• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.678-683
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• 2012

Ceria is one of the most important catalytic materials which can be used in three-way catalysts, waste water treatment, petroleum refining, etc. So far, many methods have been studied to produce ceria nanoparticles. In this study, ceria nanoparticles were prepared via solvothermal synthesis using supercritical methanol in short reaction time using a batch reactor. The size of synthesized ceria nanoparticles in supercritical methanol is 6 nm without capping agent, which is smaller than that made in supercritical water at the same conditions of $400^{\circ}C$ and 30 MPa. Size difference results from density and critical point difference between water and methanol and slow reaction rate at the surface of ceria particles in supercritical methanol which reduces crystal growth rate. Several organic compounds were added to modify the surface of ceria nanoparticles, and in-situ surface modification was confirmed by FT-IR and TGA analysis. Surface modified ceria nanoparticles have excellent dispersibility in organic solvent. Size and shape of surface modified ceria particles can be controlled by adjusting molar ratio of modifier to precursor and selection of modifier.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.7
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• pp.1108-1113
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• 2015

Cadaverine (1,5-diaminopentane) is an important industrial chemical with a wide range of applications. Although there have been many efforts to produce cadaverine through fermentation, there are not many reports of the direct cadaverine production from lysine using biotransformation. Whole-cell reactions were examined using a recombinant Escherichia coli strain overexpressing the E. coli MG1655 cadA gene, and various parameters were investigated for the whole-cell bioconversion of lysine to cadaverine. A high concentration of lysine resulted in the synthesis of pyridoxal-5'-phosphate (PLP) and it was found to be a critical control factor for the biotransformation of lysine to cadaverine. When 0.025 mM PLP and 1.75 M lysine in 500 mM sodium acetate buffer (pH6) were used, consumption of 91% lysine and conversion of about 80% lysine to cadaverine were successfully achieved.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.10
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• pp.1324-1329
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• 2012

Phosphomannomutase (ManB) is involved in the biosynthesis of GDP-mannose, which is vital for numerous processes such as synthesis of carbohydrates, production of alginates and ascorbic acid, and post-translational modification of proteins. Here, we discovered that a deletion mutant of manB (BG101) in Streptomyces coelicolor (S. coelicolor) showed higher sensitivity to bacteriostatic chloramphenicol (CM) than the wild-type strain (M145), along with decreased production of CM metabolites. Deletion of manB also decreased the mRNA expression level of drug efflux pumps (i.e., cmlR1 and cmlR2) in S. coelicolor, resulting in increased sensitivity to CM. This is the first report on changes in antibiotic sensitivity to CM by deletion of one glycolysis-related enzyme in S. coelicolor, and the results suggest different approaches for studying the antibiotic-resistant mechanism and its regulation.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.311-315
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• 2002

By the in vitro combinatorial mutagenesis, which is a sequential reaction of PCR mutagenesis and in vitro coupled transcription/translation with Escherichia coli S30 extract, S65 and E222 of green fluorescent protein of Aequarea victoria were comprehensively changed to all possible combinations of amino acids, thus totally 400 mutant (including a wild type) proteins were simultaneously produced and their fluorescent properties were analyzed. Although a few mutations had been reported so far at the 222nd position, replacement E222 to all other19 amino acids gave fluorescent signal to the mutants by changing Ser 65 to Ala together. Among the mutants, replacement to G, A, S, Q, H and C gave relatively high fluorescence. The in vitro combinatorial mutagenesis, therefore, has been proved valuable for comprehensive structure-function studies of proteins.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.183-187
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• 2008

Alkyl thiosulfi(o)nates, analogs of allyl-2-propene-1-thiosulfinate isolated from Allium sativum and having antibacterial activity, were chemically synthesized and their biological activities were investigated. Alkyl thiosulfinates were prepared by oxidation of corresponding disulfides with organic peroxy acid, while alkyl thiosulfonates could be obtained by oxidation of the alkyl thiosulfinates using sodium periodate. All synthetic thiosulfi(o)nates showed antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus B33 and antifungal activity against Candida utilis ATCC42416. Further more synthetic alkyl thiosulfonates displayed antioxidant activity and have also prevention effect of platelet aggregation induced by collagen in rat.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.27-36
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• 1996

The aim of the present research program was to identify and develop strains of actinomycetes producing antifungal antibiotics which inhibit cell wall biosynthesis. 860 strains of Actinomycetes were isolated from various soil samples. Three isolates, EMS4, EMP22, and L234 were selected as the strains producing antifungal antibiotics inducing abnormal morphology against Penicillium cyclopium, Cryptococcus laurentii, and Aspergillus flavus, respectively. Taxonomic unit characters of the strains were tested and the data were analyzed numerically using TAXON program. EMS4, EMP22, and L234 were indentified to be a member of Streptomyces lavendulae, Streptomyces willmorei, and Streptomyces aburaviensis, respectively.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.826-828
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• 2002

