• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.199-207
• /
• 2003

The present study examined that in vivo/vitro test is investigated in normotensive sham-operated rats(NSR) and aldosterone-analogue deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)-salt hypertensive rats(ADHR) and that the antiliypertensive effect was induced by silver spike point(SSP) electrical stimulation at meridian points(CV-3, -4, Ki-12, SP-6, LR-3, BL-25, -28, -32, -52), specifically, such as aldosterone in 24 hour urine analysis from normal volunteer. The heart weight, the tickness of vascular wall, collagen fiber and the systolic blood pressure were significantly increased in ADHR than that in NSR. The required time of PSS-induced resting tone and the phosphorylation of stress-activated protein kinase/c-Jun N-terminal protein kinase(SAPK/JNK) were significantly increased in ADHR than that in NSR. However, the Kv currents were significantly decreased in ADHR than that in NSR. The current of 1 Hz continue type of SSP electrical stimulation significantly decreased in excretion of urine aldosterone from normal volunteer. These results suggest that the development of aldosterone analogue-induced hypertension is associated with changed heart weight, content of collagen fiber, tickness of vascular wall, blood pressure, resting tone, voltage-dependent K+ current(Kv) and phosphorylation of SAPK/JNK, which directly affects blood pressure. Therefore the hypertension is a risk factor on cerebrovascular disease. Moreover, These results suggest that the SSP electrical stimulation, especially current of 1 Hz continue type, significantly regulates excretion of urine aldosterone from volunteer.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.25 no.12
• /
• pp.2043-2048
• /
• 2015

Bacillus thuringiensis microbial insecticide products have been applied worldwide. Although a few cases of B. thuringiensis foodborne illness have been reported, little is known about the toxigenic properties of B. thuringiensis isolates. The aims of this study were to estimate the pathogenic potential of B. thuringiensis selected from microbial insecticide products, based on its possession of toxin genes and production of enterotoxins. Fifty-two B. thuringiensis strains selected from four kinds of microbial insecticide products were analyzed. PCR assay for detection of toxin genes and immunoassay for detection of enterotoxins were performed. The hemolysin BL complex as a major enterotoxin was produced by 17 (32.7%), whereas the non-hemolytic enterotoxin complex was detected in 1 (1.9%) of 52 B. thuringiensis strains. However, cytK, entFM, and ces genes were not detected in any of the tested B. thuringiensis strains. The potential risk of food poisoning by B. thuringiensis along with concerns over B. thuringiensis microbial insecticide products has gained attention recently. Thus, microbial insecticide products based on B. thuringiensis should be carefully controlled.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
• /
• v.21 no.2
• /
• pp.109-116
• /
• 2009

Purpose: $17\beta$-estradiol is the most active endogenous estrogen, which is related to favorable changes in the plasma lipid profile, to relaxation of the coronary vessels, and to a decrease in platelet aggregation and vascular smooth muscle cell migration. However, although the beneficial effect of estrogens on plasma lipoproteins (ie, lowering low-density lipoprotein and increasing high-density lipoprotein cholesterol) contributes to cardiovascular protection, it does not fully account for the protective effect, particularly in the application of physical therapy, including low frequency electrical stimulation. Methods: The aim of this study was to demonstrate the inhibition of stressors, such as endothelin-1 (ET-1), serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT), prostaglandin $F2\alpha$ ($PGF2\alpha$), and a protein kinase C (PKC) activator 12-deoxyphorbol 13-isobutyrate (DPB), induced isometric tension by $17\beta$-estradiol in vascular smooth muscle strips, respectively. In addition, the effects of low frequency electrical stimulation at the meridian points (CV-3, -4, Ki-12, SP-6, LR-3, BL-25, -28, -32, -52) on the indirect antihypertensive effect were examined by monitoring the changes in the serum $17\beta$-estradiol concentration in healthy volunteers. Results: Isometric tension analysis showed that the responses of inhibited tension by $17\beta$-estradiol were similar to the same stressors in rat aortic smooth muscle strips. Furthermore, although the continued amplitude modulation (AM) type of electrical stimulation was not increased significantly by electrical stimulation, the current of the frequency modulation (FM) type of low frequency electrical stimulation increased the serum $17\beta$-estradiol concentration in normal volunteers. Conclusion: These results, in part, suggest that $17\beta$-estradiol has the capacity to supress stressor-induced muscle tension, and electrical stimulation, particularly current of the FM type, has a modulatory effect on the sex steroid hormones, particularly $17\beta$-estradiol, in healthy volunteers.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.158-169
• /
• 2003

