• Journal of Life Science
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.190-195
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• 2001

The cuclodextrin glucanotransferase (CGTase) gene of Bacillus macerans was subcloned at the downstream of yeast ADH1 promoter, and then the resulting plasmid pVT-CGTM(9.15 kb) was introduced into the yeast host strain, Saccharomyces cerevisias 2805. The transformed yeast, S. cerevisiae 2805/pVT-CGTM, showed the starch-hydrolyzing activity on the starch-azure plate. The optimal conditions for the CGTase expression were found to be 2% dextrose, initial pH5.5, 3$0^{\circ}C$, and 48hr cultivation. Under this condition, the extracellular CGTase activity reached at 0.53 U/mL, whereas the intracellular activity was about 0.03U/mL. This result indicates that the signal peptide of Bacillus CGTase functioned well in S. cerevisiae.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.60-66
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• 1996

To investigate a possible application of three strains of lactic acid bacteria(strain No. 49. No. 61. No. 75) from kimchi in milk fermentation industry, the optimal condition for production of intracellular ${\beta}-galactosidase$ from Lactobacillus(L.) plantarum and its enzymatic properties were examined. The preferable carbon source of the medium for strain No. 49 in production of ${\beta}-galactosidase$ was MRS broth with 1.0% lactose instead of dextrose of pH 65. for strain No. 75 with 1.0% galactose and for strain No. 61 with 3.0% lactose at pH 7.5, respectively. The maximum enzyme production from strain No. 49, No. 75 was observed after 48 hours culture at $30^{\circ}C$ in a medium containing the appropriate carbon source, from strain No. 61 after 48 hours culture at room temperature. The optimum temperature for ${\beta}-galactosidase$ activity from L. plantarum was $60^{\circ}C$ for strain No. 49, $37^{\circ}C$ for strain No. 61 and $50^{\circ}C$ for strain No. 75, respectively. The heat stability of enzyme activities for all three strains remained 90% at $45^{\circ}C$. The optimal pH was pH 6.5 and enzyme activities were most stable at pH for all three bacteria.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.40 no.8
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• pp.567-576
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• 2017

The $Na^+/H^+$ exchanger is responsible for maintaining the acidic tumor microenvironment through its promotion of the reabsorption of extracellular $Na^+$ and the extrusion of intracellular $H^+$. The resultant increase in the extracellular acidity contributes to the chemoresistance of malignant tumors. In this study, the chemosensitizing effects of cariporide, a potent $Na^+/H^+-exchange$ inhibitor, were evaluated in human malignant mesothelioma H-2452 cells preadapted with lactic acid. A higher basal level of phosphorylated (p)-AKT protein was found in the acid-tolerable H-2452AcT cells compared with their parental acid-sensitive H-2452 cells. When introduced in H-2452AcT cells with a concentration that shows only a slight toxicity in H-2452 cells, cariporide exhibited growth-suppressive and apoptosis-promoting activities, as demonstrated by an increase in the cells with pyknotic and fragmented nuclei, annexin V-PE(+) staining, a $sub-G_0/G_1$ peak, and a $G_2/M$ phase-transition delay in the cell cycle. Preceding these changes, a cariporide-induced p-AKT down-regulation, a p53 up-regulation, an ROS accumulation, and the depolarization of the mitochondrial-membrane potential were observed. A pretreatment with the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor LY294002 markedly augmented the DNA damage caused by the cariporide, as indicated by a much greater extent of comet tails and a tail moment with increased levels of the p-histone H2A.X, $p-ATM^{Ser1981}$, $p-ATR^{Ser428}$, $p-CHK1^{Ser345}$, and $p-CHK2^{Thr68}$, as well as a series of pro-apoptotic events. The data suggest that an inhibition of the PI3K/AKT signaling is necessary to enhance the cytotoxicity toward the acidtolerable H-2452AcT cells, and it underlines the significance of proton-pump targeting as a potential therapeutic strategy to overcome the acidic-microenvironment-associated chemotherapeutic resistance.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.1310-1317
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• 2004

The extracellular production of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) by recombinant E. coli BL21 harboring a fusion gene hemA was investigated in a fermenter. For this purpose, the effects of various physiological factors, such as isopropylthio­$\beta$-D-galactopyranoside (IPTG) concentrations and the time of induction, on enzyme activity were studied. Optimum concentrations of glycine and succinic acid were found to be 30 mM and 90 mM, respectively. When the cells were permitted to grow for 2 h prior to the addition of 0.1 mM IPTG, the activity of ALA synthase was higher than when IPTG was initially added. A 36-fold increase in the activity was observed with only 0.1 mM IPTG added. The pH of the medium also influenced the ALA synthase activity with the maximal activity occurring at pH 6.5. In recombinant E. coli extracts, the repeated addition of glycine and D-glucose increased the production of ALA and the inhibited intracellular ALA dehydratase activity, with up to 32 mM ALA being produced in the cultivation.

