• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Food Science of Animal Resources Conference
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.89-119
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• 2004

This study was conducted to isolate lactobacilli having probiotic characteristics to be used as health adjuncts with fermented milk products. Acid tolerant strains were selected in Lactobacilli MRS broth adjusted to pH 4.0 from 80 healthy persons (infants, children and adults). And bile tolerant strains were examined in Lactobacilli MRS broth in which 1.0% bile salt was added. By estimation above characteristics, the strains No. 27, which was isolated from adult feces, was selected and identified as Lactobacillus salivarius subsp. salivarius based on carbohydrate fermentation and 16S rDNA sequencing. It was used as a probiotic strain in fermented milk products. The pH of fermented milk decreased from pH 6.7 to 5.0 and titratable acidity increased from 0.3% to 1.0% by L. salivarius subsp. salivarius (isolation strain 20, 35, and 37), when incubated for 36 h at $37^{\circ}C$. The number of viable cell counts of fermented milk was maximized at this incubation condition. The SDS-PAGE evidenced no significant change of casein but distinct changes of whey protein were observed by isolated L. salivarius subsp. salivarius for titratable acidity being incubated by $0.9{\sim}1.0%$ at $37^{\circ}C$. All of the strains produced 83.43 to 131.96 mM of lactic acid and 5.39 to 26.85 mM of isobutyric acid in fermented products. The in vitro culture experiment was performed to evaluate ability to reduce cholesterol levels and antimicrobial activity in the growth medium. The selected L. salivarius subsp. salivarius reduced $23{\sim}38%$ of cholesterol content in lactobacilli MRS broth during bacterial growth for 24 hours at $37^{\circ}C$. All of the isolated L. salivarius subsp. salivarius had an excellent antibacterial activity with $15{\sim}25$ mm of inhibition zone to E. coli KCTC1039, S. enteritidis KCCM3313, S. typhimurium M-15, and S. typhimurium KCCM40253 when its pH had not been adjusted. Also, all of the isolated L. salivarius subsp. salivarius had partial inhibition zone to E. coli KCTC1039, E. coli KCTC0115 and S. enteritidis KCCM3313 when it had been adjusted to pH 5.7. The selected strains were determined to have resistances of twelve antibiotic. Strains 27 and 35 among the L. salivarius subsp. salivarius showed the highest resistance to the antibiotics. Purified ${\alpha}$-galactosidase was obtained by DEAE-Sephadex A-50 ion exchange chromatography, Mono-Q ion exchange chromatography and HPLC column chromatography from L. salivarius subsp. salivarius 27. The specific activity of the purified enzyme was 8,994 units/mg protein, representing an 17.09 folds purification of the original cell crude extract. The molecular weight of enzyme was identified about 53,000 dalton by 12% SDS-PAGE. Optimal temperature and pH for activity of this enzyme were $40^{\circ}C$ and 7.0 respectively. The enzyme was found to be stable between 25 and $50^{\circ}C$. ${\alpha}$-galactosidase activity was lost rapidly below pH 5.0 and above pH 9.0. This enzyme was liberated galactose from melibiose, raffinose, and stachyose, and also the hydrolysis rate of substrate was compound by HPLC. These results indicated that some of the L. salivarius subsp. salivarius (strain 27 and 35) are considered as effective probiotic strains with a potential for industrial applications, but the further study is needed to establish their use as probiotics in vivo.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.357-362
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• 2023

This report looks at an agar-degrading marine bacterium and characterization of its agarase. Agar-degrading marine bacterium JS-1 was isolated with Marine agar 2216 media from seawater from the seashore of Sojuk-do, Changwon in Gyeongnam Province, Korea. The agar-degrading bacterium was named as Agarivorans sp. JS-1 by phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The extracellular agarase was prepared from the culture media of Agarivorans sp. JS-1 and used for characterization. Relative activities at 20℃, 30℃, 35℃, 40℃, 45℃, 50℃, 55℃, and 60℃ were 70%, 74%, 78%, 83%, 87%, 100%, 74%, and 66%, respectively. Relative activities at pH 5, 6, 7, and 8 were 91%, 100%, 90%, and 89%, respectively. Its extracellular agarase showed maximum activity (207 units/l) at pH 6.0 and 50℃ in 20 mM Tris-HCl buffer. The residual activity after heat treatment at 20℃, 30℃, and 50℃ for 30 minutes was 90%, 70%, and 50% or more, respectively. After a 2-hour heat treatment at 20℃, 30℃, 35℃, 40℃, and 45℃, the residual activity was 80%, 68%, 65%, 63%, and 57%, respectively. At 50℃ and above, after heat treatment for 30 minutes, the residual activity was below 60%. Thin layer chromatography analysis suggested that Agarivorans sp. JS-1 produces extracellular β-agarases as they hydrolyze agarose to produce neoagarooligosaccharides such as neoagarohexaose (20.6%), neoagarotetraose (58.5%), and neoagarobiose (20.9%). Agarivorans sp. JS-1 and its thermotolerant β-agarase would be useful in the production of neoagarooligosaccharides, showing functional activity such as inhibition of bacterial growth and delay of starch degradation.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.339-353
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• 1994

