• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.683-690
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• 2010

The yeast strains of Saccharomyces diastaticus produce one of three isozymes of an extracellular glucoamylase I, II or III, a type of exo-enzyme which can hydrolyse starch to generate glucose molecules from non-reducing ends. These enzymes are encoded by the STA1, STA2 and STA3 genes. Another gene, sporulation-specific glucoamylase (SGA), also exists in the genus Saccharomyces which is very homologous to the STA genes. The SGA has been known to be produced in the cytosol during sporulation. However, we hypothesized that the SGA is capable of being secreted to the extracellular region because of about 20 hydrophobic amino acid residues at the N-terminus which can function as a signal peptide. We expressed the cloned SGA gene in S. diastaticus YIY345. In order to compare the biochemical properties of the extracellular glucoamylase and the SGA, the SGA was purified from the culture supernatant through ammonium sulfate precipitation, DEAE-Sephadex A-50, CM-Sephadex C-50 and Sephadex G-200 chromatography. The molecular weight of the intact SGA was estimated to be about 130 kDa by gel filtration chromatography with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) column. Sodium dedecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis showed it was composed of two heterogeneous subunits, 63 kDa and 68 kDa. The deglycosylation of the SGA generated a new 59 kDa band on the SDS-PAGE analysis, indicating that two subunits are glycosylated but the extent of glycosylation is different between them. The optimum pH and temperature of the SGA were 5.5 and $45^{\circ}C$, respectively, whereas those for the extracellular glucoamylase were 5.0 and $50^{\circ}C$. The SGA were more sensitive to heat and SDS than the extracellular glucoamylase.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.3-10
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• 2017

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Sargassum horneri is an edible brown alga that grows in the subtidal zone as an annual species along the coasts of South Korea, China, and Japan. Recently, an extreme amount of S. horneri moved into the coasts of Jeju Island from the east coast of China, which made huge economic and environmental loss to the Jeju Island. Thus, utilization of this biomass becomes a big issue with the local authorities. Therefore, the present study was performed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory potential of crude polysaccharides (CPs) extracted from S. horneri China strain in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. MATERIALS/METHODS: CPs were precipitated from S. horneri digests prepared by enzyme assistant extraction using four food-grade enzymes (AMG, Celluclast, Viscozyme, and Alcalase). The production levels of nitric oxide (NO) and pro-inflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-${\alpha}$ and interleukin (IL)-$1{\beta}$ were measured by Griess assay and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. The levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), nuclear factor (NF)-${\kappa}B$, and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) were measured by using western blot. The IR spectrums of the CPs were recorded using a fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) spectrometer. RESULTS: The polysaccharides from the Celluclast enzyme digest (CCP) showed the highest inhibition of NO production in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells ($IC_{50}$ value: $95.7{\mu}g/mL$). Also, CCP dose-dependently down-regulated the protein expression levels of iNOS and COX-2 as well as the production of inflammatory cytokines, including TNF-${\alpha}$ and IL-$1{\beta}$, compared to the only LPS-treated cells. In addition, CCP inhibited the activation of NF-${\kappa}B$ p50 and p65 and the phosphorylation of MAPKs, including p38 and extracellular signal-regulated kinase, in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. Furthermore, FT-IR analysis showed that the FT-IR spectrum of CCP is similar to that of commercial fucoidan. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that CCP has anti-inflammatory activities and is a potential candidate for the formulation of a functional food ingredient or/and drug to treat inflammatory diseases.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.199-207
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• 2018

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Fermented Laminaria japonica (FL), a type sea tangle used as a functional food ingredient, has been reported to possess cognitive improving properties that may aid in the treatment of common neurodegenerative disorders, such as dementia. MATERIALS/METHODS: We examined the effects of FL on scopolamine (Sco)- and ethanol (EtOH)-induced hippocampus-dependent memory impairment, using the Passive avoidance (PA) and Morris water maze (MWM) tests. To examine the underlying mechanisms associated with neuroprotective effects, we analyzed acetylcholine (ACh) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity, brain tissue expression of muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR), cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) and extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2), and immunohistochemical analysis, in the hippocampus of mice, compared to current drug therapy intervention. Biochemical blood analysis was carried out to determine the effects of FL on alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), and triglyceride (TG) and total cholesterol (TC) levels. 7 groups (n = 10) consisted of a control (CON), 3 Sco-induced dementia and 3 EtOH-induced dementia groups, with both dementia group types containing an untreated group (Sco and EtOH); a positive control, orally administered donepezil (Dpz) (4mg/kg) (Sco + Dpz and EtOH + Dpz); and an FL (50 mg/kg) treatment group (Sco + FL50 and EtOH + FL50), orally administered over the 4-week experimental period. RESULTS: FL50 significantly reduced EtOH-induced increase in AST and ALT levels. FL50 treatment reduced EtOH-impaired step-through latency time in the PA test, and Sco- and EtOH-induced dementia escape latency times in the MWM test. Moreover, anticholinergic effects of Sco and EtOH on the brain were reversed by FL50, through the attenuation of AChE activity and elevation of ACh concentration. FL50 elevated ERK1/2 protein expression and increased p-CREB (ser133) in hippocampus brain tissue, according to Western blot and immunohistochemistry analysis, respectively. CONCLUSION: Overall, these results suggest that FL may be considered an efficacious intervention for Sco- and EtOH-induced dementia, in terms of reversing cognitive impairment and neuroplastic dysfunction.

