• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.183-191
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• 2010

The phase changes of 1-palmitoyl-$d_{31}$-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (POPC_$d_{31}$) bilayers distorted by an antimicrobial peptide, a magainin 2 or an aurein 3.3 were investigated by using $^2H$ solid-state NMR (SSNMR) spectroscopy. From the theoretical simulation of the experimental $^2H$ solid-state NMR spectra the geometric structure constants and the lateral diffusion coefficients were obtained in the peptide-lipid mixture phases. Within five days of the peptide action on the lipid bilayers only the distorted alignment of the bilayers were measured but after 100 days an elliptic toroidal pore structure and an inverted hexagonal phase were formed in the presence of magainin 2 and aurein 3.3, respectively. In order to investigate the effect of an anionic lipid molecule on the actions of two peptides on the lipid bilayer, the same experiments were performed on the POPC_$d_{31}$/1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylglycerol (POPG) bilayer and the significant differences in the actions of two peptides on two bilayers of POPC_$d_{31}$ and POPC_$d_{31}$/POPG were measured.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.12
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• pp.1782-1789
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• 2012

We have developed a novel type of polymer nanogel loaded with anticancer drug based on bio-derived poly(${\gamma}$-glutamic acid) (${\gamma}$-PGA). ${\gamma}$-PGA is a highly anionic polymer that is synthesized naturally by microbial species, most prominently in various bacilli, and has been shown to have excellent biocompatibility. Thiolated ${\gamma}$-PGA was synthesized by covalent coupling between the carboxyl groups of ${\gamma}$-PGA and the primary amine group of cysteamine. Doxorubicin (Dox)-loaded ${\gamma}$-PGA nanogels were fabricated using the following steps: (1) an ionic nanocomplex was formed between thiolated ${\gamma}$-PGA as the negative charge component, and Dox as the positive charge component; (2) addition of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) induced hydrogen-bond interactions between thiol groups of thiolated ${\gamma}$-PGA and hydroxyl groups of PEG, resulting in the nanocomplex; and (3) disulfide crosslinked ${\gamma}$-PGA nanogels were fabricated by ultrasonication. The average size and surface charge of Dox-loaded disulfide cross-linked ${\gamma}$-PGA nanogels in aqueous solution were $136.3{\pm}37.6$ nm and $-32.5{\pm}5.3$ mV, respectively. The loading amount of Dox was approximately 38.7 ${\mu}g$ per mg of ${\gamma}$-PGA nanogel. The Dox-loaded disulfide cross-linked ${\gamma}$-PGA nanogels showed controlled drug release behavior in the presence of reducing agents, glutathione (GSH) (1-10 mM). Through fluorescence microscopy and FACS, the cellular uptake of ${\gamma}$-PGA nanogels into breast cancer cells (MCF-7) was analyzed. The cytotoxic effect was evaluated using the MTT assay and was determined to be dependent on both the concentration and treatment time of ${\gamma}$-PGA nanogels. The bio-derived ${\gamma}$-PGA nanogels are expected to be a well-designed delivery carrier for controlled drug delivery applications.

• Clean Technology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.124-131
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• 2010

Effects of $Ca(OH)_2$ concentration (0.16~0.64 wt%), surfactant concentration (2~16 wt%), total volumetric flow rate (3~6 L/min) and $CO_2$ volume fraction $(0.3{\sim}0.6)$ on morphology, crystal structure, mean particle diameter, aggregation and specific surface area of the precipitated $CaCO_3$ were investigated in the slurry bubble column reactor. Experiments were carried out in acrylic reactor ($0.11\;m-ID{\times}1.0\;m-high$) with a internal tube ($0.04\;m-ID{\times}1.0\;m-high$h). The reaction time of $CaCO_3$ synthesis decreased with adding Dispex N40 of the anionic surfactant. The reaction rate of $Ca(OH)_2$ increased with increasing the volumetric flow rate of $CO_2$. From SEM images, the single crystal of $CaCO_3$ increased with increasing the reaction rate in the saturated concentration of $Ca(OH)_2$ (0.16 wt %) and the concentration of Dispex N40 (2 wt%). The mean particle size of $CaCO_3$ varied with adding Dispex N40. In addition, the specific surface area of $CaCO_3$ increased with adding of surfactant (2 wt%) from $35m^2/g$ to $44m^2/g$ at the volumetric flow rate of $CO_2$ (0.9 L/min) and the concentration of $Ca(OH)_2$(0.64 wt %).

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.375-380
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• 2003

This study was carried out 1) to investigate the pH effect on solubilization of phenanthrene by biosurfactant in aqueous system and 2) to evaluate the pH effect on the biodegradation rate of phenanthrene in the presence and the absence of the biosurfactant by phenanthrene degraders. Tween 80, which is a chemically synthesized surfactant, showed greater solubilizing capacity than rhamnolipid. The solubilization capacity can be expressed as a MSR(molar solubilization ratio=moles of organic compounds solubilized per mole of surfactant). The calculated MSR of Tween 80 and rhamnolipid were 0.1449 and 0.0425 respectively. The kinetic study of phenanthrene solubilization by rhamnolipid showed that solubilization mechanism could reach equilibrium within 24 hours. Addition of 240 ppm rhamnolipid solution, which concentration is 4.3 times of Critical Micelle Concentration(CMC), caused 9 times solubility enhancement compared to water solubility. The highest solubilities were detected around a pH range of 4.5-5.5. Changes in apparent solubility with the changes in pH are possibly related to the fact that the rhamnolipid, an anionic surfactant, can form different structures depending on the pH. Two biodegradation experiments were performed in the absence and the presence of rhamnolipid, with the cell growth investigated using a spread plate method. The specific growth rates at pH 6 and 7 were higher than at the other pH, and the HPLC analysis data, for the total phenanthrene loss, confirmed the trends in the $\mu$(specific growth rate) values. In presence of rhamnolipid, maximum $\mu$ values shifted from around pH 5 which showed maximum enhancement of solubility in the abiotic experiment, compared to the $\mu$ values obtained without the biosurfactant. In this study, the increase in the observed specific grow rate(1.44 times) was not as high as the increase in solubilization(5 times). This was supported by the fact all the solubilized phenanthrene is not bioavailable to microorganisms.