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Direct interaction of Cucurbitacin E isolated from Alsomitra macrocarpa to actin filament

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Abstract

A methanol extract of Alsomitra macrocarpa leaves and branches induced a marked alteration of cell morphology in a human stellate cell line (LX-2). Similar morphologic alterations were observed in several other cell lines. Active compound was purified from the extract and determined to be cucurbitacin E (Cuc E). It has been known that Cuc E causes marked disruption of the actin cytoskeleton, supporting our observation, but how Cuc E altered the actin cytoskeleton has not been elucidated. By using the standard fluorescence assay using copolymerization and depolymerization of native and pyrene labelled actin, this study revealed that Cuc E interacted directly with actin consequently stabilizing the polymerized actin. When NIH-3T3 cells exogenously expressing YFP-labeled actin were treated with Cuc E, firstly the aggregation of globular actin and secondly the aggregation of actin including disrupted fibrous actin in the cells was observed.

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Abbreviations

A. macrocarpa :

Alsomitra macrocarpa

Cuc E:

Cucurbitacin E

F-actin:

Fibrous actin

G-actin:

Globular actin

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Acknowledgment

We gratefully acknowledge the kind provision of LX-2 and HSC-T6 cells by Dr. Scott L. Friedman, Division of Liver Diseases, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY and USA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Biostudies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan

    Keiko Momma, Yuko Masuzawa, Naomi Nakai, Moeko Chujo & Masaya Nagao

  2. Division of Food Science and Biotechnology, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Akira Murakami

  3. Division of Applied Life Sciences, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Noriyuki Kioka

  4. Nippon Shinyaku Co., Ltd, Kyoto, Japan

    Yasunori Kiyama & Toru Akita

Authors
  1. Keiko Momma
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  2. Yuko Masuzawa
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  3. Naomi Nakai
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  4. Moeko Chujo
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  5. Akira Murakami
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  6. Noriyuki Kioka
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  7. Yasunori Kiyama
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  8. Toru Akita
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  9. Masaya Nagao
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Correspondence to Masaya Nagao.

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Momma, K., Masuzawa, Y., Nakai, N. et al. Direct interaction of Cucurbitacin E isolated from Alsomitra macrocarpa to actin filament. Cytotechnology 56, 33–39 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10616-007-9100-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10616-007-9100-5

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