Published papers

In the course of screening for a new type of androgen receptor (AR) antagonist, we isolated a novel compound, arabilin, with two structural isomers, spectinabilin and SNF4435C, produced by Streptomyces sp. MK756-CF1. Structure elucidation on the basis of the spectroscopic properties showed that arabilin is a novel polypropionate-derived metabolite with a p-nitrophenyl group and a substituted γ-pyrone ring. Arabilin competitively blocked the binding of androgen to the ligand-binding domain of AR in vitro. In addition, arabilin inhibited androgen-induced prostate-specific antigen mRNA expression in prostate cancer LNCaP cells. © 2010 Japan Antibiotics Research Association All rights reserved.

チロシンキナーゼをコードするerbB2やsrc癌遺伝子で形質転換した細胞では、ホスファチジルイノシトール代謝回転が上昇しており、この活性化にチロシンキナーゼが関与していることを報告した。(4ページ)

放線菌よりチロシンホスファターゼ阻害剤として新規化合物デフォスタチンを発見し、報告した。(5ページ)

チロシンキナーゼ阻害剤アーブスタチンの培養細胞での細胞応答を解析し、チロシンキナーゼの生理的役割を報告した。(7ページ)

チロシンキナーゼ阻害剤アーブスタチンとその誘導体の全合成を報告した。(2ページ)

クロロプラストをLAHase処理すると脂肪酸の酸化酸化ステップが阻害され、C6アルデヒド生成が抑制されることを報告した。（3ページ）

Cancer cell migration is a required step in cancer metastasis. We screened for inhibitors of cancer cell migration of microbial origin, and obtained moverastin, a member of the cylindrol family, from Aspergillus sp. F7720. However, the results of an NMR spectroscopic analysis raised the possibility that moverastin is a mixture of two diastereomers. Separation of the C-10 epimers of synthetic moverastin and a bioassay revealed that both diastereomers (moverastins A and B) had inhibitory effects on cell migration. Furthermore, we demonstrated that moverastins A and B inhibited FTase in vitro, and they also inhibited both the membrane localization of H-Ras and the activation of the PI3K/Akt pathway in EC17 cells. Thus, moverastins inhibited the migration of tumor cells by inhibiting the farnesylation of H-Ras, and subsequent H-Ras-dependent activation of the PI3K/Akt pathway. ©2005 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved.

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, due to an accumulation of unfolded proteins in the ER, leads to a process known as the unfolded protein response (UPR). Since the several compounds used to induce UPR have different modes of action, their mechanisms of protein accumulation are thought to be different, but it is unclear whether these compounds can upregulate UPR target genes with similar kinetics. Hence, we sought to compare the expression patterns of nine UPR target genes induced by seven UPR-inducing compounds. Hierarchical clustering analysis revealed that the expression patterns of the UPR target genes induced by the seven compounds were classified into two clusters; cluster A (thapsigargin, tunicamycin, 2-deoxyglucose, and dithiothreitol) and cluster B (brefeldin A, monensin, and eeyarestatin I). Thus, this study suggests the existence of at least two types of UPR target gene expression profiles, which depend on the mode of action of the compounds.

Background: Identification of the target proteins of bioactive compounds is critical for elucidating the mode of action; however, target identification has been difficult in general, mostly due to the low sensitivity of detection using affinity chromatography followed by CBB staining and MS/MS analysis. Results: We applied our protocol of predicting target proteins combining in silico screening and experimental verification for incednine, which inhibits the anti-apoptotic function of Bcl-xL by an unknown mechanism. One hundred eighty-two target protein candidates were computationally predicted to bind to incednine by the statistical prediction method, and the predictions were verified by in vitro binding of incednine to seven proteins, whose expression can be confirmed in our cell system.As a result, 40% accuracy of the computational predictions was achieved successfully, and we newly found 3 incednine-binding proteins. Conclusions: This study revealed that our proposed protocol of predicting target protein combining in silico screening and experimental verification is useful, and provides new insight into a strategy for identifying target proteins of small molecules. © 2012 Kobayashi et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Inostamycin, which was recently isolated from Streptomyces sp. MH816-AF15 as an inhibitor of cytidine 5′-diphosphate 1,2-diacyl-sn-glycerol (CDP-DG): inositol transferase, caused a G1-phase accumulation in the cell cycle of small cell lung carcinomas. To investigate whether the cytostatic effect of inostamycin is restricted to lung carcinoma cell lines or applicable to other type of cells, we tested five oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) cell lines. Cell growth was suppressed in 62.5-125 ng/ml inostamycin in the culture medium in all oral cancer cell lines tested, with non-viable cells being < 1%, indicating inostamycin is cytostatic on SCC cell lines. Decrease in cyclin D1 mRNA and protein expression due to the inostamycin treatment was accompanied by suppression of phosphorylated retinoblastoma susceptibility gene product (pRB-P) levels. Moreover, flow cytometric analysis showed that inostamycin induced an increase in G1/G0 cells (1.2-3.2 fold) over 24 h. These results suggest that inostamycin is a useful agent for tumour dormant cytostatic therapy for oral SCC. © 2001 Academic Press.

