• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.72-81
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• 2008

The effect of genistein on melanin synthesis was studied using in vitro and in vivo model. Genistein inhibited melanin synthesis in cultured melan-a cells dose dependently. Tyrosinase activity was decreased by genistein treatment in melan-a cells, but genistein did not inhibit tyrosinase directly. Genistein did not affect the expression of tyrosinase in melan-a cells. Genistein inhibited the activity of ${\alpha}$-glucosidase in virtro and the glycosylation of tyrosinase in melan-a cells. The resulting unsaturated glycosylation of tyrosinase makes it unstable and disturb correct transportation. To further clarify the effect of genistein on the melanogenesis, we established UVB-induced hyperpigmentation on the shaved backs of brown guinea pigs. The animals were exposed to UVB radiation once a week for three consecutive weeks. Genistein (1 and 2%) or vehicle alone as a control were then topically applied to the hyperpigmented areas daily. Genistein showed significant lightening effect on the UVB-induced hyperpigmentation in five weeks. Depigmenting effect was prominent in 2% genistein treatment with Fontana-Masson staining. In conclusion, genistein may be a useful agent for skin whitening.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.526-532
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• 2013

In this study, we investigated the effect of 88 marine algae extracts on melanin synthesis to develop new whitening agents. Among varieties of marine algae tested, the ethyl acetate extracts from Endarachne binghamiae (EB), Scytosiphon lomentaria, Sargassum yezoense, Ecklonia cava and Sargassum fusiforme inhibited melanin synthesis in melan-a cells. EB treatment showed the strongest inhibitory activity in melanin synthesis, compared with that of other extracts. EB-mediated inhibition of melanin synthesis appeared to be associated with inhibition of ${\alpha}$-glucosidase-dependent glycosylation of tyrosinase in melan-a cells. In addition, EB treatment did not affect mushroom tyrosinase or cell-extracted tyrosinase activity in vitro. Taken together, our findings suggest that anti-browning effect of EB on skin is mediated through regulation of ${\alpha}$-glucosidase activity and subsequent inhibition of tyrosinase activity and melanin synthesis, and further development of EB as a potential agent for skin whitening.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.135-145
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• 2008

The study was aimed at evaluating the antioxidant and free radical scavenging activities of ethanolic extract and its fractions of Cleome rutidosperma. The antioxidant activity, reducing power, total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, superoxide anion scavenging activity, nitric oxide anion scavenging activity, in vitro antilipid peroxidation activity and in vitro non-enzymatic hemoglobin glycosylation were studied. The results obtained in the study indicate that Cleome rutidosperma is a potential source of natural antioxidant. All the parameters were found to be concentration dependent and increased with increasing amounts of sample. Flavonoids, phenolic compound like tannins, terpenoids may be responsible for the antioxidant activity of the plant. Variation of solubility parameters in various models may be attributed to non-linearity of activity of ethanol extract fractions models. Further investigation on the isolation and identification of antioxidant component(s) in the plant may lead to chemical entities with potential for clinical use.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.12-19
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• 2022

In the present study, we investigated the effects of recombinant eel gonadotropins (rec-GTHs) on maturation induction in immature ovarian culture in vitro and sex steroid hormones in vivo in the Japanese eel Anguilla japonica. To study the in vitro effects of rec-GTHs on estradiol-17β (E2) production in immature ovarian tissues, ovarian tissues were incubated with different doses of rec-follicle-stimulating hormone (rec-FSH) or rec-luteinizing hormone (rec-LH). The results revealed that the E2 levels in the rec-FSH (0.1, 0.5, or 1 ㎍/mL)- and rec-LH (0.1 or 0.5 ㎍/mL)-treated groups were significantly higher than those in the female eels from the control group. Furthermore, to investigate the in vivo effects of rec-GTHs on the gonadosomatic index (GSI) and plasma sex steroid hormone levels, the eels were injected intraperitoneally with eel's ringer (control), salmon pituitary extract (SPE; for female eels), human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG; for male eels), rec-FSH, rec-LH, and rec-FSH + rec-LH once a week. The results revealed that except for the SPE and the hCG groups, none of the groups exhibited a significant difference in GSI values. However, in vivo plasma E2 levels increased at the end of 4 weeks after rec-FSH treatment in female eels. Based on these results, it is suggested that rec-GTHs may have a positive effect on sexual maturation in female eels; however, further studies on complementary rec-protein production systems and additional glycosylation of rec-hormones are needed to elucidate hormone bioactivity in vivo and in vitro.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.368-375
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• 2008

