• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.8
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• pp.729-735
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• 2021

Type 2 diabetes occurs when there is an abnormality in the tissue's ability to absorb glucose. Glucose uptake and metabolism by insulin are the basic mechanisms that maintain blood sugar. Glucose uptake goes through various signaling steps initiated by the binding of insulin to receptors on the cell surface. In line with the foregoing, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of 2,7-phloroglucinol-6,6-bieckol (PHB), an active compound isolated from Ecklonia cava, on glucose uptake in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Notably, PHB increased glucose uptake in a dose-dependent manner owing to the enhanced glucose transporter type 4 (GLUT4) expression in the plasma membrane of 3T3-L1 adipocytes. These effects of PHB were attributed to the phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate-1 and protein kinase B (PKB or AKT), as well as to the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) activation in the insulin signaling pathway. PHB also stimulated 5' AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) phosphorylation and activation. The phosphorylation and activation of the PI3K/AKT and AMPK pathways by PHB were identified using wortmannin (a PI3K inhibitor) and compound C (an AMPK inhibitor). In this study, we showed that PHB can increase glucose uptake in 3T3-L1 adipocytes by promoting GLUT4 translocation to the plasma membrane via the PI3K and AMPK pathways. The results indicate that PHB may help improve insulin sensitivity.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.301-307
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• 2015

Phlorotannins and marine algal polyphenols, including dieckol, 6,6-bieckol, phloroglucinol, phlorofucofuroeckol-A, and eckol, were isolated from brown seaweeds. These compounds have beneficial bioactivities, and Ecklonia cava has become widely used for the extraction and isolation of phlorotannins. Eckol, in particular, has been to shown to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticoagulatory, and photoprotective properties. However, due to its low abundance in weaweed, the isolation and purification of eckol are difficult. Its limited availability renders the isolation and purification of eckol labor-intensive processes. Centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC) is an efficient technique for the isolation and purification of eckol. In this study, eckol was isolated from the ethyl acetate fraction of the 70% ethanol extract of E. cava using CPC with a two-phase solvent system of a n-hexane:EtOAc:methanol:water (2:8:3:7, v/v) solution. The purity and anti-inflammatory activity of the isolated eckol were verified by high-performance liquid chromatography and by assaying lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammatory responses in an immortalized murine BV2 microglial cell line, respectively. In conclusion, CPC is a useful technique for simple and efficient isolation of eckol from E. cava.