Uridine is one of the essential nutrients in organisms. To maintain normal cell growth and intracellular metabolism, the uridine must be maintained at certain concentration. Recent studies have shown that uridine can reduce inflammatory response in organisms, participate in glycolysis, and regulate intracellular protein modification, such as glycosylation and acetylation. Furthermore, it can protect cells from hypoxic injury by reducing intracellular oxidative stress, promoting high-energy compounds synthesis. Previous studies have shown that the protective effects of uridine are closely related to its effect on mitochondria. This review summarizes the effect of uridine on mitochondrial function.
Uridine/metabolism* ; Mitochondria/metabolism*

In a continuation of our studies to discover bioactive secondary metabolites from marine sources, we further investigated samples from a tryptamine and phenyl-alkane producing sponge, which resulted in the isolation of four uncommon small molecules and five nucleosides. Their structures were determined to be 7,8-dihydroimidazo[1,5-c]pyrimidin-5(6H)-one (1), 5-chlorocavernicolin (2), maleimide-5-oxime (3), 3-methylmaleimide-5-oxime (4), uridine (5), 2'-deoxyuridine (6), thymidine (7), adenine (8), and adenosine (9) by spectroscopic analyses. The isolated compounds were evaluated for inhibitory activity against soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) as well as the Wnt/beta-catenine signaling pathway.
Adenine ; Adenosine ; Nucleosides* ; Oximes* ; Porifera* ; Thymidine ; Uridine

We cultured the rabbit inner medullary collecting duct (IMCD) cells as monolayers on collagen-coated membrane filters, and investigated distribution of the P2Y receptors by analyzing nucleotide-induced short circuit current (Isc) responses. Exposure to different nucleotides of either the apical or basolateral surface of cell monolayers stimulated Isc. Dose-response relationship and cross-desensitization studies suggested that at least 3 distinct P2Y receptors are expressed asymmetrically on the apical and basolateral membranes. A P2Y2-like receptor, which responds to UTP and ATP, is expressed on both the apical and basolateral membranes. In addition, a uracil nucleotide receptor, which responds to UDP and UTP, but not ATP, is expressed predominantly on the apical membrane. In contrast, a P2Y1-like receptor, which responds to ADP and 2-methylthio-ATP, is expressed predominantly on the basolateral membrane. These nucleotides stimulated intracellular cAMP production with an asymmetrical profile, which was comparable to that in the stimulation of Isc. Our results suggest that the adenine and uracil nucleotides can interact with different P2Y nucleotide receptors that are expressed asymmetrically on the apical and basolateral membranes of the rabbit IMCD cells, and that both cAMP- and Ca2+-dependent signaling mechanisms underlie the stimulation of Isc.
Adenine ; Adenosine Diphosphate ; Adenosine Triphosphate ; Membranes ; Nucleotides ; Uracil ; Uracil Nucleotides ; Uridine Diphosphate ; Uridine Triphosphate

Using a high bandwidth cellular communication network is appropriate to implement a high-quality mobile emergency telemedicine system. In Korea, the commercial service of CDMA2000 1X-EVDO has been providing since 2002. In this paper, we designed the system that transfers the biological signal and the video information of a patient simultaneously based on this CDMA2000 1X-EVDO network environment. In CDMA2000 1X-EVDO, the maximum speed of its reverse link can be observed within 153.6Kbps. Before the system design, several field tests had been performed using commercial CDMA2000 1X-EVDO reverse link with the UDP data segments. The test had been taken under several velocity and tunnel areas of Seoul. With the test result we implemented an efficient emergency telemedicine system fitted to the features of CDMA2000 1X-EVDO reverse link using UDP packets. Additional header information is added to the UDP packet data. With the header information the emergency system can transmits the ECG signal prior to the video data and controls the transmission error. The designed system has the ability to transmit both the biological signals and MPEG4 video of 640x480 spatial resolution at the same time. We set up the ambulance with this system and test it on the road.
Ambulances ; Electrocardiography ; Emergencies* ; Humans ; Korea ; Seoul ; Telemedicine* ; Uridine Diphosphate

