• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.1077-1086
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• 2001

The sprA and sprB gene encoding chymotrypsin-like proteases Streptomyces griseus protease A (SGPA) and Streptomyces griseus protease B (SGPB) and the sprT gene that encodes Streptomyces griseus trypsin (SGT) were cloned from Streptomyces griseus ATCC10137 and overexpressed in Streptomyces lividans TK24 as a heterologous host. The chymotrypsin activity of tole culture broth measured with the artificial chromogenic substrate , N-succinyl-ala-ala-pro-phe-p-nitroanilide, was 10, 14 and 14 units/mg in the transformants haboring the sprA, sprB and sprD genes, respectively. The growth of S. lividans reached the maximum cell mass after 4 days of culture, yet SGPA and SGPD production started in the stationary phase of cell growth and kept increasing for up to 10 days of culture in an R2YE medium. The trypsin activity of the culture broth measured with the artificial chromogenic substrate , N-${\alpha}$-benzoyl-DL- arginine-p-nitroanilide , was 16 units/mg and SGT production started in the stationary phase of cell growth and kept increasing for up to 10 days of culture in an R2YE medium. The introduction of the sprA gene into S, lividans TK24 triggered the biosynthesis of pigmented antibiotics, actinorhodin and undecylprodigiosin, and induced significant morphological changes in the colonies in Benedict, R2YE, and R1R2 media. In addition, the introduction of the sprT gene also induced morphological changes in the colony shape without affecting the antibiotic production, thereby implying that certain proteases would appear to play very important and specific roles in secondary-metabolites formation and morphological differentiation in Streptomyces.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.64 no.3
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• pp.197-203
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• 2021

Saponarin is a crucial component of barley sprout, and the production and quantitative analysis are issued to date. In this study, the optimal saponarin extraction conditions were presented on the subject of acetonitrile, ethanol, methanol, and water for the quantitative analysis in barley sprout through the extraction efficiency compared with the solvent concentration and extraction time using the reaction surface methodology. The optimal extraction time and solvent condition for saponarin were 3.9 h and 53.7% of aqueous methanol, respectively. In addition, the effect of LED artificial light on the saponarin production in barley sprouts was evaluated by the light cycle, light quantity, and light quality. The optimal cultivation conditions under artificial light for the growth of barley sprout and saponarin production were most effectively achieved on 220-320 μmol m^-2 s^-1 of the light quantity with 8 h day^-1 of a daylight cycle under 6500K LED combined with red light. Furthermore, blue light was evaluated as the main factor in the biosynthesis of saponarin.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.137-143
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• 1999

Aucubin, the natural product, which is isolated from Aucuba japonica, has a variety of pharmacological effects such as liver-protective function, inhibition of liver RNA and protein biosynthesis, hypotensive activity and antimicrobial effect, etc. This study was performed to investigate the effects of iridoid compounds on wound healing. The author prepared 0.1% aucubin solution and 0.1% aucubin ointment as an active form, aucubigenin to which aucubin was converted by ${\beta}$-glucosidase. Artificial surgical wound was made on either 1cm lateral side of the dorsal midline along the axis of spine of Sprague-Dawley rats under sterile technique. Application of 0.1% aucubin solution or 0.1% aucubin ointment to surgical wound was done daily. Light microscopic examination was performed on the postsurgical 3 days, 5 days, and 9 days. The 0.1% aucubin solution group epithelialized earlier than the control group and the fibrosis of granulation tissue of both aucubin groups were more prominent than the control group. Collectively, this study suggests the possibility of aucubin as a topical agent. Further research should be performed on the mechanism of aucubin on wound healing and proper formulation for effective topical agents.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.59-65
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• 2002

ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (AGPase) catalyzes the key regulatory step in starch biosynthesis. Two cDNA clones encoding AGPase subunits were isolated from the leaf cDNA library of Chinese cabbage (Brassica campestris L. spp. pekinensis). One was designated as BCAGPS for the small subunit and the other as BCAGPL for the large subunit. Both cDNAs have uninterrupted open reading frames deriving 57 kDa and 63 kDa polypeptides for BCAGPS and BCAGPL, respectively, which showed significant similarity to those of other dicot plants. Also, However, the deduced amino acid sequence of BCAGPL has a unique feature. That is, it contains two regions (Rl and R2) lacking in all other plant enzymes. This is the first report of BCAGPL containing Rl and R2 among plant large subunits as well as small subunits. From the genomic Southern analysis and BAC library screening, we inferred the genomic status of BCAGPS and BCAGPL gene.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.161-166
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• 1996

Ginseng has been used as miraculous panacea since ancient times in oriental countries. In spite of voluminous work, ginseng still remains mysterious herb, but its value is becoming more recognized in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic fields. In this study, we investigated the effect of Panax ginseng on wound healing using two experimental methods. First, we studied the effect of ginseng on artificial wound of cultured human keratinocyte monolayer. Indivisual components from ginseng (ginsenoside Rb2, Rc, Re, Rg1, and panasenoside) and giseng extrats were examined. Of them, compared with control, ginsenoside Rb2 and Rg1 needed much shorter time to recover original appearance of momolayer. Second, we investigated the effect of ginseng on acute injury on dorsal skin of hairless mice. We here observed that ginseng has prominent effect than Madecasol(asiaticoside), a well known wound healing agent. These results were deduced that ginseng promoted wound healing in the wound region due to its stimulation of biosynthesis of various endogeneous materials that have relation to wound healing. Furthermore, we conformed that ginsenoside Rg1 exhibited anti-inflammatory activity on rat paw edema induced by carageenan. These results suggest that Panax ginseng C.A Meyer can be used in the cosmetics in that its wound healing and anti-inflammatory effects.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.199-207
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• 2002

