• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.555-561
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• 2007

To obtain low molecular weight water soluble chitosan (LMWSC) with various molecular weights, chitosan oligosaccharides (COS) with lactic acid was separated by using ultrafilteration technique and LMWSC with a free amine group was prepared by the novel salts-removal method. The characterization of LMWSC removed the lactic acid and degree of deacetylation (DDA) were identified by FT-IR and $^1H-NMR$ spectra. Polydispersity index (PDI) was $1.278{\sim}1.499$, which indicates a relatively molecular weight distribution. To identify the potential as a gene carrier, we confirmed the transfection efficiency of COS fractioned according to molecular weight successfully and the salt-removed LMWSC using 293T cell. Also, LMWSC derivatives prepared for improvement transfection efficiency were evaluated using Balb/C mice.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.173-178
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• 2012

Sucrose-glucan glucosyltransferase (Gtf) is an important enzyme involved in the cavity formation process where insoluble glucan is synthesized. In this study, we purified Gtf from Streptcoccus mutans Ingbritt through ammonium sulfate precipitation, Sephadex G-150, CM-Sephadex, and DEAE-Sephadex column chromatographies. A 13-fold of purification was achieved with a total yield of 6.3%. The apparent molecular mass of the enzyme was determined to be 66 kDa on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The optimal pH and temperature were established to be 6.0 and $40^{\circ}C$, respectively. The enzyme activity could be inhibited to 22-59% by 1 mM $Hg^{2+}$, $Cu^{2+}$ and $Al^{3+}$, and to 68% by 1 mM EDTA. It was also inhibited 40% by 2 mM xylitol and 35-45% by 0.05% soluble chitosan, glycol chitosan, and glycol chitin. This is the first report to reveal the inhibition effect of chitin derivatives on Gtf activity, which may be further applicable to develop gargles to overcome cavity.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Sericultural Science Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.17-17
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• 2005

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.280-284
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• 2018

The incidence of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) is increasing rapidly in developed countries, with CVDs now representing the leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Natural products and ethnomedicines have been shown to reduce the risk of CVDs. Garlic is a medicinal plant used throughout the world for its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antiplatelet activities. Chitosan is a natural polysaccharide obtained from chitin, and derivatives of chitosan have been shown to inhibit platelet aggregation and adhesion. We hypothesized that fermented preparations of these products may possess stronger antiplatelet effects than the non-fermented forms owing to the increased bioavailability of the bioactive compounds produced during fermentation. Therefore, we compared these compounds via in vitro and ex vivo platelet aggregation assays by using standard light transmission aggregometry and ex vivo granule secretions from rat platelets. We found that fermented preparations exerted more potent and significant inhibition of platelet aggregation both in vitro and ex vivo. Likewise, ATP release from dense granules of platelets was also significantly inhibited in fermented preparation-treated rat platelets compared to that in non-fermented preparation-treated ones. We concluded that fermented preparations exerted more potent effects on platelet function both in vitro and ex vivo, possibly as a result of the increased bioavailability of active compounds produced during fermentation. We therefore suggest that fermented products may be potent therapeutics against platelet-related CVDs and can be used as antiplatelet and antithrombotic agents.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.790-793
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• 2005

Recently, the interest in the extension of human life and personal health has been increased. Accordingly, many researchers in a pharmacy and a medical world have been making efforts to improve the sustained drug release property and the stability of drug release property in a body. Many biological researches have demonstrated that chitosan derivatives are effective, safe absorption enhancers that can improve the delivery efficiency of drug and vaccine, and they are suitable for controlled drug release because they have good stability, bio-compatibility, and biodegradability. In this study the experiment was performed in vivo by utilizing chitosan nanoparticles as a biopolymer to control drug delivery rate at an optimal temperature, pH, and concentration. It was observed that nanoparticles containing insulin could effectively control the blood glucose at a low level.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.237-245
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• 1997

A DEAE-chitin was prepared with DEAE HCl in an aqueous alkali-chitin solution. The resulting DEAE-chitin exhibited a highly improved affinity to water and organic solvents, It was N-deacetylated by heating in aqueous 10% sodium hydroxide containing sodium borohydride for 9h at $80^{\circ}C$ to produce DEAE-chitosan. These conditions were milder than those for the N-deacetylation of chitin. In order to increase its cationic character, the DEAE-chitin was treated with ethyl halide to give TEAE-chitin. The structural changes in the chitin derivatives were confirmed by using both FT-IR and $^1H$ NMR, and their flocculating behavior, in kaoline suspension showed the optimum property at a weak alkaline pH and 8 ppm concentration of resin conditions.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.37-46
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• 2007

