• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.92-98
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• 2001

Lactofenicin is an antibacterial peptide fragment (about 5 kD) derived from lactoferrin (80 kD) that displays the various biological functions. The production of a human lactoferricin (Lactoferricin H) in mouse HC11 mammary epithelial cells was achieved by placing its cDNA under the control of the bovine ${\beta}$-casein gene. To express lactoferricin H in this cell culture system, constructed a hybride-splice signal consisting of bovine ${\beta}$-casein intron I and rabbit ${\beta}$-globin intron II, and a DNA fragment spanning intron 8 of the bovine ${\beta}$-casein gene. Expression of lactofenicin H from this expression vector was identified by RT-PCR, northern and dot blot analysis. RT-PCR using total RNA of HC11 cells transfected with pBL1-cin expression vector yielded a product identified as having a size of the 150bp. Northern blot analysis was identified about 2.3 kb. In dot blot analysis, recombinant lactofenicin H was recognized with anti-human lactofrrnin polyclonal antibody.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2011

9Pbw2 is a 9-mer analog of protaetiamycine derived from the larvae of the beetle Protaetia brevitarsis. Previously, we designed four 9-mer peptide analogues to optimize the balance between the hydrophobicity and cationicity of the peptides and to increase bacterial cell selectivity. Among them, 9Pbw2 has high antibacterial activity without cytotoxicity. The results obtained in previous study suggest that the bactericidal action of 9Pbw2 may be attributed to the inhibition of the functions of intracellular components after penetration of the bacterial cell membrane. In order to understand structure-activity relationships, we determined the three-dimensional structure of 9Pbw2 in 200 mM DPC micelle by NMR spectroscopy. 9Pbw2 has one hydrophobic turn helix from $Trp^3$ to $Arg^8$ and positively charged residues at the N- and C-terminus. This result suggested that positively charged residues from position at the C-terminus in 9Pbw2 may be important for the primary binding to the negatively charged phospholipid head groups in bacterial cell membranes and hydrophobic residues in the middle portion face toward the acyl chains of the hydrophobic lipid in the bacterial cell membrane.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.11
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• pp.1836-1840
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• 2008

Bacteriocins are antimicrobial peptides that are produced by bacteria and toxic to bacterial strains closely related to the producer strain. It has previously been reported that Bacillus thuringiensis strain NEB17 and Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki BUPM4 produce the bacteriocins thuricin 17 (3,162 Da) and bacthuricin F4 (3,160.05 Da), respectively. Here, we demonstrate that these bacteriocins have functional similarities and show a similar spectrum of antimicrobial activities against indicator strains. We also studied the effects of sterilization methods on the recovery and biological activities of these bacteriocins. They were completely degraded by autoclaving and the two were similarly affected by the tested filter membranes. Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polyestersulfone (PES), and cellulose acetate (CA) are suitable for filter sterilization of these bacteriocins. The two bacteriocins were stable across a range of storage conditions. These data will facilitate their utilization in food preservation or agricultural applications.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.241-255
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• 2023

The robust development of frog farming offered high economic benefits but created a large waste residue of frog bones and skin that received little attention. Over the years, inedible by-products have often been processed into biomolecules of potential value and environmental benefits, such as collagen, gelatin, and bioactive peptides. An overview of bioactive compounds on frog skins from various countries indicated that brevinin was the most abundant biological peptide found in frog skin. Other remaining compounds also possessed their highlighted activities, including antibacterial, stimulating insulin release and gastric hormone release, anti-cancer, and neuroregulatory. Notably, various components have been analyzed in the structure and sequence to give meaningful insight into clustering components related to their biological activity. This review may create a source of raw materials for the developmental research of by-products from frog skin and concomitantly reduce environmental pollution.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.1189-1196
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• 2024

Bacterial resistance to commonly used antibiotics is one of the major challenges to be solved today. Bacteriophage endolysins (Lysins) have become a hot research topic as a new class of antibacterial agents. They have promising applications in bacterial infection prevention and control in multiple fields, such as livestock and poultry farming, food safety, clinical medicine and pathogen detection. However, many phage endolysins display low bactericidal activities, short half-life and narrow lytic spectrums. Therefore, some methods have been used to improve the enzyme properties (bactericidal activity, lysis spectrum, stability and targeting the substrate, etc) of bacteriophage endolysins, including deletion or addition of domains, DNA mutagenesis, chimerization of domains, fusion to the membrane-penetrating peptides, fusion with domains targeting outer membrane transport systems, encapsulation, the usage of outer membrane permeabilizers. In this review, research progress on the strategies for improving their enzyme properties are systematically presented, with a view to provide references for the development of lysins with excellent performances.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.127-131
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• 2006

A study was carried out to produce antimicrobial peptides from zein treated with pretenses of six kinds. Among the pretenses of six kinds, zein hydrolysate treated with pepsin showed the highest antimicrobial activity. The zein hydrolysate with pepsin was fractionated with membrane filter (30,000 10,000 and 3,000 molecular weight cut-off) and antimicrobial activity was measured for each fractions. Antimicrobial activity appeared greatly in the fraction below 3,000 (molecular weight cut-off) . The fraction was re-fractionated by HPLC and substances of two peaks collected as a sample to measure antimicrobial activity. All of both peaks showed the antimicrobial activity but 1st peak exhibited a consistently higher antimicrobial activity than 2nd peak. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) were between 2.5 and 3.0 mg/mL. The peptide was heat-stable since antimicrobial activity was maintained after treated with heat for 20 min at $121^{\circ}C$. N-terminal amino acid sequence of peptide fractionated by HPLC was leucine, glutamic acid, proline, phenylalanine, aspartic acid and argenine. These results indicated that peptide isolated from zein hydrosate with pepsin can use as a natural preservative ingredient in food industry.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.14-20
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• 2016

