• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.552-560
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• 2020

Human carbonic anhydrase (CA) isozyme II has been used as protein target for disorder treatment including glaucoma. Current clinically used sulfonamide-based CA inhibitors can induce side effects, and so alternatives are required. This study aimed to investigate a natural CA inhibitor from Murraya paniculata. The previously developed yeast-based assay was used to screen 14 compounds isolated from M. paniculata and identified by NMR analysis for anti-human CA isozyme II (hCAII) activity. Cytotoxicity of the compounds was also tested using the same yeast-based assay but in a different cultivation condition. Two flavonoid candidate compounds, 5, 6, 7, 8, 3', 4', 5'-heptamethoxyflavone (4) and 3, 5, 7, 8, 3', 4', 5'-heptamethoxyflavone (9), showed potent inhibitory activity against hCAII with a minimal effective concentration of 10.8 and 21.5 μM, respectively, while they both exhibited no cytotoxic effect, even at the highest concentration tested (170 μM). The results from an in vitro esterase assay of the two candidates confirmed their hCAII inhibitory activity with IC₅₀ values of 24.0 and 34.3 μM, respectively. To investigate the potential inhibition mechanism of compound 4, in silico molecular docking was performed using the FlexX and SwissDock software. This revealed that compound 4 coordinated with the Zn²⁺ ion in the hCAII active site through its methoxy oxygen at a distance of 1.60 Å (FlexX) or 2.29 Å (SwissDock). The interaction energy of compound 4 with hCAII was -13.36 kcal/mol. Thus, compound 4 is a potent novel flavonoid-based hCAII inhibitor and may be useful for further anti-CAII design and development.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.577-584
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• 1998

A sensitive membrane strip assay for plasma lipoprotein cholesterol that can be performed without handling reagents has been investigated. We previously developed an assay system with immobilized enzymes (cholesterol esterase and cholesterol oxidase) on the surfaces of nitrocellulose membrane(1). In such a case, the amount of enzymes present on the membrane was limited by its surface area and, thus, the detection capability was relatively poor (> 50 mg/dL cholesterol). To overcome this problem, we devised a new system with non-immobilized enzymes by placing them within interstitial spaces of a celullose membrane pad in a dry state. Upon contact with sample medium, the enzymes were immediately dissolved and participated in the reactions with cholesterol in a liquid phase. We constructed a user-friendly system consisting of four membrane pads fro sample application, cholesterol decomposition, color development as signal, and medium absorption to invoke a continuous flow (sequential location from the bottom). A sample containing lipoproteins was added into the application pad by capillary action and transferred to the next pad for decomposition. The decomposition pad (namely, enzyme pad) contained a detergent (sodium cholate) for the destruction of lipoprotein particles, the two enzymes for cholesterol decomposition, and a chromogen (3,3'-diaminobenzidine). As a consequence of the enzyme reactions, hydrogen peroxide was produced, and then reacted in the presence of the chromogen with horseradish peroxidase immobilized on the signal generation pad. Finally, a colorimetric signal directly proportional to the cholesterol concentration was produced. The detection limit determined from this system under optimal conditions was at least 2 times lower than of the enzyme-immobilized system.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.349-357
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• 2009

Ballast water is widely recognized as a serious environmental problem due to the risk of introducing non-indigenous aquatic species. In this study we aimed to investigate measures which can minimize the transfer of aquatic organisms from ballast water. Securing more reliable technologies to determine the viability of aquatic organisms is an important initiative in ballast water management systems. To evaluate the viability of marine phytoplankton, we designed the staining methods of fluorescein diacetate (FDA) and Calcein-AM assay on each target species belonging to different groups, such as bacillariphyceae, dinophyceae, raphidophyceae, chrysophyceae, haptophyceae and chlorophyceae. The FDA method, which is based on measurements of cell esterase activity using a fluorimetric stain, was the best dye for determining live cells of almost all phytoplankton species, except several diatoms tested in this study. On the other hand, although fluorescence of Calcein-AM was very clear for a comparatively longer time, green fluorescence per cell volume was lacking in most of the tested species. According to the Flow CAM method, which is a continuous imaging technique designed to characterize particles, green fluorescence values of stained cells by FDA were significantly higher than those of Calcein-AM treatments and control, implying that the Flow CAM using FDA assay could be adapted as an important tool for distinguishing living cells from dead cells. Our results suggest that the FDA and Calcein-AM methods can be adapted for use on phytoplankton, though species-specific characters are greatly different from one organism to another.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.127-131
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• 2020

