• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.696-704
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• 2021

Levan is an industrially important, functional biopolymer with considerable applications in the food and pharmaceutical fields owing to its safety and biocompatibility. Here, levan-type exopolysaccharide produced by Pantoea agglomerans ZMR7 was purified by cold ethanol precipitation and characterized using TLC, FTIR, ¹H, and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy. The maximum production of levan (28.4 g/l) was achieved when sucrose and ammonium chloride were used as carbon and nitrogen sources, respectively, at 35℃ and an initial pH of 8.0. Some biomedical applications of levan like antitumor, antiparasitic, and antioxidant activities were investigated in vitro. The results revealed the ability of levan at different concentrations to decrease the viability of rhabdomyosarcoma and breast cancer cells compared with untreated cancer cells. Levan appeared also to have high antiparasitic activity against the promastigote of Leishmania tropica. Furthermore, levan had strong DPPH radical scavenging (antioxidant) activity. These findings suggest that levan produced by P. agglomerans ZMR7 can serve as a natural biopolymer candidate for the pharmaceutical and medical fields.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.855-862
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• 1997

Ivermectin is a synthetic derivative of the naturally occurring avermectin $B_{1a}$ (22, 23-dihydroavermectin $B_{1a}$) and $B_{1b}$ (22, 23-dihydroavermectin $B_{1b}$), It is widely used as antiparasitic and pesticidal agents because of its remarkably potent and broad spectrum of antiparasitic activity. Although the drug has shown excellent anthelmintic effects, development of toxicosis in some animals such as the Collie species of dog is well documented. However, no studies have been reported on the toxic effects of the drug in Korean native animals such as the Jindo dog. The toxic effect of ivermectin was evaluated in 25 Jindo dogs divided into five groups which were orally administered with ivermectin at dosage levels of $200{\mu}g/kg$, $300{\mu}g/kg$, $600{\mu}g/kg$ and $2,500{\mu}g/kg$ of body weight, respectively. Toxic signs were not observed in the groups receiving $200{\mu}g/kg$ and $300{\mu}g/kg$ B.W. ivermectin. One dog developed mild clinical signs of toxicosis in the group receiving $600{\mu}g/kg$ dosage of ivermectin. In the group with $2,500{\mu}g/kg$ dosage, all dogs developed mild (salivation, drooling, vomiting, mydriasis, and/or confusion) and/or moderate (ataxia and tremors) clinical signs of toxicosis. Hematologic changes were not observed in the groups receiving $200{\mu}g/kg$, $300{\mu}g/kg$ and $600{\mu}g/kg$ B.W. ivermectin. In the groups receiving $2,500{\mu}g/kg$ B.W., total erythrocyte counts, total and differential leukocyte counts and hemoglobin levels were not affected by drug. Aspartate aminotransferase levels were increased after administration of ivermectin, while serum cholesterol and blood glucose levels were decreased.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.29.1-29.20
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• 2020

The development of refractory tumor cells limits therapeutic efficacy in cancer by activating mechanisms that promote cellular proliferation, migration, invasion, metastasis, and survival. Benzimidazole anthelmintics have broad-spectrum action to remove parasites both in human and veterinary medicine. In addition to being antiparasitic agents, benzimidazole anthelmintics are known to exert anticancer activities, such as the disruption of microtubule polymerization, the induction of apoptosis, cell cycle (G2/M) arrest, anti-angiogenesis, and blockage of glucose transport. These antitumorigenic effects even extend to cancer cells resistant to approved therapies and when in combination with conventional therapeutics, enhance anticancer efficacy and hold promise as adjuvants. Above all, these anthelmintics may offer a broad, safe spectrum to treat cancer, as demonstrated by their long history of use as antiparasitic agents. The present review summarizes central literature regarding the anticancer effects of benzimidazole anthelmintics, including albendazole, parbendazole, fenbendazole, mebendazole, oxibendazole, oxfendazole, ricobendazole, and flubendazole in cancer cell lines, animal tumor models, and clinical trials. This review provides valuable information on how to improve the quality of life in patients with cancers by increasing the treatment options and decreasing side effects from conventional therapy.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.207-212
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• 2000

The root extract of pulsatilla koreana has been used as antibacterial, antiparasitic and anti-inflam-matory analgesic agents in Traditional Medicine in Korea. Thus anti-inflammatory and analgesic actions of the methanol and water extracts of the root were investigated by administration in oral and intravenous route. From the results, it is concluded that the extracts exhibited the potent anti-inflammatory and analgesic actions in intravenous administration, but did not show the actions in oral administration in animals.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.79-80
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• 2003

