• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.387-397
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• 2012

In this study, we focused on myomoduline A (MMA) released from the central nervous system of Aplysia kurodai. The primary structure of MMA is Pro-Met-Ser-Met-Leu-Arg-Leu-$NH_2$. This peptide is the same as that of the myomodulin family peptide found in other mollusks. The purified MMA showed a modulating activity of phasic contraction on the anterior byssus retractor muscle (ABRM) of Mytilus edulis. In order to study the relationship between the structure and biological activity of MMA, we synthesized MMA, Des[$Pro^1$]-MMA, Des[$Pro^1,Met^2$]-MMA, Des[$Pro^1,Met^2,Ser^3$]-MMA, and MME. The amino acid sequences of Des[$Pro^1$]-MMA, Des[$Pro^1,Met^2$]-MMA, and Des[$Pro^1,Met^2,Ser^3$]-MMA were Met-Ser-Met-Leu-Arg-Leu-$NH_2$, Ser-Met-Leu-Arg-Leu-$NH_2$, and Met-Leu-Arg-Leu-$NH_2$, respectively. MMA and synthetic peptides were tested on ABRM in M. edulis as well as muscle preparations in Achatina fulica. At $1{\times}10^{-8}$ M or lower, MMA showed a potentiating effect on phasic contraction of the ABRM, but this peptide had an inhibitory effect at $1{\times}10^{-6}$ M or higher. Both MMA and its analogs stimulated a contractile response on the crop and a relaxed catch-relaxing response on the penial retractor muscle of A. fulica. These results suggest that Met-Leu-Arg-Leu-$NH_2$ in MMA is the minimum structure required for the regulation of the contraction of ABRM, as well as the reproductive and digestive activities of mollusks.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 1998

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), originally discovered and cloned as a powerful mitogen for hepatocytes, is a four kringle-containing growth factor which specifically binds to membrane-spanning tyrosine kinase, c-Met/HGF receptor. HGF has mitogenic, motogenic (enhancement of cell movement), morphogenic (e.g., induction of branching tubulogenesis), and anti-apoptotic activities for a wide variety of cells. During embryogenesis, HGF supports organogenesis and morphogenesis of various tissues, including liver, kidney, lung, gut, mammary gland, and tooth. In adult tissues HGF elicits an organotrophic function which supports regeneration of organs such as liver, kidney, lung, and vascular tissues. HGF is also a novel member of neurotrophic factor in nervous systems. Together with the preferential expression of HGF in mesenchymal or stromal cells, and c-Met/HGF receptor In epithelial or endothelial cells, the HGF-Met coupling seems to orchestrate dynamic morphogenic processes through epithelial-mesenchymal (or-stromal) interactions for organogenesis and organ regeneration. HGF or HGF gene may well become unique therapeutic tools for treatment of patients with various organ failure, through its actions to reconstruct organized tissue architectures. This review focuses on recently characterized biological and physiological functions integrated by HGF-Met coupling during organogenesis and organ regeneration.

• KIEAE Journal
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.11-19
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• 2016

Purpose: PMV, PET, and similar thermal comfort indices and microclimate modeling have recently become actively used to evaluate thermal comfort. This study will look at pedestrian roads with diverse spatial characteristics on university campus using the ENVI-met model as the base for onsite measurement. Method: The PET was used as the thermal comfort index. The first microclimate measures were collected on September 20, 2014, and the second microclimate measures were collected on June 1, 2015. The ENVI-met model was used at the same time. Result: As a results, Onsite measurement results differed depending on the PET spatial characteristics. The location associated with the most discomfort had a PET of $47.8^{\circ}C$. The spatial characteristics of this place included a with no shade. The most comfortable location had shade, and the PET was $24.6^{\circ}C$. When the ENVI-met model and onsite measurements were compared, similar patterns were found, but with a few differences at specific points; this was due to the limitation of using input materials such as trees, buildings, and covering materials with the ENVI-met model. This factor must be thoroughly considered when analyzing modeling results.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.88-98
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• 2015

