^{-}$) excretion in rats. Prothrombin time (PT) of the rats showed a mild but significant increase after administration of DA-8159. Activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), however, was not affected by DA-8159. These results indicate that DA-8159 does not exert any of serious pharmacological effects.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.49-54
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• 1998

$Mg^{2+}$ is an important regulator of many cardiac functions. However, regulation of intracellular $Mg^{2+}$ activity in the heart is not well characterized. To assess the effect of histamine $H_2$-receptor stimulation on intracellular $Mg^{2+}$ regulation, changes in extracellular $Mg^{2+}$ concentration were examined under a variety of conditions in perfused guinea pig hearts. $Mg^{2+}$ in the cardiac perfusate was measured by atomic absorbance spectrophotometry. The histamine ($10^{-6}$ M) inuced a marked $Mg^{2+}$ efflux from the heart. The $H_2$-receptor antagonists, cimetidine ($10^{-6}$ M), ranitidined ($10^{-5}$ M), but not a H1-receptor antagonist, diphenhydramine ($3{\times}10^{-6}$ M), completely blocked the histamine-induced $Mg^{2+}$ efflux. The $Mg^{2+}$ efflux could also be induced by forskolin ($3{\times}10^{-6}$ M), 8-Cl-cAMP ($2{\times}10^{-4}$ M), permeable cAMP analogue, or dimaprit, ($10^{-5}$ M). However, the carbachol ($10^{-5}$ M) considerably decreased the efflux of $Mg^{2+}$. In the presence of papaverine ($10^{-5}$ M), a phosphodiesterase inhibitor, dimaprit-induced $Mg^{2+}$ efflux was potentiated. These results suggest that a significant $Mg^{2+}$ efflux from perfused guinea pig heart by histamine can be induced by the histamine $H_2$-receptor stimulation and it is suggested that cytosolic cAMP may be linked.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.63-70
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• 2018

Cilostazol is a selective inhibitor of type 3 phosphodiesterase (PDE3) and has been widely used as an antiplatelet agent. Cilostazol mediates this activity through effects on the cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) signaling cascade. Recently, it has attracted attention as a neuroprotective agent. However, little is known about cilostazol's effect on excitotoxicity induced neuronal cell death. Therefore, this study evaluated the neuroprotective effect of cilostazol treatment against hippocampal neuronal damage in a mouse model of kainic acid (KA)-induced neuronal loss. Cilostazol pretreatment reduced KA-induced seizure scores and hippocampal neuron death. In addition, cilostazol pretreatment increased cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) phosphorylation and decreased neuroinflammation. These observations suggest that cilostazol may have beneficial therapeutic effects on seizure activity and other neurological diseases associated with excitotoxicity.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.685-690
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• 2002

The mitogen-stimulated serine/threonine kinase $p70^{S6k}$ plays an important role in the progression of cells from $G_0/G$_1$$ to S phase of the cell cycle by translational up-regulation of a family of mRNA transcripts family of mRNA transcripts which contain polypyrimidine tract at their 5 transcriptional start site. Here, we report that $p70^{S6k}$ was constitutively phosphorylated and activated to various degrees in serum-deprived AGS, A2058, HT-1376, MG63, MCF7, MDA-MB-435S, MDA-MB-231 and MB-157. Rapamycin treatment induced a significant dephosphorylation and inactivation of $p70^{S6k}$ in all cancer cell lines, while wortmannin, a specific inhibitor of PI3-K, caused a mild dephosphorylation of $p70^{S6k}$ in AGS, MDA-MB-435S and MB-157. In addition, SQ20006, methylxanthine phosphodiesterase inhibitor, reduced the phosphorylation of $p70^{S6k}$ in all cancer cells tested. Consistent with inhibitory effect of rapamycin on $p70^{S6k}$ activity, rapamycin inhibited [$^3H$]-thymidine incorporation and increased the number of cells at $G_{0}G_{1}$ phase. Furthermore, these inhibitory effects were accompanied by the decrease in growth of cancer cells. Taken together, the results indicate that the antiproliferative activity of rapamycin might be attributed to cell cycle arrest at $G_{0}G_{1}$ phase in human cancer cells through the inhibition of constitutively activated $p70^{S6k}$ of cancer cells and suggest $p70^{S6k}$ as a potential target for therapeutic strategies aimed at preventing or inhibiting tumor growth.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.99-110
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• 1994

