• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
• /
• v.42 no.4
• /
• pp.302-308
• /
• 2011

As a part of our ongoing program on finding biologically active components from natural source we found three known constituents from the EtOH extract of the wheat bran. The known compounds were identified as tachioside (1), pinellic acid (2) and tryptophan (3). The structure and relative stereochemistry were determined from MS, 1D and extensive 2D NMR techniques as well as by comparison of their data with the published values. All isolates were tested their inhibitory effects on the adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 cells. The effect of compounds from wheat bran on 3T3-L1 adipocyte differentiation were measured by Oil Red O staining. These results demonstrate that tachioside (1) and pinellic acid (2) decreased lipid content in 3T3-L1 adipocytes by inhibiting lipogenesis. These compounds had shown antiobesity activities.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
• /
• v.21 no.4
• /
• pp.429-435
• /
• 1998

Lectins and its A- and B-chains from Korean mistletoe (Viscum album var. coloratum) were isolated by affinity chromatography on the Sepharose 4B modified by lactose-BSA conjugate synthesized by reductive amination of ligand (lactose) to .epsilon.-amino groups of lysine residues of spacer (BSA) after reduction by $NaCNBH_3$. The lactose-BSA conjugate was coupled to Sepharose 4B activated by cyanogen bromide. The molecular weight determined by SDS-PAGE were a 31 kD of A-chain and a 35kD of B-chain. Amino acid analysis and N-terminal sequencing were performed. The effects of pH, temperature and guanidine chloride on the conformation of the lectin were investigated by measuring its intrinsic fluorescence and compared with its hemagglutinating activities. Blue shift was detected on the acidic pH and there was a close relationship between activities and conformation of the lectin. Under denaturing conditions, the tryptophan emission profile of lectin showed typical denaturaiional red shift which also correspond to the conformations and activity of lectin.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.31 no.3
• /
• pp.447-455
• /
• 2021

Strains of four Bacillus spp. were respectively inoculated into sterilized soybeans and the free amino acid profiles of the resulting cultures were analyzed to discern their metabolic traits. After 30 days of culture, B. licheniformis showed the highest production of serine, threonine, and glutamic acid; B. subtilis exhibited the highest production of alanine, asparagine, glycine, leucine, proline, tryptophan, and lysine. B. velezensis increased the γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) concentration to >200% of that in the control samples. B. sonorensis produced a somewhat similar amino acid profile with B. licheniformis. Comparative genomic analysis of the four Bacillus strains and the genetic profiles of the produced free amino acids revealed that genes involved in glutamate and arginine metabolism were not common to the four strains. The genes gadA/B (encoding a glutamate decarboxylase), rocE (amino acid permease), and puuD (γ-glutamyl-γ-aminobutyrate hydrolase) determined GABA production, and their presence was species-specific. Taken together, B. licheniformis and B. velezensis were respectively shown to have high potential to increase concentrations of glutamic acid and GABA, while B. subtilis has the ability to increase essential amino acid concentrations in fermented soybean foods.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.88-93
• /
• 1990

For effective separation of the N-TFA n-butyl ester amino acids on the stainless steel column by GLC, dual column of the mixed stationary phases, 3.36% OV-17+3.0% SE-30(column 1) and 1% NPGS +0.5% OV-17+0.5% SE-30(column 2) on chromosorb W HP 100-120 mesh, were used. On the column 1. the nineteen amino acids except histidine were obtained. However, alanine and valine peaks were not separated by this column. On the column 2, the sixteen amino acid peaks showed good separation, but tryptophan. arginine, histidine, and tyrosine peaks were not obtained. Calibration graphs for all amino acids obtained by the plotting the ratios of their peaks hights to that of internal standard versus the micro mole of the amino acids in the range $1.25{\times}10^{-3}{\mu}mol-1.0{\times}10^{-2}{\mu}mole$ showed linearity and passed through the origin.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.53 no.3
• /
• pp.231-243
• /
• 2020