The present study examined that in vivo test is investigated in sham-operated(control group) and aldosterone-analogue deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)-salt hypertensive animals(experimental group) and that the antihypertensive effect was induced by silver spike point(SSP) low frequency electrical stimulation at meridian points(CV-3, -4, Ki-12, SP-6, LR-3, BL-25, -28, -32, -52), specifically, such as diuretic action in 24 hour urine analysis from normal volunteer. The $Na^+$ and $Ca^{2+}$ ions were significantly increased in aldosterone-analogue DOCA-salt hypertensive rats than that in sham-operated rats. However, the $K^+$ ions were significantly decreased in aldosterone-analogue DOCA-salt hypertensive rats than that in sham-operated rats. The current of 1 Hz continue type of SSP low frequency electrical stimulation significantly increased in excretion of urine $Na^+$ and $K^+$ ions from normal volunteer. However, the excretion of $Ca^{2+}$ ion were significantly decreased by SSP electrical stimulation in volunteer. These results suggest that the development of aldosterone analogue-DOCA-salt hypertension is associated with changed $Na^+$, $K^+$ and $Ca^{2+}$ ions of urine. which directly affects blood pressure. Therefore, the hypertension is a risk factor on cardiovascular disease. Moreover, These results demonstrate that the SSP low frequency electrical stimulation, especially current of 1 Hz continue type, significantly regulates $Na^+$, $Ca^{2+}$ and $K^+$ ions from volunteer. Therefore, the SSP low frequency electrical stimulation is a good regulator through a diuretic action of aldosterone-induced hypertension.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.231-238
• /
• 2011

Attacin is an insect antibacterial protein that plays an important role in immune response to injury and infection. In this report, we have isolated and characterized of cDNA encoding for the attacin from the immunized larvae of swallowtail butterfly, $Papilio$ $xuthus$. A full length cDNA of $P.$ $xuthus$ attacin was obtained by employing annealing control primer (ACP)-based differential display PCR and 5' RACE. The complete $P.$ $xuthus$ attacin cDNA was comprised of 949 bp encoding a 250 amino acid precursor. It contains a putative 18 amino acid signal peptide sequence, a 42 amino acid propeptide sequence, and a 190 amino acid mature protein with a theoretical molecular mass of 19904.01 and a pI of 9.13. The putative mature protein of $P.$ $xuthus$ attacin showed 48-52% and 24-30% identity in amino acid sequences with that of lepidopteran and dipteran insects, respectively. Semiquantitive RT-PCR results revealed that the transcript of $P.$ $xuthus$ attacin gene was up-regulated at significant levels after injection with bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). We sub-cloned cDNA fragment encoding mature $P.$ $xuthus$ attacin into the expression vector, highly expressed in $E.$ $coli$ BL21 cells, and its antibacterial activity was analyzed. Recombinant $P.$ $xuthus$ attacin evidenced considerably antibacterial activity against Gram-negative bacteria, $E.$ $coli$ ML 35 and $Klebsiella$ $pneumonia$.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.17 no.11
• /
• pp.1601-1604
• /
• 2007

The gene for ${\beta}-agarase$ of an Agarivorans sp. JA-1 was expressed in Bacillus subtilis DB104, 168 and ISW1214 strains for mass-production. Among 3 host strains, B. subtilis ISW1214 secreted the highest amount of recombinant ${\beta}-agarase$ with a specific activity of 201 U/mg and 360 mg of protein into culture broth. This was approximately 130-fold higher than the production in E. coli as an expression host. Recombinant enzyme produced neoagarooligosaccharides such as neoagarohexaose, neoagarotetraose, and neoagarobiose from agar. Produced neoagarooligosaccharides showed antibacterial activities against gram-negative E. coli and gram-positive B. subtilis at a concentration of 1.5%. These data suggest that neoagarooligosaccharides could be an useful preservative for food industry.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.17 no.5
• /
• pp.822-829
• /
• 2007

A gene coding for phosphoketolase, a key enzyme of carbohydrate catabolism in heterofermentative lactic acid bacteria(LAB), was cloned from a Lactobacillus paraplantarum C7 and expressed in Escherichia coli. The gene is 2,502 bp long and codes for a 788-amino-acids polypeptide with a molecular mass of 88.7 kDa. A Shine-Dalgarno sequence(aaggag) and an inverted-repeat terminator sequence are located upstream and downstream of the phosphoketolase gene, respectively. The gene exhibits an identity of >52% with phosphoketolases of other LAB. The phosphoketolase of Lb. paraplantarum C7(LBPK) contains several highly conserved phosphoketolase signature regions and typical thiamine pyrophosphate(TPP) binding sites, as reported for other TPP-dependent enzymes. The phosphoketolase gene was fused to a glutathione S-transferase(GST::LBPK) gene for purification. The GST::LBPK fusion protein was detected in the soluble fraction of a recombinant Escherichia coli BL21. The GST::LBPK fusion protein was purified with a yield of 4.32mg/400ml by GSTrap HP affinity column chromatography and analyzed by N-terminal sequencing. LBPK was obtained by factor Xa treatment of fusion protein and the final yield was 3.78mg/400ml. LBPK was examined for its N-terminal sequence and phosphoketolase activity. The $K_M\;and\;V_{max}$ values for fructose-6-phosphate were $5.08{\pm}0.057mM(mean{\pm}SD)$ and $499.21{\pm}4.33{\mu}mol/min/mg$, respectively, and the optimum temperature and pH for the production of acetyl phosphate were $45^{\circ}C$ and 7.0, respectively.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.39 no.3
• /
• pp.241-246
• /
• 2001