To investigate the exact biochemical functions by which Bcl-2 regulates apoptosis, we established a stable human small cell lung carcinoma cell line, Ms-1, overexpressing wild-type human Bcl-2 or various deletion and point mutants thereof, and examined the effect of these Bcl-2 mutants on apoptosis induced by antitumor drugs such as camptothecin. Cytochrome c release, caspase-3(-like) protease activation, and apoptosis induced by antitumor drugs were accelerated by overexpression of Bcl-2 lacking a Bcl-2 homology (BH) 1 domain (Bcl-2/ΔBH1), but not by that of BH2, BH3, or BH4 domain-deleted Bcl-2. A similar result was obtained upon the substitution of glycine 145 with alanine in the BH1 domain (Bcl-2/G145A), which failed to interact with either Bax or Bak. Pro-apoptotic Bax and Bak have been known to be activated in response to antitumor drugs, and Bcl-2/G145A as well as Bcl-2/ΔBH1 also accelerated Bax- or Bak-induced apoptosis in HEK293T cells. These two mutants still retained the ability to interact with wild-type Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL, and abrogated the inhibitory effect of wild-type Bcl-2 or Bcl-xL on Bax- or Bak-induced apoptosis. In addition, immunoprecipitation studies revealed that Bcl-2/ΔBH1 and Bcl-2/G145A interrupted the association between wild-type Bcl-2 and Bax/Bak. Taken together, our results demonstrate that Bcl-2/ΔBH1 or Bcl-2/G145A acts as a dominant negative of endogenous anti-apoptotic proteins such as Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL, thereby enhancing antitumor drug-induced apoptosis, and that this dominant negative activity requires both a failure of interaction with Bax and Bak through the BH1 domain of Bcl-2 and retention of the ability to interact with Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL.

Dephostatin, a novel tyrosine phosphatase inhibitor, was isolated from the culture broth of Streptomyces sp. MJ742-NF5. The structure was elucidated to be 2-(N-methyl-N-nitroso)hydroquinone by spectral and chemical analyses of dephostatin and its derivatives. © 1993, JAPAN ANTIBIOTICS RESEARCH ASSOCIATION. All rights reserved.

Anti-apoptotic oncoproteins Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL are overexpressed in many cancers and play a crucial role in cancer initiation, progression, and resistance to chemotherapy. Therefore, the discovery of a functional inhibitor for these proteins and improved understanding of the molecular mechanisms of these proteins will be an aid to novel anti-tumor therapies. Here, using chemical-genetic cell-based screening, we have discovered a chemically and biologically unique substance, incednine, as a novel functional modulator of Bcl-2/Bcl-xL from the fermentation broth of Streptomyces sp. ML693-90F3. This compound was isolated as a HCl salt by solvent extraction and using centrifugal liquid-liquid partition chromatography. Its structure was elucidated by spectroscopic analysis, X-ray crystallographic analysis, and computational studies. Incednine has a molecular formula, C42H63N3O8, and consists of a novel skeletal structure, enol-ether amide in a 24-membered macrolactam core, with two aminosugars. Bcl-xL-overexpressing Ms-1 cells displayed resistance to several anti-tumor agents; however, anti-tumor agent-induced cell death was observed only when cells were treated with incednine. Overexpression of Bcl-xL inhibited cell death in Bax-overexpressing HEK293T cells by forming a complex with Bax, whereas Bcl-xL failed to inhibit cell death in the presence of incednine without affecting the heterodimerization of Bcl-xL and Bax. These findings suggest that incednine serves as a potent modulator of the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2/Bcl-xL distinct from the other known Bcl-2 inhibitors and could provide a chemical probe to study the underlying mechanisms of Bcl-2/Bcl-xL. Copyright © 2008 American Chemical Society.

