• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.44-55
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• 2016

Bacillus cereus is a gram-positive, rod-shaped, spore-forming bacterium that has been isolated from contaminated fermented soybean food products and from the environment. B. cereus produces diarrheal and emetic toxins and has caused many outbreaks of foodborne diseases. In this study, we investigated whether B. amyloliquefaciens RD7-7, isolated from rice doenjang (Korean fermented soybean paste), a traditional Korean fermented soybean food, shows antimicrobial activity against B. cereus and regulates its toxin gene expression. B. amyloliquefaciens RD7-7 exhibited strong antibacterial activity against B. cereus and inhibited the expression of B. cereus toxin-related genes (groEL, nheA, nheC, and entFM). We also found that addition of water extracts of soybean and buckwheat soksungjang (Korean fermented soybean paste made in a short time) fermented with B. amyloliquefaciens RD7-7 significantly reduced the growth and toxin expression of B. cereus. These results indicate that B. amyloliquefaciens RD7-7 could be used to control B. cereus growth and toxin production in the fermented soybean food industry. Our findings also provide a basis for the development of candidate biological control agents against B. cereus to improve the safety of fermented soybean food products.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.363-366
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• 2011

Eradication of $H.$ $pylori$, usually carried out by using antimicrobial agents, is essential for preventing gastric ulcers and cancers. The $H.$ $pylori$ isolates, however, have continuously grown antimicrobial resistance, which have caused difficulty in treating the bacteria and in turn, photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been found to be effective in inducing deaths of variety of bacteria. After PDT treatment, the number of colony forming units (CFU), the morphologic changes, and flow cytometry were observed. In the PDT group containing 100 and 200 ${\mu}g$/ml photogem, no live $H.$ $pylori$ was observed, while 10 and 50 ${\mu}g$/ml photogem were only partially effective. $H.$ $pylori$ of the PDT group also displayed distortion and shrinkage in morphology. This study demonstrated that photogem-mediated PDT effectively induces deaths of $H.$ $pylori$.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.630-634
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• 2013

Cow leather coated with polyurethane film that contains various organic photosensitizers was investigated to demonstrate the antimicrobial properties in the application of the material to protective clothing and home appliances. To prepare the antimicrobial coating on leather surfaces with high potency against microbes, photoactive agents, such as benzophenone (BP), 4,4'-bis(dimethylamino) benzophenone (MK), 4,4'-dihydroxybenzophenone (DHBP) and methylene blue (MB), were incorporated into polyurethane-based coating solutions. The photoactive antimicrobial agent treated leather samples were characterized by SEM, color appearance, color fastness against abrasion, and antimicrobial tests. The optical properties of organic photosensitizers indicated that active UV absorbance ranges were different: BP (around 250 nm), MK (around 360 nm), DHBP (around 305 nm) and MB (around 295 nm &570 nm-685 nm). The intensity of the UV absorbance curve at the UVA light wavelength for the antimicrobial test showed the highest value with MK; subsequently, this was followed by MB, DHBP and BP in decreasing order. The treated-leather samples demonstrated excellent antibacterial activity under UVA light. The antimicrobial effects for the Staphylococcus aureus were superior to Escherichia coli. Moreover, the polyurethane finishing showed an effective durability to abrasion. The overall results indicated that DHBP is the most suitable PU coating additive to provide antimicrobial properties to leather as well as color and surface appearance than MK, MB, and BP.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.267-272
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• 2011

In our search for bioactive phenolics from plants, the culms of Phyllostachys bambusoides has been selected for investigation of anti-cariogenic and 1,1-diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging agents based on the initial screening results. Fractionation process of n-hexane and $CHCl_3$ extracts afforded four phenolic constituents, ferulic acid (1), vanillin (2), coniferaldehyde (3), and coniferyl alcohol (4) as guided by their DPPH free radical scavenging activities. Additionally, activity-guided fractionation of EtOAc extract with anti-cariogenic activity has resulted in the isolation of coniferaldehyde (3), 2,6-dimethoxy-p-benzoquinone (5), p-methoxycinnamic acid (6), (${\pm}$)-balanophonin (7), and 6-methoxychromanone (8). The structures of 1 - 8 were determined by spectroscopic data interpretation, and also by comparison of their data with the published values. Phenolic compounds 1 - 4 exhibited similar DPPH radical scavenging activities compared with the synthetic antioxidant, butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), and compounds 3 and 5 - 8 showed significant antibacterial activity against cariogenic oral streptococci, Streptococcus mutans and S. sobrinus.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.8
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• pp.1059-1064
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• 2014

Staphylococcus aureus is a major human pathogen, implicated in both community and hospital acquired infections. The therapy for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections is becoming more difficult because of multidrug resistance and strong biofilm-forming properties. Schiff bases have attracted attention as promising antibacterial agents. In this study, we investigated the in vitro activity of taurine-5-bromosalicylaldehyde Schiff base (TBSSB) against MRSA. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) were determined using a microtiter broth dilution method. TBSSB effectively inhibited planktonic MRSA, with an MIC of $32{\mu}g/ml$. The time-kill curve confirmed that TBSSB exhibited bactericidal activity against MRSA. TBSSB was also found to significantly inhibit MRSA biofilm formation at 24 h, especially at $1{\times}MIC$ and sub-MIC levels. Furthermore, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy showed remarkable morphological and ultrastructural changes on the MRSA cell surface, due to exposure to TBSSB. This study indicated that TBSSB may be an effective bactericidal agent against MRSA.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.542-551
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• 2017

