• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.1547-1556
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• 2023

This study was conducted to check the anti-bacterial ability against Malassezia furfur by mixing Szygium aromaticum and Coptis japonica extracts and to evaluate the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory ability by creating an optimal mixture. Szygium aromaticum and Coptis japonica were extracted with 70% ethanol, 100% methanol, and water to evaluate the antibacterial ability, and it was confirmed that 100% methanol extract of Szygium aromaticum and Coptis japonica water extract had the highest anti-bacterial ability. In addition, when the two extracts were mixed and the anti-bacterial ability was evaluated by ratio, the ratio of 9:1 showed the best activity, and it was confirmed that the antioxidant activity of the mixture was excellent. In Raw 264.7 cells, LPS was used to induce inflammatory responses and confirmed anti-inflammatory activity at 1, 10, 50, and 100 ㎍/mL that did not affect survival, and it was confirmed that NO-production inhibition and IL-6 expression inhibition and COX2 and iNOS protein expression inhibition activity were excellent at 10, 50, and 100 ㎍/mL. Through this study, it is thought that the mixture of Szygium aromaticum100% methanol extract and Coptis japonica water extract can be used as a natural ingredient in functional cosmetics because of its excellent antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.730-735
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• 2012

Existing pharmaceutical studies show that Magnolia biondii is effective in treating rhinitis and in reducing cholesterol, given its endogenous, volatile ingredients. The study herein seeks to assess the cosmeceutical activities and anti-inflammatory activities of Magnolia biondii extracts for possible application as cosmetic ingredients. The cosmeceutical and anti-inflammatory activities were investigated using hydroxyl radical scavenging, superoxide dismutase (SOD)-like activity, xanthine oxidase (XO) inhibition, cell viability, nitric oxide (NO) inhibition, and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression by Western blotting. Magnolia biondii extracts were identified to have antioxidant activities in hydroxyl free radical scavenging, SOD-like activity, and XO inhibition. In testing the anti-inflammatory activities of the extracts, NO production was inhibited in a dose-dependent manner. Additionally, in a dose-dependent manner, the Magnolia biondii extracts were able to suppress iNOS expression in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophage cells. From these results, Magnolia biondii showed adequate potential for application in cosmetic production and related industries as well as a functional material.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.10
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• pp.808-819
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• 2023

This study was conducted to develop a selection marker for the identification of the Bacillus licheniformis K12 strain in microbial communities. The strain not only demonstrates good growth at moderate temperatures but also contains enzymes that catalyze the decomposition of various polymer materials, such as proteases, amylases, cellulases, lipases, and xylanases. To identify molecular markers appropriate for use in a microbial community, a search was conducted to identify variable gene regions that show considerable genetic mutations, such as recombinase, integration, and transposase sites, as well as phase-related genes. As a result, five areas were identified that have potential as selection markers. The candidate markers were two recombinase sites (BLK1 and BLK2), two integration sites (BLK3 and BLK4), and one phase-related site (BLK5). A PCR analysis performed with different Bacillus species (e.g., B. licheniformis, Bacillus velezensis, Bacillus subtilis, and Bacillus cereus) confirmed that PCR products appeared at specific locations in B. licheniformis: BLK1 in recombinase, BLK2 in recombinase family protein, and BLK3 and BLK4 as site-specific integrations. In addition, BLK1 and BLK3 were identified as good candidate markers via a PCR analysis performed on subspecies of standard B. licheniformis strains. Therefore, the findings suggest that BLK1 can be used as a selection marker for B. licheniformis species and subspecies in the microbiome.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.1851-1858
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• 2010

Estrogen deficiency in peri- and postmenopausal women results in variety of neurovegetative, psychic and somatic symptoms, and may contribute to severe diseases within the aged female population. Ecklonia stolonifera (ES) is an edible brown algae traditionally used in fishery towns in Far East Asia. This study was performed to investigate the effects of ES extracts on blood flow and serum lipid concentration in ovariectomized rats. Weight-matched female Sprague-Dawley strain rats were assigned to four groups. Three groups were surgically ovariectomized (OVX). The fourth group was sham operated. Rats were randomly assigned to the following groups: sham-operated rats (Sham), ovariectomized control rats (OVX-CON), ovariectomized rats supplemented with ES extract at 50 mg/kg bw/day (OVX-ES50) and ovariectomized rats supplemented with ES extract at 200 mg/kg bw/day (OVX-ES200). Serum total cholesterol and triglyceride contents decreased in the sham group compared to the OVX-CON group. Six weeks feeding of ES extract resulted in a significant (p<0.05) lowering of serum triglyceride and a lowering tendency of total cholesterol level. The level of Hdl-cholesterol in serum increased by supplementation of ES extracts at 50 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg bw/day (p<0.05). Blood passage time of the ES extracts-supplemented group was higher than the OVX-CON group. The ability of platelet aggregation of groups treated with ES extracts was less than that of the OVX-CON group. These results suggest that the beneficial effects of ES extract may be used to possibly improve on the metabolic syndrome of menopausal women.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.274-283
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• 2014