Purpose: To determine the metabolic influence of the traditional Korean diet (K-diet), which has been regarded as a healthy diet, we investigated the profile of urine organic acids that are intermediates of various types of metabolism including energy metabolism. Methods: Ten women aged 50-60 years were recruited and randomly divided into 2 diet groups, K-diet and control diet, the latter of which is a Westernized Korean diet that is commonly consumed by Koreans nowadays. Before and after the 2-week intervention, 46 urine organic acids were determined using LC/MS/MS, along with clinical parameters. Results: The average concentrations of succinate (4.14 ± 0.84 ㎍/mg creatinine vs. 1.49 ± 0.11, p = 0.0346) and hydroxymethylglutarate (3.67 ± 0.36 ㎍/mg creatinine vs. 2.97 ± 0.29, p = 0.0466), both of which are intermediates of energy metabolism, decreased in the K-diet group after the 2-week intervention, but these were not observed in the control diet group. In particular, the average concentration of succinate in the K-diet group was lower than that in the control group (3.33 ± 0.56 ㎍/mg creatinine vs. 1.49 ± 0.11, p = 0.0284) after 2 weeks. The concentrations of two tryptophan metabolites, 5-hydroxyindolacetate (3.72 ± 0.22 ㎍/mg creatinine vs. 3.14 ± 0.21, p = 0.0183) and indican (76.99 ± 8.35 ㎍/mg creatinine vs. 37.89 ± 10.06, p = 0.0205) also decreased only in the K-diet group. After the 2-week intervention, the concentration of kynurenate, another tryptophan metabolite, was lower in the K-diet group than that in the control diet group (3.96 ± 0.51 ㎍/mg creatinine vs. 2.90 ± 0.22, p = 0.0356). Interestingly, the urine level of kynurenate was positively correlated with BMI (r = 0.61424, p = 0.0003) and total cholesterol (r = 0.46979, p = 0.0088), which decreased only in the K-diet group (239.40 ± 15.14 mg/dL vs. 198.20 ± 13.25, p = 0.0163). Conclusion: The K-diet alters the urinary excretion of organic acids involved in energy metabolism and tryptophan metabolism, suggesting the influence of the K-diet on these types of metabolism. Urine organic acids changed by the K-diet may serve as biomarkers in future studies.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.295-306
• /
• 2007

The growth and health of the fetus and neonate are directly influenced by the nutritional and physiological status of sows. Sows are often under catabolic conditions due to restrict feeding program during pregnancy and low voluntary feed intake during lactation. The current restrict feeding program, which aims at controlling energy intake during gestation, results in an inadequate supply of dietary protein for fetal and mammary gland growth. Low voluntary feed intake during lactation also causes massive maternal tissue mobilization. Provision of amino acids and fatty acids with specific functions may enhance the performance of pregnant and lactating sows by modulating key metabolic pathways. These nutrients include arginine, branched-chain amino acids, glutamine, tryptophan, proline, conjugated linoleic acids, docosahexaenoic acid, and eicosapentaenoic acid, which can enhance conception rates, embryogenesis, blood flow, antioxidant activity, appetite, translation initiation for protein synthesis, immune cell proliferation, and intestinal development. The outcome is to improve sow reproductive performance as well as fetal and neonatal growth and health. Dietary supplementation with functional amino acids and fatty acids holds great promise in optimizing nutrition, health, and production performance of sows and piglets. (Supported by funds from Texas Tech, USDA, NLRI-RDA-Korea, and China NSF).

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.34 no.6
• /
• pp.1673-1678
• /
• 2013

Lumazine protein is a member of the riboflavin synthase superfamily and the intense fluorescence is caused by non-covalently bound to 6,7-dimethyl 8-ribityllumazine. To figure out the binding modes and the structure of the N-terminal domain of lumazine protein, the wild type of protein extending to amino acid 118 (N-LumP 118 Wt) and mutants of N-LumP 118 V41W, S48W, T50W, D64W, and A66W from Photobacterium leiognathi were purified. The biochemical properties of the wild type and mutants of N-LumP 118 proteins were analyzed by absorbance and fluorescence spectroscope. The peak of absorbance and fluorescence of lumazine ligand were shifted to longer wavelength on binding to N-LumPs. The observed absorbance value at 410 nm of lumazine bound to N-LumP 118 proteins indicate that one mole of N-LumP 118 proteins bind to one mole of ligand of lumazine. Fluorescence analysis show that the maximum peak of fluorescence of N-LumP S48W was shifted to the longest wavelength by binding with 6,7-dimethyl 8-ribityllumazine and was shown to the greatest quench effect by acrylamide among all tryptophan mutants.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.41-48
• /
• 1994