Small phytochemicals have been successfully adopted as antibacterial chemotherapies and are being increasingly viewed as potential antibiofilm agents. Some of these molecules are known to repress biofilm and toxin production by certain bacterial and yeast pathogens, but information is lacking with regard to the genes allied with biofilm formation. The present study was performed to investigate the inhibitory effect of burdock root extract (BRE) and of chlorogenic acid (CGA; a component of BRE) on clinical isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae. BRE and CGA exhibited significant antibiofilm activity against K. pneumoniae without inflicting any harm to its planktonic counterparts. In vitro assays supported the ${\beta}$-lactamase inhibitory effect of CGA and BRE while in silico docking showed that CGA bound strongly with the active sites of sulfhydryl-variable-1 ${\beta}$-lactamase. Furthermore, the mRNA transcript levels of two biofilm-associated genes (type 3 fimbriae mrkD and trehalose-6-phosphate hydrolase treC) were significantly downregulated in CGA- and BRE-treated samples. In addition, CGA inhibited biofilm formation by Escherichia coli and Candida albicans without affecting their planktonic cell growth. These findings show that BRE and its component CGA have potential use in antibiofilm strategies against persistent K. pneumoniae infections.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.279-286
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• 2020

Natural extracts were isolated from 20 kinds of medicinal plants that have been traditionally widely used in Korea to develop treatments for dental caries. Medicinal plants showing antibacterial activity against a cariogenic bacterium, Streptococcus sobrinus KCOM 1157 were investigated. The natural extracts of Glycyrrhiza uralensis, Sophora flavescens, Coptis Chinensis, Mentha arvensis, Pinus densiflora, Spirodela polyrhiza showed antimicrobial activities against S. sobrinus KCOM 1157. The extracts of Pinus densiflora, Sophora flavescens, Coptis Chinensis among these medical herbs showed significant antimicrobial activity. These results suggested that the natural products of Pinus densiflora, Sophora flavescens, Coptis Chinensis could be the potential source of anticariogenic agent against dental pathogens including S. sobrinus.

• Mycobiology
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.9-13
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• 2015

Medicinal fungi, taken whole or as various forms of extracts, have been used to alleviate, cure or prevent human ailments since pre-historic times. In particular, Asian cultures have incorporated a variety of mushrooms into their medical practices. Chemically pure, bioactive metabolites from fungi have been a mainstay of modern pharmacological research and in addition to antibiotics, include anticancer agents, immunosuppressants, enzyme inhibitors, antagonist and agonists of hormones, and a variety of psychotropic substances. However, to date not many studies have focused on the possible health benefits of odorant volatile organic compounds (i.e., gas phase compounds). An analysis of these compounds for their health related effects will expand the range of compounds available for the treatment of chronic and acute diseases. This review highlights phenolic acids and monoterpenes from Asian medicinal mushrooms (AMMs), which not only produce pleasant odors but also have antioxidant and antibacterial effects. Odorant bioactive volatile phase compounds from medicinal mushrooms remain an essentially untapped source for future medicines, and AMMs remain a promising resource for future pharmacological research.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.233-240
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• 2015

Some virulence proteins of Helicobacter pylori, such as vacuolating cytotoxic protein A (VacA) and cytotoxin-associated gene protein A (CagA) have been reported to be causative agents of various gastric diseases including chronic gastritis, gastric ulcer or gastric adenocarcinoma. The expression level of these virulence proteins can be regulated when H. pylori is exposed to the antibacterial agent, cyanidin 3-O-glucoside (C3G) as previously reported. In this study, we analyzed the quantitative change of various virulence proteins including CagA and VacA by C3G treatment. We used 2-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) to analyze the quantitative change of representative ten proteome components of H. pylori 60190 ($VacA^+/CagA^+$; standard strain of Eastern type). After 2-DE analysis, spot intensities were analyzed using ImageMaster$^{TM}$ 2-DE Platinum software then each spot was identified using matrix assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) or peptide sequencing using Finnigan LCQ ion trap mass spectrometer (LC-MS/MS). Next, we selected major virulence proteins of H. pylori among quantitatively meaningful ten spots and confirmed the 2-DE results by Western blot analysis. These results suggest that cyanidin 3-O-glucoside can modulate a variety of H. pylori pathogenic determinants.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.277-280
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• 2017

Elsholtzia splendens, which grows on moist soil of mountainous regions, is widely distributed at all regions of Korea, especially at Mountain Ji ri. It is categorized as a Labiatae plant which is dried aerial part. It has the following medicinal properties; removal of fever, alleviation of pain, a good antiphlogistic agent as well as antibacterial effects. However, the effects of E. splendens on thrombosis and platelet activation are not precisely understood. We performed this study to develop antithrombotic agents from oriental medicine herb extracts. E. splendens inhibited platelet aggregation induced by arachidonic acid and U46619 in a concentration dependent manner. E. splendens did not show an effect on anticoagulation as determined by prothrombin time (PT) or activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT). We also tested the effects of E. splendens using a carotid artery thrombosis rat model induced by 35% $FeCl_3$ treatment. E. splendens significantly inhibited thrombus weight compared with the control group. These results show that E. splendens may be developed as a potential antiplatelet activity agent for treatment of cardiocerebrovascular disease and atherosclerosis.