Nam-Jung Kim

P38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) is a crucial target for chronic inflammatory diseases. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by the presence of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain, as well as neurodegeneration, and there is no known cure. Recent studies on the underlying biology of AD in cellular and animal models have indicated that p38 MAPK is capable of orchestrating diverse events related to AD, such as tau phosphorylation, neurotoxicity, neuroinflammatio

BACKGROUND: Chronic neuroinflammation, aggressive amyloid beta (Aβ) deposition, neuronal cell loss, and cognitive impairment are pathological presentations of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Therefore, resolution of neuroinflammation and inhibition of Aβ-driven pathology have been suggested to be important strategies for AD therapy. Previous efforts to prevent AD progression have identified p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) as a promising target for AD therapy. Recent studies showed pharma

In the recent decades, N-heterocycles are widely used as versatile scaffolds for the development of biologically active compounds and considered as one of the privileged structures. Among the various N-heterocycles, benzodiazines, a series of bicyclic heterocycles in which benzene rings are fused with 6-membered heterocycles containing two nitrogens are especially interesting, due to their structural conciseness and usefulness as synthetic intermediates, and suitable physicochemical properties a

Targeted protein degradation (TPD) provides unique advantages over gene knockdown in that it can induce selective degradation of disease-associated proteins attributed to pathological mutations or aberrant post-translational modifications (PTMs). Herein, we report a protein degrader, PRZ-18002, that selectively binds to an active form of p38 MAPK. PRZ-18002 induces degradation of phosphorylated p38 MAPK (p-p38) and a phosphomimetic mutant of p38 MAPK in a proteasome-dependent manner. Given that

A variety of flavones were expediently synthesized from readily accessible chromanones via a one-pot sequence involving Pd(II)-catalyzed dehydrogenation and oxidative boron-Heck coupling with arylboronic acid pinacol esters. In particular, the use of arylboronic acid pinacol esters was found to significantly improve the yield of the reaction.

A series of PROTACs (PROteolysis-TArgeting Chimeras) consisting of bicalutamide analogs and thalidomides were designed, synthesized, and biologically evaluated as novel androgen receptor (AR) degraders. In particular, we found that PROTAC compound 13b could successfully demonstrate a targeted degradation of AR in AR-positive cancer cells and might be a useful chemical probe for the investigation of AR-dependent cancer cells, as well as a potential therapeutic candidate for prostate cancers.

Chemical enhancement of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy was investigated using a gold nanoparticle (AuNP)-coated polymer substrate, and an enormous b2-mode signal enhancement arose from the evaporation-induced reorientation of 4-aminobenzenethiol molecules adsorbed onto the AuNP surface. The dynamic analysis of time-dependent increases of chemically enhanced Raman signals enables us to measure the charge coupling strengths between molecules and metal at varying surface environments and to di

A total of 47 flavanones were expediently synthesized via one-pot β-arylation of chromanones, a class of simple ketones possessing chemically unactivated β sites, with arylboronic acids via tandem palladium(II) catalysis. This reaction provides a novel route to various flavanones, including natural products such as naringenin trimethyl ether, in yields up to 92%.

The concise and enantioselective synthesis of 15-deoxy-Δ(12,14)-prostaglandin J(2) (15d-PGJ(2)) has been accomplished in 11 steps from a known alcohol. The key step of the synthesis involves an asymmetric Rh-catalyzed cycloisomerization of ene-ynone, followed by an olefin isomerization.

discriminate oxidative cyclization sequences involving dehydrogenation, respectively, in a highly atom-economic manner.

Despite the diverse pharmacological activities of berberine, including anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory effects, the direct proteomic targets of berberine have remained largely unknown. Here, we have identified actin as a direct proteomic target of berberine using an affinity-based chemical probe. In addition, we found that actin assembly was significantly modulated by berberine in vitro at the biochemical level and cellular level.

An elusive chemical contribution to SERS is investigated by estimating the chemical coupling strengths through a dynamic relative peak analysis during solvent evaporation from a diluted chemical sample that is drop-deposited on a soft SERS substrate.