• 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

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.398-402
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• 2010

[ ${\alpha}$ ]Glucosidase inhibitor is a target in the treatment of type II diabetes through the mainly inhibition of glucose levels after meals. In this study, we purified steppogenin and oxyresveratrol from the stem of Morus alba L. and examined their inhibitory activity against yeast ${\alpha}$-glucosidase. Steppogenin and oxyresveratrol were inhibited yeast ${\alpha}$-glucosidase in a dose dependent manner. The $IC_{50}$ activities (50% inhibition) were 34.4 and 9.3 ${\mu}M$, respectively. The kinetic inhibition of steppogenin showed noncompetitive inhibition ($K_m:1.1{\times}10^{-3}M$; $K_i:1{\times}10^{-5}M$), meanwhile oxyresveratrol showed competitive inhibition ($K_m:4.3{\times}10^{-3}M$; $K_i:3.4{\times}10^{-6}M$) against yeast ${\alpha}$-glucosidase. These results indicate that steppogenin and oxyresveratrol are noncompetitive and competitive inhibitors, respectively, against yeast ${\alpha}$-glucosidase.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.22-26
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• 2010

We studied the antimicrobial activities of five compounds isolated from the stems of Vitis coignetiae Pulliat and the seeds of Perilla frutescens (L.) Britton. Based on spectroscopic evidence, compounds 1 to 5 were characterized as resveratrol, $\varepsilon$-viniferin, ampelopsin E, apigenin, and luteolin, respectively. The antimicrobial activities against Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and -negative (Pseudomonas aeruginosa) bacteria and a fungus (Candida albicans) were investigated using the disc diffusion and broth dilution methods. C. albicans was not inhibited by the five compounds. Compounds 2 and 5 had significant anti-microbial activity against S. aureus, and the 50% inhibitory concentration ($IC_{50}$) of compound 2 against S. aureus was 7.2 ${\mu}M$. Compounds 4 and 5 significantly inhibited P. aeruginosa and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of compounds 2 and 5 was 0.07 and 2.0 ${\mu}M$, respectively. Compounds 2, 4, and 5 had strong anti-microbial activity against S. aureus and P. aeruginosa.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.213-217
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• 2004

For the determination of glutathione S-transferase activity, a new method was established by using HPLC system. Moreover, amount of enzyme for a optimum reaction was determined by a comparative study with a variety concentration of enzyme. Using a established method, activity of glutathione S-transferase that is alcohol metabolizing enzyme was investigated on the fruit of Hovenia dulcis Thunb. As the result of experiment, EtOH and $H_2O$ extracts of the fruit of Hovenia dulcis Thunb showed visible a synergistic effect of glutathione S-transferase activity. On a continuous experiment, EtOH and $H_2O$ extracts of the fruit of Hovenia dulcis Thunb showed alcohol decomposition activity on the in vivo test using rat. These results suggest that the fruit of Hovenia dulcis Thunb may be useful in the prevention of hangover.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.293-298
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• 2015

Porcine placenta extract (PPE) is known to possess anti-inflammatory properties owing to its high concentration of bioactive substances. However, the need to eliminate blood-borne infectious agents while maintaining biological efficacy raises concerns about the optimal method for sterilizing PPE. Therefore, the objective of this study was to compare the effects of the standard pressurized heat (autoclaving) method of sterilization with γ-irradiation on the anti-inflammatory effects of PPE. The anti-inflammatory actions of these two preparations of PPE were evaluated by measuring their inhibitory effects on the production of NO, the expression of iNOS protein, and the expression of iNOS, COX2, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 mRNA in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. Compared with autoclaved PPE, γ-irradiated PPE showed significantly greater inhibition of NO production and iNOS protein expression, and produced a greater reduction in the expression of iNOS, COX2, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 mRNA. These results provide evidence that the sterilization process is crucial in determining the biological activity of PPE, especially its anti-inflammatory activity. Collectively, our data suggest that γ-irradiated PPE acts at the transcriptional level to effectively and potently suppresses the production of NO and the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.437-444
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• 2010

Extracts of the marine microalgae Nannochloropsis oculata were obtained using 80% methanol (MeOH) and water. The 80% MeOH extract was further fractionated with n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate (EtOAc), n-butanol (n-BuOH), and water to isolate the active fraction. Seven samples were prepared and their angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE), $\alpha$-glucosidase, and cancer cell growth inhibitory activities in vitro were determined. The most profound ACE inhibitory activity was observed in the chloroform fraction, while the others had moderate effects. By contrast, greater $\alpha$-glucosidase inhibitory activity was found in the EtOAc fraction, n-hexane fraction, and water extract of N. oculata. The antiproliferative effects of the extracts and fractions against HL-60, U937, CT-26, and SK-Hep1 cancer cells were also determined. The n-BuOH fraction had the strongest antiproliferative effects on CT-26 cells in a time-dependant manner (P<0.05). These results suggest that the extracts and fractions from N. oculata could be used as a potential functional food or as pharmaceutical ingredients.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.813-819
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• 2019

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) induces severe respiratory impairment with a reported mortality rate of ~36% in humans. The absence of clinically available MERS-CoV vaccines and treatments to date has resulted in uncontrolled incidence and propagation of the virus. In vaccine design, fusion with the IgG Fc domain is reported to increase the immunogenicity of various vaccine antigens. However, limited reports have documented the potential negative effects of Fc fusion on vaccine antigens. To determine whether Fc fusion affects the immunogenicity of MERS-CoV antigen, we constructed a Fcassociated MERS-CoV spike protein (eS770-Fc, 110 kDa), whereby human IgG4 Fc domain was fused to MERS-CoV spike protein (eS770) via a Gly/Pro linker using baculovirus as the expression system. For comparative analyses, two eS770 proteins lacking the IgG4 Fc domain were generated using the IdeS protease ($eS770-{\Delta}Fc$) or His tag attachment (eS770-His) and the immunogenicity of the above constructs were examined following intramuscular immunization in mice. Contrary to expectations, non-Fc spike proteins ($eS770-{\Delta}Fc$, eS770-His; 90 kDa) showed higher immunogenicity than the Fc fusion protein (eS770-Fc). Moreover, unlike non-Fc spike proteins, eS770-Fc immunization did not elicit neutralizing antibodies against MERS-CoV. The lower immunogenicity of Fc-fused eS770 was related to alterations in the structural conformation of the spike protein. Taken together, our results indicate that IgG Fc fusion reduces the immunogenicity of eS770 by interfering with the proper folding structure.