A lot of polyketide antibiotics have been isolated from natural sources like microorganism, fungi and plant. The polyketide natural products have biologically and medically important activities, including antibacterial, anticancer, antiparasitic, and immunosuppressant properties. The diversified activities of polyketides are originated from their structural variety of which have been took advantage by several research groups for development of new drugs. (omitted)

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2003.10b
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• pp.188.1-188.1
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• 2003

The antiparasitic agent apicidin, which was recently isolated from cultures of Fusarium Pallidoroseum, belongs to a rare group of cyclictetrapeptide fungal metabolites. Apicidin inhibits protozoal HDAC and is orally active against Plasmodium berghei malaria in mice. The biological activity of apicidin appears to be attributable to inhibition of apicomplexan HDAC at low nanomolar concentrations. In the present, we have worked about the synthesis of new apicidin derivatives and discovered that apicidin and some derivatives have mild antitumor activity. (omiited)

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.58 no.2
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• pp.91-98
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• 2014

Pharmacists must be aware of veterinary drugs to prevent abuse and misuse of the drugs, and to ensure the safety of livestock under the veterinarian prescription system. In this study, the awareness of animal pharmacies was surveyed in order to find out the role of animal pharmacies and the necessity of veterinary drug education for pharmacists. Surveys were conducted by 187 animal owners and 115 community pharmacists. 80% of the animal owners had purchased drugs for their animals. 63% of respondents were not aware of the existence of animal pharmacies. The best selling drug class for animals was antiparasitic. The most common drug that respondents wanted to buy in animal pharmacies was also antiparasitic. About 80% of respondents answered affirmatively on the question of whether they would buy the drugs from animal pharmacies regardless of the location of the pharmacies. Most community pharmacists were aware of the existence of animal pharmacies. 70% of pharmacists had considered trading in veterinary drugs. 41% of respondents answered that they did not trade in them because they were not familiar with veterinary drugs. 80% of respondents answered that what they needed most was education in order to increase the number of animal pharmacies. Pharmacies for animal will expand the choice of animal owners, and enable pharmacists to improve their specialty as well as to diversify the pharmacy services. To achieve this, promotion of animal pharmacies and education about veterinary drugs for pharmacists would be needed in regular education system.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.227-230
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• 2008

Compounds of polyketide origin possess a wealth of pharmacological effects, including antibacterial, antifungal, antiparasitic, anticancer and immunosuppressive activities. Many of these compounds and their semisynthetic derivatives are used today in the clinic. Most of the gene clusters encoding commercially important drugs have also been cloned and sequenced and their biosynthetic mechanisms studied in great detail. The area of biosynthetic engineering of the enzymes involved in polyketide biosynthesis has recently advanced and been transferred into the industrial arena. In this work, we introduce a computational system to provide the user with a wealth of information that can be utilized for biosynthetic engineering of enzymes involved in post-PKS tailoring steps. Post-PKS tailoring steps are necessary to add functional groups essential for the biological activity and are therefore important in polyketide biosynthesis.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.953-957
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• 2012

Chalcones have been reported to have various biological activities including antitumor, antiparasitic, antileishmanial, antioxidative, superoxide scavenging, antibacterial, and PTP1B activity. Due to the limited natural resources, we had to prepare sizable quantities of biologically active chalcones for bio-tests. Therefore, Claisen-Schmidt condensation between substituted acetophenones and corresponding aldehydes enabled us to prepare chalcones for inflammatory studies. Chalcones thus prepared showed significant suppression of nitric oxide (NO) production at $10{\mu}M$.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.534-538
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• 2007

Avermectin and its analogs are major commercial antiparasitic agents in the fields of animal health, agriculture, and human infections. To increase our understanding about the genetic mechanism underlying avermectin overproduction, comparative transcriptomes were analyzed between the low producer S. avermitilis ATCC31267 and the high producer S. avermitilis ATCC31780 via a S. avermitilis whole genome chip. The comparative transcriptome analysis revealed that fifty S. avermitilis genes were expressed at least two-fold higher in S. avermitilis ATCC31780. In particular, all the avermectin biosynthetic genes, including polyketide synthase (PKS) genes and an avermectin pathway-specific regulatory gene, were less expressed in the low producer S. avermitilis ATCC31267. The present results imply that avermectin overproduction in S. avermitilis ATCC31780 could be attributed to the previously unidentified fifty genes reported here and increased transcription levels of avermectin PKS genes.