Objective: This study was conducted to determine catalytic properties of wheat phytase with exopolyphosphatase activity toward medium-chain and long-chain inorganic polyphosphate (polyP) substrates for comparative purpose. Methods: Exopolyphosphatase assay of wheat phytase toward polyP75 (medium-chain polyP with average 75 phosphate residues) and polyP1150 (long-chain polyP with average 1150 phosphate residues) was performed at pH 5.2 and pH 7.5. Its activity toward these substrates was investigated in the presence of Mg²⁺, Ni²⁺, Co²⁺, Mn²⁺, or ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). Michaelis constant (K_m) and maximum reaction velocity (V_max) were determined from Lineweaver-Burk plot with polyP75 or polyP1150. Monophosphate esterase activity toward p-nitrophenyl phosphate (pNPP) was assayed in the presence of polyP75 or polyP1150. Results: Wheat phytase dephosphorylated polyP75 and polyP1150 at pH 7.5 more effectively than that at pH 5.2. Its exopolyphosphatase activity toward polyP75 at pH 5.2 was 1.4-fold higher than that toward polyP1150 whereas its activity toward polyP75 at pH 7.5 was 1.4-fold lower than that toward polyP1150. Regarding enzyme kinetics, K_m for polyP75 was 1.4-fold lower than that for polyP1150 while V_max for polyP1150 was 2-fold higher than that for polyP75. The presence of Mg²⁺, Ni²⁺, Co²⁺, Mn²⁺, or EDTA (1 or 5 mM) exhibited no inhibitory effect on its activity toward polyP75. Its activity toward polyP1150 was inhibited by 1 mM of Ni²⁺ or Co²⁺ and 5 mM of Ni²⁺, Co²⁺, or Mg²⁺. Ni²⁺ inhibited its activity toward polyP1150 the most strongly among tested additives. Both polyP75 and polyP1150 inhibited the monophosphate esterase activity of wheat phytase toward pNPP in a dose-dependent manner. Conclusion: Wheat phytase with an unexpected exopolyphosphatase activity has potential as a therapeutic tool and a next-generational feed additive for controlling long-chain polyP-induced inappropriate inflammation from Campylobacter jejuni and Salmonella typhimurium infection in public health and animal husbandry.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 2005

Chitin deacetylase (CDA; EC 3.5.1.41) catalyzes the hydrolysis of N-acetamide bonds of chitin, converting it to chitosan. Chitosan has several applications in areas such as biomedicine, food ingredients, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and agriculture. In this paper, occurrence, assay and purification protocols, enzymatic characteristics, substrate specificity, and mode of action of microbial CDAs have been described. Several lines of evidence have substantiated the biological roles involved in cell wall formation and plant-pathogen interactions for fungal CDAs. The gene structure of CDAs has been compared with other family 4 carbohydrate esterases which deacetylate a wide variety of acetylated poly/oligo-saccharides. The use of CDAs for the conversion of chitin to chitosan, in contrast to the presently used chemical procedure, offers the possibility of a controlled, non-degradable process, resulting in the production of well-defined chitosan oligomers and polymers. Insect pathogen that can secrete high levels of chitin-metab­olizing enzymes including CDA can be a possible alternative for new pest management tools.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.79-86
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• 2007

