• Animal cells and systems
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.391-397
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• 2009

The house dust mite (Dermatophagoides pteronissinus) is an important factor in triggering allergic diseases. The function of eosinophils, particularly in the production of cytokine or chemokine, is critical in understanding the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases. In this study, we examined whether D. pteronissinus extract (DpE) induces the expression of monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP-1)/CCL2, IL-8/CXCL8, and IL-6 that mediate in the infiltration and activation of immune cells and in its signaling mechanism in the human eosinophilic cell line, EoL-1. DpE increased the mRNA and protein expression of MCP-1, IL-8, and IL-6 in a time- and dose-dependent course in EoL-1 cells. In our experiments using signal-specific inhibitors, we found that the increased expression of MCP-1, IL-8, and IL-6 due to DpE is associated with Src family tyrosine kinase and protein kinase C $\delta$ (PKC $\delta$). In addition, the activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) is required for MCP-1 and IL-8 expression while p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) is involved in IL-6 expression. DpE induced the phosphorylation of ERK and p38 MAPK. PP2, an inhibitor of Src family tyrosine kinase, and rottlerin, an inhibitor of PKC $\delta$, blocked the activation of ERK and p38 MAPK. DpE induces the activation of ERK and p38 MAPK via Src family tyrosine kinase and PKC $\delta$ for MCP-1, IL-8, or IL-6 production. Increased cytokine release due to the house dust mite and the characterization of its signal transduction may be valuable in understanding the eosinophil-related pathogenic mechanism of inflammatory diseases.

• BMB Reports
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.281-289
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• 1995

Homogeneous human deoxycytidine kinase was purified in one step from a variety of spontaneous human leukemic cells (T-ALL, B-ALL, B-CLL, AML, CML), and from cultured T-lymphoblast cells (MOLT-4) using the newly developed affinity medium, $dCp_4$-Sepharose. Starting with an ammonium sulfate fraction, purification was achieved in one step with the kinase being eluted from a column by the end product inhibitor, dCTP. The purified deoxycytidine kinase from T-ALL cells phosphorylated deoxyadenosine and deoxyguanosine, as well as deoxycytidine. The enzyme purified from T-ALL and B-CLL cells yielded one major band with a molecular weight of 52 kDa determined by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. AML and CML cells yielded one 52 kDa band and an extra band of 30 kDa molecular weight. On the other hand, B-ALL and MOLT-4 cells showed a low molecular weight band of 30 kDa only. However, the electrophoretic mobilities of enzymatic activity in 12% non-denaturing gels were identical for the dCyd kinase from all different kinds of leukemic cell lines, except that the B-ALL, B-CLL, and MOLT-4 cell preparations had an extra minor peak, all at the same position. dAdo and dCyd phosphorylating activities comigrated indicating that these activities are all associated with the same protein. Two new methods, a disk implantation method and a nitrocellulose powder method were used with a small amount of enzyme protein to raise polyclonal antibodies against dCyd kinase purified from T-ALL cells.

• BMB Reports
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• v.47 no.12
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• pp.685-690
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• 2014

The Ras/Raf/MEK/Erk signaling pathway is important for regulation of cell growth, proliferation, differentiation, survival, and apoptosis in response to a variety of extracellular stimuli. Lack of Erk MAPK activation is observed in several cancer cells despite active activation of Ras. However, little is known about the modulation of Erk1/2 activity by active Ras. Here, we show that overexpression of active H-Ras (H-RasG12R) in NIH3T3 fibroblasts impaired FGF2-induced Erk1/2 phosphorylation, as compared to wild-type cells. Northern blot analysis revealed that prolonged expression of active Ras increased MAP kinase phosphatase 3 (MKP3) mRNA expression, a negative regulator of Erk MAPK. Inhibition of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway abrogated active Ras-induced up-regulation of MKP3 expression, leading to the rescue of Erk1/2 phosphorylation. Our results demonstrated that the Ras/Raf/MEK/Erk signaling cascade is negatively regulated by the PI3K/Aktdependent transcriptional activation of the MKP3 gene.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.456-466
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• 2000