Oxidative stress causes tissue damage and facilitates the progression of metabolic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular heart diseases, and obesity. Lipid accumulation and obesity-related complications have been observed in the presence of extensive oxidative stress. As part of an ongoing study to develop therapeutic supplements, Sargassum sp. were tested for their ability to scavenge free radicals and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), as well as to suppress lipid accumulation. Three species, S. hemiphyllum, S. thunbergii, and Sargassum horneri, were shown to scavenge free radicals in a di(phenyl)-(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl)iminoazanium (DPPH) assay. In addition, Sargassum sp. was shown to scavenge intracellular ROS and to decrease nitric oxide (NO) production in $H_2O_2$ and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced in RAW264.7 mouse macrophages, respectively. Taken together, the results suggest that Sargassum sp. possess huge potential to relieve oxidative stress and related complications, as well as lipid-induced oxidation. They indicate that S. hemiphyllum, S. thunbergii, and S. horneri are potent functional supplements that can produce beneficial health effects through antioxidant and antiobesity activities, with S. hemiphyllum being the most potent among the Sargassum sp. tested. A potential mechanism for the effect of Sargassum sp. on the suppression of lipid accumulation in differentiating 3T3-L1 mouse preadipocytes through deactivation of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor ${\gamma}$ (PPAR ${\gamma}$) is presented.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.369-375
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• 2018

Mycoplasma genitalium has 367 conserved genes and the smallest genome among mono-culturable prokaryotes. Conservative metabolic pathways were examined among M. genitalium and 14 prokaryotes, one hyperthermophilic exosymbiotic archaeon Nanoarchaeum equitans and 13 intracellular eubacteria of plants or insects, with fewer conserved genes than M. genitalium. They have 11 to 71 metabolic pathways, however complete metabolic pathways ranged from 1 to 24. Totally, metabolic pathway hole is very high due to the lack of 45.8% of the enzymes required for the whole metabolic pathways and it could be suggested that the shared metabolic pathway with the host's enzyme would work or the essential substances are host dependent. The number of genes necessary for mass transfer through the cell membrane is also very low, and it may be considered that the simple diffusion or the protein of the host will function in the cell membrane of these prokaryotes. Although the tRNA charging pathway was distributed in all 15 prokaryotes, each has 5-20 tRNA charging genes. This study would give clues to the understanding of the metabolic pathways of intracellular parasitic bacteria of plant and endosymbiotic bacteria of insects, and could provide basic data for prevention of crop damage, development of insect pests and human medicines.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.694-701
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• 2017

Mycoplasma genitalium represents the smallest genome among mono-cultivable prokaryotes. To discover and compare the orthologs (conservative genes) among M. genitalium and 14 prokaryotes that are uncultivable and have less orthologs than M. genitalium, COG (clusters of orthologous groups of protein) analyses were applied. The analyzed prokaryotes were M. genitalium, one hyperthermophilic exosymbiotic archaeon Nanoarchaeum equitans, four intracellular plant pathogenic eubacteria of Candidatus Phytoplasma genus, and nine endosymbiotic eubacteria of phloem- and xylem-feeding insects. Among 367 orthologs of M. genitalium, 284 orthologs were conservative between M. genitalium and at least one other prokaryote. All 15 prokaryotes commonly have 29 orthologs, representing the significance of proteins in life. They belong to 25 translation-related, including 22 ribosomal proteins, 3 subunits of RNA polymerase, and 1 protein-folding-related. Among the 15 prokaryotes, 40 orthologs were only found in all four Candidatus Phytoplasma. The other nine Candidatus, all endosymbionts with insects, showed only a single common COG0539 (ribosomal protein S1), representing the diversity of orthologs among them. These results might provide clues to understand conservative genes in uncultivable prokaryotes, and may be helpful in industrial areas, such as handling prokaryotes producing amino acids and antibiotics, and as precursors of organic synthesis.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.86-93
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• 2024