Approximately 120 UDP-glycosyltransferases (UGTs), which are classified into 14 distinct groups (A to N), have been annotated in the Arabidopsis genome. UGTs catalyze the transfer of sugars to various acceptor molecules including flavonoids. Previously, UGT71C1 was shown to glycosylate the 3-OH of hydroxycinnamates and flavonoids in vitro. Such secondary metabolites are known to play important roles in plant growth and development. To help define the role of UGT71C1 in planta, we investigated its expression patterns, and isolated and characterized a loss-of-function mutation in the UGT71C1 gene (named ugt71c1-1). Our analyses by quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), microarray data mining, and histochemical detection of GUS activity driven by the UGT71C1 promoter region, revealed the tissue-specific expression patterns of UGT71C1 with highest expression in roots. Interestingly, upon treatment with methyl viologen (MV, paraquat), ugt71c1-1 plants displayed enhanced resistance to oxidative stress, and ROS scavenging activity was higher than normal. Metabolite profiling revealed that the levels of two major glycosides of quercetin and kaempferol were reduced in ugt71c1-1 plants. In addition, when exposed to MV-induced oxidative stress, eight representative ROS response genes were expressed at lower levels in ugt71c1-1 plants, indicating that ugt71c1-1 probably has higher non-enzymatic antioxidant activity. Taken together, our results indicate that ugt71c1-1 has increased resistance to oxidative stress, suggesting that UGT71C1 plays a role in some glycosylation pathways affecting secondary metabolites such as flavonoids in response to oxidative stress.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.381-388
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• 2001

The present study was designed to obtain porcine growth hormone binding protein (pGHBP) improved biological activation as derived mutation in binding site with growth horlnone (GH). A 756 bp of fragment encoding the extracellular domain of pGHBP gene was cloned from the total RNA of porcine fat tissue by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and created mutation in positions 26 and 122 using site-directed mutagenesis method. Position 26 is one and it is near to get on five potential N-linked glycosylation sites located in the extracellular domain of porcine growth hormone receptor known to have a direct influence on combination with GH. Position 122 is known as one of conformational epitope in bovine. It was over-expressed in E. coli using pET-32(c) expression vector and precisely purified by S-protein agarose and enterokinase. In our results, we was obtained pmGHBP of 30 kDa. It suggests to study the effects of the pmGHBP on cell proliferation in vitro and growth rate in vivo after administration.

• BMB Reports
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.483-492
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• 2000

The Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) strain F glycoprotein H (gH) gene in the pHLB-4 plasmid was recombinated into a baculovirus expression vector (lacZ-HcNPV) to construct a recombinant virus GH-HcNPV expressing gH. The sequences of gH and its expression were analyzed. The gH gene was located in the 6.41 kb BglII fragment. The open reading frame (ORF) of the gH gene was 2,517 bp and codes 838 amino acid residues. Insect cells infected with this recombinant virus synthesized a high level of the matured and gX-gH fusion protein with approximately 112 kDa. The fusion gH protein was localized on the membrane of the insect cells as seen by using immunofluorescence assay and accumulated in the cultured media by the SDS-PAGE and immunoprecipitation assays. The amino acid sequence presents additional characteristics compatible with the structure of a viral glycoprotein: signal peptide, putative glycosylation sites and a long C-terminal transmembrane sequence. Antibodies raised in mice to this recombinant protein recognized viral gH and neutralized the infectivity of HSV-1 in vitro. These results demonstrate that it is possible to produce a mature protein by gene transfer in eukaryotic cells, and indicate the utility of the HcNPV-insect cell system for producing and characterizing eukaryotic proteins. Furthermore, the neutralizing antibodies would appear to protect mice against HSV; accordingly, this particular recombinant protein may be useful in the development of a subunit vaccine.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.306-311
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• 2002

