• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.518-524
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• 2010

A mannanase gene (man26B) was obtained from a sea bacterium, Paenibacillus sp. BME-14, through the constructed genomic library and inverse PCR. The gene of man26B had an open reading frame of 1,428 bp that encoded a peptide of 475- amino acid residues with a calculated molecular mass of 53 kDa. Man26B possessed two domains, a carbohydrate binding module (CBM) belonging to family 6 and a family 26 catalytic domain (CD) of glycosyl hydrolases, which showed the highest homology to Cel44C of P. polymyxa (60% identity). The optimum pH and temperature for enzymatic activity of Man26B were 4.5 and $60^{\circ}C$, respectively. The activity of Man26B was not affected by $Mg^{2+}$ and $Co^{2+}$, but was inhibited by $Hg^{2+},\;Ca^{2+},\;Cu^{2+},\;Mn^{2+},\;K^+,\;Na^+$, and $\beta$-mercaptoethanol, and slightly enhanced by $Pb^{2+}$ and $Zn^{2+}$. EDTA did not affect the activity of Man26B, which indicates that it does not require divalent ions to function. Man26B showed a high specific activity for LBG and konjac glucomannan, with $K_m,\;V_{max}$, and $k_{cat}$ values of 3.80 mg/ml, 91.70 ${\mu}mol$/min/mg protein, and 77.08/s, respectively, being observed when LBG was the substrate. Furthermore, deletion of the CBM6 domain increased the enzyme stability while enabling it to retain 80% and 60% of its initial activity after treatment at $80^{\circ}C$ and $90^{\circ}C$ for 30 min, respectively. This finding will be useful in industrial applications of Man26B, because of the harsh circumstances associated with such processes.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.90-94
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• 2014

Salivary duct carcinoma(SDC) is rare malignancy, accounting for approximately 1-3% of all malignant salivary gland tumors. Systemic chemotherapy has been used for stage IV SDC, but there is no consensus on the standard treatment. SDC is histologically similar to ductal carcinoma of breast and often overexpress HER2/neu, hence HER2/neu targeted therapy could be one of treatment options. A 75-year-old Arabian man was diagnosed as SDC of right parotid gland with extensive metastases. He received oral 5-FU as palliative chemotherapy, but he was intolerable to oral chemotherapy due to severe oral mucositis. Considering immunohistochemical stain of tumor tissue showing strong positive for HER2/neu, we decided to administer an anti-HER2/neu antibody, trastuzumab. Follow-up CT scans before the third dose of trastuzumab demonstrated remarkable regression of multiple metastases as well as primary tumor. This case suggests that HER2/neu targeted therapy may be a potential therapeutic option for the SDC patient with overexpression of HER2/neu.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.516-521
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• 1989

Reaction between the $N_2O_2-type$ tetradentate ligand, ethylenediamine-N,N'-di-S-${\alpha}$-isobutylacetic acid (SS-emiba) and $RhCl_3{\cdot}3H_2O$ has yielded ${\Delta}-s-cis-\;and\;{\wedge}-uns-cis-[Rh(SS-eniba)Cl_2]-$. ${\Delta}-s-cis-[Rh(SS-eniba)Cl_2]^-$ has been utilized to react with S-methyl-L-cystcine(Smc) to give ${\Delta}-s-cis-[Rh(SS-eniba(Smc)]^+$. The oxidation of ${\Delta}-s-cis-[Rh(SS-eniba(Smc)]^+$ using $H_2O_2$ has produced ${\Delta}-s-cis-[Rh(SS-eniba)(Smc-o)]^+$, in which the coordinated sulfur has been converted into the sulfoxide group. In a separate series of experiments the S-methyl-L-cysteine is oxidized by $H_2O_2$ to give S-methyl-L-cysteine sulfoxide, which is then coordinated to ${\Delta}-s-cis-[Rh(SS-eniba)Cl2]^-$ to make the standard complet of ${\Delta}-s-cis-[Rh(SS-eniba)(Sme-o)]+$ for comparison with the complex obtained from the oxidation of ${\Delta}-s-cis-[Rh(SS-eniba)(Smc)]^+\;by\;H_2O_2.$