Chemical investigation of the fermentation broth of a Soft Coral-Derived fungus Pestalotiopsis sp., led to the isolation of a new phthalide derivative, pestalotiolide A (1), three known analogues (2, 3 and 4), along with 5'-O-acetyl uridine (5) first isolated as a natural product. The structure of the new compound (1) was established by comprehensive spectroscopic analysis and chemical methods. Compounds 1 - 4 possessed varying degrees of antiviral activities, which was reported for the first time. Compared to the positive control ribavirin (IC50 = 418.0 microM), pestalotiolide A (1) exhibited significant anti-EV71 activity in vitro, with an IC50 value of 27.7 microM. Furthermore, the preliminary structure-activity relationship of antiviral activities was also discussed.
Fermentation ; Fungi* ; Inhibitory Concentration 50 ; Ribavirin ; Structure-Activity Relationship ; Uridine

BACKGROUND: Uracil nucleotides are stored in platelets and all other cells, and are released into the extracellular space upon stimulation. They show various biological responses but their actions and mechanism are not well understood. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of uridine 5'-triphosphate(UTP) on vascular tone and to identify the characteristics of their receptors. METHODS: Aortic ring preparation were made from the rat descending thoracic aorta. Endo-thelial cells were preserved or removed by gentle rubbing, The basal tension of aortic ring was lgm and isometric contraction were recorded on polygraph using force transducer. RESULTS: In aortic ring Precontracted by 100nM norepinephrine, UTP induced dual effect with various concentrations. UTP elicited endothelium-dependent relaxation at low concentrations(100nM-10microM), and endothelium-independent contraction at high concentrations(more than 30microM). Among uracil nucleotides, UDP was as much effective as UTP in vascular tone, but UMP and uridine were not. UTP(pA50 6.15) was more potent than ATP(5.17), ITP(4.75) and other nucleotides(TTP, GTP, CTP). At basal tension, UTP induced relaxation at low concentrations and contraction at hige concentrations in endothelium-intact ring. But in endothelium-removed ring, UTP elicited only contraction. Prior treatment of aortic ring with suramin, a non-selective P2-purinoceptor blocker, inhibited UTP-Induced relaxation and contraction. Reactive blue-2, a P2gamma purinoceptor blocker, inhibited relaxation only, but alpha, beta-methylene ATP, a P2x Purinoceptor blocker, enhanced contractile response. ATP inhibited the UPT-induced relaxation, but 2-methylthio ATP did not alter the effects of UTP. It means that UTP and ATP act at the same receptor but 2-methylthio ATP does not. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that UTP-induced relaxation is mediated by nucleotide receptors on endothelium and the contraction is mediated by pyrimidinoceptors on vascular smooth muscle.
Adenosine Triphosphate ; Animals ; Aorta ; Aorta, Thoracic* ; Endothelium ; Extracellular Space ; Guanosine Triphosphate ; Isometric Contraction ; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular ; Norepinephrine ; Rats* ; Receptors, Purinergic ; Receptors, Purinergic P2X ; Relaxation ; Suramin ; Transducers ; Uracil Nucleotides ; Uridine Diphosphate ; Uridine Monophosphate ; Uridine Triphosphate ; Uridine*

