• Nutritional Sciences
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.159-168
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• 2005

Phytoestrogens, especially Yak-kong or soybean-derived isoflavones have been traditionally used as a supplement of estrogen for preventing postmemopausal osteoporosis in oriental folk medicine. In our previous study, the treatment of Yak-kong and soybean increased estrogen receptor-a (ERa) expression and proliferation of MG-63 osteoblastic cells. In contrast, the increase of estrogen receptor-$\beta$ (ER$\beta$) expression in proliferating MG-63 cells with Yak-kong and soybean treatment was less pronounced, which suggested that ER$\beta$ may play a role rather in the regulation of bone cell differentiation To determine the role of ER$\beta$ in Yak-kong or soybean mediated regulation of bone cell differentiation, we established MG-63 cell lines stably expressing either ER$\beta$ or antisense ER$\beta$ RNAs. Increased expression of ER$\beta$ did not affect ERa expression and proliferation of MG-63 cells. However, increased expression of ER$\beta$ in MG-63 cells (ER$\beta$-MG63 cells) selectively enhanced Yak-kong or soybean induced expression of osteoprotegerin (OPG), a novel soluble glycoprotein which is secreted from osteoblasts and mediates the signal for osteoclast differentiation. Inhibition of ER$\beta$ expression by antisense ER$\beta$ RNAs (As-ER$\beta$-MG63) caused these cells to insensitize Yak-kong or soybean induced expression of OPG but increased MG-63 cell proliferation. Furthermore, the comparable effects between Yak-kong and the combined treatment of genistein and daidzein at $0.5{\times}l0^{-8}$ M, which is a concentration of these two isoflavones similar to Yak-kong at 0.001 mg/mL, on OPG expression in ER$\beta$-MG63 cell demonstrate that the enhanced expression of OPG with Yak-kong treatment is mediated by the synergistic effect of low leveled isoflavones in the extracts. Together, coupled with low level of ER expression in osteoclasts, our data demonstrate that ER$\beta$ in osteoblasts plays an important role in Yak-kong and soybean mediated inhibition of osteoclast differentiation indirectly by enhancing the expression of OPG.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.489-494
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• 2008

In order to develop a potent antidementia $\beta$-secretase inhibitor from phytochemicals, $\beta$-secretase inhibitory activities of extracts from many medicinal plants and herbs were determined. Water extracts from Rubus coreanus showed the highest $\beta$-secretase inhibitory activity of 84.5%. After purification of the $\beta$-secretase inhibitor from R. coreanus using systematic solvent extraction, ultrafiltration, Sephadex G-10 column chromatography, and reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), a purified $\beta$-secretase inhibitor with $IC_{50}$ inhibitory activity of $6.3{\times}10^3\;ng/mL$ ($1.56{\times}10^{-6}\;M)$ was obtained with a 0.08% solid yield. The molecular mass of the purified $\beta$-secretase inhibitor was estimated to be 576 Da by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and $\beta$-secretase inhibitor also is a new tetrapeptide with the sequence Gly-Trp-Trp-Glu. The purified $\beta$-secretase inhibitory peptide inhibited $\beta$-secretase non-competitively and also show less inhibition on trypsin, however no inhibition on other proteases such as $\alpha$-secretase, chymotrypsin, and elastase.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.564-567
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• 2001

The fecal ${\beta}-glucuronidase$ activity of patients with colon cancer and healthy controls were measured to determine the relationship between the fluctuation of intestinal bacterial ${\beta}-glucuronidase$ and colon cancer. The fecal ${\beta}-glucuronidase$ activity of patients with colon cancer was 1.7 times higher than that of the healthy controls. However, when these fecal specimens were sonicated, the enzyme activity of patients with colon cancer was 12.1 times higher than that of the healthy controls. The fecal ${\beta}-glucuronidase$ activity of human Intestinal bacteria was drastically induced by its substrate or the bile secreted after a subcutaneous injection of 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH) and benzo[a]pyrene into rats. DMH-and benzo[a]pyrene-treated biles induced ${\beta}-glucuronidase$ activity in the human intestinal microflora by approximately 1.5- and 2.3-fold, respectively. They also induced ${\beta}-glucuronidase$ in E. coli HGU-3, which is a ${\beta}-glucuronidase$-producing bacterium from the human intestine. D-saccharic acid 1,4-lactone similarly inhibited fecal ${\beta}-glucuronidase$ in several patients with colon cancer in addition to the healthy controls. This suggests that potent ${\beta}-glucuronidase$ activity is a prime factor in the etiology of colon cancer.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.758-764
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• 2019

