• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.147-154
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• 1998

It was attempted to clarify the participation of $K^+-channels$ in the post-receptor mechanisms of the muscarinic and $A_1-adenosine$ receptor- mediated control of acetylcholine (ACh) release in the present study. Slices from the rat hippocampus were equilibrated with $[^3H]$choline and the release of the labelled products was evoked by electrical stimulation (3 Hz, 5 V/cm, 2 ms, rectangular pulses), and the influence of various agents on the evoked tritium-outflow was investigated. Oxotremorine (Oxo, $0.1{\sim}10\;{\mu}M$), a muscarinic agonist, and $N^6-cyclopentyladenosine$ (CPA, $1{\sim}30\;{\mu}M$), a specific $A_1-adenosine$ agonist, decreased the ACh release in a dose-dependent manner, without affecting the basal rate of release. 4-aminopyridine (4AP), a specific A-type $K^+-channel$ blocker ($1{\sim}100\;{\mu}M$), increased the evoked ACh release in a dose-related fashion, and the basal rate of release is increased by 3 and $100\;{\mu}M$. Tetraethylammonium (TEA), a non-specific $K^+-channel$ blocker ($0.1{\sim}10\;{\mu}M$), increased the evoked ACh release in a dose-dependent manner without affecting the basal release. The effects of Oxo and CPA were not affected by $3\;{\mu}M$ 4AP co-treatment, but 10 mM TEA significantly inhibited the effects of Oxo and CPA. 4AP ($10\;{\mu}M$)- and TEA (10 mM)-induced increments of evoked ACh release were completely abolished in Ca^{2+}-free$ medium, but these were recoverd in low Ca^{2+}$ medium. And the effects of $K^+-channel$ blockers in low Ca^{2+}$ medium were inhibited by $Mg^{2+}$ (4 mM) and abolished by $0.3\;{\mu}M$ tetrodotoxin (TTX). These results suggest that the changes in TEA-sensitive potassium channel permeability and the consequent limitation of Ca^{2+}$ influx are partly involved in the presynaptic modulation of the evoked ACh-release by muscarinic and $A_1-adenosine$ receptors of the rat hippocampus.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2002

It has been well known that Korea red ginseng has an antihypertensive effect. The antihypertensive effect may be due to its ability to change the peripheral resistance. Change of vascular tone in the resistance-sized artery contribute to the peripheral resistance, thereby regulate the blood pressure. Therefore, we investigated to clarify the vasorelaxing mechanism induced by crude saponin of Korea red ginseng in the resistance-sized mesenteric artery of rats. The resistance-sized mesenteric artery was isolated and cut into a ring. The ring segment was immersed in HEPES-buffered solution and its isometric tension was measured using myograph force-displacement transducer. Crude saponin of ginseng relaxed the mesenmetric arterial rings precontracted with norepinephrine (3$\mu$M) in dose-dependent manner (0.01 mg/㎖ -1 mg/㎖. The relaxation by crude saponin was smaller in endothelium-intact preparation than that in endothelium-denuded preparation. The contraction induced by A23187 or phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate was not affected by crude saponin of ginseng. The vasorelaxing effect of crude saponin of ginseng was significantly attenuated by the increase of the extracellular K$\^$+/ concentration. Crude saponin-induced vasorelaxation was not affected by tetraethylammonium (1 mM), glybenclamide (10$\mu$M), and 4-aminopyridine (0.1 mM) in these preparations. Ba$\^$2+/(10$\mu$M ∼100$\mu$M) markedly reduced the crude saponin-induced vasorelakation dose-dependently. From the above results, we suggest that crude saponin of ginseng may stimulate K$\^$+/ efflux and hyperpolarize the membrane, thereby cause the vasorelaxation in the resistance-sized mesenteric artery of rats.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.48-58
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• 2005

The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of nicorandil on arterial blood pressure and vascular contractile responses in the normotensive anesthetized rats and to establish the mechanism of action. Nicorandil (30~300 ${\mu}g/kg$) given into a femoral vein of the normotensive anesthetized rat produced a dose-dependent depressor response. These nicorandil-induced hypotensive responses were not affected by pretreatment with atropine (3.0 mg/kg, i.v.) or propranolol (2.0 mg/kg, i.v.), while markedly inhibited in the presence of chlorisondamine (1.0 mg/kg, i.v.) or phentolamine (2.0 mg/kg, i.v.). Futhermore, after the pretreatment with 4-aminopyridine (1.0 mg/kg/30 min, i.v.) or glibenclamide (50.0 ${\mu}g/kg$/30min) into a femoral vein made a significant reproduction in pressor responses induced by intravenous norepinephrine. In he isolated rat aortic strips, both phenylephrine (10$^{-5}$ M)- and high potassium (5.6 ${\times}\;10^{-2}$ M)-inducedcontractile responses were dose-dependently depressed in the presence of nicorandil (25~100 ${\mu}M$). Collectively, these experimental results demonstrate that intravenous nicorandil causes a dose-dependent depressor action in the anesthetized rat at least partly through the blockade of vascular adrenergic ${\alpha}_1$-receptors, in addition to the well-known mechanism of potassium channel opening-induced vasorelaxation.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.461-467
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• 2009

