• Mycobiology
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• 제48권6호
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• pp.512-517
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• 2020

Cordyceps militaris has been reported to the diverse pharmaceutical effects including cancer, inflammatory diseases, and bacteria or virus infection. However, the effect of C. militaris on exercise performance has not yet been elucidated. In this study, we investigated the beneficial effect of C. militaris on exercise performance. To evaluate exercise performance, we prepared C. militaris ethyl acetate extract (CMEE) and conducted grip strength tests every week after administration. Additionally, blood samples were collected at the end of the experiment for biochemical analysis. The administration of CMEE slightly increased grip strength, and this result was similar to the red ginseng treated group. According to the result of biochemical analysis, CMEE had an effect on the biomarkers related to ATP generation pathway but had little influence on the muscle fatigue related biomarkers. Therefore, C. militaris has the possibility of improving exercise performance, which could be associated with the increase in ATP production rather than the decrease in muscle fatigue during exercise.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• 제66권
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• pp.379-387
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• 2023

Dog owners seek treatment when their pets develop cancer. IMMUNIES is traditional herbal medicine-based figment made of 10 natural herbs, designed to maintain host immune function. The major component of IMMUNIES is Dendropanax morbiferus. This clinical pilot study monitored the toxicity and efficacy of IMMUNIES. Four senile dogs with spontaneously occurring mammary and liver cancers were enrolled in this study and treated orally daily for 3 months, and their blood/urine biochemical profiles were examined each month. IMMUNIES was well tolerated during the treatment period. Blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, and C-reactive protein levels decreased in all four dogs, whereas red blood cells and hematocrit were within the normal range. IMMUNIES also changed the expression of several molecular targets in the anticancer pathway, such as pro-NAG-1, p53, and cyclin D1. Although the tumors did not completely respond to IMMUNIES, the biochemical profiles and clinical examination showed a stabilized cancer status for 3 months. Thus, IMMUNIES was found to be safe and well-tolerated in the dosage range tested and exhibited cancer antiproliferative activity in canine cancer. Future studies should address other potential benefits of IMMUNIES, including correlative assessments of immune function, quality of life, and owner satisfaction.

• BMB Reports
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• 제44권9호
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• pp.578-583
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• 2011

Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) are biochemical markers used to test for liver diseases. Copy number variation (CNV) plays an important role in determining complex traits and is an emerging area in the study various diseases. We performed a genome-wide association study with liver function biomarkers AST and ALT in 407 unrelated Koreans. We assayed the genome-wide variations on an Affymetrix Genome-Wide 6.0 array, and CNVs were analyzed using HelixTree. Using single linear regression, 32 and 42 CNVs showed significance for AST and ALT, respectively (P value < 0.05). We compared CNV-based genes between the current study (KARE2; AST-140, ALT-172) and KARE1 (AST-1885, ALT-773) using NetBox. Results showed 9 genes (CIDEB, DFFA, PSMA3, PSMC5, PSMC6, PSMD12, PSMF1, SDC4, and SIAH1) were overlapped for AST, but no overlapped genes were found for ALT. Functional gene annotation analysis shown the proteasome pathway, Wnt signaling pathway, programmed cell death, and protein binding.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제21권5호
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• pp.364-370
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• 2013

Resveratrol (trans-3,4'-trihydroxystillbene), a naturally occurring polyphenolic antioxidant found in grapes and red wine, elicits diverse biochemical responses and demonstrates anti-aging, anti-inflammatory, and anti-proliferative effects in several cell types. Previously, resveratrol was shown to regulate differentiation and inflammation in rabbit articular chondrocytes, while the direct production of nitric oxide (NO) in these cells by treatment with the NO donor sodium nitroprusside (SNP) led to apoptosis. In this study, the effect of resveratrol on NO-induced apoptosis in rabbit articular chondrocytes was investigated. Resveratrol dramatically reduced NO-induced apoptosis in chondrocytes, as determined by phase-contrast microscopy, the MTT assay, FACS analysis, and DAPI staining. Treatment with resveratrol inhibited the SNP-induced expression of p53 and p21 and reduced the expression of procaspase-3 in chondrocytes, as detected by western blot analysis. SNP-induced degradation of I-kappa B alpha ($I{\kappa}B-{\alpha}$) was rescued by resveratrol treatment, and the SN50 peptide-mediated inhibition of NF-kappa B (NF-${\kappa}B$) activity potently blocked SNP-induced caspase-3 activation and apoptosis. Our results suggest that resveratrol inhibits NO-induced apoptosis through the NF-${\kappa}B$ pathway in articular chondrocytes.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제17권7호
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• pp.1198-1203
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• 2007