The isolated plantamajoside from Plantago asiatica that is often used as a marker compound in chemotaxonomic studies has various bioactivites such as the inhibitions of cyclic AMP phosphodi-esterase and 5-lipoxygenase, microbial growth and inflammation, and currently demands the generation of toxicity data. The purpose of this study was to examine the toxicities of the single and 14 days repeated dose toxicity in Sprague-Dawley rats orally administrated with plantamajoside at dose levels of 0, 500, 1000, and 2000 mg of dried material/kg body weight/day. The results showed that there was no difference in body weight change, food intake, water consumption, or relative organ weight among different dose groups. Also we observed no death and abnormal clinical signs were observed during the experimental period. Between the groups orally administered Plantago asiatica and the control group, there was no statistical significance in hematological test or serum biochemical values. There were no gross findings at final sacrifice. There was no evidence of histopathological alteration mediated by 14 days treatment with Plantago asiatica. These results suggest that no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) of the oral application was considered to be more than 2000 mg/kg in rats under the conditions employed in this study. Another observation was performed to investigate the safety of Plantago asiatica in respect of genotoxicity. This substance was examined that Salmonella typhimurium reversion assay (Ames test) in strain TA98, TA100, TA1535. In the reverse mutation test, Plantago asiatica did not induce mutagenicity in Samonella typhimurium with and without metabolic activation. These results indicated that Plantago asiatica had no genotoxicity.

• BMB Reports
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.432-440
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• 2006

A tuber lectin from Arisaema jacquemontii Blume belonging to family Araceae was purified by employing a single step affinity chromatography using column of asialofetuin-linked amino activated silica beads and the bound lectin was eluted with 100 mM glycine-HCl buffer pH 2.5. The purified A. jacquemontii lectin (AJL) showed a single protein band with an apparent molecular mass of 13.4 kDa when submitted to SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under reducing as well as non-reducing conditions. The native molecular mass of AJL determined by gel filtration on a Biogel P-200 column was 52 kDa and its carbohydrate content was estimated to be 3.40%. Thus AJL is a tetrameric glycoprotein. The purified lectin agglutinated erythrocytes from rabbit but not from human. Its activity was not inhibited by any of the mono- and disaccharides tested except N-acetyl-D-lactosamine having minimal inhibitory sugar concentration (MIC) 25 mM. Among the glycoproteins tested only asialofetuin was found to be inhibitory (MIC $125\;{\mu}g/mL$). A single band was obtained in native PAGE at pH 4.5 while PAGE at pH 8.3 showed two bands. Isoelectric focusing of AJL gave multiple bands in the pI range of 4.6-5.5. When incorporated in artificial diet AJL significantly affected the development of Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coquillett) larvae indicating the possibility of using this lectin in a biotechnological strategy for insect management of cucurbits. Larvae fed on artificial diet containing sub-lethal dose of AJL showed a significant decrease in acid phosphatase and alkaline phosphatase activity while esterase activity markedly increased as compared to larvae fed on diet without lectin. Out of various human cancer cell lines employed in sulphorhodamine B (SRB) assay, this lectin was found to have appreciable inhibitory effect on the in vitro proliferation of HCT-15, HOP-62, SW-620, HT-29, IMR-32, SKOV-3, Colo-205, PC-3, HEP-2 and A-549 cancer cell lines by 82, 77, 73, 70, 41, 41, 37, 29, 21 and 21% respectively.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.42-52
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• 1991

Two types of urine dipstick assays, Multistix-SG and Combur-9-test RL, were compared for compatibility, accuracy, specificity and predictive values of a positive and negative test in 501 patients urine and artificially prepared specimen. We found that the results of semiquantitative tests of Multistix-SG and Combur-9-Test RL performed were statistically similar in patients specimen. The urinary leukocyte estrase tests of Combur-9-Test RL assays compared with urine sediment microscopy in regard to compatibility, sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values of a positive and negative test 83.7%, 48.1%, 90.3%, 47.4% and 90.1%, respectively. The urinar nitrite tests of Comber-9-Test RL assays compared with urine culture tests, in regard to compatibility, sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values of a positive and negative tests were 90.3%, 19.4%, 84.7%, 53.8% and 94.1%, respectively. For the urinary protein, the sulfosalicylic acid method was the most sensitive test for any kinds of protein, and Multistix-SG appeared more sensitive than Compur-9-Test RL for the albuminuria. For the urinary bilirubin and glusose, two dipstick assays were similar in their diganostic efficiency. Finally in the urinary occult blood tests, Combur-9-Test RL assays was more sensitive than Multistix-SG.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.4328-4334
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• 2015