Aquaperin 4 (AQP4) is the mercurial water channel expressed abundantly in brain, especially the region related with cerebrospinal fluid reabsorption and osmoregulation. The primary structure of AQP4 water channel was elucidated but the molecular mechanism of AQP4 channel regulation is still unknown. To investigate the possible regulation of AQP4 water channel by phosphorylation via various protein kinases, osmotic water permeability of AQP4 expressed in Xenopus oocytes was measured by videomicroscopy technique. Forskolin (10 $\mu$M) did not affect osmotic water permeability of oocytes injected with AQP4 cRNA, excluding the regulation of AQP4 water cnannel by protein kinase A. Osmotic water permeability (P아래첨자) of AQP4-expressed oocytes was ingibited by the pretreatmeat of BAPTA/AM (up to 500$\mu$M), an intracellular Ca윗첨자 chelator, and calmidazolium (100$\mu$M), a specific Ca윗첨자/calmodulin antagonist, in a dose-dependent manner. The inhibition of osmotic water permeability (P아래첨자) by the calmidazolium treatment was completely reversed by the addition of calyculin A (0.1$\mu$M), a nonspecific phosphatase inhibitor. Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), a protein kinase C activator, had biphasic effects on osmotic water permeability in AQP4 cRNA injected oocytes depending on its concentration; 21% increase by 100 nM PMA, 35% decrease by 1$\mu$M PMA. These effects were reversed with 2$\mu$M staurosporine, a nonspecific PKC inhibitor. These results suggest that phosphorylation of AQP4 water channel by Ca윗첨자/calmodulin kinase and protein kinase C might regulate the osmotic water permeability.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.253-258
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• 2004

DNA double-strand break (DSB) is a serious treat for the cells including mutations, chromosome rearrangements, and even cell death if not repaired or misrepaired. Ku heterodimer regulatory DNA binding subunits (Ku70/Ku80) bound to double strand DNA breaks are able to interact with 470-kDa DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs), and the interaction is essential for DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) activity. The Ku80 mutants were designed to bind Ku70 but not DNA end binding activity and the peptides were treated in breast cancer cells for co-therapy strategy to see whether the targeted inhibition of DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) activity sensitized breast cancer cells to ionizing irradiation or chemotherapy drug to develop a treatment of breast tumors by targeting proteins involved in damage-signaling pathway and/or DNA repair. We designed domains of Ku80 mutants, 26 residues of amino acids (HN-26) as a control peptide or 38 (HNI-38) residues of amino acids which contain domains of the membrane-translocation hydrophobic signal sequence and the nuclear localization sequence, but HNI-38 has additional twelve residues of peptide inhibitor region. We observed that the synthesized peptide (HNI-38) prevented DNA-PKcs from binding to Ku70/Ku80, resulting in inactivation of DNA-PK complex activity in breast cancer cells (MDA-465 and MDA-468). Consequently, the peptide treated cells exhibited poor to no DNA repair, and became highly sensitive to irradiation or chemotherapy drugs. The growth of breast cancer cells was also inhibited. These results demonstrate the possibility of synthetic peptide to apply breast cancer therapy to induce apoptosis of cancer cells.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.78-78
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• 2003

Inulin, an active component of Chicorium intybus root, has been shown to stimulate the growth of bifidobacteria, and inhibit colon carcinogenesis. NO mediates a number of the host-defense functions of activated macrophages, including antimicrobial and tumoricidal activity. We examined the effect of inulin on the synthesis of NO in RAW 264.7 cells. Inulin alone had no effect, whereas inulin with IFN-ν synergistically increased the NO production and inducible NO synthase (iNOS) expression in RAW 264.7 cells. Synergy between IFN-ν and inulin was mainly dependent on inulin-induced TNF-${\alpha}$ secretion. Also, protein kinase C (PKC)-${\alpha}$ was involved in the inulin-induced NO production. Inulin-mediated NO production was inhibited by the protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) inhibitor, tyrphostin AG126. Since iNOS gene transcriptions have been shown to be under the control of the NF -$\kappa$B/Rel family of transcription factors, we assessed the effect of inulin on NF -$\kappa$B/Rel using an EMSA. Inulin produced strong induction of NF-$\kappa$B/Rel binding, whereas AP-l binding was slightly induced in RAW 264.7 cells. Inulin stimulated phosphorylation and degradation of I$\kappa$B-${\alpha}$. These results suggest that in IFN-ν-primed RAW 264.7 cells inulin might stimulate NO synthesis via activation of PKC-${\alpha}$ and PTK, resulting in the activation of NF-$\kappa$B.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2002

To elucidate the mechanism underlying the embryotropic effect of extracellular matrix(ECM) on the preimplantation development of mammalian embryos, the involvement of mitogen-activated protein kinase(MAPK) downstream the integrin signaling was examined in mouse blastocysts. Blastocysts were cultured in the presence of growth factor-reduced(GFR) Matrigel(0.5％, v/v). MAPK activity was measured by in vitro phosphorylation of myelin basic protein by the Erk1/2 antibody immunoprecipitates of embryonic extract following the Matrigei treatment. MAPK activity of the early blastocysts rapidly increased within 10 min fo1lowing the Matrigel treatment. When the embryos were cultured for 12 h in the presence of Matrigel, the MAPK activity was significantly higher than that ot the control embryos. PD098059, a MAPK kinase(MEK) inhibitor, attenuated the effect of Matrigel on the change in MAPK activity. Taken together, it suggested that the embryotropic effect of ECM proteins might be mediated by the activation of MAPK cascade.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.51-58
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• 2015