Conidial adhesion and appressorium formation of Magnaporthe oryzae on the rice surface are important early events in the infection process. As an initiative step to understand the mechanisms underlying these cellular processes at a biochemical level, the effect of a human fibronectin antibody (HFA) and RGD peptides on conidial adhesion and appressorium formation was evaluated. HFA inhibited conidial adhesion and appressorium formation in a dosage-dependent manner. RGD peptides also inhibited these cellular events. Conidial adhesion and appressorium formation inhibited by RGD peptides were restored by chemicals involved in the cyclic AMP-dependent signaling pathway. These results suggest that extracellular matrix proteins might be involved in conidial adhesion and appressorium formation through integrin-like receptor mediation and modulation of cAMP-dependent signaling in the cells.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• 제35권1호
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• pp.21-30
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• 2011

Panax ginseng root has been used as a major source of ginsenoside throughout the history of oriental medicine. In recent years, scientists have found that all of its biomass, including embryogenic calli and flower buds can contain similar active ingredients with pharmacological functions. In this study, transcriptome analyses were used to identify different gene expressions from embryogenic calli and fl ower buds. In total, 6,226 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were obtained from cDNA libraries of P. ginseng. Insilico analysis was conducted to annotate the putative sequences using gene ontology functional analysis, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes orthology biochemical analysis, and interproscan protein functional domain analysis. From the obtained results, genes responsible for growth, pathogenicity, pigments, ginsenoside pathway, and development were discussed. Almost 83.3% of the EST sequence was annotated using one-dimensional insilico analysis.

• KSBB Journal
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• 제22권5호
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• pp.345-350
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• 2007

인산당은 모든 유기체에서 발견되며 무척 다양한 유용성을 지니고 있다. 특히 glucose 1-phosphate (G1P), glucose 6-phosphate (G6P), fructose 6-phosphate (F6P) 등은 해당과 정, 당합성과정, 5탄당 인산화과정 및 캘빈회로와 같은 탄수화물 대사와 에너지 생산 대사의 주요한 핵심 중간물질이다. 특히 해당과정에서 F6P는 G6P의 이성질화반응에 의하여 생성된다. F6P의 대량생산은 전분을 이용하는 것이 가능한데, 우선 전분에 인산화효소를 가하여 G1P를 얻고, 이 G1P를 자리옮김효소 (phosphoglucomutase, GM)와 이성질화효소 (phosphoglucoisomerase, GI)를 순차적으로 적용하여 G6P와 F6P를 생산하게 된다. 효소반응의 경우 전분의 용해도 증가, 반응속도의 향상 및 미생물의 오염방지 등을 위하여 중온성 효소보다는 고온성 효소 혹은 내열성 효소가 선호된다. 본 연구는 세 가지 내열성 효소를 이용하여 전분으로부터 두 단계반응으로 F6P를 생산하는 것에 관한 것이다. 실험에 사용된 효소는 대장균에서 발현된 재조합 효소로서, 효소의 생산은 유가식 배양을 이용하였다. 1.2% 가용성 전분 200 L를 이용하여 1,253 g의 순수한 G1P를 생산하였으며 이를 이용하여 최종적으로 30% 수율로 F6P를 생산할 수 있었다. 최대수율을 얻기 위하여 반응표면분석법을 이용하여 GM : GI = 1 : 1.23, 63.5$^{\circ}C$, pH 6.85의 조건이 도출되었으며, 이 조건하에서 실험을 통하여 20 g/L의 전분을 이용하여 30% 수율로 F6P가 생성됨을 확인할 수 있었다.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제30권2호
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• pp.271-278
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• 2020