The xylanase from alkali-tolerant Bacillus sp. YA-14 was purified to homogeneity by CM-cellulose, Sephadex G-50, and hydroxyapatite column chromatographies. The molecular weight of the purified enzyme was estimated to be 20, 000 Da by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The purified enzyme slightly hydrolyzed carboxymethyl cellulose and Avicel, but did not hydrolyze soluble starch, dextran, pullulan, and ${\rho}-nitrophenyl-{\beta}$-D-xylopyranoside. The maximum degree of hydrolysis by enzyme for birchwood xylan and oat spelts xylan were 47 and 40%, respectively. The Michaelis constants for birchwood xylan and oat spelts xylan were calculated to be 3.03 mg/ml and 5.0 mg/ml, respectively. The activity of the xylanase was inhibited reversibly by $HgCl_2$, and showed competitive inhibition by N-bromosuccinimide, which probably indicates the involvement of tryptophan residue in the active center of the enzyme. The Xylanase was identified to be xylose-producing endo-type xylanase and did not show the enzymatic activities which cleave the branch point of the xylan structure.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.260-264
• /
• 2005

The nature of the active site of Tobacco acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS) in the substrate- and cofactorbinding was studied by kinetics and fluorescence spectroscopy. The substrate saturation curve does not follow Michaelis-Menten kinetics at different temperatures (7, 21 and 37 ${^{\circ}C}$), pH (6.5, 7.5 and 8.5) and buffers (Tris-HCl and MOPS). The concentration of one half of the maximum velocity ($S_{0.5}$) decreased in the following order: pyruvate $\gt$ ThDP $\approx$$Mg^{+2}$ $\gt$ FAD. However, the catalytic efficiency (K$_{cat}/S_{0.5}$) inversely decreased in the following order; FAD $\gt$ $Mg^{+2}$ $\approx$ThDP $\gt$ pyruvate, indicating that the cofactors by in decreasing order; FAD, $Mg^{+2}$, ThDP, affect the catalysis of AHAS. The dissociation constant ($K_d$) of the intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence decreased with the same tendency of the concentration of one half of the maximum velocity ($S_{0.5}$) decreasing order. This data provides evidence that the substrate and cofactor binding natures of the active site, as well as its activation characteristics, resemble those of other ThDP-dependent enzymes.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.197-205
• /
• 1996

The $\beta$-xylosidase was purified 99- fold from the culture supernatant of Pseudo onas sp. CB-33 by ammonium sulfate precipitation, PEI precipita- tion, DEAE-Sephadex column chromatography, Sephadex G-75 gel filtration chromatography and preparative disc gel electrophoresis. Molecular weight of the enzyme was estimated to be 44,000 by SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The enzyme has a pH optimum for activity at 7.0 and is stable over pH 6.5-9.0. The optimal temperature of the enzyme was 45$\circ$C, and its enzymatic activity was completely inactivated at 55$\circ$C for 30 min. Km value of the enzyme for p-nitrophenyl-$\beta$-D-xylopyranoside was calculated to be 4.6 mM. The effect of various reagents on the $\beta$-xylosidase activity was investigated. The enzyme activity was completely inhibited by Hg$^{2+}$, Cu$^{2+}$ and Zn$^{2+}$. The $\beta$-xylosidase was inactivated by tryptophan-specific reagent, N-bromosuccinimide and tyrosine-specific reagent, iodine. The enzyme could degrade xylo-oligosaccharides to xylose and the enzyme was competitively inhibited by xylose. The $\beta$-xylosidase and endoxylanase from Psedomonas sp. CB-33 hydrolized xylan synergically. The purified enzyme also showed $\alpha$-L-arabinofuranosidase activity.