San-Bao Hwang

Bio: San-Bao Hwang is an academic researcher from Merck & Co.. The author has contributed to research in topics: Platelet-activating factor & Receptor antagonist. The author has an hindex of 15, co-authored 24 publications receiving 869 citations.

Characterization of a platelet-activating factor receptor antagonist isolated from haifenteng (Piper futokadsura): specific inhibition of in vitro and in vivo platelet-activating factor-induced effects.

Abstract: Platelet-activating factor (PAF) is a potent lipid mediator of inflammation and asthma. Using a receptor preparation of rabbit platelet membranes, we identified a novel antagonist of PAF in the methylene chloride extract of a Chinese herbal plant, haifenteng (Piper futokadsura). The active antagonist, kadsurenone, was isolated and characterized in several in vitro and in vivo assays. It is a specific and competitive inhibitor of PAF binding to its receptor with a Ki of 5.8 X 10(-8) M vs. a Ki of 6.3 X 10(-9) M for PAF itself. It inhibits PAF-induced aggregation of rabbit platelets and human neutrophils at 2.4-24 microM, without showing any PAF agonistic activity. It potently inhibits PAF-induced degranulation of human neutrophils at 2.5-50 microM, also without any agonist activity. Kadsurenone is active orally at 25-50 mg/kg of body weight in blocking PAF-induced cutaneous permeability in the guinea pig. It also inhibits PAF-induced increases of hematocrit and circulating N-acetylglucosaminidase in the rat at greater than 10 mg/kg i.p. in a dose-dependent manner. Kadsurenone does not interfere with the function of several pharmacological mediators and receptors tested. Its structural specificity is evidenced by the poor PAF-antagonistic activities of three related structures isolated from the same haifenteng extract.

Risperidone compared with new and reference antipsychotic drugs: in vitro and in vivo receptor binding

Abstract: Risperidone and its active metabolite 9-OH-risperidone were compared to reference antipsychotic drugs (haloperidol, pipamperone, fluspirilene, clozapine, zotepine) and compounds under development (olanzapine, seroquel, sertindole, ORG-5222, ziprasidone) for in vitro binding to neurotransmitter receptors in brain tissue and on membranes of recombinant cells expressing cloned human receptors and for in vivo occupancy of neurotransmitter receptors in rat and guinea-pig brain following acute treatment (2 h., s.c.). An ex vivo autoradiography technique was applied to determine the receptor occupancy by the drugs administered in vivo. Of particular interest are the central 5HT2A receptors and D2-type receptors. Predominant 5HT2A receptor antagonism is supposed to add to an atypical profile of the antipsychotics (treatment of the negative symptoms, low incidence of extrapyramidal side effects). D2 antagonism is required for the treatment of positive symptoms. A contribution of the new dopamine receptor subtypes D3 and in particular D4 receptors has been proposed.

Platelet-Activating Factor and Related Lipid Mediators

Abstract: Platelet-activating factor (PAF) is a phospholipid with potent, diverse physiological actions, particularly as a mediator of inflammation. The synthesis, transport, and degradation of PAF are tightly regulated, and the biochemical basis for many of these processes has been elucidated in recent years. Many of the actions of PAF can be mimicked by structurally related phospholipids that are derived from nonenzymatic oxidation, because such compounds can bind to the PAF receptor. This process circumvents much of the biochemical control and presumably is regulated primarily by the rate of degradation, which is catalyzed by PAF acetylhydrolase. The isolation of cDNA clones encoding most of the key proteins involved in regulating PAF has allowed substantial recent progress and will facilitate studies to determine the structural basis for substrate specificity and the precise role of PAF in physiological events.

Oxygen radicals induce human endothelial cells to express GMP-140 and bind neutrophils.

Abstract: The initial step in extravasation of neutrophils (polymorphonuclear leukocytes [PMNs]) to the extravascular space is adherence to the endothelium. We examined the effect of oxidants on this process by treating human endothelial cells with H2O2, t-butylhydroperoxide, or menadione. This resulted in a surface adhesive for PMN between 1 and 4 h after exposure. The oxidants needed to be present only for a brief period at the initiation of the assay. Adhesion was an endothelial cell-dependent process that did not require an active response from the PMN. The adhesive molecule was not platelet-activating factor, which mediates PMN adherence when endothelial cells are briefly exposed to higher concentrations of H2O2 (Lewis, M. S., R. E. Whatley, P. Cain, T. M. McIntyre, S. M. Prescott, and G. A. Zimmerman. 1988. J. Clin. Invest. 82:2045-2055), nor was it ELAM-1, an adhesive glycoprotein induced by cytokines. Oxidant-induced adhesion did not require protein synthesis, was inhibited by antioxidants, and, when peroxides were the oxidants, was inhibited by intracellular iron chelators. Granule membrane protein-140 (GMP-140) is a membrane-associated glycoprotein that can be translocated from its intracellular storage pool to the surface of endothelial cells where it acts as a ligand for PMN adhesion (Geng, J.-G., M. P. Bevilacqua, K. L. Moore, T. M. McIntyre, S. M. Prescott, J. M. Kim, G. A. Bliss, G. A. Zimmerman, and R. P. McEver. 1990. Nature (Lond). 343:757-760). We found that endothelial cells exposed to oxidants expressed GMP-140 on their surface, and that an mAb against GMP-140 or solubilized GMP-140 completely blocked PMN adherence to oxidant-treated endothelial cells. Thus, exposure of endothelial cells to oxygen radicals induces the prolonged expression of GMP-140 on the cell surface, which results in enhanced PMN adherence.

Coexpression of GMP-140 and PAF by endothelium stimulated by histamine or thrombin: a juxtacrine system for adhesion and activation of neutrophils.

Abstract: The adhesion of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) to vascular endothelial cells (EC) is an early and fundamental event in acute inflammation. This process requires the regulated expression of molecules on both the EC and PMN. EC stimulated with histamine or thrombin coexpress two proadhesive molecules within minutes: granule membrane protein 140 (GMP-140), a member of the selectin family, and platelet-activating factor (PAF), a biologically active phospholipid. Coexpression of GMP-140 and PAF is required for maximal PMN adhesion and the two molecules act in a cooperative fashion. The component of adhesion mediated by EC-associated PAF requires activation of CD11/CD18 integrins on the PMN and binding of these heterodimers to counterreceptors on the EC. GMP-140 also binds to a receptor on the PMN; however, it tethers the PMN to the EC without requiring activation of CD11/CD18 integrins. This component of the adhesive interaction is blocked by antibodies to GMP-140 or by GMP-140 in the fluid phase. Experiments with purified GMP-140 indicate that binding to its receptor on the PMN does not directly induce PMN adhesiveness but that it potentiates the CD11/CD18-dependent adhesive response to PAF by a mechanism that involves events distal to the PAF receptor. Tethering of the PMN to the EC by GMP-140 may also be required for efficient interaction of PAF with its receptor on the PMN. These observations define a complex cell recognition system in which tethering of PMNs by a selectin, GMP-140, facilitates juxtacrine activation of the leukocytes by a signaling molecule, PAF. The latter event recruits the third component of the adhesive interaction, the CD11/CD18 integrins.