• BMB Reports
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• v.47 no.7
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• pp.393-398
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• 2014

The role of Bax inhibitor-1 (BI-1) in the protective mechanism against apoptotic stimuli has been studied; however, as little is known about its role in death receptor-mediated cell death, this study was designed to investigate the effect of BI-1 on Fas-induced cell death, and the underlying mechanisms. HT1080 adenocarcinoma cells were cultured in high concentration of glucose media and transfected with vector alone (Neo cells) or BI-1-vector (BI-1 cells), and treated with Fas. In cell viability, apoptosis, and caspase-3 analyses, the BI-1 cells showed enhanced sensitivity to Fas. Fas significantly decreased cytosolic pH in BI-1 cells, compared with Neo cells, and this decrease correlated with BI-1 oligomerization, mitochondrial $Ca^{2+}$ accumulation, and significant inhibition of sodium-hydrogen exchanger (NHE) activity. Compared with Neo cells, a single treatment of BI-1 cells with the NHE inhibitor EIPA or siRNA against NHE significantly increased cell death, which suggests that the viability of BI-1 cells is affected by the maintenance of intracellular pH homeostasis through NHE.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.484-489
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• 1990

An intracellular inulase ( fJ-fructofuranoside fructohydrolase, EC 3.2.1.26) from Bacillus subtilis has been partially purified and its mode of action and general properties were studied. The enzyme had an apparent molecular weight of 49,000 as estimated by gel filtration and its pI point was 5.2. Substrate concentration studies showed an apparent Km of 10 mM for sucrose and of 18 mM for raffinose. The enzyme was an acid-labile protein with a pH optimum of 6.6. The optimum temperature was 50$^{\circ}$C. The enzyme acts on straight chain oligo- and poly-fructosides of the inulin series via a exo-wise cleavage mechanism, as well as on sucrose.

• Rapid Communication in Photoscience
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.60-63
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• 2013

Rhodopsins belong to a family of membrane-embedded photoactive retinylidene proteins. One opsin gene was isolated from ${\beta}$-proteobacterium (IMCC9480) which had been collected at the North Pole. It is very similar to Xanthorhodopin (XR) of HTCC2181. In this study, we carried out basic characterization of the rhodopsin. It has ${\lambda}max$ of 536, 554, and 546 nm at pH 4.0, 7.0, and 10.0, respectively. Since the pKa of its proton acceptor is around 6.27, we measured its proton pumping activity and photocycling rate at pH 8.0. It has a typical proton acceptor (D99) and donor (E110) which mediate proton translocation from intracellular to extracellular region when deduced from the sequence alignments. On the basis of in vitro proton pumping activity, it was proposed to have fast photocycling rate with M and O intermediates, indicating that it is a typical ion-pumping rhodopsin. Since the XR has not yet been expressed in any other heterologous expression system, we tried to get much more information about the XR through the XR-homologue rhodopsin.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.968-971
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• 2011

Leuconostoc genus, which comprise heterofermentative lactic acid bacteria, reduces fructose to mannitol by recycling intracellular NADH. To evaluate the mannitol productivities of different Leuconostoc species, 5 stock cultures and 4 newly isolated strains were cultivated in MRS and simplified media containing glucose and fructose (1:2 ratio). Among them, L. citreum KACC 91348P, which was isolated from kimchi, showed superior result in cell growth rate, mannitol production rate, and yield in both media. The optimal condition for mannitol production of this strain was pH 6.5 and $30^{\circ}C$. When L. citreum KACC was cultured in simplified medium in a 2 l batch fermenter under optimal conditions, the maximum volumetric productivity was 14.83 $g{\cdot}l^{-1}h^{-1}$ and overall yield was 86.6%. This strain is a novel and efficient mannitol producer originated from foods to be used for fermentation of fructose-containing foods.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.312-317
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• 2003

The addition of glycine up to 0.5％ (w/v) to Luria broth (LB) media on the secretion of levansucrase in a recombinant strain Escherichia coli JM109/pUPLK1 was observed to enhance the release of periplasmic proteins from the cell to the broth, without significantly affecting the cell growth rate and protein productivity. However, the glycine concentration at 1 ％ (w/v), the cell density attainable at the stationary phase fell to about 50％ and the extracellular activity of levansucrase corresponded to about 80％ of the total (extracellular plus intracellular) activity and increased by 2.6-fold, comparing to the cells grown in the absence of glycine. The increased pH at stationary phase accelerated the degradation of levansucrase. Maximal extracellular activity was attained when 1 ％ glycine was supplemented at the onset of strain growth.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.9
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• pp.1245-1252
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• 2017

Objective: Phellodendron amurense (P. amurense) and Humulus japonicus (H. japonicus) are closely involved in anti-oxidative response and increasing antioxidant enzymes activities. However, the effects of their extracts on development of preimplantation bovine embryos have not been investigated. Therefore, we investigated the effects of P. amurense and H. japonicus extracts on developmental competence and quality of preimplantation bovine embryos. Methods: After in vitro fertilization, bovine embryos were cultured for 7 days in Charles Rosenkrans amino acid medium supplemented with P. amurense ($0.01{\mu}g/mL$) and H. japonicus ($0.01{\mu}g/mL$). The effect of this supplementation during in vitro culture on development competence and antioxidant was investigated. Results: We observed that the blastocysts rate was significantly increased (p<0.05) in P. amurense ($28.9%{\pm}2.9%$), H. japonicus ($30.9%{\pm}1.5%$), and a mixture of P. amurense and H. japonicus ($34.8%{\pm}2.1%$) treated groups compared with the control group ($25.4%{\pm}1.6%$). We next confirmed that the intracellular levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were significantly decreased (p<0.01) in P. amurense and/or H. japonicus extract treated groups when compared with the control group. Our results also showed that expression of cleaved caspase-3 and apoptotic cells of blastocysts were significantly decreased (p<0.05) in bovine blastocysts derived from both P. amurense and H. japonicus extract treated embryos. Conclusion: These results suggest that proper treatment with P. amurense and H. japonicus extracts in the development of preimplantation bovine embryos improves the quality of blastocysts, which may be related to the reduction of ROS level and apoptosis.