We determined a method to determine marine planktonic organism viability using Evan's blue, Aniline blue, and 5-choromethyfluorescein diacetate (CMFDA). The Evan's blue and Aniline blue methods produced bright blue light for dead phytoplankton and zooplankton and were the best dyes to detect dead cells. The staining efficiency of Evan's blue and Aniline blue were ${\geq}90%$ of the original field sample. However, it was difficult to test the efficiency of a ship's ballast water treatment system because detection of living cells. In contrast, the CMFDA method, which is based on measuring cell esterase activity using a fluorimetric stain, was the best dye to detect live cells of almost all phytoplankton species, and staining efficiency was 70%. The CMFDA method is similar to the fluorescein diacetate (FDA) staining method. Therefore, we estimated viability of phytoplankton species using a double-staining method by combining CMFDA and FDA to determine optimum staining efficiency. As a result, the frequency of dying cells based on the double-staining method was 95%, which was significantly higher than that of single CMDFA staining. Our results suggest that a CMDFA + FDA assay is more effective to determine survival of marine plankton and that this method was applicable to investigate the efficacy of a ship's ballast water treatment system.

• Journal of The Korean Dental Society of Anesthesiology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.101-106
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• 2014

Background: Remifentanil, an ultra-short-acting mu-opioid receptor agonist, is unique from other opioids because of its esterase-based metabolism, minimal accumulation, and very rapid onset and offset of clinical action. Remifentanil can prevent the inflammatory response and can suppress inducible nitric oxide synthase expression in a septic mouse model. However, the effects of remifentanil on human keratinocyte and autophagy have yet to be fully elucidated during hypoxia-reoxygenation. Here we investigated whether remifentanil confers protective effect against hypoxia-reoxygenation in human keratinocyte and, if so, whether autophagy mediates this effect. Methods: The human keratinocytes were cultured under 1% oxygen tension. The cells were gassed with 94% $N_2$, and 5% $CO_2$ and incubated for 24 h at $37^{\circ}C$. To determine whether the administration of affects human keratinocytes hypoxia-reoxygenation injury, cells were then exposed to various concentrations of remifentanil (0.01, 0.1, 0.5 and 1 ng/ml) for 2 h. After remifentanil treatment, to simulate reoxygenation and recovery, the cells were reoxygenated for 12 h at $37^{\circ}C$. Control group did not receive remifentanil treatment. Normoxia group did not receive hypoxia and remifentanil treatment for 36 h. 3-MA group was treated 3-methyladenine (3-MA) for 1h before remifentanil treatment. Cell viability was measured using a quantitative colorimetric assay with MTT, showing the mitochondrial activity of living cells. Cells were stained with fluorescence and analyzed with Western blot analysis to find out any relations with activation of autophagy. Results: Prominent accumulation of autophagic specific staining MDC was observed around the nuclei in RPT group HaCaT cells. Similarly, AO staining, red fluorescent spots appeared in RPT group HaCaT cells, while the Normoxia, control and 3-MA groups showed mainly green cytoplasmic fluorescence. We here examined activation of autophagy related protein under H/R-induced cells by Western blotting analysis. Atg5, Beclin-1, LC3-II (microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 form II) and p62 was elevated in RPT group cells. But they were decreased when autophagy was suppressed by 3-MA (Fig. 5). Conclusions: Although the findings of this study are limited to an in vitro interpretation, we suggest that remifentanil may have a beneficial effect in the recovery of wound from hypoxia-reoxygenation injury.