${\beta}$-Glucan is a chief structural polymer in the cell wall of yeast. ${\beta}$-Glucan has attracted intensive attention because of its wide applications in health protection and cosmetic areas. In the present study, the ${\beta}$-glucan biosynthesis pathway in S. Cerevisiae was engineered to enhance ${\beta}$-glucan accumulation. A newly identified bacterial ${\beta}-1$, 6-glucan synthase GsmA from Mycoplasma agalactiae was expressed, and increased ${\beta}$-glucan content by 43%. In addition, other pathway enzymes were investigated to direct more metabolic flux towards the building of ${\beta}$-glucan chains. We found that overexpression of Pgm2 (phosphoglucomutase) and Rho1 (a GTPase for activating glucan synthesis) significantly increased ${\beta}$-glucan accumulation. After further optimization of culture conditions, the ${\beta}$-glucan content was increased by 53.1%. This study provides a new approach to enhance ${\beta}$-glucan biosynthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.68-74
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• 2015

Based on the genomic analysis of Thermococcus pacificus P-4, we identified a putative GH1 ${\beta}$-glucosidase-encoding gene (Tpa-glu). The gene revealed a 1,464 bp encoding 487 amino acid residues, and the deduced amino acid residues exhibited 77% identity with Pyrococcus furiosus ${\beta}$-glucosidase (accession no. NP_577802). The gene was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli system. The recombinant protein was purified by metal affinity chromatography and characterized. Tpa-Glu showed optimum activity at pH 7.5 and $75^{\circ}C$, and thermostability with a half life of 6 h at $90^{\circ}C$. Tpa-Glu exhibited hydrolyzing activity against various pNP-glycopyranosides, with kcat/Km values in the order of pNP-${\beta}$-glucopyranoside, pNP-${\beta}$-galactopyranoside, pNP-${\beta}$-mannopyranoside, and pNP-${\beta}$-xylopyranoside. In addition, the enzyme exhibited exo-hydrolyzing activity toward ${\beta}$-1,3-linked polysaccharide (laminarin) and ${\beta}$-1,3- and ${\beta}$-1,4-linked oligosaccharides. This is the first description of an enzyme from hyperthermophilic archaea that displays exo-hydrolyzing activity toward ${\beta}$-1,3-linked polysaccharides and could be applied in combination with ${\beta}$-1,3-endoglucanase for saccharification of laminarin.

• Korean Journal of Mathematics
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.15-23
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• 2009

Let D be an integral domain, P be a nonzero prime ideal of D, $\{P_{\alpha}{\mid}{\alpha}{\in}{\mathcal{A}}\}$ be a nonempty set of prime ideals of D, and $\{I_{\beta}{\mid}{\beta}{\in}{\mathcal{B}}\}$ be a nonempty family of ideals of D with ${\cap}_{{\beta}{\in}{\mathcal{B}}}I_{\beta}{\neq}(0)$. Consider the following conditions: (i) If $P{\subseteq}{\cup}_{{\alpha}{\in}{\mathcal{A}}}P_{\alpha}$, then $P=P_{\alpha}$ for some ${\alpha}{\in}{\mathcal{A}}$; (ii) If ${\cap}_{{\beta}{\in}{\mathcal{B}}}I_{\beta}{\subseteq}P$, then $I_{\beta}{\subseteq}P$ for some ${\beta}{\in}{\mathcal{B}}$. In this paper, we prove that D satisfies $(i){\Leftrightarrow}D$ is a generalized weakly factorial domain of ${\dim}(D)=1{\Rightarrow}D$ satisfies $(ii){\Leftrightarrow}D$ is a weakly Krull domain of dim(D) = 1. We also study the t-operation analogs of (i) and (ii).

