Synthesis and biological evaluation of a novel baicalein glycoside as an anti-inflammatory agent.

Baicalein-6-α-glucoside (BG), a glycosylated derivative of baicalein, was synthesized by using sucrose and the amylosucrase of Deinococcus geothermalis and tested for its solubility, chemical stability, and anti-inflammatory activity. BG was 26.3 times more soluble than baicalein and highly stable in buffered solutions and Dulbecco׳s modified Eagle medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum.

Structural and functional basis for substrate specificity and catalysis of levan fructotransferase.

Levan is β-2,6-linked polymeric fructose and serves as reserve carbohydrate in some plants and microorganisms. Mobilization of fructose is usually mediated by enzymes such as glycoside hydrolase (GH), typically releasing a monosaccharide as a product. The enzyme levan fructotransferase (LFTase) of the GH32 family catalyzes an intramolecular fructosyl transfer reaction and results in production of cyclic difructose dianhydride, thus exhibiting a novel substrate specificity.

Regulatory elements involved in transcription of the human NeuAcalpha2,3Galbeta1,3GalNAcalpha2,6-sialyltransferase (hST6GalNAc IV) gene.

We previously cloned and characterized the promoter region of the human NeuAcalpha2,3Galbeta1,3GalNAcalpha2,6-sialyltransferase (hST6GalNAc IV) gene [Kim et al. (2003)]. In the present study, we identified a region of 294 bp upstream of exon 1 of the gene that produced maximal transcriptional activity in human Jurkat T cells.