Glycerol dehydrogenase (GlyDH) catalyzes the oxidation of glycerol to dihydroxyacetone (DHA), which is the first step in the glycerol metabolism pathway. GlyDH has attracted great interest for its potential industrial applications, since DHA is a precursor for the synthesis of many commercially valuable chemicals and various drugs. In this study, GlyDH from Klebsiella pneumoniae (KpGlyDH) was overexpressed in E. coli and purified to homogeneity for biochemical and molecular characterization. KpGlyDH exhibits an exclusive preference for NAD⁺ over NADP⁺. The enzymatic activity of KpGlyDH is maximal at pH 8.6 and pH 10.0. Of the three common polyol substrates, KpGlyDH showed the highest k_cat/K_m value for glycerol, which is three times higher than for racemic 2,3-butanediol and 32 times higher than for ethylene glycol. The k_cat value for glycerol oxidation is notably high at 87.1 ± 11.3 sec^-1. KpGlyDH was shown to exist in an equilibrium between two different oligomeric states, octamer and hexadecamer, by size-exclusion chromatography analysis. KpGlyDH is structurally thermostable, with a T_m of 83.4℃, in thermal denaturation experiment using circular dichroism spectroscopy. The biochemical and biophysical characteristics of KpGlyDH revealed in this study should provide the basis for future research on its glycerol metabolism and possible use in industrial applications.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제17권6호
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• pp.1010-1017
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• 2007

Two alternative pathways for methionine biosynthesis are known in Corynebacterium glutamicum: one involving transsulfuration (mediated by metB and metC) and the other involving direct sulfhydrylation (mediated by metY). In this study, MetB (cystathionine ${\gamma}-synthase$) and MetY (O-acetylhomoserine sulfhydrylase) from C. glutamicum were purified to homogeneity and the biochemical parameters were compared to assess the functional and evolutionary importance of each pathway. The molecular masses of the native MetB and MetY proteins were measured to be approximately 170 and 280 kDa, respectively, showing that MetB was a homotetramer of 40-kDa subunits and MetY was a homohexamer of 45-kDa subunits. The $K_m$ values for the O-acetylhomoserine catalysis effected by MetB and MetY were 3.9 and 6.4 mM, and the maximum catalysis rates were $7.4\;(k_{cat}=21\;S^{-1})\;and\;6.0\;(k_{cat}=28\;S^{-1})\;{\mu}mol\;mg^{-1}\;min^{-1}$, respectively. This suggests that both MetB and MetY can be comparably active in vivo. Nevertheless, the $K_m$ value for sulfide ions by MetY was 8.6mM, which was too high, considering the physiological condition. Moreover, MetB was active at a broad range of temperatures $(30\;and\;65^{\circ}C)$ and pH (6.5 and 10.0), as compared with MetY, which was active in a range from 30 to $45^{\circ}C$ and at pH values from 7.0 to 8.5. In addition, MetY was inhibited by methionine, but MetB was not. These biochemical data may provide insight on the role of the parallel pathways of methionine biosynthesis in C. glutamicum with regard to cell physiology and evolution.

• 한국동물학회지
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• 제36권3호
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• pp.433-438
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• 1993

본 연구를 통해서 근세포 융합과정에서 신호 전달물질의 가능성이 제기되고 있는 세포내 cGMP peak가 guanylate cyclase activity의 변화와 관련이 있으며, guanylate cyclase는 L-arginine: NO synthase에 의해서 촉진될 것임을 입증할 수 있는 간접적 증거를 제시한다. 즉, SNP는 근세포의 융합과 guanylate cyclase activity를 아울러 증가시키며, L-arginine: NO synthase inhibitor인 L-NG-monomethyl arginine은 biochemical differentiation에는 영향을 주지 않고 근세포 융합만을 억제한다. 이러한 결과들과 muthylene blue가 근세포의 융합만을 억제하면서도 biochemical differentiation에는 영향을 주지 않으며 guanylate cyclase activity를 억제하는 사실들을 종합해서 생각할 때, 근세포 융합에서 cGMP peak가 guanylate cyclase activity의 활성화와 관련이 있으며, L-arginine: NO synthase가 $Ca^2$+ influx와 guanylate cyclase 사이를 매개할 가능성을 암시한다.