The auditory cortex (A1) encodes the acquired significance of sound for the perception and interpretation of sound. Nitric oxide (NO) is a gas molecule with free radical properties that functions as a transmitter molecule and can alter neural activity without direct synaptic connections. We used whole-cell recordings under voltage clamp to investigate the effect of NO on spontaneous GABAergic synaptic transmission in mechanically isolated rat auditory cortical neurons preserving functional presynaptic nerve terminals. GABAergic spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents (sIPSCs) in the A1 were completely blocked by bicuculline. The NO donor, S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP), reduced the GABAergic sIPSC frequency without affecting the mean current amplitude. The SNAP-induced inhibition of sIPSC frequency was mimicked by 8-bromoguanosine cyclic 3',5'-monophosphate, a membrane permeable cyclic-GMP analogue, and blocked by 2-(4-carboxyphenyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide, a specific NO scavenger. Blockade of presynaptic $K^+$ channels by 4-aminopyridine, a $K^+$ channel blocker, increased the frequencies of GABAergic sIPSCs, but did not affect the inhibitory effects of SNAP. However, blocking of presynaptic $Ca^{2+}$ channels by $Cd^{2+}$, a general voltage-dependent $Ca^{2+}$ channel blocker, decreased the frequencies of GABAergic sIPSCs, and blocked SNAP-induced reduction of sIPSC frequency. These findings suggest that NO inhibits spontaneous GABA release by activation of cGMP-dependent signaling and inhibition of presynaptic $Ca^{2+}$ channels in the presynaptic nerve terminals of A1 neurons.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.511-516
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• 1999

Shiff Base ligand such as [NOIPH] have been synthesized from 2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde and arometic amine. Co(II), Ni(II), and Cu(II) complexes from the reaction metal salts with Tridentate Schiff Base [NOIPH] were sythesized. The ligand and metal(II) complexes were characterized by the elementary analysis, IR, UV-Vis, NMR spectra, and thermogravimetric analysis. Metal(II) complexes in solid state have been shown that the mole raio of Schiff base [NOIPH] as $N_2O$ type to Metal(II) is 2:1 and the metal(II) complexes of $N_2O$ ligand type were four-coordinated configuration.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.630-634
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• 1997

A fluorescence tagging agent, FMOC-Cl (9-fluorenylmethyl chloroformate) was used for the determination of 1-amino-oligosaccharide intermediates generated from glycoproteins by peptide-N $(N-acetyl-{\beta}-D-glucosaminyl)$ asparagine amidase (N-Glycanase, PNGase F). The derivatives were separated on an Amido 80 column by HPLC using a gradient system with 25 to 51% aqueous acetonitrile and monitored by a fluorometric detector. The detection limit of FMOC-amino-oligosaccharides was $0.05{\sim}1.5$ pmol with fluorometric detection at 278 nm.

• Journal of Dairy Science and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.138-147
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• 2003

We here analyzed and proposed the structures of the N-linked sugar chains of PAS-7 from bovine milk fat globule membrane. The N-linked sugar chains were liberated from PAS-7 by hydrazinolysis and, after modifying the reducing ends with 2-aminopyridine (PA), were separated into one neutral (7N,55%) and two acidic (7M mono-, 43%; 7D, di-, 2%) sugar chain roups. The latter were converted into neutral groups (7MN and 7DN) by sialidase digestion. The structure of each of these PA-neutral sugar chains was determined by sugar analysis, sequential exoglycosidase digestion, partial acetolysis, and 1H-NMR spectroscopy. The results show that the 10 sugar chains were of the biantennary complex type with and without fucose. The structure of 7N2A one of the major sugar chains, was proposed as; [structure: see text] A structural comparison between PAS-6 and -7 indicated that although they shared the same protein core, their sugar moiety was markedly different, involving the existence of a different pathway during the post-transcriptional modification.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.59-64
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• 2006