One of the most powerful health management practices is the use of antibiotics, but their use is being restricted because of health safety issues. The swine industry has been looking for various alternatives to antibiotics and increasingly considers the use of dietary factors like feed ingredients, feed additives, feed formulation practices, or feeding methods, instead of using antibiotics to improve pig health and performance. Among other alternatives to antibiotics, spray-dried plasma may be a candidate. Spray-dried plasma is a blood product that provides bioavailable nutrients and physiologically active components such as immunoglobulins, glycoproteins, growth factors, peptides, etc. It is an excellent protein source with balanced and highly digestible amino acids. Several beneficial physiological activities depend on components of spray-dried plasma, such as immune competence (antibacterial activity), modulation of microbiota and/or immune system, integrity of intestinal barrier function, etc. These beneficial effects can contribute to improvement of pig performance and health by modulation of microbiota in the digestive tract and/or immune system. Therefore, it is suggested that spray-dried plasma has great potential as an antibiotics alternative.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.242-254
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• 2018

Defensins are antimicrobial peptides that participate in the innate immunity of hosts. Humans constitutively and/or inducibly express ${\alpha}$- and ${\beta}$-defensins, which are known for their antiviral and antibacterial activities. This review describes the application of human defensins. We discuss the extant experimental results, limited though they are, to consider the potential applicability of human defensins as antiviral agents. Given their antiviral effects, we propose that basic research be conducted on human defensins that focuses on RNA viruses, such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), influenza A virus (IAV), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and dengue virus (DENV), which are considered serious human pathogens but have posed huge challenges for vaccine development for different reasons. Concerning the prophylactic and therapeutic applications of defensins, we then discuss the applicability of human defensins as antivirals that has been demonstrated in reports using animal models. Finally, we discuss the potential adjuvant-like activity of human defensins and propose an exploration of the 'defensin vaccine' concept to prime the body with a controlled supply of human defensins. In sum, we suggest a conceptual framework to achieve the practical application of human defensins to combat viral infections.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.522-533
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• 2014

Bionanotechnology has revolutionized nanomaterial synthesis by providing a green synthetic platform using biological systems. Among such biological systems, microalgae have tremendous potential to take up metal ions and produce nanoparticles by a detoxification process. The present study explores the intracellular and extracellular biogenic syntheses of silver nanoparticles (SNPs) using the unicellular green microalga Scenedesmus sp. Biosynthesized SNPs were characterized by AAS, UV-Vis spectroscopy, TEM, XRD, FTIR, DLS, and TGA studies and finally checked for antibacterial activity. Intracellular nanoparticle biosynthesis was initiated by a high rate of $Ag^+$ ion accumulation in the microalgal biomass and subsequent formation of spherical crystalline SNPs (average size, 15-20 nm) due to the biochemical reduction of $Ag^+$ ions. The synthesized nanoparticles were intracellular, as confirmed by the UV-Vis spectra of the outside medium. Furthermore, extracellular synthesis using boiled extract showed the formation of well scattered, highly stable, spherical SNPs with an average size of 5-10 nm. The size and morphology of the nanoparticles were confirmed by TEM. The crystalline nature of the SNPs was evident from the diffraction peaks of XRD and bright circular ring pattern of SAED. FTIR and UV-Vis spectra showed that biomolecules, proteins and peptides, are mainly responsible for the formation and stabilization of SNPs. Furthermore, the synthesized nanoparticles exhibited high antimicrobial activity against pathogenic gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. Use of such a microalgal system provides a simple, cost-effective alternative template for the biosynthesis of nanomaterials in a large-scale system that could be of great use in biomedical applications.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.189-194
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• 2015

Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) is one of the most important bacteria in the formation of dental plaque and dental caries. S. mutans adheres to an acquired pellicle formed on the tooth surface, and aggregates with many oral bacteria, and initiates plaque formation by synthesizing glucan from sucrose, which is catalyzed by glucosyltransferases. S. mutans metabolizes the dietary sugar to the organic acids. The organic acids demineralize tooth surface and result in dental caries. Galla Chinensis have been traditionally used for stopping bleeding of gingiva, removing edema and halitosis, drainage, fixing the teeth and as an antiphlogistic agent. In previous reports, antibacterial effects of Galla Chinensis have been investigated whereas anti-cariogenic effects is still not examined enough. Therefore we tested effects of ethanol extracts of Galla Chinensis on the cariogenic properties such as the growth, acid production, adhesion, and insoluble glucan synthesis of S. mutans. In the result, ethanol extracts of Galla Chinensis showed the inhibition of S. mutans growth and organic acids production over 0.031 mg/ml concentrations. The adhesion of S. mutans to Saliva-coated Hydroxyapatite beads S-HAs has decreased with the increase of concentration of ethanol extracts of Galla Chinensis. And it seems to have adhesion inhibitory effect in concentration of over 0.25 mg/ml. It gives us the result that Galla Chinensis have anti-caries effects. But ethanol extract of Galla Chinensis didn't have inhibitory effect on insoluble glucan synthesis. Preliminary phytochemical analysis of the ethanol extract of Galla Chinensis showed strong phenolic compounds, medium steroids & terpenoids and glycosides, and weak organic acids and peptides. These results suggest that the ethanol extracts of Galla Chinensis may have anti-cariogenic properties, which may be able to be related with strong phenolic compounds.