The ubiquitous glyoxalase system removes methylglyoxal as a harmful by-product of glycolysis. Because malaria parasites have drastically increased glycolytic fluxes, they could be highly susceptible to the inhibition of this detoxification pathway. Here we analysed the intracellular localization, oligomerization and inhibition of the glyoxalases from Plasmodium falciparum. Glyoxalase I (GloI) and one of the two glyoxalases II (cGloII) were located in the cytosol of the blood stages. The second glyoxalase II (tGloII) was detected in the apicoplast pointing to alternative metabolic pathways. Using a variety of methods, cGloII was found to exist in a monomer-dimer equilibrium that might have been overlooked for homologues from other organisms and that could be of physiological importance. The compounds methyl-gerfelin and curcumin, which were previously shown to inhibit mammalian GloI, also inhibited P. falciparum GloI. Inhibition patterns were predominantly competitive but were complicated because of the two different active sites of the enzyme. This effect was neglected in previous inhibition studies of monomeric glyoxalases I, with consequences for the interpretation of inhibition constants. In summary, the present work reveals novel general glyoxalase properties that future research can build on and provides a significant advance in characterizing the glyoxalase system from P. falciparum. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

We studied the effect of the 3,4 dihydroxy analogue of dephostatin (3,4-dephostatin), an inhibitor of protein-tyrosine phosphatase (PTPase), on the differentiation of rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells. 3,4-Dephostatin accelerated NGF-induced neurite formation in PC12h cells, a subline of PC12 cells, whereas the inhibitor alone did not induce neurite formation. It sustained the NGF-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of several proteins, most prominently that of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase. EGF alone did not induce differentiation in PC12h cells, but it induced neurite formation in the presence of 3,4-dephostatin. The inhibitor also prolonged EGF-induced tyrosine phosphorylation and activation of MAP kinase. An inactive analogue of dephostatin, 2'-O-methyl-dephostatin showed no effect on either neurite formation or MAP kinase tyrosine phosphorylation in NGF- or EGF-treated PC12h cells. Thus, we demonstrated that the PTPase inhibitor could enhance growth factor-induced differentiation in PC12 cells possibly by sustaining the MAP kinase activity.

We developed a new detection system for the activation of an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress sensor, inositol requiring kinase 1 α (IRE1α), by evaluating dimerization of it by bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) assay. By detecting the fluorescence derived from the reconstituted cerulean, this assay system enabled us to distinguish the activation behaviors of IRE1α as to ER stress-inducing compounds.

Cyclin D1 binds to the Cdk4 and Cdk6 to form a pRB kinase. Upon phosphorylation, pRB loses its repressive activity for the E2F transcription factor, which then activates transcription of several genes required for the transition from the G1- to S-phase and for DNA replication. The cyclin D1 gene is rearranged and overexpressed in centrocytic lymphomas and parathyroid tumors and it is amplified and/or overexpressed in a major fraction of human tumors of various types of cancer. Ectopic overexpression of cyclin D1 in fibroblast cultures shortens the G1 phase of the cell cycle. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that introduction of an antisense cyclin D1 into a human carcinoma cell line, in which the cyclin D1 gene is amplified and overexpressed, causes reversion of the malignant phenotype. Thus, increased expression of cyclin D1 can play a critical role in tumor development and in maintenance of the malignant phenotype. However, it is insufficient to confer transformed properties on primary or established fibroblasts. In this review, we summarize the role of cyclin D1 on tumor development and malignant transformation. In addition, our chemical biology study to understand the regulatory mechanism of cyclin D1 transcription is also reviewed. © 2007 Japanese Cancer Association.

A new compound, gerfelin, was isolated from a culture broth of Beauveria felina QN22047. It was purified by column chromatography on silica gel and by HPLC. Gerfelin has the molecular formula C15H14O6. It inhibited synthesis of geranylgeranyl diphosphate, which was mediated by recombinant human geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase (hGGPP synthase) in vitro. The inhibitory pattern of gerfelin was noncompetitive against isopentenyl diphosphate, and uncompetitive against farnesyl diphosphate.

Abl tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) such as imatinib and dasatinib are ineffective against Bcr-Abl leukemic stem cells. Thus, the identification of novel agents that are effective in eradicating quiescent Bcr-Abl stem cells is needed to cure leukemias caused by Bcr-Abl cells. Human Bcr-Abl cells engrafted in the bone marrow of immunodeficient mice survive under severe hypoxia. We generated two hypoxia-adapted (HA)-Bcr-Abl sublines by selection in long-term hypoxic cultures (1.0% O 2). Interestingly, HA-Bcr-Abl cells exhibited stem cell-like characteristics, including more cells in a dormant, increase of side population fraction, higher Β-catenin expression, resistance to Abl TKIs, and a higher transplantation efficiency. Compared with the respective parental cells, HA-Bcr-Abl cells had higher levels of protein and higher enzyme activity of glyoxalase-I (Glo-I), an enzyme that detoxifies methylglyoxal, a cytotoxic by-product of glycolysis. In contrast to Abl TKIs, Glo-I inhibitors were much more effective in killing HA-Bcr-Abl cells both in vitro and in vivo. These findings indicate that Glo-I is a novel molecular target for treatment of Bcr-Abl leukemias, and, in particular, Abl TKI-resistant quiescent Bcr-Abl leukemic cells that have acquired stem-like characteristics in the process of adapting to a hypoxic environment. © 2010 Macmillan Publishers Limited All rights reserved.