• Journal of Life Science
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.845-851
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• 2008

${\beta}-Lactamase$, secreted from Bacillus sp. J105 strain was purified to a single band on SDS-PAGE by ammonium sulfate precipitation, ion exchange column chromatography and gel-filtration. The molecular weight of the purified enzyme was 31 kDa on SDS-PAGE and its isoelectric point was 7.35. Optimal pH and temperature for enzymatic reaction were 5 and $40^{\circ}C$, respectively. As a result of total amino acid composition analysis of the purified enzyme, Gly and Ala were occupied 14.1 and 13.3 mole %, respectively. Km and Vmax value of purified enzyme were 1.33 mM and 0.36 mM/ml using ampicillin as a substrate, respectively.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.10
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• pp.1687-1696
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• 2015

Supplementation with probiotics can protect against the development of food allergies by modulating the host immune response; however, the mechanisms are not fully understood. The objective of this study was to investigate the allergy-reducing effects of regulatory dendritic cells (regDCs) induced by Lactobacillus paracasei L9 (L9) in β-lactoglobulin (BLG)-sensitized mice. The L9 supplement suppressed the aberrant balance of Th1/Th2 responses to BLG in mice, via upregulation of the CD4+CD25+Foxp3+Treg cell responses. The amount of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+Treg cells in mesenteric lymph nodes increased by 51.85%. Furthermore, administration of L9 significantly induced the expression of CD103 and reduced the maturation status of DCs in mesenteric lymph nodes, Peyer's patches, and spleen. Bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BM-DCs) were activated by L9 in vitro, with an approximate 1.31-fold and 19.57-fold increase in expression of CD103 in CD11c+DCs and the level of IL-10 production, respectively, while the expression of CD86 did not change significantly. These data demonstrate that L9 reduced the BLG allergic sensitization, likely through regDCs mediated active suppression.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.292-297
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• 2017

${\beta}-SiAlON$, based on its high fracture toughness, good strength and low abrasion resistance, has been adopted in several industrial fields such as bearings, turbine blades and non-ferrous metal refractories. In general, ${\beta}-SiAlON$ is fabricated by reactive sintering using expensive $Si_3N_4$ and AlN as starting materials. On the other hand, in this study, a cheaper ${\beta}-SiAlON$ starting powder synthesized by SHS was employed to improve price competitiveness compared to that of the reactive sintering process. ${\beta}-SiAlON$ ceramics with various content of the sintering additive $Y_2O_3$ up to 7 wt% were fabricated by conventional pressureless sintering at $1800^{\circ}C$ for 2 to 8 h under $N_2$ pressure of 0.1 MPa. The specimen with 3 wt% $Y_2O_3$ exhibited the best mechanical properties: hardness of 14 GPa, biaxial strength of 830 MPa, fracture toughness of $5MPa{\cdot}m^{1/2}$ and wear rate of about $3{\times}10^{-6}mm^3/N{\cdot}m$.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.45 no.10
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• pp.749-760
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• 2022

Osteoclast generation from monocyte/macrophage lineage precursor cells needs to be tightly regulated to maintain bone homeostasis and is frequently over-activated in inflammatory conditions. PARK2, a protein associated with Parkinson's disease, plays an important role in mitophagy via its ubiquitin ligase function. In this study, we investigated whether PARK2 is involved in osteoclastogenesis. PARK2 expression was found to be increased during the receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand (RANKL)-induced osteoclast differentiation. PARK2 gene silencing with siRNA significantly reduced osteoclastogenesis induced by RANKL, LPS (lipopolysaccharide), TNFα (tumor necrosis factor α), and IL-1β (interleukin-1β). On the other hand, overexpression of PARK2 promoted osteoclastogenesis. This regulation of osteoclastogenesis by PARK2 was mediated by IKK (inhibitory κB kinase) and NF-κB activation while MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinases) activation was not involved. Additionally, administration of PARK2 siRNA significantly reduced osteoclastogenesis and bone loss in an in vivo model of inflammatory bone erosion. Taken together, this study establishes a novel role for PARK2 as a positive regulator in osteoclast differentiation and inflammatory bone destruction.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.40.1-40.11
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• 2023