The antigenic domain of the major surface protein (Nc-p43) of Neospora caninum was examined by polymerase chain reaction of its gene fragments and recombinant expression as GST fusion proteins. The fragments of Nc-p43 were as follow: a total open reading frame (OFR), T: OFR without signal sequence and C-terminal hydrophobic sequence, S: N-terminal 2/3 parts of S, A: C-terminal 2/3 parts, P; N-terminal 1/3 part, X: middle 1/3 part Y; and C-terminal 1/3 part, Z, respectively. The DNA fragments were cloned into pGEX-47 vector. Recombinant plasmids transformed into Escherichia coli of BL21 pLysS (DE3) strain were induced to express GST or GST fused fragments of Nc-p43 such as 69 kDa protein for T,66 kDa for S, 52 kDa for A,53 kDa for P, and 40 kDa proteins for X, Y, and Z, respectively in SDS-PAGE. The Nc-p43 fragments of T, S, and P reacted with a bovine serum of neosporosis while those of A, X, Y, and Z together with GST did not in the western blot. These findings suggest that the antigenic domain of Nc-p43 of N. caninum may be localized in the C-terminal 2/3 parts. Together with Al9 clone in SAGI of Toxoplasma gondii (Nam et at., 1996), the P fragment of Nc-p43 could be used as efficient antigens to diagnose and differentiate those infections with both species .

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.235-243
• /
• 2019

A special eosinophilic agarase exo-type ${\beta}$-agarase gene, AgaDL6, was cloned from a marine agar-degrading bacterium, Flammeovirga sp. HQM9. The gene comprised 1,383-bp nucleotides encoding a putative agarase AgaDL6 of 461 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 52.8 kDa. Sequence analysis revealed a ${\beta}$-agarase domain that belongs to the glycoside hydrolase family (GH) 16 and a carbohydrate-binding module (CBM_4_9) unique to agarases. AgaDL6 was heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). Enzyme activity analysis of the purified protein showed that the optimal temperature and pH of AgaDL6 were $50^{\circ}C$ and 3.0, respectively. AgaDL6 showed thermal stability by retaining more than 98% of activity after incubation for 2 h at $50^{\circ}C$, a feature quite different from other agarases. AgaDL6 also exhibited outstanding acid stability, retaining 100% of activity after incubation for 24 h at pH 2.0 to 5.0, a property distinct from other agarases. This is the first agarase characterized to have such high acid stability. In addition, we observed no obvious stimulation or inhibition of AgaDL6 in the presence of various metal ions and denaturants. AgaDL6 is an exo-type ${\beta}$-1,4 agarase that cleaved agarose into neoagarotetraose and neoagarohexaose as the final products. These characteristics make AgaDL6 a potentially valuable enzyme in the cosmetic, food, and pharmaceutical industries.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.117-129
• /
• 2010

The vascular plants of the 15 sites of Taeanhaean National Park were identified as 493 taxa; 117 families, 326 genera, 436 species, 49 varieties, 6 form, 2 hybrids. The National Park area includes coastal areas and islands, these islands reflects well the floristic characteristics of coastal area and transition area of the middle province and the southern province. The study revealed that Ficus erecta Thunb., Machilus thunbergii S. et Z., Neolitsea sericea (Bl.) Koidz. and Eurya japonica Thunb. etc. were the mainly distributed species in the southern area while Rosa rugosa Thunb., Carex kobomugi Ohwi and Elymus mollis Trin., etc. were mainly distributed species over the coastal dune area. Deciduous and evergreens broad-leaved trees like Acer palmatum Thunb. ex. Murray, Euonymus japonica Thunb. and Camellia japonica L., etc. were all together distributed in Taeanhaean National Park. There are no any Endangered species designated by The Ministry of Environment were not found. The floristic special plants were recorded to a total of 53 taxa; that is, class I species (41 taxa) were containing as Vitex rotundifolia L. Fil., Arisaema heterophyllum Bl. and Arisaema ringins (Thunb.) Schott, etc, class II species (1 taxon) were Iris ensata var. spontanea (Makino) Nakai, class III species (7 taxa) were containing; Koelreuteria paniculata Laxm., Salsola collina Pall. and Daphniphyllum macropodum Miq., etc, class IV species (1 taxon) were Angelica japonica A. Gray, class V species (1 taxon) were Utricularia vulgaris var. japonica (Makino) Tamura. The naturalized plants were identified a total of 52 taxa; 17 families, 44 genera, 51 species, 1 form; Solanum carolinense L., Phytolacca americana L. and Oenothera odorata Jacq., etc. Among them the ecosystem disturbance wild animals·plants was identified as Solanum carolinense L. Hypochoeris radicata L. and Solidago altissima L. The study suggests that these areas require management such as physical remove of this ecosystem disturbance field plants.