• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.1026-1031
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• 2004

Acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity and protective effect against cytotoxicity of PC 12 cell induced by beta-amyloid protein and glutamate were examined in perilla seed methanol extract and its solvent fractions. Methanol extract of perilla seed showed dose-dependent acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity, with n-butanol fraction showing strongest activity. Perilla seed methanol extract also decreased glutamate- and ${\beta}-amyloid$ protein $(A{\beta})-induced$ cytotoxicities of PC 12 cells dose-dependently. Formation of TBARS induced by $FeSO_{4^-}H_2O_2$ in rat brain was significantly reduced by perilla seed methanol extract, with strongest protective activity formation of TBARS shown in n-butanol fraction. Results suggest perilla seed methanol extract may attenuate actylcholinesterase activity and cytotoxicity induced by glutamate and ${\beta}-amyloid$ protein through suppression of oxidative stress.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.196-201
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• 2000

Effects of ginsenosides on NaCN-induced neuronal cell death were studied in cultured rat cerebellar granule cells. NaCN produced a concentration-dependent (1-10 mM) reduction of cell viability (measured by frypan blue exclusion test), that was blocked by N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist (MK-801) and L-type Ca$\^$2+/ channel blocker (verapamil). Pretreatment with ginsenosides (Rb$_1$, Rc, Re, Rf and Rg$_1$) significantly decreased the neuronal cell death in a concentration range of 0.5∼5$\mu\textrm{g}$/ml. Ginsenosides Rb$_1$ and Rc (5 $\mu\textrm{g}$/ml) inhibited glutamate release into medium induced by NaCN (5 mM). NaCN (1 mM)-induced increase of [Ca$\^$2+/], was significantly inhibited by the pretreatment of Rb$_1$ and Rc (5 $\mu\textrm{g}$/ml). Other ginsenosides caused relatively little inhibition on the elevation of glutamate release and of (Ca$\^$2+/). These results suggest that the NaCN-induced neurotoxicity was related to a series of cell responses consisting of glutamate release and [Ca$\^$2+/]i elevation via glutamate (NMDA and kainate) receptors and resultant cell death, and that ginsenosides, especially Rb$_1$ and Rc, prevented the neuronal cell death by the blockade of the NaCN-induced Ca$\^$2+/influx.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.142-146
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• 2010

Relatively large amounts of GABA can be produced by the fermentation of rice bran. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the effects of GABA on the secretion of melatonin and serotonin for the development of a sleep inductive compound. The secretion levels of melatonin and serotonin from mice were found to be $3.425{\pm}0.182\;pg/mL$ and $5.37{\pm}0.963\;ng/mL$, respectively, in response to feeding 120 mg/mL of GABA while they were $2.607{\pm}0.41\;pg/mL$ in the control. The secretion of both melatonin and serotonin was increased up to the 13.51% and 34.99%, respectively, when compared to the negative control. However, the feeding of milk alone did not have a great effect on the melatonin and serotonin secretions. Conversely, feeding of milk with GABA enhanced the secretion of serotonin. The amounts of both melatonin and serotonin secreted increased with respect to the increase in GABA concentrations during feeding. Interestingly, the induction level of melatonin was relatively higher than that of serotonin in response to feeding 120 mg/mL of GABA. This is the first study to report that GABA has an ability to induce sleep related hormones in mice; therefore, it has the potential for use as a natural sleep aid.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.273-289
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• 1994