O-linked N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) is an abundant posttranslationally modified compound in eukaryotic cells. Human O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) was produced as a maltose binding protein (MBP) fusion protein, which showed significant catalytic activity to modify recombinant Sp1, transcription factor. To facilitate the production of O-GlcNAc modified proteins, instead of using the tedious in vitro glycosylation reaction or expression in eukaryotic cells, a MBP-fusion OGT expression vector (pACYC184-MBPOGT) was constructed using pACYC184 plasmid, which could coexist with general prokaryotic expression vectors containing ColE1 origin. By cotransforming pACYC184-MBPOGT and pGEX-2T vectors into Escherichia coli BL21, intracellular O- GlcNAcylated proteins could be obtained by a simple purification procedure. It is expected that this may be a useful tool for production of O-GlcNAc modified proteins.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.578-582
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• 2007

The primary objective of this study was to assess the in vitro melanogenesis inhibitory effects of methanolic extracts of the edible and medicinal lichens, Umbilicaria (Gyrophora) esculenta and Usnea longissima. The quantities of the total phenolic compounds of methanolic extract of the two lichen extracts were determined to be 1.46% and 2.62%, respectively. In order to evaluate the antioxidative effects of the extracts, we also measured electron donating abilities (EDA) and lipid peroxidation rates. The EDA values measured by the reduction of 1.1'-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) were 72.8% and 80.7% for the extracts, with $SC_{50}$ (median scavenging concentration) values of $1.29{\pm}0.05\;mg/ml$ and $1.03{\pm}0.06\;mg/ml$, respectively. The rates of inhibition of lipid peroxidation using linoleic acid were 92.1% and 97.3% for the extracts, with $IC_{50}$ (median inhibitory concentration) values of $0.57{\pm}0.05\;mg/ml$ and $0.53{\pm}0.06\;mg/ml$, respectively. The inhibitory rates of the extracts against tyrosinase were 67.4% and 84.8%, respectively. The extracts were shown to reduce melanin formation in human melanoma cells. Melanin contents in the samples treated with 0.01% and 0.1% U. esculenta were 47.1% and 31.2%, respectively, and those treated with 0.01% and 0.1% Usnea longissima were 51.1% and 34.9%, respectively, whereas a value of 54.0% was registered when ascorbic acid was utilized as a positive control. In addition to direct tyrosinase inhibition, it was determined that the lichen extracts affected the activity of tyrosinase via the inhibition of tyrosinase glycosylation. As a result, the methanolic extracts of U. esculenta and Usnea longissima evidenced melanogenesis inhibitory effects, which occurred via multiple routes.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.289-297
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• 2010

Erythropoietin (EPO) is a glycoprotein hormone secreted from primarily cells of the peritubular capillary endothelium of the kidney, and is responsible for the regulation of red blood cell production. We constructed and expressed dimeric cDNAs in Chinease hamster ovary (CHO) cells encoding a fusion protein consisting of 2 complete human EPO domains linked by a 2-amino acid linker (Ile-Asp). We described the activity of dimeric hyperglycosylated EPO (dHGEPO) mutants containing additional oligosaccharide chains and characterized the function of glycosylation. No dimeric proteins with mutation at the $105^{th}$ amino acid were found in the cell medium. Growth and differentiation of the human EPO-dependent leukemiae cell line (F36E) were used to measure cytokine dependency and in vitro bioactivity of dHGEPO proteins. MIT assay at 24 h increased due to the survival of F36E cells. The dHGEPO protein migrated as a broad band with an average molecular mass of 75 kDa. The mutant, dHGEPO, was slightly higher than the wild-type (WT) dimeri-EPO band. Enzymatic N-deglycosylation resulted in the formation of a narrow band with a molecular mass twice of that of of monomeric EPO digested with an N-glycosylation enzyme. Hematocrit values were remarkably increased in all treatment groups. Pharmacokinetic analysis was also affected when 2.5 IU of dHGEPO were intravenously injected into the tails of the mice. The biological activity and half-life of dHGEPO mutants were enhanced as compared to the corresponding items associated the WT dimeric EPO. These results suggest that recombinant dHGEPO may be attractive biological and therapeutic targets.