Microbial community profiling using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing allows for taxonomic characterization of diverse microorganisms. While amplicon sequence variant (ASV) methods are increasingly favored for their fine-grained resolution of sequence variants, they often discard substantial portions of sequencing reads during quality control, particularly in datasets with large number samples. We present a streamlined pipeline that integrates FastP for read trimming, HmmUFOtu for operational taxonomic units (OTU) clustering, Vsearch for chimera checking, and Kraken2 for taxonomic assignment. To assess the pipeline's performance, we reprocessed two published stool datasets of normal Korean populations: one with 890 and the other with 1,462 independent samples. In the first dataset, HmmUFOtu retained 93.2% of over 104 million read pairs after quality trimming, discarding chimeric or unclassifiable reads, while DADA2, a commonly used ASV method, retained only 44.6% of the reads. Nonetheless, both methods yielded qualitatively similar β-diversity plots. For the second dataset, HmmUFOtu retained 89.2% of read pairs, while DADA2 retained a mere 18.4% of the reads. HmmUFOtu, being a closed-reference clustering method, facilitates merging separately processed datasets, with shared OTUs between the two datasets exhibiting a correlation coefficient of 0.92 in total abundance (log scale). While the first two dimensions of the β-diversity plot exhibited a cohesive mixture of the two datasets, the third dimension revealed the presence of a batch effect. Our comparative evaluation of ASV and OTU methods within this streamlined pipeline provides valuable insights into their performance when processing large-scale microbial 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing data. The strengths of HmmUFOtu and its potential for dataset merging are highlighted.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.103-110
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• 2016

As a degenerative joint disease, osteoarthritis (OA) constitutes a major cause of disability that seriously affects the quality of life of a large population of people worldwide. However, effective treatment that can successfully reverse OA progression is lacking until now. The present study aimed to determine whether two small non-coding RNAs miR-29a and miR-140, which are significantly down-regulated in OA, can be applied together as potential therapeutic targets for OA treatment. MiRNA synergy score was used to screen the miRNA pairs that potentially synergistically regulate OA. An in vitro model of OA was established by treating murine chondrocytes with IL-$1{\beta}$. Transfection of miR-29a and miR-140 via plasmids was investigated on chondrocyte proliferation and expression of nine genes such as ADAMTS4, ADAMTS5, ACAN, COL2A1, COL10A1, MMP1, MMP3, MMP13 and TIMP metallopeptidase inhibitor 1 (TIMP1). Western blotting was used to determine the protein expression level of MMP13 and TIMP1, and ELISA was used to detect the content of type II collagen. Combined use of miR-29a and miR-140 successfully reversed the destructive effect of IL-$1{\beta}$ on chondrocyte proliferation, and notably affected the MMP13 and TIMP1 gene expression that regulates extracellular matrix. Although co-transfection of miR-29a and miR-140 did not show a synergistic effect on MMP13 protein expression and type II collagen release, but both of them can significantly suppress the protein abundance of MMP13 and restore the type II collagen release in IL-$1{\beta}$ treated chondrocytes. Compared with single miRNA transfection, cotransfection of both miRNAs exceedingly abrogated the suppressed the protein production of TIMP1 caused by IL-$1{\beta}$, thereby suggesting potent synergistic action. These results provided1novel insights into the important function of miRNAs' collaboration in OA pathological development. The reduced MMP13, and enhanced TIMP1 protein production and type II collagen release also implies that miR-29a and miR-140 combination treatment may be a possible treatment for OA.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.18.1-18.10
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• 2016

In this study, to clarify the function of $PoPLC-{\beta}1$, in response to stress challenge, we examined the $PoPLC-{\beta}1$ expression pattern in response to external stress (pathogen-associated molecular pathogen challenge and environmental challenge including temperature and salinity). $PoPLC-{\beta}1$ expression analysis of tissue from olive flounder showed that the messenger RNA (mRNA) was predominantly expressed in the brain, heart, eye, liver, spleen, and stomach. We also tested the mRNA expression of the $PoPLC-{\beta}1$ in the spleen and kidney of olive flounder by RT-PCR and real-time PCR following stimulation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), concanavalin A (ConA), or polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid (PolyI:C) and compared with the inflammatory cytokines IL-1b and IL-6 in the stimulated flounder tissues. Each of the spleen and kidney and mRNA transcripts of $PoPLC-{\beta}1$ were increased 30- and 10-fold than normal tissue at 1-6 h post injection (HPI) with PolyI:C when the expression of $PoPLC-{\beta}1$ transcript was similar to LPS and ConA. We also tested the expression of $PoPLC-{\beta}1$ in response to temperature and salinity stress. The expression of $PoPLC-{\beta}1$ also was affected by temperature and salinity stress. Our results provide clear evidence that the olive flounder $PLC-{\beta}1$ signal pathways may play a critical role in immune function at the cellular level and in inflammation reactions. In addition, $PLC-{\beta}1$ appears to act as an oxidative-stress suppressor to prevent cell damage in fish.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.237-244
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• 2008