The effects of $Zn^{2+}$ on spontaneous glutamate and GABA release were tested in mechanically dissociated rat CA3 pyramidal neurons which retained functional presynaptic nerve terminals. The spontaneous miniature excitatory and inhibitory postsynaptic currents (mEPSCs and mIPSCs, respectively) were pharmacologically isolated and recorded using whole-cell patch clamp technique under voltage-clamp conditions. $Zn^{2+}$ at a lower concentration $(30{\mu}M)$ increased GABAergic mIPSC frequency without affecting mIPSC amplitude, but it decreased both mIPSC frequency and amplitude at higher concentrations $({\ge}300{\mu}M)$. In contrast, $Zn^{2+}$ (3 to $100{\mu}M$) did not affect glutamatergic mEPSCs, although it slightly decreased both mIPSC frequency and amplitude at $300{\mu}M$ concentration. Facilitatory effect of $Zn^{2+}$ on GABAergic mIPSC frequency was occluded either in $Ca^{2+}$-free external solution or in the presence of $100{\mu}M$ 4-aminopyridine, a non-selective $K^{+}$ channel blocker. The results suggest that $Zn^{2+}$ at lower concentrations depolarizes GABAergic nerve terminals by blocking $K^{+}$ channels and increases the probability of spontaneous GABA release. This $Zn^{2+}$-mediated modulation of spontaneous GABAergic transmission is likely to play an important role in the regulation of neuronal excitability within the hippocampal CA3 area.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.18 no.10
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• pp.1090-1093
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• 1997

The solvent effects on the isotropic NMR shifts in conformationally rigid ligands such as quinuclidine, pyridine, and 4-aminopyridine coordinated to the paramagnetic polyoxometalate, [SiW11CoⅡO39]6- (SiW11Co), are reported. For these complexes the ligand exchange is slow on the NMR time scale and pure 1H NMR signals have been observed at room temperature. The signals for the SiW11Co complexes are shifted upfield whe dimethyl sulfoxide-d6 (DMSO) is added to a D2O solution. The isotropic shifts are separated into contact and pseudocontact contributions by assuming that the contact shifts are proportional to the isotropic shifts of the same ligands coordinated to [SiW11NiⅡO39]6-. It is shown that both the contact and pseudocontact shifts decrease (the absolute values of the pseudocontact shifts increase), when D2O is replaced by DMSO. It is suggested that D2O, a strong hydrogen bond donor, withdraws electron density from [SiW11CoⅡO39]6-, increasing the acidity of the cobalt ion toward the axial ligand. When D2O is replaced by DMSO, the acidity of the cobalt ion in SiW11Co decreases, weakening the Co-N bond. Then both the contact and pseudocontact shifts are expected to decrease in agreement with the observed solvent effects.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.241-249
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• 2017

Plasma membrane hyperpolarization associated with activation of $Ca^{2+}$-activated $K^+$ channels plays an important role in sperm capacitation during fertilization. Although Slo3 (slowpoke homologue 3), together with the auxiliary ${\gamma}^2$-subunit, LRRC52 (leucine-rich-repeat-containing 52), is known to mediate the pH-sensitive, sperm-specific $K^+$ current KSper in mice, the molecular identity of this channel in human sperm remains controversial. In this study, we tested the classical $BK_{Ca}$ activators, NS1619 and LDD175, on human Slo3, heterologously expressed in HEK293 cells together with its functional interacting ${\gamma}^2$ subunit, hLRRC52. As previously reported, Slo3 $K^+$ current was unaffected by iberiotoxin or 4-aminopyridine, but was inhibited by ~50% by 20 mM TEA. Extracellular alkalinization potentiated hSlo3 $K^+$ current, and internal alkalinization and $Ca^{2+}$ elevation induced a leftward shift its activation voltage. NS1619, which acts intracellularly to modulate hSlo1 gating, attenuated hSlo3 $K^+$ currents, whereas LDD175 increased this current and induced membrane potential hyperpolarization. LDD175-induced potentiation was not associated with a change in the half-activation voltage at different intracellular pHs (pH 7.3 and pH 8.0) in the absence of intracellular $Ca^{2+}$. In contrast, elevation of intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ dramatically enhanced the LDD175-induced leftward shift in the half-activation potential of hSlo3. Therefore, the mechanism of action does not involve pH-dependent modulation of hSlo3 gating; instead, LDD175 may modulate $Ca^{2+}$-dependent activation of hSlo3. Thus, LDD175 potentially activates native KSper and may induce membrane hyperpolarization-associated hyperactivation in human sperm.