Reversible brain ischemia was produced by occluding both common carotid arteries for 5 min, and the effects of aminoguanidine (AG), $DL-{\alpha}-difluoromethylornithine$ (DFMO), MK-801, and nimodipine (NM) on the ischemia induced changes of the polyamine, glutamate and acetylcholine levels in the hippocampus CA1 subfield and the specific $[^3H]\;MK-801$ binding to the hippocampus synaptosomal membranes were studied with a histological reference of the cresyl violet stained hippocampus. The basal putrescine level $(PT:\;74.4{\pm}8.8\;nM)$ showed a rapid increase (up to 1.7 fold) for 5 min of ischemia, remained significantly increased for 6 h, and then resumed the further increase to amount gradually up to about 3 fold 96 h after recirculation. However, the level of spermidine was little changed, and the spermine level showed a transient increase during ischemia followed by a sustained decrease to about 40% of the preischemic level after recirculation. The increase of PT level induced by brain ischemia was enhanced with AG or MK-801, but it was reduced by DFMO or NM. The basal glutamate level $(GT:\;0.90{\pm}0.l4\;{\mu}M)$ rapidly increased to a peak level of $8.19{\pm}1.14\;{\mu}M$ within 5 min after onset of the ischemia and then decreased to the preischemic level in about 25 min after recirculation. And NM reduced the ischemia induced increase of GT level by about 25%, but AG, DFMO and MK-801 did not affect the GT increase. The basal acetylcholine level $(ACh:\;118.0{\pm}10.5\;{\mu}M)$ did little change during/after brain ischemia and was little affected by AG or NM. But DFMO and MK-801, respectively, produced the moderate decrease of ACh level. The specific $[^3H]\;MK-801$ binding to the hippocampus synaptosomal membrane was little affected by brain ischemia for 5 min. The control value (78.9 fmole/mg protein) was moderately decreased by AG and MK-801, respectively but was little changed by DFMO or NM. The microscopic findings of the brains extirpated on day 7 after ischemia showed severe neuronal damage of the hippocampus, particularly CA1 subfield. NM and AG moderately attenuated the delayed neuronal damage, and DFMO, on the contrary, aggravated the ischemia induced damage. However, MK-801 did not protect the hippocampus from ischemic damage. These results suggest that unlike to the mode of anti-ischemic action of NM, AG might protect the hippocampus from ischemic injury as being negatively regulatory on the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor function in the hippocampus.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.232-237
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• 1994

Microorganism producing glutaryl 7-aminodeacetoxycephalosporanic acid (GL-7-ADCA) acylase was screened from soil. The microorganism was identified as Alcaligenes sp. J-421 by its morphology and biochemical properties. Cultural conditions of Alcaligenes sp. J-421 were investigated for the production of GL-7-ADCA acylase. Optimum medium composition was 1% glucose, 1% beef extract, 0.5% yeast extract, 0.2% monosodium L-glutamate, 0.1% glutaric acid, 0.2% NaCl, 0.5% $K_2$ $HPO_4$, and 0.05% $CuSO _4{\cdot}5H_2O$. Optimum cultivation conditions for the production of the enzyme in 5 l jar fermentor were $37^{\circ}C$, tip speed 300 rpm, aeration 1 vvm. Optimum reaction pH of the enzyme was 8.0 and the enzyme was stable at pH7.0-11.0.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.450-459
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• 2017

This study evaluated the effects of culture conditions, including carbon and nitrogen sources, L-monosodium glutamate (MSG), and initial pH, on gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) production by Lactobacillus brevis HYE1 isolated from kimchi, a Korean traditional fermented food. L. brevis HYE1 was screened by the production analysis of GABA and genetic analysis of the glutamate decarboxylase gene, resulting in 14.64 mM GABA after 48 h of cultivation in MRS medium containing 1% (w/v) MSG. In order to increase GABA production by L. brevis HYE1, the effects of carbon and nitrogen sources on GABA production were preliminarily investigated via one-factor-at-a-time optimization strategy. As the results, 2% maltose and 3% tryptone were determined to produce 17.93 mM GABA in modified MRS medium with 1% (w/v) MSG. In addition, the optimal MSG concentration and initial pH were determined to be 1% and 5.0, respectively, resulting in production of 18.97 mM GABA. Thereafter, response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to determine the optimal conditions of the above four factors. The results indicate that pH was the most significant factor for GABA production. The optimal culture conditions for maximum GABA production were also determined to be 2.14% (w/v) maltose, 4.01% (w/v) tryptone, 2.38% (w/v) MSG, and an initial pH of 4.74. In these conditions, GABA production by L. brevis HYE1 was predicted to be 21.44 mM using the RSM model. The experiment was performed under these optimized conditions, resulting in GABA production of 18.76 mM. These results show that the predicted and experimental values of GABA production are in good agreement.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.802-808
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• 1999