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.271-298
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• 1998

During these days of new understanding, western medicine has developed remarkably and a revaluation of traditional medicine has been achieved. This appears to have resulted from the sound criticisms of what western medicine has achieved up to now; excessive subdivisions of clinical medicine, severe toxicity of chemical drugs, lack of understanding about patients complaints which cannot be understood objectively, and etc. It is thought that the role of traditional medicine will be more important in the future than it is now. Someone said that the research methods of traditional medicine depends on the way of experimental science too much. That there was no consideration of a system for traditional medicine and the critic also went so far as to assert that in some cases the characteristics of eastern ideas is to permit irrationalism itself. In view of this thinking, the term traditional medicine seems to have been used somewhat too vaguely. However, traditional medicine is a medical treatment which has existed since before the appearance of modern medicine and it was formed from a traditional culture with a long history. One form of traditional medicine, oriental medicine based upon ancient Chinese medicine, was received in such countries as Korea, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Tibet, and Mongolia. Oriental medicine then developed in accordance with its own environment, race, national characteristics, and history. Although there are some simultaneous differences between them, three nations in Eastern Asia; Korea, Japan, and China, have especially similar features in their clinical prescriptions and medical literature. These three nations are trying to understand each others unique traditional medicines through numerous exchanges. Even though many differences in their ways of studying have developed over history exist, recent academic discussions have been made to explore new ways into oriental medicine. Therefore a comparative study of oriental medicine has gradually been thought to be more important. In Korea the formation of a new future-oriented paradigm for oriental medicine is being demanded. The purpose of the new paradigm is to create a new recognition of traditional culture which creates an understanding of oriental medicine to replace the diminished understanding of oriental medicine that was brought about by the self-denial of traditional culture in modem history and cultural collisions between oriental and occidental points of view. Therefore, to make a new paradigm for oriental medicine which is suitable for these days, and fortifies the merit of oriental medicine while compensating its defects, the author has compared the characteristics of oriental medicines in Korea, Japan, and China. The conclusions of this research are as follows: 1. The fundamental differences of the traditional medicines of these three nations are caused by the differences in the systems of Naekyung and Sanghannon. 2. The pattern-identification of illnesses is generally divided into two categories; the pattern identification of Zang-Fu and the pattern identification of prescription. 3. There are many differences in the definition of terms, such as Yin and Yang, Deficiency and Excess, and etc. 4. Chinese traditional medicine has some new concepts about pattern identification and epidemic febrile disease. 5. Japanese traditional medicine has some characteristics about pattern identification of the whole bodys condition and signs of abdominal palpation. 6. In terms of the effects of herbal drugs, Chinese traditional medicine attaches great importance to the experiential efficacy of the herb, and Japanese traditional medicine is taking a serious view of the effects of experimental medical actions.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.489-496
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• 2014

High levels of extracellular xylanase activity (211.79 IU/mg) produced by Paenibacillus sp. NF1 were detected when it was submerged-cultured. After three consecutive purification steps using Octyl-Sepharose, Sephadex G75, and Q-Sepharose columns, a thermostable xylanase (XynNF) was purified to homogeneity and showed a molecular mass of 37 kDa according to SDS-PAGE. The specific activity of the purified XynNF was up to 3,081.05 IU/mg with a 14.55-fold purification. The activity of XynNF was stimulated by $Ca^{2+}$, $Ba^{2+}$, DTT, and ${\beta}$-mercaptoethanol, but was inhibited by $Fe^{2+}$, $Zn^{2+}$, $Fe^{2+}$, $Cu^{2+}$, SDS, and EDTA. The purified XynNF displayed a greater affinity for oat spelt xylan with the maximal enzymatic activity at $60^{\circ}C$ and pH 6.0. XynNF, which was shown to be cellulose-free, with high stability at high temperature ($70^{\circ}C-80^{\circ}C$) and low pH range (pH 4.0-7.0), is potentially valuable for various industrial applications. The enzyme hydrolyzed oat spelt xylan to yield mainly xylooligosaccharides (95.8%) of 2-4 degree of polymerization (DP2-4). Moreover, the majority of the xylooligosacharides (DP2-4) products was xylobiose (61.5%). The thermostable xylanase (XynNF) thus seems potentially usefull in the production of xylooligosaccharides.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.18-22
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• 2009

