Glycoside hydrolases are important enzymes that support bacterial growth by enabling the degradation of polysaccharides (e.g., starch, cellulose, xylan, and chitin) in the environment. Presently, little is known about the overall phylogenetic distribution of the genomic potential to degrade these polysaccharides in bacteria. However, knowing the phylogenetic breadth of these traits may help us ...

We report here the results of a chemical genetic screen using small molecules with known pharmacologies coupled with a cortical brain slice-based model for ischemic stroke. We identified a small-molecule compound not previously appreciated to have neuroprotective action in ischemic stroke, the cardiac glycoside neriifolin, and demonstrated that its properties in the brain slice assay included d...

The mechanism of the inotropic effect of cardiac glycosides on the heart has long been controversial. Inotropic effects at low concentrations of cardiac glycosides indicate more than one class of receptor or more than one cellular mechanism. In the brain of the rat, high- and low-affinity cardiac glycoside receptors have been shown to be associated with two structurally different isoforms of th...

Ohwi (Leguminosae), has been clinically used as an antipyretic and spasmolytic agent in traditional Chinese medicine. Many Chinese herbal formulas contain Pueraria root as their major ingredient; most well-known being “Kakkon-To” (in Japanese), which is indicated for fever and chills with stiffness or rigidity of the neck and upper back. The constituents of Pueraria root have been studied exten...

Particulate enzyme preparations from tobacco seedlings (Nicotiana tabacum L.) were used in the synthesis of steryl glycoside. The data obtained by measuring cholesterol-4-(14)C incorporation generally agree with results obtained with UDP-glucose-(14)C. The in vitro reaction was linear for the first 10 minutes and had a pH optimum of 7.0 to 7.4. Addition of ATP activated while UDP-glucose inhibi...

Hydroxyanthraquinones represent a group of pharmacologically active compounds characteristic for plants of the Rumex and Rheum genera. These compounds in the human intestine act as laxative compounds. As they cause the greatest side effects and are often abused by the public, their accurate analysis in plants and plant-derived laxatives is much needed. To isolate compounds from plants, pressuri...

In our previous study, cardiac glycosides including bufalin, a group of sodium pump (Na+/K+-ATPase) inhibitors widely used to treat heart failure for many years, have been demonstrated to induce a delay of mitotic entry and mitotic arrest in many cancer cells. However, the underlying mechanism remains poorly understood. Here, we reported for the first time that cardiac glycoside bufalin induced...

Two glycoside hydrolase encoding genes (tagh2 and tbgh2) were identified from different Thermus species using functional screening. Based on amino acid similarities, the enzymes were predicted to belong to glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 2. Surprisingly, both enzymes (TaGH2 and TbGH2) showed twofold higher activities for the hydrolysis of nitrophenol-linked β-D-glucopyranoside than of -galactop...

A new lignan glycoside, (-)-massoniresinol 4'-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (4), was isolated, together with six known ones (1-3, 5-7), from the leaves of Sambucus sieboldiana. Their structures were established on the basis of chemical and spectral data.

[structure: see text] Two neuraminic acid-based, C-glycoside polymers were synthesized. Preliminary studies on one of these polymers showed potent neuraminidase inhibitory activity, suggesting potential utility as an antipathogenic surface coating for the preparation of antimicrobial biomaterials.