An rat liver enzyme test was carried out in order to investigate preventing effect of selested amino acids and some food extracts on ethanol induced liver toxicity in vitro. Solutions of aspartic acid, arginine, glutamic acid were prepared and treated on ethanol treated rat liver preparation. Protective effect of amino acids on lipid peroxidation was determined. Same experiments were conducted using aqueous extracts of Dried soybean sprout, Dried Alaskan pollack and Ganoderma lucidum. The TBA value indicating the lipid peroxidation decreased significantly (p<0.05) by addition of aspartate, glutamate and arginine, repectively at concentrations of $6.25{\sim}50\;{\mu}g/mL$. Similar results were observed by adding the aqueous extracts of Soybean sprout, dried Alaskan pollack and Ganoderma lucidum. The aqueous extracts added after ethanol treatment presemted more effect than added before the treatment.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.478-483
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• 1997

${\gamma}-Glutamylcysteine$ synthetase was purified from E. coli K-12 strain and its properties related to the in vitro synthesis of glutathione by enzymatic method were investigated. The activity of purified ${\gamma}-glutamylcysteine$ synthetase was increased with increasing concentration of L-glutamate up to 60 mM, while it was decreased by about 50% and 40% under 60 mM of L-cysteine and 45 mM of glycine, respectively. The enzyme activity was reduced not only by ADP, one of the reaction products, but also by the reduced form of glutathione. Therefore, because the reduced glutathione as well as glycine which is the substrate for glutathione synthetase inhibit the activity of ${\gamma}-glutamylcysteine$ synthetase, it is recommended to design a bioreactor system with two separate reactions for glutathione synthesis : one with ${\gamma}-glutamylcysteine$ synthetase reaction and the other glutathione synthetase reaction. In addition since ADP, resulted from these reactions, reduces the activity of ${\gamma}-glutamylcysteine$ synthetase, it is necessary to introduce an ATP regeneration system for glutathione synthesis.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.26-33
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• 2016

Dominant lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains were isolated from traditional fermented foods to obtain rare ${\gamma}$-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-producing LAB. Out of 147 isolates, 23 strains that could produce GABA with 1% (w/v) L-monosodium glutamate (MSG) were first isolated. After further screening of these rare GABA-producing LAB by analysis of the glutamate decarboxylase and 16S rRNA gene sequences, Enterococcus faecium JK29 was isolated, and 1.56 mM of GABA was produced after 48 h cultivation in basic de Man, Rogosa, and Sharpe (MRS) medium. To enhance GABA production by E. faecium JK29, the culture conditions were optimized. When E. faecium JK29 was cultivated in optimized MRS medium containing 0.5% (w/v) sucrose and 2% (w/v) yeast extract with 0.5% (w/v) MSG, GABA production reached 14.86 mM after 48 h cultivation at initial conditions of pH 7.5 and $30^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.1049-1052
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• 2011

In this study, we demonstrated the asymmetric synthesis of L-tert-leucine from trimethylpyruvate using branched-chain aminotransferase (BCAT) from Escherichia coli in the presence of L-glutamate as an amino donor. Since BCAT was severely inhibited by 2-ketoglutarate, in order to overcome this here, we developed a BCAT/aspartate aminotransferase (AspAT) and BCAT/AspAT/pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC) coupling reaction. In the BCAT/AspAT/PDC coupling reaction, 89.2 mM L-tert-leucine (ee>99%) was asymmetrically synthesized from 100 mM trimethylpyruvate.