The tropane alkaloids hyoscyamine (its racemic form being atropine) and scopolamine are used medicinally as anticholinergic agents that act on the parasympathetic nerve system. Because they differ in their actions on the central nervous system, currently there is a 10-fold higher commercial demand for scopolamine, in the N-butylbromide form, than there is for hyoscyamine and atropine combined. Several solanaceous species have been used as the commercial sources of these alkaloids, but the scopolamine contents in these plants often are much lower than those of hyoscyamine. For this reason there has been long-standing interest in increasing the scopolamine contents of cultivated medicinal plants. Naturally occurring and artificial interspecific hybrids of Duboisia have high scopolamine contents and are cultivated as a commercial source of scopolamine in Australia and other countries. Anther culture combined with conventional interspecific hybridization also has been used to breed high scopolamine-containing plants in the genera Datura and Hyoscyamus, but without much success. The use of recombinant DNA technology for the manipulation of metabolic processes in cells promises to provide important contributions to basic science, agriculture, and medicine. In this review, I introduce on the enzymes and genes involved in tropane alkaloid biosynthesis and current progress in metabolic engineering approaches for tropane alkaloid, especially scopolamine, production.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.659-663
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• 2010

Microalgae has been seen all over the seawater and several species are used for human food. Specially, Nannochloropsis oculata, a photosynthetic microalgae, has been focused for a vast array of valuable nutritious compounds. In order to find high mass Nannochloropsis oculata culture conditions, some of important growth factors of pH, temperature, culture media, and $CO_2$ effect were tested. The optimal growth condition was found to be as follows : 3% artificial seawater, initial pH 8.5, and temperature $25^{\circ}C$. The alga mass and chlorophyll content were dramatically increased by applying 5% flue $CO_2$ gas (1.50 g/L algae in a continuous $CO_2$ flue; 0.76 g/L alga without $CO_2$). It was shown that the chlorophyll biosynthesis was also closely associated with alga growth.

• BMB Reports
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• v.43 no.7
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• pp.461-467
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• 2010

Natural products with non-toxic and environmentally friendly properties are good resources for skin-whitening cosmetic agents when compared to artificial synthetic chemicals. Here, we investigated the effect of glyceollin produced to induce disease resistance responses of soybean to specific races of an incompatible pathogen, phytophthora sojae, on melanogenesis and discussed their mechanisms in melanin biosynthesis. We found that glyceollin inhibits melanin synthesis and tyrosinase activity in B16 melanoma cells without cytotoxicity. To elucidate the mechanism of the effect of glyceollin on melanogenesis, we conducted western blot analysis for melanogenic enzymes such as tyrosinase, tyrosinase-related protein-1 (TRP-1), and TRP-2. Glyceollin inhibited tyrosinase and TRP-1 protein expression. Additionally, glyceollin effectively inhibited intracellular cAMP levels in B16 melanoma cells stimulated by $\alpha$-melanocyte stimulating hormone ($\alpha$-MSH). These results suggest that the whitening activity of glyceollin may be due to the inhibition of cAMP involved in the signal pathway of $\alpha$-MSH in B16 melanoma cells.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.239-247
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• 2011

Simvastatin is an inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, which catalyzes the conversion of HMG-CoA to mevalonate, an early and rate-limiting step in the biosynthesis of cholesterol. Simvastatin has good permeability, but it also has low solubility (BCS class II), which reduces its bioavailability. To overcome this problem, a solid dispersion is formed using a spray-dryer with polymeric material carrier to potentially enhance the dissolution rate and extend drug absorption. As carriers for solid dispersion, Gelucire$^{(R)}$44/14 and Gelucire$^{(R)}$ 50/13 are semisolid excipients that greatly improve the bioavailability of poorly-soluble drugs. To avoid any toxic effects of an organic solvent, we used aqueous medium to melt Tween$^{(R)}$ 80 and distilled water. The structural behaviors of the raw materials and the solid dispersion were analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The DSC and PXRD data indicated that the crystalline structure of simvastatin was transformed to an amorphous structure through solid dispersion. Then, solid dispersion-based tablets containing 20 mg simvastatin were prepared with excipients. Dissolution tests were performed in distilled water and artificial intestinal fluid using the USP paddle II method. Compared with that of the commercial tablet (Zocor$^{(R)}$ 20 mg), the release of simvastatin from solid dispersion based-tablet was more efficient. Although the stability study is not complete, this solid dispersion system is expected to deliver poorly water-soluble drugs with enhanced bioavailability and less toxicity.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.458-468
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• 2007

To tolerate environmentally adverse conditions such as cold, drought, and salinity, plants often synthesize and accumulate proline in cells as compatible osmolytes. ${\Delta}^1$-Pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase(P5CS) catalyzes the rate-limiting step of proline biosynthesis from glutamate. Two complete genes, MtP5CS1 and MtP5CS2, were isolated from the model legume Medicago truncatula by cDNA cloning and bacterial artificial chromosome library screening. Nucleotide sequence analysis showed that both genes consisted of 20 exons and 19 introns. Alignment of the predicted amino acid sequences revealed high similarities with P5CS proteins from other plant species. The two MtP5CS genes were expressed in response to high salt and low temperature treatments. Semi-quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction showed that MtP5CS1 was expressed earlier than MtP5CS2, indicating differential regulation of the two genes. To evaluate the reverse genetic effects of nucleotide changes on MtP5CS function, a Targeting Induced Local Lesions in Genomes approach was taken. Three mutants each were isolated for MtP5CS1 and MtP5CS2, of which a P5CS2 nonsense mutant carrying a codon change from arginine to stop was expected to bring translation to premature termination. These provide a valuable genetic resource with which to determine the function of the P5CS genes in environmental stress responses of legume crops.