• Journal of agriculture & life science
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.163-176
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• 2012

TTo increase productivity of a strong extracellular alkaline protease (BCAP), stable strains of Bacillus clausii I-52 carrying another copy of BCAP gene in the chromosome were developed. Integrative vector, pHPS9-fuBCAP carrying BCAP promoter, ribosome binding site, signal sequence and active protease gene was constructed and transferred into B. clausii I-52, and integration of the constructed plasmid into chromosome was identified by PCR. An investigation was carried out on BCAP production by B. clausii I-52 and transformant C5 showing the highest relative activity of alkaline protease using submerged fermentation. Maximum enzyme activity was produced when cells were grown under the submerged fermentation conditions at $37^{\circ}C$ for 48 h with an aeration rate of 1 vvm and agitation rate of 650 rpm in a optimized medium (soybean meal 2%, wheat flour 1%, sodium citrate 0.5%, $K_2HPO_4$ 0.4%, $Na_2HPO_4$ 0.1%, NaCl 0.4%, $MgSO_47H_2O$ 0.01%, $FeSO_47H_2O$ 0.05%, liquid maltose 2.5%, $Na_2CO_3$ 0.6%). A protease yield of approximately 134,670U/ml was achieved using an optimized media, which show an increase of approximately 1.6-fold compared to that of non-transformant (83,960 U/ml). When the stability of transformant C5 was examined, the integrated plasmid pHPS9-fuBCAP was detected in the transformant after cultivation for 8 days, suggesting that it maintained stably in the chromosomal DNA of transformant C5.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.34 no.11
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• pp.81-92
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• 2018

For a marine bridge foundation construction, a large-circular-steel-pipe has been proposed for supporting vertical load and preventing water infiltration. However, a ship collision can adversely affect the structural stability. This paper presents a fundamental study on dynamic responses of the large-circular-steel-pipe by an impact load. In laboratory experiments, small-scaled steel pipe is installed in a soil tank. The soil height and water level are set to 23 cm and 25~70 cm, respectively. The upper part of the steel pipe is impacted using a hammer to simulate the ship collision. The dynamic responses are measured using accelerometers and strain gauges. Experimental results show that the strain decreases as the measured location is lowered. The higher frequency components appear in the impact load condition compared to the microtremor condition. However, the higher frequency components measured at the strain gauge located below the water level do not appear. For the accelerometer signal, the maximum frequency under the impact load is higher than that of the microtremor. The maximum frequency decreases as water level increases but it is larger than the maximum frequency of the microtremor. This study shows that strain gauge and accelerometer can be useful for evaluating the dynamic responses of large-circular-steel-pipes.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.1025-1030
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• 2018

The proposed modulator is designed by utilizing a conventional structure employing time division technique to realize the 4th order delta-sigma modulator using one op-amp. In order to reduce the influence of KT/C noise, the capacitance in the first and second integrators reused was chosen to be 20pF and capacitance of third and fourth integrators was designed to be 1pF. The stage variable technique in the low power reconfigurable op-amp was used to solve the stability issue due to different capacitance loads for the reduction of KT/C noise. This technique enabled the proposed modulator to reduce the power consumption of 15% with respect to the conventional one. The proposed modulator was fabricated with 0.18um CMOS N-well 1 poly 6 metal process and consumes 305uW at supply voltage of 1.8V. The measurement results demonstrated that SNDR, ENOB, DR, FoM(Walden), and FoM(Schreier) were 66.3 dB, 10.6 bits, 83 dB, 98 pJ/step, and 142.8 dB at the sampling frequency of 256kHz, oversampling ratio of 128, clock frequency of 1.024 MHz, and input frequency of 250 Hz, respectively.

• Journal of Internet of Things and Convergence
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.27-33
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• 2022

Sleep is an essential factor for living a healthy life, but most modern people complain of poor sleep. For these people, as the need for a means to simply evaluate and manage the quality of sleep increases, devices that can check the sleep state at home without monitoring by an examiner are being developed. The smart sleep mask, which is the subject of this usability test, provides bio-signal monitoring while sleeping so that you can conveniently measure and manage your sleep state for yourself. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the usability and safety of the smart sleep mask, to find and prevent potential factors related to errors in use that may occur, and to develop the comfort and safety of this product. As a result of the formative evaluation of the sleep mask prototype, it was reported that it was difficult to turn on the power and check the results, and that the sleep mask was not comfortable to wear. Different opinions were presented on the size and weight of the sleeping mask by people in different age groups.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.464-474
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• 2021