Background : The p53 gene codes for a DNA-binding nuclear phosphoprotein that appears to inhibit the progression of cells from the G1 to the S phase of the cell cycle. Mutations of the p53 gene are common in a wide variety of human cancers, including lung cancer. In lung cancers, point mutations of the p53 gene have been found in all histological types including approximately 45% of resected NSCLC and even more frequently in SCLC specimens. Mutant forms of the p53 protein have transforming activity and interfere with the cell-cycle regulatory function of the wild-type protein. The majority of p53 gene mutations produce proteins with altered conformation and prolonged half life; these mutant proteins accumulate in the cell nucleus and can be detected by immunohistochemical staining. But protein overexpression has been reported in the absence of mutation. p53 protein overexpression or gene mutation is reported poor prognostic factor in breast cancer, but in lung cancer, its prognostic significance is controversial. Method : We investigated the p53 abnormalities by nucleotide sequencing, polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism(PCR-SSCP), and immunohistochemical staining. We correlated these results with each other and survival in 75 patients with NSCLC resected with curative intent. Overexpression of the p53 protein was studied immunohistochemically in archival paraffin- embedded tumor samples using the D07(Novocastra, U.K.) antibody. Overexpression of p53 protein was defined by the nuclear staining of greater than 25% immunopositive cells in tumors. Detection of p53 gene mutation was done by PCR-SSCP and nucleotide sequencing from the exon 5-9 of p53 gene. Result: 1) Of the 75 patients, 36%(27/75) showed p53 overexpression by immunohistochemical stain. There was no survival difference between positive and negative p53 immunostaining(overall median survival of 26 months, disease free median survival of 13 months in both groups). 2) By PCR-SSCP, 27.6%(16/58) of the patients showed mobility shift. There was no significant difference in survival according to mobility shift(overall median survival of 27 in patients without mobility shift vs 20 months in patients with mobility shift, disease free median survival of 8 months vs 10 months respectively). 3) Nucleotide sequence was analysed from 29 patients, and 34.5%(10/29) had mutant p53 sequence. Patients with the presence of gene mutations showed tendency to shortened survival compared with the patients with no mutation(overall median survival of 22 vs 27 months, disease free median survival of 10 vs 20 months), but there was no statistical significance. 4) The sensitivity and specificity of immunostain based on PCR-SSCP was 67.0%, 74.0%, and that of the PCR-SSCP based on the nucleotide sequencing was 91.8%, 96.2% respectively. The concordance rate between the immunostain and PCR-SSCP was 62.5%, and the rate between the PCR-SSCP and nucleotide sequencing was 95.3%. Conclusion : In terms of detection of p53 gene mutation, PCR-SSCP was superior to immunostaining. p53 gene abnormalities either overexpression or mutation were not a significant prognostic factor in NSCLC patients resected with curative intent. However, patients with the mutated p53 gene showed the trends of early relapse.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.11
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• pp.1276-1289
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• 2017