Oxaliplatin is a tolerable and effective drug of choice in the treatment of advanced or metastatic gastric cancer. However, it has many dose-limiting neurotoxicities. This study was performed to assess the incidence and types of oxaliplatin-related neurotoxicities. Sixty-four patients receiving oxaliplatin-involved regimen as salvage therapy on metastatic gastric cancer or as the first-line therapy on advanced gastric cancer were evaluated during the period between September 1, 2006 and February 29, 2008. The patients were treated with oxaliplatin 100 $mg/m^2$ and leucovorin 100 $mg/m^2$ simultaneously as 2-hour-lasting infusion on Day-1 followed by 5-FU 1200 $mg/m^2$ as a 22-hour-lasting continuous infusion both on Day-1 and Day-2 by every other week. We developed questionnaires to evaluate patient-recognized neurotoxic symptoms rather than the observer-described events. Surveys were completed at bedside or via telephone interview. Acute and chronic neurotoxicities were graded according to the National Cancer Institute Common Toxicity Criteria (NCI-CTC, version 3) as well as the Oxaliplatin-specific Neurotoxicity Scale. The Grade-3 neuropathy was reported in 19% of the patients (n=12) and grade-1/2 neuropathy occurred in 70% (n=45). The most common symptom was cold-related dysesthesia (83%) regarded as nociperception by the patients. Some patients (19%) experienced functional impairment affecting activities of daily living such as writing, buttoning, and walking. Even though 74% of the patients (42/57) were prescribed with gabapentin to reduce these peripheral symptoms, it did not appear to derive any benefit from this medication. It is suggested that notify the patients about their oxaliplatin-associated, debilitating symptoms, and educate them any self-care strategy at the initiating phase of the chemotherapy. Moreover, it needs to design the intervention studies regarding the prevention and management of the peripheral neuropathy.

• BMB Reports
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• v.52 no.10
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• pp.595-600
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• 2019

Cardiac fibrosis is a common feature in chronic hypertension patients with advanced heart failure, and endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndMT) is known to promote Angiotensin II (Ang II)-mediated cardiac fibrosis. Previous studies have suggested a potential role for the transcription factor, ETS-1, in Ang II-mediated cardiac remodeling, however the mechanism are not well defined. In this study, we found that mice with endothelial Ets-1 deletion showed reduced cardiac fibrosis and hypertrophy following Ang II infusion. The reduced cardiac fibrosis was accompanied by decreased expression of fibrotic matrix genes, reduced EndMT with decreased Snail, Slug, Twist, and ZEB1 expression, as well as reduced cardiac hypertrophy and expression of hypertrophy-associated genes was observed. In vitro studies using cultured H5V cells further confirmed that ETS-1 knockdown inhibited $TGF-{\beta}1$-induced EndMT. This study revealed that deletion of endothelial Ets-1 attenuated Ang II-induced cardiac fibrosis via inhibition of EndMT, indicating an important ETS-1 function in mediating EndMT. Inhibition of ETS-1 could be a potential therapeutic strategy for treatment of heart failure secondary to chronic hypertension.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.721-733
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• 2019

