It has been postulated that hyperactive glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) is an important factor in the pathogenesis of depression, and that this enzyme also contributes to the mechanism of antidepressant drug action. In the present study, we investigated the effect of prenatal stress (an animal model of depression) and long-term treatment with antidepressant drugs on the concentration of GSK-...

Cell suspension cultures from hypocotyl-derived callus of Hyssopus officinalis were found to produce two sterols i. e. beta-sitosterol (1) and stigmasterol (2), as well as several known pentacyclic triterpenes with an oleanene and ursene skeleton. The triterpenes were identified as oleanolic acid (3), ursolic acid (4), 2alpha,3beta-dihydroxyolean-12-en-28-oic acid (5), 2alpha,3beta-dihydroxyurs...

Glycogen synthase kinase 3beta (GSK-3beta) is a multifunctional serine/threonine kinase involved in several signaling pathways. Recently, we reported the polarized localization of GSK-3beta on the apical membrane of normal colon epithelium. To investigate the functions of this molecule, we studied stomach and colorectal cancer tissues. In normal simple columnar epithelium, GSK-3beta was localiz...

The reaction of ergosterol (ERGO) with singlet oxygen in vitro was studied by using different combinations of the photosensitizers (i.e. rose Bengal and eosine) and solvents (i.e. pyridine, ethanol and methyl tert-butyl ether) and all the products obtained were isolated and fully characterized (mp, Rf, UV, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, EI-MS, ESI-MS and HR-MS). In pyridine. together with the expected (22E)-...

Acetone extract of aerial parts of Euphorbia marschalliana collected from Iran has been subjected to different chromatography techniques for fractionation and purification. The stereo-structures of the myrsinol esters 15-O-acetyl-3-O-propionyl-5-O-butanoyl-7-O-nicotinoylmyrsinol (1) and 15-O-acetyl-3,5-O-dibutanoyl-7-O-nicotinoylmyrsinol (2) have been probed using ROESY spectroscopy and modifie...

Two distinct genes encode the 93% homologous type 1 (placenta, peripheral tissues) and type 2 (adrenals, gonads) 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase/isomerase (3beta-HSD/isomerase) in humans. Mutagenesis studies using the type 1 enzyme have produced the Y154F and K158Q mutant enzymes in the Y(154)-P-H(156)-S-K(158) motif as well as the Y269S and K273Q mutants from a second motif, Y(269)-T-L-S-K(...

Five new triterpenoid saponins, fargosides A, B, C, D, and E, were isolated from the roots of Holboellia fargesii. The structures of fargosides A-E were elucidated on the basis of chemical and physicochemical evidence and found to be 3beta,20alpha-dihydroxy-29-norolean-12-en-28-oic acid 3-O-beta-D-xylopyranosyl-(1-->2)-beta-D-glucopyranoside (1), 3beta,20alpha,24-trihydroxy-29-norolean-12-en-28...

Axin promotes the phosphorylation of beta-catenin by GSK-3beta, leading to beta-catenin degradation. Wnt signals interfere with beta-catenin turnover, resulting in enhanced transcription of target genes through the increased formation of beta-catenin complexes containing TCF transcription factors. Little is known about how GSK-3beta-mediated beta-catenin turnover is regulated in response to Wnt...

Glycogen synthase kinase-3beta (GSK-3beta) has been described as a proline-directed kinase which phosphorylates tau protein at several sites that are elevated in Alzheimer paired helical filaments. However, it has been claimed that GSK-3beta can also phosphorylate the non-proline-directed KXGS motifs in the presence of heparin, including Ser262 in the repeat domain of tau, which could induce th...

Six mutants of Cryptococcus neoformans resistant to nystatin and pimaricin and three mutants resistant to amphotericin B were isolated by ultraviolet irradiation techniques from two wild-type strains. The major sterols of the wild-type strains were Delta(7)-ergosten-3beta-ol and ergosterol. All six mutants resistant to nystatin and pimaricin showed either loss of ergosterol and concurrent produ...