The effects of quenching and tempering temperatures on the tensile, impact and corrosion properties of A487 alloy cast with different C contents of 0.16, 0.19 to 0.23 wt.% were examined. The impact tests were conducted at $25^{\circ}C$ and $-60^{\circ}C$ and the immersion test was performed using 3.5% NaCl solution for 14 days. The quenching temperature affected the mechanical properties of A487 alloy cast, while the magnitude of change varied depending on the C content. The increase in tempering temperature showed the typical trend of decreasing tensile strength and increasing impact properties. The change in quenching and tempering temperature in this study did not affect the corrosion properties of A487 alloy significantly. The change in mechanical and corrosion properties of A487 with different C contents was discussed based on the microstructural and fractographic observation.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.195-206
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• 1993

The expression of proenkephalin (proENK) mRNA and Met-enkephalin (ME) secretion in C6 rat glioma cells and bovine adrenal medullary chromaffin (BAMC) cells were elucidated in the present study. The levels of proENK mRNA and ME secreted into the media in BAMC cells were measured in the presence of cycloheximide and 12-tetrade-canoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA). Cycloheximide (20 nM) abolished the induction of proENK mRNA expression, protein synthesis and ME secretion by TPA (1nM), indicating that de novo protein synthesis was necessary for proENK gene expression and ME secretion.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.10
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• pp.4599-4608
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• 2016

Background: The x-ray repair cross-complementing group 3 (XRCC3) encodes a protein involved in the homologous recombination repair (HRR) pathway for double-strand DNA repair. Associations of the XRCC3 Thr241Met polymorphism with various cancers have been widely reported. However, published data on links between XRCC3 Thr241Met and gastrointestinal (GI) cancer risk are inconsistent. Objective and Methods: A meta-analysis was conducted to characterize the relationship between XRCC3 Thr241Met polymorphisms and GI cancer risk. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95.0% confidence intervals were assessed using random- or fixed- effect models for 28.0 relevant articles with 30.0 studies containing 7,649.0 cases and 11,123.0 controls. Results: The results of the overall meta-analysis suggested a borderline association between the XRCC3 Thr241Met polymorphism and GI cancer susceptibility (T vs. C: OR=1.18, 9 % CI=1.0-1.4, POR=0.04; TT vs. CT+CC: OR=1.3, 95 % CI=1.0-1.6, POR=0.04). After removing studies not conforming to Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE), however, this association disappeared (T vs. C: OR=1.00, 95 % CI=0.9-1.1, POR=0.96; TT vs. CT+CC: OR=0.9, 95 % CI=0.8-1.1, POR=0.72). When stratified by ethnicity, source of controls or cancer type, although some associations between XRCC3 Thr241Met polymorphism and GI cancer susceptibility were detected, these associations no longer existed after removing studies not conforming to HWE. Conclusion: Our meta-analysis suggests that the XRCC3 Thr241Met polymorphism is not associated with risk of GI cancer based on current evidence.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.67-73
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• 2016

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: This study was aimed at examining the association between dietary flavanones intake and lipid profiles according to the presence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in Korean women with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). SUBJECTS/METHODS: A cross-sectional analysis was performed among 502 female T2DM patients (non-MetS group; n = 129, MetS group; n = 373) who were recruited from the Huh's Diabetes Clinic in Seoul, Korea between 2005 and 2011. The dietary intake was assessed by a validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and the data was analyzed using the Computer Aided Nutritional Analysis program (CAN-Pro) version 4.0 software. The intake of flavanones was estimated on the basis of the flavonoid database. RESULTS: In the multiple linear regression analysis after adjustment for confounding factors, daily flavanones intake was negatively associated with CVD risk factors such as total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and apoB and apoB/apoA1 ratio only in the MetS group but not in the non-MetS group. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that the odds ratio for a higher apoB/apoA1 ratio above the median (${\geq}0.74$) was significantly low in the $4^{th}$ quartile compared to that in the $1^{st}$ quartile of dietary flavanones intake [OR: 0.477, 95% CI: 0.255-0.894, P for trend = 0.0377] in the MetS group. CONCLUSIONS: Dietary flavanones intake was inversely associated with the apoB/apoA1 ratio, suggesting a potential protective effect of flavanones against CVD in T2DM women with MetS.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.9
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• pp.1314-1321
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• 2010