Fully or nearly fully 6- [4- (4'- (nitrophenylazo)phenoxycarbonyl)]pentanoated polysaccharide derivatives were synthesized by reacting cellulose, amylose, chitosan, chitin, alginic acid, pullulan or amylopectin with 6- [4- (4'- (nitrophenylazo)phenoxy) ] pentanoyl chloride (NA6C) and their thermotropic liquid crystalline behaviors were investigated. Like in the case of NA6C, all the polysaccharide derivatives formed monotropic nematic phases, suggesting that the mesophase structure of the polysaccharide derivatives is dertermined by the mesogenic side groups and not by the polysaccharide backbone. This is the first report of polysaccharide derivatives, except cellulose derivative, that form thermotropic nematic phases. The thermal stability and degree of order of the nematic phases observed for poly saccharide derivatives were significantly different from those reported for the polymers in which the azobenzene groups are attached to flexible or rigid backbones through flexible spacers. The results were discussed in terms of the difference in the arrangement of the main and side chains and the flexibility of the main chain.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.593-602
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• 2010

Chitosan as a natural polymer has superior physicochemical properties such as biocompatibility, biodegradability and nontoxicity, but application of chitosan for therapy of cancer and gene related-disease has been limited by poor solubility in aqueous solution. Therefore, low molecular weight water-soluble chitosan (LMWSC) with high reactivity and strong positive charge can be applied as a delivery system having function to carry in the specific tissue the bioactive material like poor solubility drug, or therapeutic gene and developed as a therapeutic system having good therapeutic efficiency. The most important factor for therapy of various diseases is to reveal the antigen or receptor expressed in specific lesion tissue and the antibody and ligand which can bind with antigen is to introduce at the biomaterials for enhancement the therapeutic efficiency. The studies for cationic synthetic polymer as drug or gene delivery have been actively performed, but it has many problems such as toxicity in the body, therapeutic efficiency. From this point of view, this article demonstrated the introduction of functional groups to target the specific tissue and therapeutic strategy using the modification of LMWSC with free-amine group. The development of these delivery system will provide a positive vision for cancer therapy.

• Food Science and Industry
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.69-83
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• 2020

For the development of the chitosan industry in Korea, the catch of red snow crabs caught on the east coast is rapidly decreasing. Therefore, it is urgent to develop raw materials that can replace the red snow crab as the top priority to solve the supply and demand problems, as well as wastewater treatment costs account for a large proportion of the cost of chitosan. In order to solve the problems, continuous research on biological extraction methods such as enzymatic extraction and microbial fermentation will increase production efficiency and lower unit cost as well as chemical extraction methods. Further efficient manufacturing method can be established. Establishing of novel techniques is indispensable for production of high-purity chitosan and the ability to regulate and separate the molecular weight, as well as joint research with industry, academia and research institute for the research and development of high-functional chitosan derivatives.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.399-404
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• 2006

Noninvasive molecular targeting in living subjects is highly demanded for better understanding of such diverse topics as the efficient delivery of drugs, genes, or radionuclides for the diagnosis or treatment of diseases. Progress in molecular biology, genetic engineering and polymer chemistry provides various tools to target molecules and cells in vivo. We used chitosan as a polymer, and $^{99m}Tc$ as a radionuclide. We developed $^{99m}Tc-galactosylated$ chitosan to target asialoglycoprotein receptors for nuclear imaging. We also developed $^{99m}Tc-HYNIC-chitosan-transferrin$ to target inflammatory cells, which was more effective than $^{67}Ga-citrate$ for imaging inflammatory lesions. For an effective delivery of molecules, a longer circulation time is needed. We found that around 10% PEGylation was most effective to prolong the circulation time of liposomes for nuclear imaging of $^{99m}Tc-HMPAO-labeled$ liposomes in rats. Using various characteristics of molecules, we can deliver drugs into targets more effectively. We found that $^{99m}Tc-labeled$ biodegradable pullulan-derivatives are retained in tumor tissue in response to extracellular ion-strength. For the trafficking of various cells or bacteria in an intact animal, we used optical imaging techniques or radiolabeled cells. We monitored tumor-targeting bacteria by bioluminescent imaging techniques, dentritic cells by radiolabeling and neuronal stem cells by sodium-iodide symporter reporter gene imaging. In summary, we introduced recent achievements of molecular nuclear imaging technologies in targeting receptors for hepatocyte or inflammatory cells and in trafficking bacterial, immune and stem cells using molecular nuclear imaging techniques.