Seung Cheol Baek

Potent inhibitions of monoamine oxidase A and B by acacetin and its 7-O-(6-O-malonylglucoside) derivative from Agastache rugosa

Five compounds were isolated from the leaves of Agastache rugosa and tested for monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitory activity. Acacetin, a flavonoid, potently inhibited recombinant human MAO-A and MAO-B (IC50=0.19 and 0.17μM, respectively), and reversibly and competitively inhibited MAO-A and MAO-B (Ki=0.045 and 0.037μM, respectively). Acacetin 7-O-(6-O-malonylglucoside) (AMG) was also found to effectively inhibit MAO-A and MAO-B (IC50=2.34 and 1.87μM, respectively), and to reversibly and competitively inhibit MAO-A and MAO-B (Ki=1.06 and 0.38μM, respectively). Tilianin (a glucoside derivative of acacetin) had little inhibitory activity, but the introduction of a malonyl group at sugar moiety significantly increased inhibitory activity. Molecular docking simulation revealed the binding energy of acacetin for MAO-B (-44.2kcal/mol) was greater than its energy for MAO-A (-27.0kcal/mol), and that the Cys172 residue of MAO-B was important for hydrogen bonding with acacetin. AMG was predicted to bind to MAO-B with an energy of -23.1kcal/mol by possible hydrogen-bond formation between an oxygen atom of Ile477 residue and a hydrogen atom (H17) of AMG. However, the interaction between AMG and MAO-A was not verified by the docking simulation. This study suggests acacetin and AMG be viewed as new reversible MAO inhibitors, and useful lead compounds for the inhibitor development.

Discovery of potent and reversible MAO-B inhibitors as furanochalcones

A series of twelve furanochalcones (F1-F12) was synthesized and investigated for their human monoamine oxidase inhibitory activities. Among the series, compound (2E, 4E)-1-(furan-2-yl)-5-phenylpenta-2, 4-dien-1-one (F1), which was analyzed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, showed potent and selective MAO-B inhibitory activity with an inhibition constant (Ki) value of 0.0041 μM and selectivity index of (SI) 172.4, and exhibited competitive inhibition. Introduction of a cinnamyl group to the furanochalcone significantly increased the inhibitory activity. In the dilution-recovery experiments, the residual activities of MAO-A and MAO-B by F1 under the diluted condition fully recovered as compared with the undiluted condition, indicating F1 is a reversible inhibitor. The Ki value of F1 is the lowest among the values of chalcone derivatives and furthermore lower than that (0.0079 μM) of the reversible MAO-B inhibitor, lazabemide, a marketed drug. Molecular docking study against hMAO-B provided the binding site interactions of the lead compound, including strong π-π stacking between the phenyl system and FAD nucleus.

Cloning and characterization of a novel intracellular serine protease (IspK) from Bacillus megaterium with a potential additive for detergents

A new intracellular serine protease gene of Bacillus megaterium, ispK, encoding a protein composed of 332 amino acid residues with a predicted pI of 4.7 was cloned into Escherichia coli. The deduced amino acid sequence of IspK showed 49-56% similarity with the other microbial intracellular serine proteases described in the literature. The enzyme was effectively purified by one-step chromatography after heat-treatment, and showed a homogeneous band corresponding to 35kDa by SDS-PAGE analysis. Amino acid analysis showed that 16 amino acids of the N-terminus of IspK were removed by post-translational protease activity. The optimum pH and temperature of IspK were 6.0-7.0 and 50°C, respectively. In the presence of 2mM of Ca2+ ion, the optimum temperature was increased to 65°C and thermostability (t1/2) increased 32.9-fold from 3.3min to 108.5min at 60°C. The enzyme was activated by Ca2+ and Mg2+, almost completely inhibited by phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride (PMSF) and EDTA, but tolerant to nonionic surfactants, such as, Triton X-100 or Tween 80. IspK efficiently hydrolyzed natural proteins, such as, casein and hemoglobin, and improved blood stain removal. These results suggest IspK can be used as a useful additive for detergent formulations and for deproteinizations.

Selective inhibition of monoamine oxidase A by chelerythrine, an isoquinoline alkaloid

Chelerythrine, an isoquinoline alkaloid isolated from the herbaceous perennial Chelidonium majus, was found to potently and selectively inhibit an isoform of recombinant human monoamine oxidase-A (MAO-A) with an IC50 value of 0.55 µM. Chelerythrine was a reversible competitive MAO-A inhibitor (Ki = 0.22 µM) with a potency much greater than toloxatone (IC50 = 1.10 µM), a marketed drug. Other isoquinoline alkaloids tested did not effectively inhibit MAO-A or MAO-B. A structural comparison with corynoline suggested the 1- and/or 2-methoxy groups of chelerythrine increase its inhibitory activity against MAO-A. Molecular docking simulations revealed that the binding affinity of chelerythrine for MAO-A (-9.7 kcal/mol) was greater than that for MAO-B (-4.6 kcal/mol). Docking simulation implied that Cys323 and Tyr444 of MAO-A are key residues for hydrogen-bond interaction with chelerythrine. Our findings suggest chelerythrine is one of the most reversible selective and potent natural inhibitor of MAO-A, and that it be regarded a potential lead compound for the design of novel reversible MAO-A inhibitors.