Objective: The objectives of this study were to investigate the thermal gelation properties and molecular forces of actomyosin extracted from two classes of chicken breast meat qualities (normal and pale, soft and exudative [PSE]-like) during heating process to further improve the understanding of the variations of functional properties between normal and PSE-like chicken breast meat. Methods: Actomyosin was extracted from normal and PSE-like chicken breast meat and the gel strength, water-holding capacity (WHC), protein loss, particle size and distribution, dynamic rheology and protein thermal stability were determined, then turbidity, active sulfhydryl group contents, hydrophobicity and molecular forces during thermal-induced gelling formation were comparatively studied. Results: Sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed that protein profiles of actomyosin extracted from normal and PSE-like meat were not significantly different (p>0.05). Compared with normal actomyosin, PSE-like actomyosin had lower gel strength, WHC, particle size, less protein content involved in thermal gelation forming (p<0.05), and reduced onset temperature ($T_o$), thermal transition temperature ($T_d$), storage modulus (G') and loss modulus (G"). The turbidity, reactive sulfhydryl group of PSE-like actomyosin were higher when heated from $40^{\circ}C$ to $60^{\circ}C$. Further heating to $80^{\circ}C$ had lower transition from reactive sulfhydryl group into a disulfide bond and surface hydrophobicity. Molecular forces showed that hydrophobic interaction was the main force for heat-induced gel formation while both ionic and hydrogen bonds were different significantly between normal and PSE-like actomyosin (p<0.05). Conclusion: These changes in chemical groups and inter-molecular bonds affected protein-protein interaction and protein-water interaction and contributed to the inferior thermal gelation properties of PSE-like meat.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.83 no.4
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• pp.495-513
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• 2022

This paper aims to study the fracture mechanism of rocks under the 'u'shape cutters considering the effects of crack (pre-existing crack) distances, crack spacing and crack inclination angles. The effects of loading rates on the rock fragmentation underneath these cutters have been also studied. For this purpose, nine experimental samples with dimensions of 5 cm×10 cm×10 cm consisting of the non-persistent cracks were prepared. The first three specimens' sets had one non-persistent crack (pre-existing crack) with a length of 2 cm and angularity of 0°, 45°, and 90°. The spacing between the crack and the "u" shape cutter was 2 cm. The second three specimens" set had one non-persistent crack with a length of 2 cm and angularity of 0°, 45°, and 90° but the spacing between pre-existing crack and the "u" shape cutter was 4 cm. The third three specimens'set has two non-persistent cracks with lengths of 2 cm and angularity of 0°, 45° and 90°. The spacing between the upper crack and the "u" shape cutter was 2 cm and the spacing between the lower crack and the upper crack was 2 cm. The samples were tested under a loading rate of 0.005 mm/s. concurrent with the experimental investigation. The numerical simulations were performed on the modeled samples with non-persistent cracks using PFC2D. These models were tested under three different loading rates of 0.005 mm/s, 0.01 mm/sec and 0.02 mm/sec. These results show that the crack number, crack spacing, crack angularity, and loading rate has important effects on the crack growth mechanism in the rocks underneath the "u" shape cutters. In addition, the failure modes and the fracture patterns in the experimental tests and numerical simulations are similar to one another showing the validity and accuracy of the current study.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.9
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• pp.1303-1313
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• 2022

Objective: The current study aimed to perform whole-genome resequencing of Chinese indigenous Mongolian sheep breeds including Ujimqin, Sunit, and Wu Ranke sheep breeds (UJMQ, SNT, WRK) and deeply analyze genetic variation, population structure, domestication, and selection for domestication traits among these Mongolian sheep breeds. Methods: Blood samples were collected from a total of 60 individuals comprising 20 WRK, 20 UJMQ, and 20 SNT. For genome sequencing, about 1.5 ㎍ of genomic DNA was used for library construction with an insert size of about 350 bp. Pair-end sequencing were performed on Illumina NovaSeq platform, with the read length of 150 bp at each end. We then investigated the domestication and signatures of selection in these sheep breeds. Results: According to the population and demographic analyses, WRK and SNT populations were very similar, which were different from UJMQ populations. Genome wide association study identified 468 and 779 significant loci from SNT vs UJMQ, and UJMQ vs WRK, respectively. However, only 3 loci were identified from SNT vs WRK. Genomic comparison and selective sweep analysis among these sheep breeds suggested that genes associated with regulation of secretion, metabolic pathways including estrogen metabolism and amino acid metabolism, and neuron development have undergone strong selection during domestication. Conclusion: Our findings will facilitate the understanding of Chinese indigenous Mongolian sheep breeds domestication and selection for complex traits and provide a valuable genomic resource for future studies of sheep and other domestic animal breeding.