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Biomedical subjects

Sun-Hee Baek

Publications and source records attributed to Sun-Hee Baek.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

SAR studies of 2-methoxyestradiol and development of its analogs as probes of anti-tumor mechanisms.

The major estrogen metabolite 2-methoxyestradiol (2ME) has been shown to target tumor cells without severe side effects and is currently being evaluated in clinical trials for several types of cancer. Despite its promise for use in clinical setting, the mechanism(s) by which 2ME exerts its anti-tumor activity is not clearly defined at this time. Employing organic chemistry tools, we synthesized 2ME analogs with which 2ME affinity column was prepared, enabling us to detect a protein that selectively interacts with 2ME. This 2ME analog will be useful as a probe to identify the biological target(s) of 2ME and study their functions in tumor cells.

2-Methoxyestradiol↗

Neural network-based analysis of thiol proteomics data in identifying potential selenium targets.

Generation of a monomethylated selenium metabolite is critical for the anticancer activity of selenium. Because of its strong nucleophilicity, the metabolite can react directly with protein thiols to cause redox modification. Here, we report a neural network-based analysis to identify potential selenium targets. A reactive thiol specific reagent, BIAM, was used to monitor thiol proteome changes on 2D gel. We constructed a dynamic model and evaluated the relative importance of proteins mediating the cellular responses to selenium. Information from this study will provide new clues to unravel mechanisms of anticancer action of selenium. High impact selenium targets could also serve as biomarkers to gauge the efficacy of selenium chemoprevention.

Antineoplastic Agents↗

Analysis of protein redox modification by hypoxia.

We examined hypoxia-induced changes in global thiol proteome profile in human prostate cancer cells using a BIAM-based display method. We analyzed the kinetics of protein thiol modification by using a pattern recognition algorithm, self-organizing maps (SOM) clustering, and identified the BIAM-labeled proteins by MALDI-TOF and ESI-tandem mass spectrometry. We found 99 out of 215 of total BIAM-labeled proteins were affected by hypoxia treatment and, yet, with diverse patterns and kinetics of redox modification. Our study proved that proteomics analysis employing the BIAM-labeling method can provide valuable information pertaining to global changes in the redox status of proteins in response to hypoxia.

Apoptosis↗

Use of PROTACS as molecular probes of angiogenesis.

Small molecules designed to specifically activate or inactivate protein functions have been useful to study biological processes. PROTACS are small molecule chimera which comprise a ligand and a peptide recognition motif for an E3 ligase. These novel reagents exploit the ubiquitin-mediated proteasome degradation pathway to target the ligand-bound protein for intracellular degradation. Here, we report that an estrogen receptor (ER)-targeting PROTACS that causes degradation of ER is able to potently inhibit endothelial cell differentiation in a three-dimensional angiogenic sprouting assay. These findings support the use of ER-targeting PROTACS as probes of angiogenesis.

Neovascularization, Physiologic↗