The cyclic peptide ecumicin targeting ClpC1 is active against Mycobacterium tuberculosis in vivo.

Drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) has lent urgency to finding new drug leads with novel modes of action. A high-throughput screening campaign of >65,000 actinomycete extracts for inhibition of Mycobacterium tuberculosis viability identified ecumicin, a macrocyclic tridecapeptide that exerts potent, selective bactericidal activity against M. tuberculosis in vitro, including nonreplicating cells.

Ameliorative effects of Monascus pilosus-fermented black soybean (Glycine max L. Merrill) on high-fat diet-induced obesity.

The purpose of this study was to examine the antiobesity effects of Monascus pilosus-fermented black soybean (F-BS) in C57BL/6 mice with high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity. F-BS (oral, 0.5 and 1.

Hytramycins V and I, anti-Mycobacterium tuberculosis hexapeptides from a Streptomyces hygroscopicus strain.

Thirty-five thousand actinomycete extracts were screened for anti-Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb) activity, followed by C18 cartridge fractionation of 37 prioritized extracts. Based on MICs against replicating and nonreplicating M.

Regulatory T cells and Atherosclerosis.

Atherosclerosis is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease. The involvement of both innate and adaptive immune responses in the pathogenesis of the disease has been well recognized. Tregs are an essential part of the immune system and have indispensable functions in maintaining immune system homeostasis, mediating peripheral tolerance, preventing autoimmune diseases, and suppressing inflammatory and proatherogenic immune response.

Phosphoprotein affinity purification identifies proteins involved in S-adenosyl-L-methionine-induced enhancement of antibiotic production in Streptomyces coelicolor.

Streptomycetes are the major natural source of clinical antibiotics. The enhanced secondary metabolite production of many streptomycetes by S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) in previous studies suggested the existence of a common SAM regulatory effect. We screened nine proteins using the phosphoprotein purification column from Streptomyces coelicolor.

Significance of p27 as potential biomarker for intracellular oxidative status.

Our previous proteomic study demonstrated that oxidative stress and antioxidant delphinidin regulated the cellular level of p27(kip1) (referred to as p27) as well as some heat shock proteins in human colon cancer HT 29 cells. Current study was conducted to validate and confirm the regulation of these proteins using both in vitro and in vivo systems. The level of p27 was decreased by hydrogen peroxide in a dose-dependent manner in human colon carcinoma HCT 116 (p53-positive) cells while it was increased upon exposure to hydrogen peroxide in HT 29 (p53-negative) cells.

Dehydroglyasperin C isolated from licorice caused Nrf2-mediated induction of detoxifying enzymes.

Our preliminary experiment demonstrated that a n-hexane/EtOH (9:1, volume) extract of Glycyrrhiza uralensis (licorice) caused a significant induction of NAD(P)H:oxidoquinone reductase (NQO1), one of the well-known phase 2 detoxifying enzymes. We isolated dehydroglyasperin C (DGC) as a potent phase 2 enzyme inducer from licorice. DGC induced NQO1 both in wild-type murine hepatoma Hepa1c1c7 and ARNT-lacking BPRc1 cells, indicating that the compound is a monofunctional inducer.

Isoalantolactone from Inula helenium caused Nrf2-mediated induction of detoxifying enzymes.

Our previous study demonstrated that methanolic extract of Inula helenium (Elecampane) has the potential to induce detoxifying enzymes such as NAD(P)H:(quinone acceptor) oxidoreductase 1 (EC 1.6.99.

Nrf2-mediated induction of detoxifying enzymes by alantolactone present in Inula helenium.

Our previous study showed that a methanol extract of Inula helenium had the potential to induce detoxifying enzymes such as quinone reductase (QR) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) activity. In this study the methanol extract was further fractionated using silica gel chromatography and vacuum liquid chromatography, to yield pure compounds alantolactone and isoalantolactone as QR inducers. Alantolactone caused a dose-dependent induction of antioxidant enzymes including QR, GST, gamma-glutamylcysteine synthase, glutathione reductase, and heme oxygenase 1 in hepa1c1c7 mouse hepatoma cells.

PGK1 induction by a hydrogen peroxide treatment is suppressed by antioxidants in human colon carcinoma cells.

Few protein biomarkers for oxidative stress have been reported. In this study, we attempted to identify the proteins selectively overexpressed in human colon tumor cells by treating with hydrogen peroxide as oxidative stress. A proteomic analysis followed by western blotting showed that phosphoglycerate kinase 1 (PGK1) was induced by hydrogen peroxide in a dose-dependent manner, while its expression was suppressed by a co-treatment with delphinidin, a known antioxidant.

Overexpression of a eukaryotic glutathione reductase gene from Brassica campestris improved resistance to oxidative stress in Escherichia coli.

Glutathione reductase (GR) plays an essential role in a cell's defense against reactive oxygen metabolites by sustaining the reduced status of an important antioxidant glutathione. We constructed a recombinant plasmid based on the expression vector pET-18a that overexpresses a eukaryotic GR from Brassica campestris (BcGR) in Escherichia coli. For comparative analyses, E.

Molecular cloning of the monodehydroascorbate reductase gene from Brassica campestris and analysis of its mRNA level in response to oxidative stress.

In a majority of living organisms, a fundamental protection mechanism from reactive oxygen species is by the ascorbate-glutathione cycle in which an important antioxidant, ascorbate (vitamin C), is utilized to convert harmful H2O2 to H2O. Monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR) maintains reduced pools of ascorbate by recycling the oxidized form of ascorbate. By screening a Brassica campestris cDNA library, we identified a B.