In our previous studies, we have cloned and characterized a gene region from Bradyrhizobium japonicum ,which is involved in the synthesis of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). In this study, we have expanded the sequence analysis of the region and found an additional open reading frame (orf), which appeared to be divergently transcribed from the rfaF gene. Sequence alignment of the orf revealed a significant similarity with rfaD genes of Salmonella typhimurium , Escherichia coli, and Neisseria gonorrhoeae. These genes encode a heptose-6-epimerase, which catalyzes the interconversion of ADP -D -glycerol-D-manno-heptose to ADP-L-glycero-D-manno-heptose. This divergent organization of the rfaF and rfaD genes is different from that of other Gram-negative bacteria where two genes form an operon. A rfaD- mutant of E. coli was successfully transformed with plasmid constructs containing the rfaD gene of B. japonicum. Novobiocin sensitivity test showed that the rfaD gene from B. japonicum could complement the rfaD mutation in E. coli, which confirms the functionality of the cloned B. japonicum gene.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.1025-1029
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• 2013

In the previous paper (Bull. Korean Chem. Soc., 2011, 32, 2997), the hybrid molecules between ${\alpha}$-lipoic acid (ALA) and polyphenols (PPs) connected with neutral 2-(2-aminoethoxy)ethanol linker (linker-1) showed new biological activity such as butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) inhibition. In order to increase the binding affinity of the hybrid compounds to cholinesterase (ChE), the neutral 2-(2-aminoethoxy)ethanol (linker 1) was switched to the cationic 2-(piperazin-1-yl)ethanol linker (linker 2). The $IC_{50}$ values of the linker-2 hybrid molecules for BuChE inhibition were lower than those of linker-1 hybrid molecules (except 9-2) and they also had the same great selectivity for BuChE over AChE (> 800 fold) as linker-1 hybrid molecules. ALA-acetyl caffeic acid (10-2, ALA-AcCA) was shown as an effective inhibitor of BuChE ($IC_{50}=0.44{\pm}0.24{\mu}M$). A kinetic study using 7-2 showed that it is the same mixed type inhibition as 7-1. Its inhibition constant (Ki) to BuChE is $4.3{\pm}0.09{\mu}M$.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.747-751
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• 2008

The effect of additives in the synthesis of biodiesel fuel using supercritical methanol was studied in order to examine the possibility of application of spent vegetable oil as a raw material, which has high contents of water or free fatty acid. The experiments were performed by varying the contents of water, free fatty acid or antioxidants respectively in a batch reactor. The contents of fatty acid methyl ester was analyzed by a gas chromatography. As the water contents increased, the contents of fatty acid methyl ester decreased, however, the decrease was very little compared with the alkaline and acid catalyst. The effect of the contents of free fatty acid, vitamin E, and ${\beta}$-carotene was negligible.

• BMB Reports
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• v.53 no.12
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• pp.640-645
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• 2020

Suppressors of cytokine signaling (SOCS) exhibit diverse anti-inflammatory effects. Since ROS acts as a critical mediator of inflammation, we have investigated the anti-inflammatory mechanisms of SOCS via ROS regulation in monocytic/macrophagic cells. Using PMA-differentiated monocytic cell lines and primary BMDMs transduced with SOCS1 or shSOCS1, the LPS/TLR4-induced inflammatory signaling was investigated by analyzing the levels of intracellular ROS, antioxidant factors, inflammasome activation, and pro-inflammatory cytokines. The levels of LPS-induced ROS and the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines were notably down-regulated by SOCS1 and up-regulated by shSOCS1 in an NAC-sensitive manner. SOCS1 up-regulated an ROS-scavenging protein, thioredoxin, via enhanced expression and binding of NRF-2 to the thioredoxin promoter. SOCS3 exhibited similar effects on NRF-2/thioredoxin induction, and ROS downregulation, resulting in the suppression of inflammatory cytokines. Notably thioredoxin ablation promoted NLRP3 inflammasome activation and restored the SOCS1-mediated inhibition of ROS and cytokine synthesis induced by LPS. The results demonstrate that the anti-inflammatory mechanisms of SOCS1 and SOCS3 in macrophages are mediated via NRF-2-mediated thioredoxin upregulation resulting in the downregulation of ROS signal. Thus, our study supports the anti-oxidant role of SOCS1 and SOCS3 in the exquisite regulation of macrophage activation under oxidative stress.