Inflammation induced by metabolic syndromes, cancers, injuries, and sepsis can alter cellular metabolism by reducing mitochondrial function via oxidative stress, thereby resulting in neuropathy and muscle atrophy. In this study, we investigated whether butyrate, a short chain fatty acid produced by gut microbiota, could prevent mitochondrial dysfunction and muscle atrophy induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in the C2C12 cell line. LPS-activated MAPK signaling pathways increased the levels of the mitochondrial fission signal, p-DRP1 (Ser616), and the muscle atrophy marker, atrogin 1. Interestingly, butyrate significantly inhibited the phosphorylation of JNK and p38 and reduced the atrogin 1 level in LPS-treated C2C12 cells while increasing the phosphorylation of DRP1 (Ser637) and levels of mitofusin2, which are both mitochondrial fusion markers. Next, we investigated the effect of MAPK inhibitors, finding that butyrate had the same effect as JNK inhibition in C2C12 cells. Also, butyrate inhibited the LPS-induced expression of pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 4 (PDK4), resulting in decreased PDHE1α phosphorylation and lactate production, suggesting that butyrate shifted glucose metabolism from aerobic glycolysis to oxidative phosphorylation. Finally, we found that these effects of butyrate on LPS-induced mitochondrial dysfunction were caused by its antioxidant effects. Thus, our findings demonstrate that butyrate prevents LPS-induced muscle atrophy by improving mitochondrial dynamics and metabolic stress via the inhibition of JNK phosphorylation. Consequently, butyrate could be used to improve LPS-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and myopathy in sepsis.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.97-105
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• 2023

Background: Hyperactivated airway mucosa cells overproduce mucin and cause severe breathing complications. Here, we aimed to identify the effects of saponins derived from Panax ginseng on inflammation and mucin overproduction. Methods: NCI-H292 cells were pre-incubated with 16 saponins derived from P. ginseng, and mucin overproduction was induced by treatment with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA). Mucin protein MUC5AC was quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and mRNA levels were analyzed using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Moreover, we performed a transcriptome analysis of PMA-treated NCI-H292 cells in the absence or presence of Rg5, and differential gene expression was confirmed using qPCR. Phosphorylation levels of signaling molecules, and the abundance of lipid droplets, were measured by western blotting, flow cytometry, and confocal microscopy. Results: Ginsenoside Rg5 effectively reduced MUC5AC secretion and decreased MUC5AC mRNA levels. A systematic functional network analysis revealed that Rg5 upregulated cholesterol and glycerolipid metabolism, resulting in the production of lipid droplets to clear reactive oxygen species (ROS), and modulated the mitogen-activated protein kinase and nuclear factor (NF)-kB signaling pathways to regulate inflammatory responses. Rg5 induced the accumulation of lipid droplets and decreased cellular ROS levels, and N-acetyl-ⳑ-cysteine, a ROS inhibitor, reduced MUC5AC secretion via Rg5. Furthermore, Rg5 hampered the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase and p38 proteins, affecting the NF-kB signaling pathway and pro-inflammatory responses. Conclusion: Rg5 alleviated inflammatory responses by reducing mucin secretion and promoting lipid droplet-mediated ROS clearance. Therefore, Rg5 may have potential as a therapeutic agent to alleviate respiratory disorders caused by hyperactivation of mucosa cells.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.64-72
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• 2023

Despite several advances in identification of cardiac transcription factors, there are still needs to find new bioactive molecules that promote cardiomyogenesis from stem cells to highly efficient myocardial differentiation. We analyzed Illumina expression microarray data of mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs)-derived cardiomyocytes. 276 genes were upregulated (≥ 4fold) in mESCs-derived cardiomyocytes compared undifferentiated ESCs. Secreted phosphoprotein 2 (Spp2) is one of candidates and is known to inhibit bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2) signal transduction as a pseudoreceptor for BMP2. However, its function in cardiomyogenesis is unknown. We confirmed that Spp2 expression increased during the differentiation into functional cardiomyocytes using mESCs, TC-1/Kh2 and E14. Interestingly, Spp2 secretion transiently increased 3 days after formation of embryoid bodies (EBs), indicating that the extracellular secretion of Spp2 is involved in the differentiation of ESCs into cardiomyocytes. To characterize Spp2, we performed experiments using the C2C12 mouse myoblast cell line, which has the property of shifting the differentiation pathway from myoblastic to osteoblastic by treatment with BMP2. Similar to the differentiation of ESCs, transcription of Spp2 increased as C2C12 myoblasts differentiated into myotubes. In particular, Spp2 secretion increased dramatically in the early stage of differentiation. Furthermore, treatment with Spp2-Flag recombinant protein promoted the differentiation of C2C12 myoblasts into myotubes. Taken together, we suggest a novel bioactive protein Spp2 that differentiates ESCs into cardiomyocytes. This may be useful for understanding the molecular pathways of cardiomyogenesis and for experimental or clinical promotion of stem cell therapy for ischemic heart diseases.