Sulfur metabolism in S. cerevisiae is well established, but the mechanisms underlying the formation of sulfide remain obscure. Here, we investigated by real-time RT-PCR the dependence of expression levels of MET3, MET5/ECM17, MET10, MET16, and MET17 along with SSU1 on nitrogen availability in two wine yeast strains that produce divergent sulfide profiles. MET3 was the most highly expressed of the genes studied in strain PYCC4072, and SSU1 in strain UCD522. The strains behaved differently according to the sampling times, with UCD522 and PYCC4072 showing the highest expression levels at 120 h and 72 h, respectively. In the presence of 267 mg assimilable N/l, the genes were more highly expressed in strain UCD522 than in PYCC4072. MET5/ECM17 and MET17 were only weakly expressed in both strains under any condition tested. MET10 and SSU1 in both strains, but MET16 only in PYCC4072, were consistently upregulated when sulfide production was inhibited. This study illustrates that strain genotype could be important in determining enzyme activities and therefore the rate of sulfide liberation. This linkage, for some yeast strains, of sulfide production to expression levels of genes associated with sulfate assimilation and sulfur amino acid biosynthesis could be relevant for defining new strategies for the genetic improvement of wine yeasts.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.138-145
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• 2008

This study was carried out to compare the meat quality of beef from Hanwoo supplemented with dietary Rhus verniciflua Stokes (RVS) meal, silicate (Si), and chromium-methionine (Cr-Met) during refrigerated storage. The 26 mon-aged Hanwoo steers were fed basal diets containing 4% RVS, 4% RVS+400 ppm Cr-Met, 1.4% $SiO_2$, or 0.14% $SiO_2+400 ppm$ Cr-Met for 4 mon prior to slaughter. The M. longissimus from carcasses were then stored at $4{\pm}0.2^{\circ}C$ for 7 d. The crude fat content was higher in the Si and Si+Cr-Met groups (p<0.05). The water-holding capacity (WHC) and tenderness were highest in the Si+Cr-Met group (p<0.05). With regard to fatty acids, the polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) content was lower in the Si and Si+Cr-Met groups (p<0.05), and the monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) content was lowest in the Si+Cr-Met group (p<0.05). The TBARS and MetMb contents were decreased in the Si, Si+Cr-Met, and RVS+Cr-Met groups. Regarding meat color during storage, the Si+Cr-Met group showed the highest L, a, b, C values and total color, and those of the Si and RVS+Cr-Met groups were higher than the RVS group (p<0.05). Consequently, beef from Si-fed Hanwoo had higher fat content, color and oxidation stability, and lower PUFA content than RVS-fed beef. And beef from Si+Cr-Met-fed Hanwoo had higher WHC, tenderness and color stability, and lower MUFA content than Si-fed beef.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.373-378
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• 2004

The regulatory mechanism of methionine biosynthesis in Corynebacterium glutamicum was analyzed at the protein arid gene expression level. O-Acetylhomoserine sulfhydraylase (encoded by metY) was inhibited by 10 mM methionine to a residual activity of 10% level, whereas no such inhibition was found with cystathionine $\gamma$-synthase (encoded by metB) and cystathionine $\beta$-lyase (encoded by metC). The enzymatic activity of homoserine acetyltransferase (encoded by metX) was repressed to a residual activity of 25% level by 10 mM methionine which was added to the growth medium. Cystathionine $\gamma$-synthase and cystathionine $\beta$-lyase were also repressed by 10 mM methionine, but only to a residual activity of 50-70% level. O-Acetylhomoserine sulfhydrylase was very sensitive to repression by 10 mM methionine, showing residual activity of 13%. In addition, homoserine acetyltransferase was also repressed by 10 mM cysteine to 50% of its original activity. No repression of the enzymes by S-adenosyl methionine was observed. The pattern of repression by methionine indicated that the metB and aecD genes might be regulated by a common mechanism, while the metA and metY genes are differently regulated.