Imidazole bearing chalcones as a new class of monoamine oxidase inhibitors

In the present study, series of eleven (2E)-1-[4-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)substituted phenyl]-3-phenylprop-2-en-1-one (IM1-IM11) derivatives were synthesized and evaluated as inhibitors of recombinant human monoamine oxidase (MAO) A and B. The results indicate that (2E)-3-[4-(dimethylamino) phenyl]-1-[4-(1H-imidazol-1-yl) phenyl] prop-2-en-1-one (IM5) is a nonselective and reversible competitive inhibitor of MAO-A and MAO-B with IC50 values of 0.30 ± 0.010 and 0.40 ± 0.017 μM, respectively ; those of (2E)-1-[4-(1H-imidazol-1-yl) phenyl]-3-(4-methylphenyl) prop-2-en-1-one (IM4) were 1.06 ± 0.090 and 0.32 ± 0.021 μM, respectively. Kinetic studies document that both IM5 and IM4 are competitive inhibitors of MAO-A and MAO-B with Ki value of 0.11 ± 0.0085 and 0.085 ± 0.0064 μM, respectively. Molecular docking studies of lead compounds further explained the binding modes in the inhibitor binding cavity of both MAO-A and MAO-B.

Characterization of two extracellular β-glucosidases produced from the cellulolytic fungus Aspergillus sp. YDJ216 and their potential applications for the hydrolysis of flavone glycosides

A cellulolytic fungus YDJ216 was isolated from a compost and identified as an Aspergillus sp. strain. Two extracellular β-glucosidases, BGL1 and BGL2, were purified using ultrafiltration, ammonium sulfate fractionation, and High-Q chromatography. Molecular masses of BGL1 and BGL2 were estimated to be 97 and 45 kDa, respectively, by SDS-PAGE. The two enzymes eluted as one peak at 87 kDa by Sephacryl S-200 chromatography, and located at similar positions in a zymogram after intact gel electrophoresis, suggesting BGL1 and BGL2 might be monomeric and dimeric, respectively. Both enzymes showed similar enzymatic properties; they were optimally active at pH 4.0-4.5 and 60 °C, and had similar half-lives at 70 °C. Two enzymes also preferred p-nitrophenyl glucose (pNPG) with the same Km and hardly hydrolyzed cellobiose, suggesting both enzymes are aryl β-glucosidases. However, Vmax for pNPG of BGL1 (953.2 U/mg) was much higher than those of BGL2 (66.5U/mg) and other β-glucosidases reported. When tilianin (a flavone glycoside of acacetin) was reacted with both enzymes, inhibitory activity for monoamine oxidase, relating to oxidation of neurotransmitter amines, was increased closely to the degree obtained by acacetin. These results suggest that BGL1 and BGL2 could be used to hydrolyze flavone glycosides to improve their inhibitory activities.

Rhamnocitrin isolated from Prunus padus var. seoulensis: A potent and selective reversible inhibitor of human monoamine oxidase A

Three flavanones and two flavones were isolated from the leaves of Prunus padus var. seoulensis by the activity-guided screening for new monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors. Among the compounds isolated, rhamnocitrin (5) was found to potently and selectively inhibit human MAO-A (hMAO-A, IC50 = 0.051 µM) and effectively inhibit hMAO-B (IC50 = 2.97 µM). The IC50 value of 5 for hMAO-A was the lowest amongst all natural flavonoids reported to date, and the potency was 20.2 times higher than that of toloxatone (1.03 µM), a marketed drug. In addition, 5 reversibly and competitively inhibited hMAO-A and hMAO-B with Ki values of 0.030 and 0.91 µM, respectively. Genkwanin (4) was also observed to strongly inhibit hMAO-A and hMAO-B (IC50 = 0.14 and 0.35 µM, respectively), and competitively inhibit hMAO-A and hMAO-B (Ki = 0.097 and 0.12 µM, respectively). Molecular docking simulation reveals that the binding affinity of 5 with hMAO-A (-18.49 kcal/mol) is higher than that observed with hMAO-B (0.19 kcal/mol). Compound 5 interacts with hMAO-A at four possible residues (Asn181, Gln215, Thr336, and Tyr444), while hMAO-B forms a single hydrogen bond at Glu84. These findings suggest that compound 5 as well as 4 can be considered as novel potent and reversible hMAO-A and/or hMAO-B inhibitors or useful lead compounds for future development of hMAO inhibitors in neurological disorder therapies.