Since replication of plasmids must be strictly controlled, plasmids that generally perform rolling circle replication generally maintain a constant copy number by strictly controlling the replication initiator Rep at the transcriptional and translational levels. Plasmid pJB01 contains three orfs (copA, repB, repC or repABC) consisting of a single operon. From analysis of amino acid sequence, pJB01 CopA was homologous to the Cops, as a copy number control protein, of other plasmids. When compared with a CopG of pMV158, CopA seems to form the RHH (ribbon-helix-helix) known as a motif of generalized repressor of plasmids. The result of gel mobility shift assay (EMSA) revealed that the purified fusion CopA protein binds to the operator region of the repABC operon. To examine the functional role of CopA on transcriptional level, 3 point mutants were constructed in coding frame of copA such as CopA R16M, K26R and E50V. The repABC mRNA levels of CopA R16M, K26R and E50V mutants increased 1.84, 1.78 and 2.86 folds more than that of CopA wt, respectively. Furthermore, copy numbers owing to mutations in three copA genes also increased 1.86, 1.68 and 2.89 folds more than that of copA wt, respectively. These results suggest that CopA is the transcriptional repressor, and lowers the copy number of pJB01 by reducing repABC mRNA and then RepB, as a replication initiator.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.492-500
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• 2016

In this study, the effects of Colpomenia sinuosa (CS) extract on serum lipid level and bone formation in an ovariectomized animal model were investigated. Twenty four nine-week old female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to four groups: sham-operated rats (SHAM), ovariectomized control rats (OVX-CON), and ovariectomized rats supplemented with CS extract at 50 mg/kg bw (OVX-CS50) or 200 mg/kg bw (OVX-CS200). Three OVX groups were surgically ovariectomized while the SHAM group was sham-operated. CS extract was orally administrated at 1 mL per day. Analysis of serum lipid contents found that the total cholesterol, triglyceride, and low density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in the OVX-CON group were higher than those in the SHAM group. Notably, upon administration of CS extract after ovariectomy, triglyceride levels tended to significantly decrease. In addition, platelet aggregation ability decreased in groups treated with CS extract compared to the OVX-CON group. Serum alkaline phosphatase activity as an indicator of bone formation was lower in the CS extract group compared to the OVX-CON group. Collagen contents in bone and cartilage were reduced by ovariectomy, whereas the CS extract-supplemented groups exhibited higher concentrations in bone. According to these results, CS extract improved serum lipid parameters and osteogenesis in ovariectomized rats.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.75-85
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• 2016

Pectin, a naturally occurring polysaccharide, has in recent years attracted considerable attention. Its benefits are increasingly appreciated by scientists and consumers due to its safety and usefulness. The chemistry and gel-forming characteristics of pectin have enabled to be used in pharmaceutical industry, health promotion and treatment. Yet, it has been rarely used in cosmetics because of its incompatibility with many cosmetic ingredients, including alcohols, and unstable viscosity of pectin gels under various pH and salt conditions. However, low-molecular-weight pectin oligomers have excellent biological activities, and depolymerization of pectin to produce cosmetic ingredients would be very useful. In this study, we attempted the development of cosmetic ingredients using pectin with an excellent effect on human skin. We developed a bio-conversion process that uses enzymatic hydrolysis to produce pectin hydrolysates containing mainly low-molecular-weight pectin oligomers. Gel permeation chromatography was used to determined the ratio of hydrolysis. The molecular weight of the pectin hydrolysates obtained varied between 200 and 2,700 Da. The two newly developed low-molecular-weight pectin hydrolysates, LMPH A and B, had higher anti-oxidative activities than pectin or D-galacturonic. Exposure to UVB radiation induces apoptotic cell death in epidermal cells. Annexin V binding and propidium iodide uptake were measured by flow cytometry to evaluate UVB-induced cell death in HaCaT cells. Both LMPH A and B reduced UVB-induced cell death and increased cell proliferation by 22% and 30% at 0.5% concentration respectively, while pectin had no significant activity. In conclusion, this study suggests that the newly developed low-molecular-weight pectin hydrolysates can be used as safe and biologically active cosmetic ingredients.