This study isolated and purified the antimicrobial peptide McSSP-31 from an acidified hemocyte extract of a Mytilus coruscus. The antimicrobial peptide was purified by using a $C_{18}$ reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The peptide was determined to be 3330.549 Da by matrix assisted-laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrophotometer (MALDI-TOF/MS). The N-terminus of a 14 amino-acid sequence was identified as P-S-P-T-R-R-S-T-S-R-S-K-S-R by Edman degradation method. The acquired sequence showed a 93% similarity with the sperm-specific protein Phi-1, which is from M. californianus. The identified open-reading frame (ORF) of peptide was 306 bp encoding 101 amino acids, which was analyzed by rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE), cloning and sequencing analysis. We compared the full sequence with other known proteins that reveal the sperm-specific protein Phi-1 (93.5%) of M. californianus. Synthesized antimicrobial peptide (McSSP-31) showed antibacterial activity against gram-positive bacteria including B. subtilis, S. mutans, S. aureus and gram-negative bacteria including E. coli, K. pneumoniae, P. mirabilis, P. aeruginosa and fungi, C. albicans. Also, synthesized peptide showed strong antibacterial activity against antibiotic-resistant strains, including S. aureus. The cytotoxicity of the peptide was determined by using the HUVEC human cell line. The peptide did not exhibit any significant cytotoxic effects on the normal human cell line, and it had very low hemolytic activity with flounder hemoglobin. The results demonstrated that peptide purified from the hemocyte of a M. coruscus exhibits antibacterial activity against various bacteria and has the potential to be an alternative antibiotic agent.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.11
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• pp.1173-1178
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to isolate an agar-degrading marine bacterium and characterize its agarase. Bacterium BK-1, from Gwanganri Beach at Busan, Korea, was isolated on Marine 2216 agar medium and identified as Agarivorans sp. BK-1 by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The extracellular agarase, characterized after dialysis of culture broth, showed maximum activity at pH 6.0 and $50^{\circ}C$ in 20 mM Tris-HCl buffer. Relative activities at 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, and $70^{\circ}C$ were 67, 93, 97, 100, 58, and 52%, respectively. Relative activities at pH 5, 6, 7, and 8 were 59, 100, 95, and 91%, respectively. More than 90% of the activity remained after a 2 hr exposure to 20, 30, or $40^{\circ}C$; about 60% of the activity remained after a 2 hr exposure to $50^{\circ}C$. Almost all activity was lost after exposure to 60 or $70^{\circ}C$ for 30 min. Zymography revealed three agarases with molecular weights of 110, 90, and 55 kDa. Agarose was degraded to neoagarobiose (46.8%), neoagarotetraose (39.7%), and neoagarohexaose (13.5%), confirming the agarase of Agarivorans sp. BK-1 as a ${\beta}$-agarase. The neoagarooligosaccharides generated by this agarase could be used for moisturizing, bacterial growth inhibition, skin whitening, food treatments, cosmetics, and delaying starch degradation.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.703-708
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• 2015

Hox genes encode a highly conserved family of homeodomain-containing transcription factors controlling vertebrate pattern formation along the anteroposterior body axis during embryogenesis. Retinoic acid (RA) is a key morphogen in embryogenesis and a critical regulator of both adult and embryonic cellular activity. Specifically, RA regulates Hox gene expression in mouse- or human-derived embryonic carcinoma (EC) cells. Histone modification has been reported to play a pivotal role in the process of RA-induced gene expression and cell differentiation. As histone modification is thought to play an essential role in RA-induced Hox gene expression, we examined RA-induced initiation of collinear expression of Hox genes and the corresponding histone modifications in F9 murine embryonic teratocarcinoma (EC) cells. Hox expression patterns and histone modifications were analyzed by semiquantitative RT-PCR, RNA-sequencing, and chromatin immuno-precipitation (ChIP)-PCR analyses. The Hoxc4 gene (D0) was initiated earlier than the Hoxc5 to –c10 genes (D3) upon RA treatment (day 0 [D0], day 1 [D1], and day 3 [D3]). The Hox nonexpressing D0 sample had a strong repressive marker, H3K27me3, than the D1 and D3 samples. In the D1 and D3 samples, reduced enrichment of the H3K27me3 marker was observed in the whole cluster. The active H3K4me3 marker was closely associated with the collinear expression of Hoxc genes. Thus, the Hoxc4 gene (D1) and all Hoxc genes (D3) expressed H3K4me3 upon transcription activation. In conclusion, these data indicated that removing H3K27me3 and acquiring H3K4me3 regulated RA-induced Hoxc gene collinearity in F9 cells.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.30 no.9
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• pp.804-812
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• 2020

The giant mealworm beetle, Zophobas atratus (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) has been used as a protein source for small pets and mammals. Recently, it was temporarily registered in the list of the Food Code. We previously performed an in silico analysis of the Zophobas atratus transcriptome to identify putative antimicrobial peptides and identified several antimicrobial peptide candidates. Among them, we assessed the antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activities of zophobacin 1 that was selected bio-informatically based on its physicochemical properties against microorganisms and mouse macrophage Raw264.7 cells. Zophobacin 1 showed antimicrobial activities against microorganisms without inducing hemolysis and decreased the nitric oxide production of the lipopolysaccharide-induced Raw264.7 cells. Moreover, ELISA and Western blot analysis revealed that zophobacin 1 reduced expression levels of pro-inflammatory enzymes such as inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). We also investigated expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (interleukin-6 and interleukin-1β) production through quantitative real time-PCR and ELISA. Zophobacin 1 markedly reduced the expression level of cytokines through the regulation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling. We confirmed that zophobacin 1 bound to bacterial cell membranes via a specific interaction with lipopolysaccharides. These data suggest that zophobacin 1 could be promising molecules for development as antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory therapeutic agents.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Inherited Metabolic disease
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.135-141
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• 2014

