• Journal of Life Science
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.430-438
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• 1999

This study was designed to investigate the effects of sea tangle (Laminaria japonica) extract and fucoidan components on chronic degenerative diseases. Sprague-Dawley(SD) male rats (210$\pm$5g) were fed experimental diets: Dasi-Ex group: dasima extract powder of 4.0% added to control diet; Fuco-I, II and III groups: fucoidan powder of 1, 2 and 3% added to Dasi-Ex group for 45 days. Triglyceride (TG) levels in serum were significantly lower (10~15%) in Fuco-I, II and III groups compared with control group. Total cholesterol levels were significantly decreased (7~10% and 15~ 35%) in brain mitochondria and microsomes of Fuco-II and III group compared with control group. LDL-cholesterol levels were remarkably decreased (20~30%) in Dasi-Ex and Fuco-I, II, III groups, but HDL-cholesterol levels were significantly increased (10~12%) in Fuco-II and III groups only compared with control group. The ratios of HDL/total cholesterol resulted in a marked increase (3 5~55%) in Dasi-Ex and Fuco-I, II, III groups, but atherogenic indices were remakably decreased (40~50%) in Dasi-Ex and Fuco-I, II, III groups compared with control group. Membrane fluidities were remarkably increased (45~70% and 38~42%, respectively) in brain mitochondria and microsomes of Fuco-II and III groups compared with control group. Administrations of fucoidan added to dasima effectively decreased TG, total and LDL-cholesterol, and atherogenic index, while also effectively increased HDL-cholesterol, HDL/total cholesterol ratio, and membrane fluidity, suggesting chronic degenerative diseases were very effectively prevented by the administration of fucoidan component.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.267-277
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• 1996

Effect of DHA-rich fish oil on brain development and learning ability has been studied in Sprague Dawley rats. Female rats were fed experimental diets containing either corn oil fish oil at 10%(w/w) level throughout the gestation and lactation. Corn oil was added in fish oil diet to supply essential fatty acid at 2.3% of the calories. All male pups were weaned to the same diets of dams at 21-days after birth. Plasma fatty acid composition was analyzed for dams and pups at 21-days, 28-days and 22-weeks after birth. The analysis of DNA and fatty acid profile in the brain were undertaken at birth, 3, 7, 14, 21, 28 days and 22 weeks after birth and learning ability was tested at 18-20 weeks of age. Regardless of dietary fats, arachidonic acid(AA) and docosahexaenoic acid(DHA) were the principal polyunsaturated fatty acids in the brain. Rats fed CO diet showed a continouus increase of AA content in the brain from 10.9%(at birth) to maximum 15.3% level (14-days old), while the rars fed FO diet showed 78-79% of CO group throughout the period. Rats fed FO diet showed higher incorparation of DHA from 15.2% at birth to a maximum level of 18.5% at 140days, while the rats fed CO diet showed only 7.0% incorporation of DHA at birth and a maximum level of 11.1% at 21-days. Compared to CO group, FO group showed lower ratio of chol/PL and higher content of DHA in brain microsomal membrane, resulting in better membrane fluidity. Total amount of DNA per gram of brain was reached maximum level at 21 days in both groups. This would be a period of the cell proliferation during brain development. Overall, the rats fed fish oil diet showed a higher incorporation of DHA and membrane fluidity in the brain and better learning performances (p<0.05).

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.646-650
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• 2001

In this study, we investigated the thermotropic behavior of Daucus carota L. (DCS) extracts in phosphatidylcholine(PC) liposomes using high-sensitivity differential scanning calorimetry (nano-DSC). We used dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) bilayers which made most stable liposomes among the other phosphatidylcholine. The sample DCS was extracted and fractionated to four different types, hexane(DCSMH), ethylacetate (DCSMEA), butanol (DCSMB) and aqueous(DCSMA) fractions. Compared to the other fractions of Daucus carota L., the DCSMH and DCSMEA fractions markedly affected the thermotropic properties of DPPC liposomes, broadened and shifted the thermograms of transition to lower temperatures. The incorporation of DCSMH and DCSMEA in DPPC liposomes were preferentially located in the hydrophobic core of DPPC bilayers, where it reduced the lipid packing orderness (cooperative unit) in the gel state compared to it in the liquid-crystalline state. These results suggest that the activities of the Daucus carota L. extracts to enhance the fluidity of the liposomal membrane have implication in their biological activities.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.237-244
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• 2000