The evaluation of germplasm resources is the prerequisite for the development, utilization, and conservation of Chinese medicinal resources. The selection of excellent germplasm is the key to the breeding and orderly production of Pinellia ternata. In this study, 21 germplasm materials of P. ternata from major production areas in China were collected and analyzed for population diversity after phenotypic preliminary screening. The results have revealed that the P. ternata population has abundant phenotypic variation, and the phenotypic changes could be divided into five phenotypes in terms of organ trait variation. Further analysis of variation in 20 quantitative traits of the population revealed that the coefficient of variation for adenosine content(339.05%) was the largest, while the coefficient of variation for the underground plant height(16.35%) was the smallest. Correlation analysis showed that there was a strong correlation among various traits, with 52 pairs of traits showing highly significant correlation(P<0.01) and 19 pairs of traits showing a significant correlation(P<0.05). The 21 germplasms in the test could be classified into three major clusters by cluster analysis, with Cluster Ⅱ having the highest number and content of nucleosides, making it suitable for the selection and breeding of P. ternata varieties with high content of nucleosides. The yield in Cluster Ⅲ was higher than that in other groups, making it suitable for the selection and breeding of P. ternata varieties with a high yield. All trait indicators could be simplified into five principal component factors through principal component analysis, and the cumulative contribution rate was up to 86.04%. Further, comprehensive analysis using membership function and stepwise regression analysis identified nine traits, such as plant height, main leaf length, and underground plant height as characteristic indicators for the comprehensive evaluation of germplasm resources of P. ternata. BX007, BX008, and BX005 were identified as germplasms with both high yield and high uridine content, with BX007 having the highest uridine content of 479.51 μg·g~(-1). It belonged to the germplasm of P. ternata with double bulbils and could be cultivated as a potential good variety. Based on the phenotypic classification of P. ternata, systematic resource evaluation was carried out in this study, which could lay a foundation for the excavation of genetic resources and the breeding of new varieties of P. ternata.
Plants, Medicinal ; Pinellia/genetics* ; Plant Breeding ; Phenotype ; Uridine

Ginsenoside F1 is a rare ginsenoside in medicinal plants such as Panax ginseng,P. notogingseng and P. quinquefolius. It has strong pharmacological activities of anti-tumor,anti-oxidation and anti-aging. In order to directly produce ginsenoside F1 by using inexpensive raw materials such as glucose,we integrated the codon-optimized P.ginseng dammarenediol-Ⅱ synthase(Syn Pg DDS),P.ginseng protopanaxadiol synthase(Syn Pg PPDS),P. ginseng protopanaxatriol synthase(Syn Pg PPTS) genes and Arabidopsis thaliana cytochrome P450 reductase(At CPR1) gene into triterpene chassis strain BY-T3. The transformant BY-PPT can produce protopanaxatriol. Then we integrated the Sacchromyces cerevisiae phosphoglucomutase 1(PGM1),phosphoglucomutase 2(PGM2) and UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase 1(UGP1) genes into chassis strain BY-PPT. The UDP-glucose supply module increased UDP-glucose production by 8. 65 times and eventually reached to 44. 30 mg·L-1 while confirmed in the transformant BY-PPT-GM. Next,we integrated the UDPglucosyltransferase Pg3-29 gene which can catalyze protopanaxatriol to produce ginsenoside F1 into chassis strain BY-PPT-GM. The transformant BY-F1 produced a small amount of ginsenoside F1 which was measured as 0. 5 mg·L-1. After the fermentation process was optimized,the titer of ginsenoside F1 could be increased by 900 times to 450. 5 mg·L-1. The high-efficiency UDP-glucose supply module in this study can provide reference for the construction of cell factories for production of saponin,and provide an important basis for further obtaining high-yield ginsenoside yeast cells.
Ginsenosides/metabolism* ; Glucose ; Panax ; Saccharomyces cerevisiae/metabolism* ; Uridine Diphosphate Glucose

Oxidative Phosphorylation ; Acetylglucosamine ; Uridine Diphosphate N-Acetylglucosamine/metabolism*

In plants, UDP-L-rhamnose is one of the major components of cell wall skeleton. Rhamnose synthase plays a key role in rhamnose synthesis which converts UDP-D-glucose into UDP-L-rhamnose in plants. In this study, we isolated the 1058 bp promoter region of the rhamnose synthase gene AtRHM1 from Arabidopsis genome by PCR, and created a series of deletions of AtRHM1 promoter ranging from -931 bp to +127 bp. The full length of the promoter and its deletion derivatives fused with GUS reporter gene were introduced into wild-type Arabidopsis by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation respectively. The GUS staining and GUS enzymatic activity assay showed that the expression of AtRHM1 is induced at transcriptional level by glucose and the regulatory elements involved in the glucose response are located in the region of -931 bp - -752 bp which contains three G-box motifs.
Arabidopsis ; genetics ; Arabidopsis Proteins ; genetics ; Glucosyltransferases ; genetics ; Plants, Genetically Modified ; genetics ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; Uridine Diphosphate Glucose ; genetics ; metabolism ; Uridine Diphosphate Sugars ; genetics ; metabolism