The object of this trial was to investigate the effect of dietary ${\beta}$-1,3/1,6-glucan supplementation on the performance and immunological response of broiler chickens. Two hundred and forty 1-day old male broilers ($39{\pm}1g$) were separated into six treatments which were given six different feeds containing 0 (control), 25, 50, 75, 100 and 125 mg/kg dietary ${\beta}$-1,3/1,6-glucan supplementation. On days 21 and 42, body weight gain, feed consumption and feed conversation rate were recorded as measures of growth performance. The levels of key cytokines in the immuno-regulating pathway: interleukin-1 (IL-1), interleukin-2 (IL-2), interferon $\gamma$(IFN-$\gamma$, tumor necrosis factor $\alpha$(TNF-$\alpha$, and the concentrations of signal molecules: peripheral blood plasma globulin, serum Immunoglobulin G (IgG) and intestinal secretary Immunoglobulin A (sIgA), were measured as indices of the immune response to determine suitable levels of dietary ${\beta}$-1,3/1,6-glucan supplementation. The results indicated that performance was elevated quadratically with dietary ${\beta}$-1,3/1,6-glucan supplementation. Maximal growth performance and an enhanced immunological response were obtained at a supplemented level of 50 mg/kg.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.147-157
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• 2020

Abalone, a marine organism inhabiting the west coast of Korea, has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, and is a resource with potential to be used in various industries such as antibiotic development and cosmetic raw materials. In this study, we chose abalone among various marine lives on the west coast. Antibacterial peptide (AMP) was separated from abalone and its derivative Ab4-7 was identified and its physiological activity was studied. The treatment of Ab4-7 in inflammatory RAW 264.7 to check the anti-inflammatory efficacy nhibited inflammatory cytokines, TLR4, TNF-α, IL-1β, COX-2, and iNOS and increased mRNA manifestation of HO-1, genes related to antioxidants. Based on the strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of Ab4-7, the effects of Ab4-7 in the inflammatory RAW 264.7 cells were identified through RT-PCR, which regulates the gene Matrix Metalloproteinase (MMPs) that induces a variety of inflammatory skin diseases by engaging in the decomposition of the extrocellular matrix metalloproteinase (ECM). Taken together, it is concluded that Ab4-7 has a powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effect and can be used as a functional material for various inflammatory skin disease treatments by controlling the genes associated with matrix metalloproteinase (MMPs).

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.437-442
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• 2020

Activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome is critical for host defense as well as the progression of inflammatory diseases through the production of the proinflammatory cytokine IL-1β, which is cleaved by active caspase-1. It has been reported that overactivation of the NLRP3 inflammasome contributes to the development and pathology of acne vulgaris. Therefore, inhibiting activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome may provide a new therapeutic strategy for acne vulgaris. In this study, we investigated whether auranofin, an anti-rheumatoid arthritis agent, inhibited NLRP3 inflammasome activation, thereby effectively treating acne vulgaris. Auranofin suppressed NLRP3 inflammasome activation induced by Propionibacterium acnes, reducing the production of IL-1β in primary mouse macrophages and human sebocytes. In a P. acnes-induced acne mouse model, injection of P. acnes into the ears of mice induced acne symptoms such as redness, swelling, and neutrophil infiltration. Topical application of auranofin (0.5 or 1%) to mouse ears significantly reduced the inflammatory symptoms of acne vulgaris induced by P. acnes injection. Topical application of auranofin led to the downregulation of the NLRP3 inflammasome activated by P. acnes in mouse ear skin. These results show that auranofin inhibits the NLRP3 inflammasome, the activation of which is associated with acne symptoms. The results further suggest that topical application of auranofin could be a new therapeutic strategy for treating acne vulgaris by targeting the NLRP3 inflammasome.