It has been reported that plasma membrane activity of the spermatozoa may be susceptible to be influenced by extracellular osmolality and such membranous changes involve infracellular molecular changes, special regard to the structure of membranous lipids, and the accompanying ion-channel of which are closely related with their fluidity of $Ca^{2+}$ and HCO$^{-}_{3}$. It is of common recognition that a certain kind of sterol acceptor player an important to induce lipid fluctuation of the sperm plasma membrane which have been influenced by BSA administration and came in effect to outflow of cholesterol from the spermatozoa and resulted in changes of ionic fluidity to facilitate adenylyl cyclase, and to induce protein tyrosine phosphorylation by increase of cAMP and activation of PKA. Thus it seems likely that an augmentation of the acrosomal reaction is closely related with protein tyrosine phosphorylation. The following experimental results were obtained in the present study; Under the high osmolality conditions, the spermatozoa motility declined significantly and the structural change of the plasma membrane diminished to confirm that the response degrees to the osmolality depended upon the water transfer volume through the plasma membrane and the changes of cellular volume. Those experimental results suggest that a physiological parameter such as low temperature condition played an important role for presentation of spermatozoa and that inducement of spermatozoa activation for reinforcement of protein tyrosine phosphorylation. On the other hand, it seemed likely that the BSA administration as one of sterol accepters might represent a key role also under the high osmolality condition and their result also suggests that osmolality change, special regard to high osmolality condition may play an important role also in the processes of signal transmission.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Applied Microbiology Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.154-164
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• 2005

Saccharomyces cerevisiae KNU5377 is a thermotolerant strain, which can ferment ethanol from wasted papers and starch at 40$^{\circ}C$ with the almost same rate as at 30$^{\circ}C$. This strain showed alcohol fermentation ability to convert wasted papers 200 g (w/v) to ethanol 8.4% (v/v) at 40$^{\circ}C$, meaning that 8.4% ethanol is acceptable enough to ferment in the industrial economy. As well, all kinds of starch that are using in the industry were converted into ethanol at 40$^{\circ}C$ with the almost same rate as at 30$^{\circ}C$. Hyperthermic cell killing kinetics and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) revealed that exponentially growing cells of this yeast strain KNU5377 were more thermotolerant than those of S. cerevisiae ATCC24858 used as a control. This intrinsic thermotolernace did not result from the stability of entire cellular components but possibly from that of a particular target. Heat shock induced similar results in whole cell DSC profiles of both strains and the accumulation of trehalose in the cells of both strains, but the trehalose contents in the strain KNU5377 were 2.6 fold higher than that in the control strain. On the contrary to the trehalose level, the neutral trehalase activity in the KNU5377 cells was not changed after the heat shock. This result made a conclusion that though the trehalose may stabilize cellular components, the surplus of trehalose in KNU5377 strain was not essential for stabilization of whole cellular components. A constitutively thermotolerant yeast, S. cerevisiae KNU5377, was compared with a relatively thermosensitive control, S. cerevisiae ATCC24858, by assaying the fluidity and proton ATPase on the plasma membrane. Anisotropic values (r) of both strains were slightly increased by elevating the incubation temperatures from 25$^{\circ}C$ to 37$^{\circ}C$ when they were aerobically cultured for 12 hours in the YPD media, implying the membrane fluidity was decreased. While the temperature was elevated up to 40$^{\circ}C$, the fluidity was not changed in the KNU5377 cell, but rather increased in the control. This result implies that the plasma membrane of the KNU5377 cell can be characterized into the more stabilized state than control. Besides, heat shock decreased the fluidity in the control strain, but not in the KNU5377 strain. This means also there's a stabilization of the plasma membrane in the KNU5377 cell. Furthermore, the proton ATPase assay indicated the KNU5377 cell kept a relatively more stabilized glucose metabolism at high temperature than the control cell. Therefore, the results were concluded that the stabilization of plasma membrane and growth at high temperature for the KNU5377 cell. Genome wide transcription analysis showed that the heat shock responses were very complex and combinatory in the KNU5377 cell. Induced by the heat shock, a number of genes were related with the ubiquitin mediated proteolysis, metallothionein (prevent ROS production from copper), hsp27 (88-fold induced remarkably, preventing the protein aggregation and denaturation), oxidative stress response (to remove the hydrogen peroxide), and etc.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.196-203
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• 1992

