• Journal of Marine Bioscience and Biotechnology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.20-27
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• 2021

Ironically, marine bioresource production in Chungnam Province is the second-largest in the country. The province's marine bioresource production puts its lack of a marine bioindustry in the spotlight despite the region's favorable conditions to produce representative value-added and (ultra) high value-added products such as neutraceutical and/or pharmaceutical function. This juxtaposition is to be expected, as there are no institutions for training professionals in the field of marine biology or in the fisheries industry in the West Sea area. The unique features of the region require individuals with specialized training who have been educated in accordance with regional development and the specificity of the region. Recently, however, a plan has been initiated at the national level to foster the growth of the marine biology industry in the Chungnam Province on Korea's west coast. This plan includes increasing funds to the marine biology market to 1.2 trillion by 2030. If the Chungnam region wants to successfully revitalize the marine biology industry and put the increased funds to efficient use, it must first establish various research and (business) development (R&(B)D) plans regarding local marine biology infrastructures and marine biology programs at local universities. It must also focus on training specialists to protect, maintain, and develop the region's marine bio-resources to increase the growth of the region's bioindustry.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.10
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• pp.1361-1369
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• 2023

Corynebacterium glutamicum (C. glutamicum) has been considered a very important and meaningful industrial microorganism for the production of amino acids worldwide. To produce amino acids, cells require nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH), which is a biological reducing agent. The pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) can supply NADPH in cells via the 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGD) enzyme, which is an oxidoreductase that converts 6-phosphogluconate (6PG) to ribulose 5-phosphate (Ru5P), to produce NADPH. In this study, we identified the crystal structure of 6PGD_apo and 6PGD_NADP from C. glutamicum ATCC 13032 (Cg6PGD) and reported our biological research based on this structure. We identified the substrate binding site and co-factor binding site of Cg6PGD, which are crucial for understanding this enzyme. Based on the findings of our research, Cg6PGD is expected to be used as a NADPH resource in the food industry and as a drug target in the pharmaceutical industry.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.33 no.8
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• pp.2731-2736
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• 2012

The use of pyrimethamine as antibacterial drug is limited by the poor solubility. To enhance its solubility, we prepared complexes of pyrimethamine with low-molecular-weight succinoglycan isolated from Sinorhizobium meliloti. Low-molecular-weight succinoglycans are monomers, dimers, and trimers of the succinoglycan repeating unit. The monomers and dimers were separated into their three species (M1, M2, and M3) and four fractions (D1 to D4) using chromatographic techniques, which were shown to be nontoxic. The solubility of pyrimethamine was markedly increased up to 42 fold by succinoglycan D3, where the level of its solubility enhancement was even 8-20 fold higher comparing with cyclodextrin or its derivatives. The complex formation of succinoglycan D3 with pyrimethamine was confirmed by $^1H$ nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy, and molecular modeling studies. Herein, we suggest that the low-molecular-weight succinoglycans may be utilized as highly effective solubilizers of pyrimethamine for pharmaceutical purposes.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.169-173
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• 2017

Butyric acid (C4 carboxylic acid) is used as an important compound in food, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries. Currently, butyric acid is mainly produced at the industrial scale through the petrochemical processes. Bio-based butyric acid has also gained attention, because the consumer prefers the food and pharmaceutical ingredients that are produced through fermentation. Clostridia is one of the well-known butyric acid producers, and massively engineered for enhanced production of butyric acid. In this paper, we reviewed the metabolic pathway of clostridia, especially Clostridium acetobutylicum and Clostridium tyrobutyricum, and summarized the metabolic engineering strategies of the strains for enhanced production of butyric acid.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.27-37
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• 2023

Objectives: Moroccan Arbutus unedo is an essential medicinal plant; however, little is known about the biological properties of its leaves mentioned in Moroccan traditional medicine. Methods: Various standard experiments were performed to evaluate the phytochemical, antidiabetic, antioxidant, antibacterial, and acute and sub-chronic toxicity characteristics of A. unedo leaves. Results: Phytochemical screening led to the identification of several phytochemical classes, including tannins, flavonoids, terpenoids, and anthraquinones, with high concentrations of polyphenols (31.83 ± 0.29 mg GAEs/g extract) and flavonoids (16.66 ± 1.47 mg REs/g extract). Further, the mineral analysis revealed high levels of calcium and potassium. A. unedo extract demonstrated significant antioxidant and anti-diabetic activities by inhibiting α-amylase (1.350 ± 0.32 g/mL) and α-glucosidase (0.099 ± 1.21 g/mL) compared to the reference drug Acarbose. Also, the methanolic extract of the plant exhibited significantly higher antibacterial activity than the aqueous extract. Precisely, three of the four examined bacterial strains exhibited substantial susceptibility to the methanolic extract . Minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC)/minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values indicated that A. unedo harbor abundant bactericidal compounds. For toxicological studies, mice were administered with A. unedo aqueous extract at single doses of 2,000 and 5,000 mg/kg. They did not exhibit significant abnormal behavior, toxic symptoms, or death during the 14-day acute toxicity test and the 90-day sub-chronic toxicity test periods. The general behavior, body weight, and hematological and biochemical status of the rats were assessed, revealing no toxicological symptoms or clinically significant changes in biological markers observed in the mice models, except hypoglycemia, after 90 days of daily dose administration. Conclusion: The study highlighted several biological advantages of A. unedo leaves without toxic effects in short-term application. Our findings suggest that conducting more comprehensive and extensive in vivo investigations is of utmost importance to identify molecules that can be formulated into pharmaceuticals in the future.

