• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.35 no.9
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• pp.1166-1171
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• 2006

This study was performed to investigate the effect of silk protein hydrolysates on blood glucose in diabetic mice (C57BL/KsJ db/db). The silk protein hydrolysates hydrolyzed by protease contains 87.52% of peptides of which molecular weight was below 2,000 dalton. The content of free amino acids was 14.80 g/100 g silk protein hydrolysates and major free amino acids were Pro, Thr, Arg and Ala. Silk protein hydrolysates were administered to the animals for 9 weeks at doses of 0.2, 0.5% and 0.8% solution. The body weight increase in the 0.5 and 0.8% fed groups were higher than control group. Food and water intake in the silk protein hydrolysates fed groups were lower than control group. The weight of liver was not different among groups, while the weight of kidney in control group was higher than silk protein hydrolysates fed groups. The blood glucose level in silk protein hydrolysates fed groups was lower than control group. In the glucose tolerance test, the blood glucose level in control group was the highest at 15 minutes after glucose injection while those in silk protein hydrolysates fed groups were the highest at 30 minutes. Results in this study suggest that silk protein hydrolysates show hypoglycemic effect in C57BL/KsJ db/db mice.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.30-34
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• 2024

We report a purely protein-based platform for green fluorescence by mixing silk protein with green fluorescence protein, and also report its enhancement by the incorporation of TiO₂ nanoparticles. The TiO₂ nanoparticles employed have diameters of 100 and 300 nm, with a significant increase in fluorescence (by a factor of 7.5) observed when introducing 300-nm TiO₂ nanoparticles. Furthermore, an increase in particle distribution density is found to enhance fluorescence amplification. These research findings suggest that protein-based fluorescent films can be enhanced by the characteristics of nanoparticles, opening up new possibilities in the fields of optics and fluorescence applications.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.35 no.10
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• pp.1343-1348
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• 2006

This study was performed to investigate the effects of silk protein enzyme hydrolysates on blood glucose and serum lipid in db/db diabetic mice. Twelve week-old-male C57BL/KsJ db/db mice were divided into two groups: diabetic control group and 0.25% silk protein hydrolysates solution group, which were fed for 8 weeks. Body weight increased in the silk protein hydrolysates group compared with the diabetic control group. There were no differences in food and water intake between the diabetic control and the silk protein hydrolysates groups. The weight of liver increased in the silk protein hydrolysates group while that of kidney increased in the diabetic control group. The blood glucose level increased about 18.0% in the diabetic control group after 8 weeks while that in the silk protein hydrolysates group increased about 5.8%. Also, silk protein hydrolysates improved the glucose tolerance in C57BL/KsJ db/db mice. There was no difference in total cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol concentration between the diabetic control and the silk protein hydrolysates group. Triglyceride concentration were lower in the silk protein hydrolysates group than in the diabetic control group (p<0.05) while HDL-cholesterol concentration were higher in the silk protein hydrolysates group than in the diabetic control group (p<0.05). This results suggest that administration of silk protein enzyme hydrolysates reduces significantly an increasing rate of 1]food glucose, decreases triglyceride, and increases HDL-cholesterol in C57BL/KsJ db/db mice.

• Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.68-72
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• 2013

Fibroin and sericin are natural proteins obtained from cocoon and one of the spotlight materials for medical device. Medical device made of these proteins also has the advantage that this material is biodegradable in to amino acid. In this study, we prepared silk sponges using fibroin, sericin and additives. The characterizations of the silk sponges such as morphology, stability, and blood absorbency were observed. The structural stability of the silk sponge decreased significantly by increasing sericin contents. The effect on the concentrations of ethanol to induce crystallization was observed to be superior to 70% ethanol. Structural stability of silk sponges containing additives was very lower than those not containing additives. The blood absorbency of the silk sponges was found to be excellent, regardless of the composition of sericin and fibroin. The resilient power of these sponges was also very good, in spite of the repeated soaking and drying. Therefore, we expect that the silk sponges can be used medical supplies such as plastic implants and hemostatic cotton.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.703-707
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• 2007

This study was performed to investigate the effect of silk protein hydrolysates hydrolyzed by protease on blood glucose level, serum insulin and leptin secretion in the OLETF rats. Twenty seven week-old-male OLETF rats were divided in three groups: diabetic control, 0.5% and 0.8% silk protein hydrolysates groups that were fed daily for 19 weeks. Body weight increased in the 0.5% and 0.8% silk protein hydrolysates fed groups compared with diabetic control group. Food and water intake were not different among diabetic and silk protein hydrolysates groups. In random state, the blood glucose levels in silk protein hydrolysates fed groups were lower than diabetic control group; however, the blood glucose in the three groups were not different in fasting state. Also silk protein hydrolysates improved the glucose tolerance in OLETF rat. The silk protein hydrolysates did not influence serum lipids while serum insulin and leptin levels were increased in the experimental OLETF rats. These results suggested that the administration of silk protein hydrolysates solution reduced significantly (p<0.05) an increasing rate of blood glucose level by stimulating the insulin secretion and increasing the serum leptin level.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.107-115
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• 2017