One consequence of fertilization in mammals is an increased resistance of the zona pellucida (ZP) to proteases and various chemical reagents. This phenomenon has been called 'zona pellucida hardening' (ZPH), and it is generally accepted that it is caused by the secretory products of cortical granules released by the egg at fertilization. ZP of mouse oocytes maturing in vitro in a chemically defined medium becomes progressively more resistant to solubilization by chymotrypsin ("Spontaneous" ZP hardening). In the present study, it was aimed to find the specificity of spontaneous ZPH in relation to its possible relevance to the cortical reaction and the physiological block to polyspermy. When a maturation inhibitors, cAMP analog(dbcAMP) and phosphodiesterase inhibitor (IBMX) was added to culture medium, it prevent spontaneous ZPH of mouse oocyte during in vitro culture. Thus spontaneous ZPH requires GVBD, since it is prevented by those agents, which inhibit GVBD in vitro. However, culture for 3 hours in the presence of PMA(lOng/ml), a protein kinase C activator, resulted in ZPH without GVBD, thus suggesting that ZPH may be regulated independently apart from the event of GVBD. Pretreatment of mouse oocyte with FBS result in partially inhibitory effect on subsequent spontaneous ZPH. Induction of GVBD in vivo had a inhibitory effect on the spontaneous ZPH, but subsequent spontaneous ZPH. Induction of GVBD in vivo had a inhinbitory effect on the spontaneous ZPII, but had no inhibitory effect on PMA-induced ZPH. Treatment with a microfilament formation blocker(cytochalasin-B) at 1${\mu}g$/ml concentration, resulted in the excellent inhibitory effect on spontaneous ZPH. However cytochalasin-B did not inhibit PMA-induced ZPH. Thus this suggesting that spontaneuse ZPH had a different mechanism from PMA-induced ZPH.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.203-210
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• 2011

Cilostazol is a selective inhibitor of phosphodiesterase 3 that increases intracellular cAMP levels and activates protein kinase A, thereby inhibiting vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation. We investigated whether AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activation induced by heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is a mediator of the beneficial effects of cilostazol and whether cilostazol may prevent cell proliferation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production by activating AMPK in VSMC. In the present study, we investigated VSMC with various concentrations of cilostazol. Treatment with cilostazol increased HO-1 expression and phosphorylation of AMPK in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Cilostazol also significantly decreased platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-induced VSMC proliferation and ROS production by activating AMPK induced by HO-1. Pharmacological and genetic inhibition of HO-1 and AMPK blocked the cilostazol-induced inhibition of cell proliferation and ROS production.These data suggest that cilostazol-induced HO-1 expression and AMPK activation might attenuate PDGF-induced VSMC proliferation and ROS production.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.657-665
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• 2020

The objective of this study was to investigate whether supplementation of pentoxifylline (PTX; phosphodiesterase inhibitor) to thawed boar semen improves the post-thaw motility of sperm and affects the efficiency of artificial insemination (AI) and further development. To determine the concentration of PTX for AI, frozen-thawed semen was incubated with 0, 5, 10, and 20 mM PTX in an extender freezing medium, respectively, after thawing. Kinematic properties of sperm were examined with a computer-assisted semen analysis (CASA) system. In addition, viability and mitochondrial activity were also tested by LIVE/DEAD and a MitoTracker kit. There were no significant differences in the kinetic parameters of thawed sperm between control and treatment groups, but overall assessment parameters such as motility and rapid progressive were higher in the 10 mM PTX group. In the viability and mitochondrial assay, there were no significant differences observed in the PTX treatment, compared to the control. For further analysis, artificial inseminations were performed using frozen semen and 10 mM PTX treated cryopreserved semen, respectively. There were no differences in pregnancy rates and fetus weights among the groups until 30 and 40 days, but litter size was reduced and relatively low-birth weight was observed in the PTX group. In summary, our findings suggest that enhancement of in vitro sperm quality or non-toxicity supplemented by PTX may have detrimental effects on fetus development.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.281-287
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• 2013

In mammal, unfertilized oocytes remain in the oviduct or under in vitro culture, which is called "oocyte aging". This asynchrony negatively affects fertilization in pre- and post-implantation embryo development. Caffeine a phosphodiesterase inhibitor is known to rescue oocyte aging in several species. The objective of this study is to determine the cytoskeleton distribution in aged oocytes and the embryo developmental ability of aged oocytes in the present or absence of caffeine during maturation. Caffeine treatment increased the incidence of normal spindle assembly of aged oocytes (treatment, $67.57{\pm}4.11%$ aging, $44.61{\pm}6.4%$) and no significant differences compared to control group. Fluorescence values were compared using ROS (Reactive oxidation species) stain. Fluorescence values appear of control group intensity rate ($51.53.{\pm}3.80$), aging group ($68.10{\pm}5.54$) and treatment of caffeine ($45.04{\pm}2.98$). Aged oocytes that were derived from addition of caffeine to the IVM (in vitro maturation) medium had significantly increased 2-cell that developed to the blastocyst stage compared to the aging group. Blastocysts, derived from caffeine treatment group, significantly increased the total cell number compare aging ($90.44{\pm}10.18$ VS $67.88{\pm}7.72$). Apoptotic fragments of genomic DNA were measured in individual embryo using TUNEL assay. Blastocyst derived from caffeine treatment group decreased significantly the apoptotic index compared to blastocyst derived from aging group. In conclusion, we inferred that the caffeine treatment during oocyte aging can improve the developmental rate and quality in bovine embryos developing in vitro.