• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.41 no.8
• /
• pp.733-741
• /
• 2008

In the present study, we comprehensively examined the associations of plasma levels of total adiponectin and high molecular weight (HMW) adiponectin with the features of cardiometabolic risks including body fat distribution, dyslipidemia, insulin resistance and inflammatory markers in a cross-sectional study of 110 treated hypertensive patients. Blood lipid profiles, high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA- IR) derived from fasting glucose and insulin concentrations were determined. Plasma levels of tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ (TNF-${\alpha}$), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) were analyzed using ELISA. The results showed that plasma levels of HMW-adiponectin were negatively associated with body mass index (BMI, r = - 0.203, p < 0.05) and waist circumference (r = -0.307, p < 0.01), which was not shown in total adiponectin. Plasma levels of HMW-adiponectin were negatively associated with triglyceride (r = -0.223, p < 0.05) and positively associated with HDL-cholesterol (r = 0.228, p < 0.05). Plasma levels of adiponectin were positively associated with HDL-cholesterol (r = 0.224, p < 0.05). Plasma levels of HMW-adiponectin were negatively associated with hsCRP (r = -0.276, p < 0.01) and IL-6 (r = -0.272, p < 0.01). In addition, there were weak associations between plasma levels of HMWadiponectin and TNF-${\alpha}$ (r = -0.163, p = 0.07) and ICAM-1 (r = -0.158, p = 0.09). However, there were no significant associations of total adiponectin with inflammatory markers except hsCRP (r = -0.203, p < 0.05). Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis showed that only plasma levels of HMW-adiponectin was an independent factor influencing serum levels of hsCRP, a marker of systemic low grade inflammation, after adjusting for age, gender, BMI, waist circumference, alcohol intake, smoking status, blood lipids, total adiponectin and drug use (p < 0.01). These results suggest that HMW-adiponectin, rather than total adiponectin, is likely to be closely associated with the features of cardiometabolic risks in treated hypertensive patients and might be effective biomarker for the prediction of cardiovascular disease.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.73-86
• /
• 1988

The sensitivity and specificity of crude and affinity-purified antigens of Clcnorchis sinensis obtained from the infected rabbits were studied. Stage-specific antigenic proteins from the eggs, metacercariae and adult worms were characterized by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent astray (ELISA). The results were as follows: 1. The antibody.binding antigen (ABA) purified from whole worm crude antigen (IVWA) by CNBr-activated Sepharose 4B affinity chromatography made :l specific bands against rabbit antisera on Ouchterlony gel diffusion plate, while WWA made 7 bands. Major WWA protein bands by SDS-PAGE were found at 16, 300~18, 500 and 28, 000~29, 000 daltons, while major ABA protein bands were at 18, 000~21, 000 and 29, 000~31, 000 daltons. The reactivity of ABA with rabbit anti-sera in ELISA was remarkably less sensitive than that of WWA. 2. Molecular weights of egg antigen (EGA), metacercarial antigen (MEA) and adult worm antigen (WWA) of C. sinensis ranged from 15, 000-200, 000 daltons, 15, 000-100, 000 daltons and 11, 000~80, 000 daltons, respectively. Major WWA proteins consisted mainly of polypeptide bands of low molecular weight, less than 31, 000 daltons, while those of EGA and MEA consisted of higher molecular T.eights than 30, 000 daltons. 3. The ELISA reactivities of WWA to rabbit anti.sera were remarkably greater than those of MEA. EGA showed negative reaction throughout the experiments. WWA showed higher optical density (O.D.) than 1.0, when reacted with rabbit anti-sera obtained at 4~6 weeks after the infection. In the rabbit anti-sera later than 12 weeks after the infection, the O.D. reacting witll WWA showed a plateau without variation. MEA shoT.ed relatively low O.D. values (<0.6), when reacted with anti-sera from lightly in(ected groups throughout the experiments, althougll there were some wealth positive cases (O.D.>0.6) ill heavily infected groups. MEA reacted with rabbit anti-sera showed negative results on Ouchterlony gel diffusion plates. Summarizing the above results, it is suggested that the whole worm antigen prepared from the adult worms of C. sinensis is most highly antigenic. However, this antigen might reveal cross reactions with other trematodes such as Paragonimus westermani, therefore, purification of antigenic proteins from the crude antigen is essential 18 increase the sensitivity and specificity for the immuncdiagnosis of clonorchiasis.