Intramolecular excimer formation of 1, 3-di(1-pyrenyl)propane (Py-3-Py) and fluorescence polarization of 1, 6-diphenyl-1, 3, 5-hexatriene (DPH) were used to investigate the effects of barbiturates on the fluidity of model membranes of phosphatidycholine (SPMVPC), phosphatidylserine (SPMVPS), and phosphatidylinositol (SPMVPI) fractions of synaptosomal plasma membrane vesicles (SPMV) isolated from bovine cerebral cortex. In a dose-dependent manner, barbiturates decreased the excimer to monomer fluorescence intensity ratio (I'/I) of Py-3-Py and increased the anisotropy(r), rotational relaxation time (P), limiting anisotropy $(r_infty)$, and order parameter (S) of DPH in SPMVPC, SPMVPS and SPMVPI. This indicates that barbiturates decreased both the lateral and rotational diffusion of the probes in SPMVPC, SPMVPS and SPMVPI. The relative potencies of barbiturates in ordering the membranes were in the order: pentobarbital > hexobarbital > amobarbital > phenobarbital. This order correlates well with the anesthetic potencies of barbiturates and the potencies for enhancement of $\gamma$-aminobutyric acid-stimulated chloride uptake. Thus, it is strongly suggested that a close relationship might exist between the membrane ordering effects of barbiturates and the chloride fluxes across SPMV.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.373-377
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• 2007

No phosphatidylcholine (PC) was detected in the membrane of Rhodobacter sphaeroides pmtA mutant (PmtAl) lacking phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) N-methyltransferase, whereas PE in the mutant was increased up to the mole % comparable to the combined level of PE and PC of wild type. Neither the fatty acid composition nor the fluidity of membrane was altered by pmtA mutation. Consistently, aerobic and photoheterotrophic growth of PmtAl were not different from wild type. However, PmtAl showed an extended lag phase (15 h) after the growth transition from aerobic to photoheterotrophic conditions, indicating the PC requirement for the efficient formation of intracytoplasmic membrane (ICM). Interestingly, the B800-850 complex of PmtAl was decreased more than twofold in comparison with wild type, whereas the level of the B875 complex comprising the fixed photosynthetic unit was not changed. Since puc expression is not affected by pmtA mutation, PC appears to be required for the proper formation of the B800-850 complex in the ICM of R. sphaeroides.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.67 no.2
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• pp.89-98
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• 2023

The cell membrane, also known as the biological membrane, surrounds every living cell. The main components of cell membranes are lipids and therefore called as lipid membranes. These membranes are mainly made up of a two-dimensional lipid bilayer along with integral and peripheral proteins. The complex nature of lipid membranes makes it difficult to study and hence artificial lipid membranes are prepared which mimic the original lipid membranes. These artificial lipid membranes are prepared from phospholipid vesicles (liposomes). The liposomes are formed when self-forming phospholipid bilayer comes in contact with water. Liposomes can be unilamellar or multilamellar vesicles which comprises of phospholipids that can be produced naturally or synthetically. The phospholipids are non-toxic, biodegradable and are readily produced on a large scale. These liposomes are mostly used in the drug delivery systems. This paper offers comprehensive literature with insights on developing basic understanding of lipid membranes from its structure, organization, and phase behavior to its potential use in biomedical applications. The progress in the field of artificial membrane models considering methods of preparation of liposomes for mimicking lipid membranes, interactions between the lipid membranes, and characterizing techniques such as UV-visible, FTIR, Calorimetry and X-ray diffraction are explained in a concise manner.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Developmental Biology Conference
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• 2001.02a
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• pp.57-61
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• 2001

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.43-52
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• 1988

To elucidate the mechanism of action of local anesthetics, the effects of local anethetics on the microenvironment of the lipid bilayers of synaptosomal plasma membrane vesicles (SPMV) isolated from bovine brain and dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) multilamellar liposomes were investigated employing the intermolecular excimer fluorescence technique and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The relative intensities of excimer and monomer fluorescence of pyrene are a simple linear function of the viscosity of a homologous series of solvents. The microviscosity(${\eta}$)of the hydrocarbon region of SPMV was measured by this method and the value was $57.3{\pm}5.3\;cP$ at $37^{\circ}C$. In the presence of lidocaine-HCl and procaine-HCl, the values decreased to $46.5{\pm}5.1\;cP$ and $54.7{\pm}4.8\;cP$, respectvely. The differential scanning thermograms of DMPC multilamellar liposomes showed that local anesthetics significantly lowered the phase transition temperature, broadened the thermogram peaks, and reduced the size of the cooperative unit. These results indicate that local anesthetics have significant fluidizing effects on biomembranes and perturbation of membrane lipids may produce some, but not all, of their pharmacological actions.