Toshiro Noshita

Bio: Toshiro Noshita is an academic researcher from Prefectural University of Hiroshima. The author has contributed to research in topics: Docking (molecular) & Orixa japonica. The author has an hindex of 13, co-authored 47 publications receiving 481 citations. Previous affiliations of Toshiro Noshita include Tohoku University & Meijo University.

Isolation of Ursolic Acid from Apple Peels and Its Specific Efficacy as a Potent Antitumor Agent

Abstract: Dried apple peels were extracted with n-hexane, chloroform, and methanol successively. The portion of the chloroform extract that showed the strongest cytotoxic activity was purified by silica gel chromatography to isolate ursolic acid (UA). The amount of the isolated UA was 0.71% of the dried peels. Normal mouse embryo cells [serum-free mouse embryo (SFME) cells] and tumorigenic human c-Haras- and mouse c-myc-transformed SFME cells [r/m highly metastatic (HM)-SFME-1 cells] were treated with various concentrations of UA (2.5‐20µM) to investigate its effects on cell growth. UA at 10µ Ma ppeared very effective at suppressing the tumor cell growth, affecting more than 82% of r/mHM-SFME1 cells, while it inhibited cell growth in only about 7% of SFME cells .T umorigenic r/m HM-SFME-1 cells were also treated with various concentrations (2.5‐10µM) of epidermal growth factor (EGF) or aminoguanidine (AG) in the presence of UA (2.5‐ 10µM). Neither EGF nor AG seemed to have any effect on UA-inhibited cell growth. In the present study, it is revealed tha tU A could be av ery effective and promising agent for antitumor treatments,

Structural insight into the ligand-receptor interaction between glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) and the high-mobility group protein B1 (HMGB1)-DNA complex.

Abstract: Structural analysis of the high-mobility group protein B1 (HMGB1)-DNA complex and a docking simulation between glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) and the HMGB1-DNA complex were performed with a software package the Molecular Operating Environment (MOE) An HMGB1-DNA (PDB code: 2GZK) was selected for the 3D structure modeling of the HMGB1-DNA complex The Site Finder module of the MOE identified 16 possible ligand-binding sites in the modeled HMGB1-DNA complex The docking simulation revealed that GA possibly inhibits functions of HMGB1 interfering with Lys90, Arg91, Ser101, Tyr149, C230 and C231 in the HMGB1-DNA complex To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of an HMGB1-DNA complex with GA, and our data verify that the GA-HMGB1-DNA model can be utilized for application to target HMGB1 for the development of antitumor drugs Abbreviations ASE-Dock - alpha sphere and excluded volume-based ligand-protein docking, CNS - central nervous system, GA - glycyrrhetinic acid, GL - glycyrrhizin, HMGB1 - high-mobility group protein B1, LBS - ligand-biding site, MOE - Molecular Operating Environment, SRY - sex-determining region on the Y chromosome

Natural Pigments: Carotenoids, Anthocyanins, and Betalains — Characteristics, Biosynthesis, Processing, and Stability

Abstract: Pigments are present in all living matter and provide attractive colors and play basic roles in the development of organisms. Human beings, like most animals, come in contact with their surroundings through color, and things can or cannot be acceptable based on their color characteristics. This review presents the basic information about pigments focusing attention on the natural ones; it emphasizes the principal plant pigments: carotenoids, anthocyanins, and betalains. Special considerations are given to their salient characteristics; to their biosynthesis, taking into account the biochemical and molecular biology information generated in their elucidation; and to the processing and stability properties of these compounds as food colorants.

Pentacyclic triterpene distribution in various plants - rich sources for a new group of multi-potent plant extracts.

Abstract: Pentacyclic triterpenes are secondary plant metabolites widespread in fruit peel, leaves and stem bark. In particular the lupane-, oleanane-, and ursane triterpenes display various pharmacological effects while being devoid of prominent toxicity. Therefore, these triterpenes are promising leading compounds for the development of new multi-targeting bioactive agents. Screening of 39 plant materials identified triterpene rich (> 0.1% dry matter) plant parts. Plant materials with high triterpene concentrations were then used to obtain dry extracts by accelerated solvent extraction resulting in a triterpene content of 50 - 90%. Depending on the plant material, betulin (birch bark), betulinic acid (plane bark), oleanolic acid (olive leaves, olive pomace, mistletoe sprouts, clove flowers), ursolic acid (apple pomace) or an equal mixture of the three triterpene acids (rosemary leaves) are the main components of these dry extracts. They are quantitatively characterised plant extracts supplying a high concentration of actives and therefore can be used for development of phytopharmaceutical formulations.

A comprehensive review of glycosylated bacterial natural products.

Abstract: A systematic analysis of all naturally-occurring glycosylated bacterial secondary metabolites reported in the scientific literature up through early 2013 is presented. This comprehensive analysis of 15 940 bacterial natural products revealed 3426 glycosides containing 344 distinct appended carbohydrates and highlights a range of unique opportunities for future biosynthetic study and glycodiversification efforts.