The aim of this study was to investigate the hepatoprotecive effect of silk protein hydrolysates (SDH), which was prepared by acid hydrolysis, in rats. SDH itself did not exhibit any cytotoxic effect on hepatic tissues. SDH showed a protective effect on tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BHP)-induced hepatotoxicity and liver damage. SDH effectively reduced AST (aspartate aminotransferase) and ALT (alanine aminotransferase), which are biomarkers for liver damage, in a dose-dependent manner. Malondialdehyde (MDA), a lipid peroxidation product, was significantly reduced by SDH. A high dose of SDH (2 g/kg) reduced t-BHP-induced MDA production by 40%. Glutathione (GSH), which is an endogenous antioxidant molecule, was effectively increased by SDH treatment. GSH content was enhanced by around 2.5-fold, compared with t-BHP control, upon SDH (2 g/kg) treatment. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), which is an enzyme released by cell cytotoxicity, was greatly increased by t-BHP, but significantly decreased by SDH treatment. Furthermore, hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining showed that SDH suppressed t-BHP-induced lesions in liver tissue. Taken together, SDH might be used as a protective agent against liver damage.

• Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.15-19
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• 2012

A number of researcher have studied biomaterials for cartilage regeneration and are now proceeding. Silk protein was attempted for use as biomedical materials by many researchers because it is natural polymer with biocompatibility and excellent mechanical strength. In this study, we want to know a possibility of silk protein on the cartilage regeneration. We isolated chondrocytes from nasal cartilage and confirmed optimal culture condition of the cells. To observe the effects of silk fibroin on chondrogenesis, we added silk fibroin solutions to the culture medium of chondrocyte and detected gene expression levels related chondrogenesis such as col2, col10. The chondrocytes showed optimal growth when they were cultured in DMEM medium supplemented with 10% FBS 100 ${\cdot}{\ddot{I}}$M ascorbic acid. The levels of col2 gene expression were increased in non-autoclaved silk fibroin, but decreased in autoclaved one. Also the gene expression levels of col10 were increased in silk fibroin, particulary at 3D culture. Based on the results of this study, we had seen the possibility of silk fibroin for cartilage regeneration. In future studies, we should know more clearly the relationship between cartilage regeneration and the silk protein.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to produce mulberry extract and silk protein (MS) added yogurt fermented with vegetable lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus plantarum and Bacillus acidiproducens) and to determine their physicochemical properties and preference. The physicochemical properties were examined total phenol and antocyanins contents, viscosity, visible cell counts, chromaticity and sensory evaluation. Yogurt made with LP (PL) and BA (BA) had similar pH and titrable acidity and mulberry and MS addition made lower pH and higher titrable acidity than the control (YF) (p <0.05). The MS added yogurt exhibited adaptable acidity in the market. As expected, MS added yogurt had higher redness, and lower lightness and yellowness than no added one regardless of bacteria kinds, in chromaticity (p <0.05). MS added yogurt showed higher value of total phenols and anthocyanins than no MS added one. MS added yogurt also increased the number of live bacteria in the ascending order of than LP, BA, YF, LP + MS, and BA + MS. In sensory evaluation, BA + MS had the higher overall acceptance than the others. In conclusion, yogurt fermented with Lactobacillus plantarum and Bacillus acidiproducens was acceptable as much as the commercial Lactobacillus. Moreover, MS added yogurt fermented with Bacillus acidiproducens was the most preferred, based on physicochemical properties and overall acceptability for sensory evaluation.

• Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.118-123
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• 2015

The structural transition of silk protein has been induced by various method including alcohol treatment. To know the effect of alcohol concentration on silk beads conformation, silk beads were prepared in different alcohol concentration (100%, 70%, and 50%) and then examined the infrared spectra of silk beads. Silk beads prepared in 100% alcohol showed at $1265cm^{-1}$ attributed ${\beta}-sheet$ conformation and did not showed a characteristic absorption peak from model drug. However, silk beads in 70% and 50% alcohol showed some peaks originated from model drug including $2933cm^{-1}$, $1069cm^{-1}$, and $973cm^{-1}$. These results means that the micro-environment of silk beads was affected by alcohol concentration.

• Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.153-158
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• 2013

To express green fluorescent protein in the cocoon of silkworm, we constructed the fibroin H-chain expression system to produce enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) in the cocoon of transgenic silkworms. The EGFP fusion protein, each with N- and C-terminal sequences of the fibroin H-chain, was designed to be secreted into the lumen of the posterior silk glands. The expression of the EGFP/H-chain fusion gene was regulated by the fibroin H-chain promoter. The use of the 3xP3-driven DsRed2 cDNA as a marker allowed us to rapidly distinguish transgenic silkworm. A mixture of the donor and helper vector was micro-injected into 1,200 eggs of bivoltin silkworms, Baegokjam. We obtained 8 broods. The cocoon displayed strong green fluorescence, proving that the fusion protein was present in the cocoon. Also, the presence of fusion proteins in cocoons was demonstrated by SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting. Accordingly, we suggest that the EGFP fluorescence silk will enable the production of the novel biomaterial based on the transgenic silk.