• KSBB Journal
• /
• v.23 no.5
• /
• pp.369-374
• /
• 2008

The effects of reaction temperature and the addition of various detergents on the enantioselective hyrolysis activity of the recombinant Escherichia coli containing the epoxide hydrolase (EH) gene of Rhodotorula glutinis were investigated for the production of enantiopure styrene oxide. The recombinant E. coli harboring the EH gene from R. glutinis exhibited the enantiopreference toward (R)-styrene oxide with the maximum hydrolytic activity of $165.04{\mu}mol/min/mg$ of dry cell weight (dcw). The addition of 0.5% (w/v) Tween 20 at $10^{\circ}C$ increased the initial hydrolysis rate and enantioselectivity by 1.45-fold and 2.0-fold, respectively. Enantiopure (S)-styrene oxide was prepared with 99% ee enantiopurity and 46.0% yield (theoretical yield=50%) from 20 mM racemic styrene oxide.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
• /
• v.33 no.6
• /
• pp.769-773
• /
• 2001

Protein content of okara and soybean were found to be 37.3% and 42.5%, respectively by micro-Kjeldahl analysis. Solubility of okara protein in phosphate buffer (pH 8) was 10% versus soy protein of 68.4%. Insolubilization of okara protein was mostly due to disulfide bonding between cysteine residues caused by excessive heat treatment during soymilk processing: hydrophobic interactions and hydrogen bondings were involved to lesser extent. Optimum extraction temperature and time were $60^{\circ}C$ and 40 min. Typical solubility profile of soy protein disappeared for okara protein though minimum solubility of the protein was around pH 3.0. Treating okara with protease was effective in solubilizing okara protein and solubility increased to 19.2%. Optimum reaction temperature and time were $80^{\circ}C$ and 50 min, respectively. Cell wall degrading enzyme did not increase solubility of the protein, however. Through enzymatic reaction okara protein could be effectively solubilized for uses as food ingredient.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
• /
• v.31 no.3
• /
• pp.438-444
• /
• 2002

Interactions between meat proteins and hydrocolloids in a model system may play an important role for the improvement of textural properties in low-fat sausage mixtures. The objective of this study was to determine gel properties as affected by the type and level of hydrocolloid, various pH values of meat protein-hydrocolloid mixture before cooking, and internal cooking temperatures. The desirable heat-induced gels (HIGs) were formed at least pH values above 6.0. The addition of konjac flour (KF), kappa-carrageenan (CN) and locust bean gum (LBG) to extracted salt soluble proteins (2%) improved the gel strength with increased levels (0.5∼1.5%) and HIGs containing CN had the highest (p<0.05) gel strength. The increase of cooking temperature increased gel strength, depending on pH and type of hydrocolloid. However, the minimun internal cooking temperature to make viscoelastic HIGs was 70$^{\circ}C$. These results indicated that desirable HIGs were manufactured with each hydrocolloid concentration of 1% and minimum cooking temperature of 70$^{\circ}C$ with pH values higher than 6.0.

• Proceeding of EDISON Challenge
• /
• 2015.03a
• /
• pp.177-183
• /
• 2015

$\text\tiny{D}$-Psicose 3-Epimerase (DPE)는 $\text\tiny{D}$-Fructose의 C3 Epimerase로써 $\text\tiny{D}$-Fructose를 $\text\tiny{D}$-Psicose로 전환해 주는 효소이다. $\text\tiny{D}$-Psicose는 설탕 대신 사용하는 감미료로 몸에 흡수되지 않아 칼로리가 없다고 알려져 있고 자연에서는 오로지 DPE에 의해서만 생산되는 희귀당이다. 이에 따라 DPE를 통한 $\text\tiny{D}$-Psicose 대량생산의 필요성이 대두되고 있는 등 이 분야에 대한 관심이 뜨거운 실정이다. 본 연구팀은 이 당과 관련된 작용기작 연구를 수행하기 위하여 아직 단백질 3차구조가 알려지지 않은 Clostridium hylemonae DPE (chDPE) 단백질의 3차 구조예측 연구를 수행 하였다. 우리는 HHsearch를 이용하여 agrobacterium tumefaciens의 DPE 외 2개의 구조를 호몰로지 모델링 연구를 위한 주형으로 선정하였다. 다음으로 PROMALS3D를 이용하여 주형들과 chDPE의 multiple sequence alignment를 수행하였고 이를 바탕으로 3차구조 예측 연구를 수행 하였다. 예측된 구조를 검증하기 위하여 ProSA와 Ramachandran plot분석을 이용하였고 Ramachandran plot에서 단백질의 94.8%에 해당하는 잔기들이 favoured regions에 위치하였다. ProSA에서는 Z-score값이 -9.3으로 X-선 결정학이나 핵자기 공명법으로 밝혀진 구조들에서 관측되는 범위 내에 위치하였다. 나아가 예측된 구조에 $\text\tiny{D}$-Psicose와 $\text\tiny{D}$-Fructose의 결합모드를 규명하기 위하여 도킹을 시도하였다. 이번 연구를 통하여 chDPE의 구조를 예측 할 수 있었고 이를 바탕으로 이 단백질의 기능을 이해하는데 도움을 줄 것으로 기대된다.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.143-148
• /
• 1998