• BMB Reports
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.91-95
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• 2009

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor $\alpha$ and estrogen are believed to be involved in metabolic changes leading to obesity. To test this relationship, we divided female wildtype and PPAR$\alpha$-deficient mice fed on a high fat diet into the following groups: mock-operated, ovariectomized (OVX), and $E_2$-treated. The visceral white adipose tissue and plasma cholesterol levels were increased significantly in wild type OVX and decreased in the $E_2$-treated group, but interestingly not in PPAR$\alpha$-deficient mice. The mRNA levels of lipoprotein lipase in adipose tissue were also increased in only wild type OVX and decreased significantly in $E_2$-treated mice. These novel results suggest the possibility of signaling crosstalk between PPAR$\alpha$ and $E_2$, causing obesity in vivo.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.243-249
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• 2010

Molecular farming is production of pharmaceutically and industrially important proteins in plants. Plants and plant cell culture systems have been used as bio-factory to produce recombinant proteins such as monoclonal antibodies, enzymes, vaccines, hormones, interleukins, commercial enzymes and etc. The terms molecular farming, biofarming, molecular pharming, phytomanufacturing, recombinant or plant-made industrials, planta-pharma, plant bioreactors, plant biofactory, and pharmaceutical gardening are used interchangeably. Molecular farming can provide safe and inexpensive pharmaceutical proteins as well as commercial ones. In spite of several advantages of molecular farming such as safety and inexpensive cost, there are also a couple of drawbacks in the existing technology. One of them is low expression level of target gene in plants, which has been improved by optimizing gene-based codon usage, screening of strong promoters, expression of transcription factors, subcellular targeting of target proteins, chloroplast transformation, and transient expression using viral expression system (magnifection). Some plant-based commercial proteins have already been in markets and more than twenty plant-based pharmaceuticals have been in clinical trials, from that we can expect that several plant-based pharmaceutical proteins will be seen in the markets in the near future.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.78-84
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• 1986

Among the Araliaceae plants indigenous to Korea, those whose medicinal usage are comparatively high have been selected in this serial studies. Chiisanoside and acanthoside D were isolated and identified from the Acanthopanax chinensis leaves and root bark. Chiisanoside and acanthoside D have been found to have the lowering S-GPT, S-GOT value and BSP-retention rate and survival rate, anti-histaminic effect in the toxic state through the bio-pharmacological experiments. ${\alpha}-hederin$, hederagenin pentaglycoside were isolated both stem bark of Kalopanax pictum Nakai var. magnificum and Kalopanax pictum Nakai var. Max. respectively. Syringoside, acanthoside D were also isolated from the root bark of Acanthopanax koreanum. The biological activity of ginsenoside $Rb_1$, $Rg_1$, Re were examined. Ginsenoside $Rb_1$, $Rg_1$, Re promotes the antileaking effect in X-ray (Co 60) irradiated toxic state.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.759-769
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• 2002

Mutated forms of ras are found in many human tumors and the rate of incidence is significantly higher in colon and pancreatic cancers. The protein product from the ras oncogene is a small G-protein, $p21^{ras}{\;}(Ras)$ that is known to playa key role in the signal transduction cascade and cell differentiation and proliferation. Mutated Ras is unable to regulate itself and remains constantly activated, leading to uncontrolled cell growth. The function of Ras in signal transduction requires its location near the growth factor receptor at the cell membrane. However, Ras does not have a transmembrane domain. Ras requires farnesylation to increase its hydrophobicity and subsequent plasma membrane association for its transforming activity. This key post-translational modification is catalyzed by the enzyme Ras farnesyltransferase (FTase), which transfers a farnesyl group from farnesylpyrophosphate to the C-terminal cysteine of the Ras protein. The requirement has focused attention on FTase as a target for therapeutic intervention. Selective inhibition of FTase will prevent Ras protein from association with the plasma membrane, leading to a disruption of oncogenic Ras function.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.10
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• pp.3095-3098
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• 2014