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.319-323
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• 2012

In this paper, we present the possibility of quantification analysis for $A{\beta}$ captured by micro beads using Near-filed detection. In order to evaluate detection efficiency, detected signals were compared with different sizes of micro beads and a varied number of micro beads. Also, $A{\beta}$ deposits and $A{\beta}$ binding to micro beads were measured, therefore, we observed the $A{\beta}$ deposit and light scattering around the surface of micro beads induced by attached $A{\beta}$. This method can be used for quantitative analysis for not only the number of $A{\beta}$, but also the binding ratio of $A{\beta}$ to micro beads.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.175-183
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• 2005

The two major isoflavones in soy, genistein and daidzein, are well known to prevent hormone-dependent cancers by their anti estrogenic activity. The exact molecular mechanisms for the protective action are, however, not provided yet. It has been reported that genistein and daidzein have a potential anticancer activity through their antiproliferative effect in many hormone-dependent cancer cell lines. Transforming growth $factor-\beta1(TGF-\beta1)$ has also been found to have cell growth inhibitory effect, especially in mammary epithelial cells. This knowledge led to a hypothetical mechanism that the soy isoflavones-induced growth inhibitory effect can be derived from the regulation of $TGF-\beta1$ and $TGF-\beta$ receptors. In order to test this hypothesis, the effects of the soy isoflavones at various concentrations and periods on the expression of $TGF-\beta1$and $TGF-\beta$ receptors were investigated by using Northern blot analysis in human breast carcinoma epithelial cell lines, an estrogen receptor positive cell line (MCF-7) and an estrogen receptor negative cell line (MDA-MB-231). As a result, only genistein has shown a profound dose-dependent effect on $TGF-\beta1$ expression in the $ER^+$ cell line within the range of doses tested, and the expression levels are correspondent to their inhibitory activities of cell growth. Moreover, daidzein showed down-regulated $TGF-\beta1$ expression at a low dose, the cell growth proliferation was promoted at the same condition. Therefore, antiproliferative activity of the soy isoflavones can be mediated by $TGF-\beta1$ expression, and the effects are mainly, if not all, occurred by ER dependent pathway. The expression of $TGF-\beta$ receptors was induced at a lower dose than the one for $TGF-{\beta}1$ induction regardless of the presence of ER, and the expression patterns are similar to those of the cell growth inhibition. These results indicated that the regulation of $TGF-\beta$ receptor expression as well, prior to $TGF-\beta1$ expression, may be involved in the antiproliferative activity of soy isoflavones. Little or no expression of $TGF-\beta$ receptors was found in the MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells, suggesting refractory properties of the cells to growth inhibitory effect of the $TGF-\beta$. The soy isoflavones can seemingly restore the sensitivity of growth inhibitory responses to $TGF-\beta1$ by re-inducing $TGF-\beta$ receptors expression. In conclusions, our findings presented in this study show that the antitumorigenic activity of the soy isoflavones could be mediated by not only $TGF-\beta1$induction but $TGF-\beta$ receptor restoration. Thus, soy isoflavones could be good model molecules to develop new nonsteroidal antiestrogenic chemopreventive agents, associated with, regulation of $TGF-\beta$ and its receptors.

• Bulletin of the Korean Mathematical Society
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.127-133
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• 2012

It is well known that if the ${\beta}$-expansion of any nonnegative integer is finite, then ${\beta}$ is a Pisot or Salem number. We prove here that $\mathbb{F}_q((x^{-1}))$, the ${\beta}$-expansion of the polynomial part of ${\beta}$ is finite if and only if ${\beta}$ is a Pisot series. Consequently we give an other proof of Scheiche theorem about finiteness property in $\mathbb{F}_q((x^{-1}))$. Finally we show that if the base ${\beta}$ is a Pisot series, then there is a bound of the length of the fractional part of ${\beta}$-expansion of any polynomial P in $\mathbb{F}_q[x]$.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.305-310
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• 2018

Microglia are emerging as critical regulators of innate immune responses in AD and other neurodegenerative disorders, highlighting the importance of understanding their molecular and cellular mechanisms. We attempted to determine the role of crosstalk signaling between $IFN-{\gamma}$ and $TGF-{\beta}$ in $A{\beta}$ clearance by microglia cells. We used in vitro and in vivo mouse models that recapitulated acute and chronic aspects of microglial responses to $A{\beta}$ peptides. We showed that crosstalk signaling between $TGF-{\beta}$ and Smad2 was an important mediator of neuro-inflammation. These findings suggest that microglial $TGF-{\beta}$ activity enhances the pathological progression to AD. As $TGF-{\beta}$ displays broad regulatory effects on beneficial microglial functions, the activation of inflammatory crosstalk signaling between $TGF-{\beta}$ and Smad2 may be a promising strategy to restore microglial functions, halt the progression of $A{\beta}$-driven pathology, and prevent AD development.