This study was carried out in order to investigate oxidative deterioration during dehydration at $40^{\circ}C,\;50^{\circ}C$ and $60^{\circ}C$ of sea mussel and baby clam. Moisture content was decreased with drying temperature and time. Sea mussel was dehydrated more rapidly than baby clam that had Harder muscle tissue. Both samples were not reached to Aw 0.62 in case of 10 hrs drying at $40^{\circ}C$, But it reached within 8 hrs in sea mussel and 10 hrs in baby clam at $50^{\circ}C$, respectively. Even if $60^{\circ}C$ could speed up drying, it caused to form more free fatty acid, peroxide, thiobarbituric acid and brown pigments. Lipophilic brown pigment was 10 times higher than hydrophilic and actively increased in all samples. fluorescence intensity was also increased with drying temperature and time. Particularly, it was higher sea mussel than baby clam more or less.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.28 no.3
• /
• pp.275-283
• /
• 2018

Human fibroblast growth factor (FGF) has the potential to be a commercially important therapeutic or cosmeceutical agent due to its ability to generate tissue and heal wounds. Granting permeability into skin tissues increases the therapeutic effects of FGF. Thus, several researchers have attempted the fusion of FGF conjugates with protein transduction domains (PTDs) to investigate the transduction ability and therapeutic effects of FGF. Less is known, however, about whether the location of PTD fused to the N- or C-terminus of FGF proteins has a significant impact on the folding and stability in Escherichia coli, and eventually, on transduction. Here, we report cloning of human basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF2) as a control and FGF2 with PTD fused to the N- or C-terminal ends of FGF proteins by an overlap extension PCR. We performed expression, verified expression properties of recombinant FGF2 without or with PTD fused to the N-terminus and the C-terminus, and investigated transduction ability into tissue by treating the dorsal skin of mice subjects. As a result, FGF2 and FGF2-PTD (fused to C-terminus) fusion protein were expressed as soluble forms suitable for straight-forward purification, unlike insoluble PTD-FGF2 (fused to N-terminus), but only FGF2-PTD fusion protein could transduce into the dorsal skin tissue of the mice subjects. Our results suggest that FGF2 with PTD fused to the C-terminus is more efficient than other options in terms of expression, purification, and delivery into skin tissue, as it does not require labor-intensive, costly, and time-consuming methods.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.57-65
• /
• 2014

Purpose: Since most terminally ill cancer patients die of multiple organ failure, plasma endotoxin concentration levels may be used to predict the life expectancy. This study was performed to evaluate the clinical significance of endotoxin level in plasma as a prognostic factor for survival in patients with terminal cancer. Methods: This study was conducted with 56 terminally ill cancer patients, above 20 years old, from April 2009 through October 2009. Demographic characteristics, Karnofsky performance status, and survival time were evaluated. We analyzed blood levels of white blood cell hemoglobin, hematocrit, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, c-reactive protein, total bilirubin and endotoxin in each patient. Results: We considered following variable for univariate analysis: plasma endotoxin level, sex, age, WBC, hemoglobin, hematocrit, AST, ALT, total bilirubin, CRP and severity of pain. Univariate analysis did not show a significant association between plasma endotoxin level and survival time. However, in a multivariate analysis with factors that were found to be significantly associated with survival sex, WBC count and total bilirubin level in univariate analysis, high levels of plasma endotoxin and short survival time were significantly related. Conclusion: Plasma endotoxin level could be used as a prognostic factor to predict the life expectancy of terminally ill cancer patients.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.264-273
• /
• 2002

We have isolated and artificially expressed three cDNA clones of Capsicum annuum PR5 genes for elucidating the antifungal activity against Phytophthora capsici which contracted a hot pepper root rot in field condition. Three divergent PR5 proteins from hot pepper were designated as CAPR5-1 and CAPR5-2 from susceptible cultivar (Subicho) as well as CAPR5-3 from resistant cultivar (CM331) in response to P. capsici. The cDNA similarity was found over 80% of identity among the three CAPR5s, and deduced amino acid sequence was characterized that all of CAPR5s contained 16 cysteine residues which possibly had a significant role in the structural formation. The result of genomic DNA blot showed that CAPR5-1 and CAPR5-2 existed as single copy in the Subicho genome. Three recombinant CPARs in E. coli were identified by SDS-PACE, and each expressed protein was treated on the PDA medium which contained cultured pathogens. Although three CAPR5 proteins did not affected the hyphal growth of Glomerella glycines and Colletotrichum fagenarium, CAPR5-1, CAPR5-2, and CAPR5-3 showed a specific antifungal activities against P. capsici.