Objectives : Pinus densiflora gnarl, called Song-Jeol in Korean medicine, has been used to cure inflammatory diseases such as arthritis. In the present study, we evaluated inhibitory property of Song-Jeol pharmacopuncture(SJ) on C6 glioma cell migration. Methods : To evaluate cell viability on C6 glioma cells of SJ, the viability was assessed by using Ez-cytox assay kit. The cell migration was assessed by wound-healing assay and Boyden chamber assay, respectively. LPS-induced NO productions were determined by using the Griess reagent. The expression of iNOS and protein kinase $C(PKC)-{\alpha}$ were estimated by western blotting assay. Results : In the wound-healing assay and Boyden chamber assay, SJ showed a significant inhibition on serum-induced C6 glioma cell migration. In addition, NO production was decreased by SJ through suppression of iNOS expression in LPS-stimulated C6 glioma cell. Futhermore, LPS-induced protein kinase $C(PKC)-{\alpha}$ expression was effectively inhibited by SJ. Conclusions : These results demonstrated that SJ was useful for the suppression of the C6 glioma cell migration.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.39-50
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• 1995

This study was designed to clarify the action of cyclic nucleotides, cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP, on phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate (PDBu)-induced contraction in rings isolated from rabbit carotid artery. Arterial rings, 2 mm in width, were myographied isometrically in an isolated organ bath. PDBu produced slowly developing, sustained contraction in rabbit carotid artery, in a dose dependent manner, which was independent of extracellular $Ca^{2+}$ PDBu-induced contraction was relaxed by staurosporine, which suggests that PDBu-induced contraction is mediated by protein kinase C (PKC). $^{45}Ca^{2+}$ uptake by rabbit carotid artery was increased by PDBu during depolarization, but not in control. Isoproterenol and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) relaxed phenylephrine-induced contraction. However, SNP but not isoproterenol relaxed the contraction induced by PDBu. Acetylcholine relaxed PDBu-induced contraction in the presence of the endothelium. 8-bromo-cyclic AMP, a permeable analogue of cyclic AMP, suppressed phenylephrine-induced contraction but not PDBu-induced contraction. 8-bromo cyclic GMP relaxed both of them with dose dependency. A large dose of forskolin relaxed PDBu-induced contraction. PDBu increased cyclic AMP without considerable change in the level of cyclic GMP. Based on these findings, PDBu-induced contraction of rabbit carotid artery was relaxed by cyclic GMP more effectively than cyclic AMP, and the action of cyclic AMP could be mediated by cyclic GMP dependent protein kinase. Therefore it is suggested that the antagonistic action between protein kinase C and cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase plays a major role in the regulation of vascular tone.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.8-12
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• 2007

Purpose: Protein tyrosine kinase(PTK), protein kinase C(PKC), oxidase, as a mediator, have been known to take a role in signal transduction pathway of angiogenesis. The authors confirmed that PKC is the most noticeable mediator for abnormal proliferation of vascular endothelial cells through in vitro study model using the inhibitors, targeting the formation of three co-enzymes. In this study, we would investigate which isoform of PKC play an important role in abnormal angiogenesis of vascular endothelial cell. Methods: In 96 well plates, $10^4$ HUVECs(human umbilical vein endothelial cells) were evenly distributed. Two groups were established; the control group without administration of DMH(1,2-dimethylhydrazine) and the DMH group with administration of $7.5{\times}10^{-9}M$ DMH. RNA was extracted from vascular endothelial cell of each group and expression of the PKC isoform was analyzed by RT-PCR(reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction) method. Results: RT-PCR analysis showed that $PKC{\alpha}$, $-{\beta}I$, $-{\beta}II$, $-{\eta}$, $-{\mu}$ and $-{\iota}$ were expressed in vascular endothelial cells of each group. DMH incresed the expression of $PKC{\alpha}$ and $PKC{\mu}$, and decreased $PKC{\beta}I$, $PKC{\beta}II$ expression dominantly. Conclusion: Based on the result of this study, it was suggested that $PKC{\alpha}$ and $PKC{\mu}$ may have significant role in abnormal proliferation of vascular endothelial cell.