Objectives: Fabry disease (FD) is a lysosomal storage disease caused by the inappropriate accumulation of globotriaosylceramide (Gb3) in tissues due to a deficiency in the enzyme ${\alpha}$-galactosidase A. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is one of the chronic complications of FD. We tried to evaluate the prevalence of Fabry disease in the Korean patients with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). Methods: A total of 257 patients with LVH were recruited and they were 172 males (mean 56 years, range 30-81 years) and 84 females (mean 66 years, range 45-85 years). Urinary Gb3 was used to screen FD by high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Confirmatory tests were done by alpha-galactosidaseA activity using fluorometric assay and by GLA mutation analysis using sequencing. Results: Four patients were screening positive by urinary Gb3 analysis (cutoff, 25 ug/mmol creatinine). But, one female patient was diagnosed with FD confirmed by enzyme analysis in leukocytes as well as by genetic analysis (1/257 patients, 0.4%). She showed 54.3 ug/mmoL creatinine of Gb3 and 15.5 nmole/hr/mg protein (reference range, $55.2{\pm}12.7nmole/hr/mg$ protein) of alphagalactosidase A activity. And she had a heterozygous GLA mutation of c.796G>A (p.D266N). Her daughter was found to be a carrier for FD confirmed by GLA mutation analysis. Asymptomatic carrier showed 25.5ug/mmol creatinine of Gb3 and 42.5 nmole/hr/mg protein (reference range, $55.2{\pm}12.7nmole/hr/mg$ protein) of alpha-galactosidase A activity. Conclusions: The prevalence of FD in Koran patients with LVH was detected as 0.4%. Although the prevalence seems to be low, screening studies are of great importance for detecting hidden cases as well as for identifying other effected family members.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.920-925
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• 2015

The microbial composition in Nuruk, a Korean cereal fermentation starter, is a critical factor for the quality and organoleptic properties of traditional alcoholic beverages. This study was aimed at monitoring the compositional change and enzyme activity of culturable lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in two types of Nuruk fermented at different temperatures. All culturable LAB were isolated at various time points (0, 3, 6, 10, 20, and 30 days) and identified by 16S rRNA sequencing. In traditional Nuruk type A (TN-A), which was fermented at $36^{\circ}C$, the population of total culturable LAB during the fermentation period was between $10^4$ and $10^5$ log CFU/mL. On the other hand, the LAB population in traditional Nuruk type B (TN-B) fermented at $45^{\circ}C$ (primary fermentation for 10 days) and $35^{\circ}C$ (secondary fermentation for 20 days) was $10^2$ log CFU/mL; however, these bacteria could not be detected after 6 days. Major LAB strains were identified in both Nuruk types: (1) from the MRS-culture of TN-A, Pediococcus pentosaceus at 3-30 days; (2) from MRS-culture of TN-B, P. pentosaceus at 3 days and Enterococcus hirae at 6 days. The protease activities of the dominant LAB isolated from the TN-A and TN-B cultures were within the ranges of 0.64~1.03 mg/mL and 0.74~0.81 mg/mL (tyrosine content), respectively, whereas the ${\alpha}$-amylase activities were 0.75~0.98 mg/mL and 0.78~0.79 mg/mL (amylose content), respectively.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.11
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• pp.1218-1226
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• 2019

The white-spotted flower chafer Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis is a medicinally beneficial and important edible insect species. We previously performed an in silico analysis of the Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis transcriptome to identify putative antimicrobial peptides and then tested their antimicrobial and hemolytic activities. These peptides had potent antimicrobial activities against bacteria and yeast without inducing hemolysis. In the present study, the cationic antimicrobial peptide, protaetiamycine 2, was selected for further assessment of its anti-inflammatory properties in mouse macrophage Raw264.7 cells. Protaetiamycine 2 treatment of Raw264.7 cells suppressed LPS-induced nitric oxide production and reduced the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase-2, as determined by real-time PCR and western blotting. The expression of proinflammatory cytokines ($TNF-{\alpha}$, IL-6, and $IL-1{\beta}$) was also attenuated through the MAPKs and $NF-{\kappa}B$ signaling. We also confirmed that protaetiamycine 2 bound to bacterial cell membranes by a specific interaction with LPS. Collectively, these data obtained from LPS-induced Raw264.7 cells indicated that protaetiamycine 2 could have both antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties.