• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.245-251
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• 2010

Objective: Human sperm nucleus DNA damage may negatively affect pregnancy outcome, and the spermatozoa of infertile men have more DNA damage than that of fertile men. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of microsurgical varicocelectomy on human sperm nucleus DNA integrity. Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 18 subfertile male patients who underwent microsurgical varicocelectomy at our hospital from April 2006 to April 2007. Varicocele was diagnosed by physical examination and Doppler ultrasound. Standard semen analysis was performed in 18 patients before and 4 months after microsurgical varicoceletcomy using a computer assisted semen analyzer. Sperm nucleus DNA integrity was assessed by a single-cell gel electrophoresis (comet assay). Results: No recurrence of varicocele was observed after 4 months later. The DNA fragmentation index improved after varicocelectomy compared with pre-operatively (19.3 versus 13.7%, respectively, p<0.05). Semen analysis parameters (total count, concentration, motile sperm, viability, strict morphology) increased after varicocelectomy, but the difference did not reach statistical significance. Conclusion: Our data suggest that microsurgical varicocelectomy can improve semen analysis parameters and human sperm nucleus DNA integrity in infertile men with varicocele.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.209-218
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• 2011

Ginseng has been used as a general tonic agent to invigorate the human body as an adaptogenic agent. In a previous report, we have shown that ginseng contains a novel glycolipoprotein called gintonin. The main function of gintonin is to transiently enhance intracellular free $Ca^{2+}$ $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ levels in animal cells. The previous method for gintonin isolation included multiple steps using organic solvents. In the present report, we developed a simple method for the preparation of crude gintonin from ginseng root as well as stem and leaf, which produced a higher yield of gintonin than the previous one. The yield of gintonin was 0.20%, 0.29%, and 0.81% from ginseng root, stem, and leaf, respectively. The apparent molecular weight of gintonin isolated from stem and leaf through sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was almost same as that from root but the compositions of amino acids, carbohydrates or lipids differed slightly between them. We also examined the effects of crude gintonin from ginseng root, stem, and leaf on endogenous $Ca^{2+}$-activated $Cl^-$ channel (CaCC) activity of Xenopus oocytes through mobilization of $[Ca^{2+}]_i$. We found that the order of potency for the activation of CaCC was ginseng root > stem > leaf. The $ED_{50}$ was $1.4{\pm}1.4$, $4.5{\pm}5.9$, and $3.9{\pm}1.1$ mg/mL for root, stem and leaf, respectively. In the present study, we demonstrated for the first time that in addition to ginseng root, ginseng stem and leaf also contain gintonin. Gintonin can be prepared from a simple method with higher yield of gintonin from ginseng root, stem, and leaf. Finally, these results demonstrate the possibility that ginseng stem and leaf could also be utilized for ginstonin preparation after a simple procedure, rather than being discarded.

• The Korean Journal of Zoology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.31-43
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• 1985

The $(Ca^{2+}+Mg^{2+})$-ATPase has been purified homogeneously from sarcoplasmic reticulum of rat skeletal muscle by sucrose density gradient centrifugation. The purified enzyme has a molecular weight of 115,000 as judged by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dedecyl sulfate, and therefore has the same size of the enzyme in rabbit and chick skeletal muscle. $Ca^{2+}, Mg^{2+}, Fe^{2+}, Co^{2+}, and Mn^{2+}$ at 50 $\\muM$ show stimulatory effect on the ATP-ase, while $Zn^{2+}, Cu^{2+}, and Hg^{2+}$ inhibit it at the same concentration. The ATPase activity is insensitive to antimalarial drugs such as quinine and quinacrine, but is sensitive to inhibition by p-hydroxymecurie benzoate and phenylmethylsulfonylfluoride. The enzyme has optimum pH of 6 to 7 and Km value for ATP is estimated to be 98 $\\muM$. Thus, a number of biochemical properties of this enzyme appear to be different from those of the enzyme that have been isolated from rabbit skeletal muscle. The $(Ca^{2+}+Mg^{2+})$-ATPase appears to be selectively degraded in microsomal fraction. The activity of metalloendoprotease is evident in the microsomal preparation when assayed by radioactively labeled protein substrate, such as $^{3}H-casein and $^{125}I$-insulin. However, it is presently unclear whether the metalloendoprotease is responsible for the degradation of the $(Ca^{2+}+Mg^{2+})$-ATPase.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.820-826
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• 2017

Soybean is one of the most common food materials for making traditional Korean foods such as soybean paste, soy source and soy snack, and their manufacturing processes include heat treatment of soybean. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of heat treatment on the physicochemical properties of soybean. All samples were heat treated under commercial steamed, puffed or air-fried conditions, and then the protein molecular weight distribution, thermal properties, fluorescence intensity, protein solubility, and water and oil holding ability of the heat treated soybeans were examined. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis indicated that heat treatment caused fragmentation of polypeptide chain in soybean, showing the band of low molecular ranging from 17 to 40 kDa. The differential scanning calorimetric analysis showed the decrease of enthalpy values (${\Delta}H$) by heat treatment. Fluorescence spectroscopy indicated that the heat treatment caused lipid oxidation as proved by increasing emission intensity. The protein solubility at pH 3-6, and water holding capacity of heat treated soybeans were the higher than no treatment. These results suggest that the heat treatment resulted in decreased enthalpy values, and increased protein degradation, lipid oxidation and water affinity of soybean. Moreover, the effect of heat treatment on physiochemical properties of soybeans was more significant under air-fried condition.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.591-597
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• 2003

To compare the quality of genomic DNA extracted from potato for PCR detection, four different methods, such as silica-based membrane method, silica-coated bead method, STE solution treatment, and CTAB-phenol/chloroform method, were evaluated. Also, to remove an excessive carbohydrate from the potato, ${\alpha}$- and ${\beta}$-amylase were used individually and in combination. When used both silica-based membrane method and silica-coated bead method combined with enzymes, the genomic DNAs were extracted from the raw potato with high purity for PCR. However, the silica-coated head method combined with enzyme treatment was the most efficient for extraction of the genomic DNA from the frozen fried potatoes. When applied with STE solution, the highly purified DNA was extracted from the raw potatoes without enzyme treatment in adequate yield for PCR. In cases of processed potatoes, such as frozen-fried potato and fabricated potato chips, CTAB-phenol/chloroform method is mostly feasible for DNA extraction and PCR efficacy at high sensitivity. As the results of PCR amplification, 216bp of PCR product was detected on 2% agarose gel electrophoresis, but any amplicons derived from New leaf and New leaf Y gene was not detected in any sample.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.17 no.10
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• pp.1321-1329
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• 2007

Deer antler tissue contains the most rapidly growing bone in the animal kingdom. Thus, it is likely that growing antler tissue is a rich source of local paracrine bone-stimulating factors. Growth factors, at least the insulin-like growth factor (IGF), control the bone-remodelling process. In this study, we tried to isolate and purify IGF-I from fresh antler tissue by the routine isolation and purification of protein. The purification involved ammonium sulfate precipitation, DEAE-Sepharose CL-60 ion-exchange chromatography, CM-Sepharose CL-6B ion-exchange chromatography, and Sephadex G-50 chromatography. Purified fractions from each step were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PACE), Dot-blot, and Western-blot methods. Furthermore, the quantification of partially purified IGF-I was calculated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) using antibody to human recombinant IGF-1. SDS-PAGE analysis of the final fraction yielded two molecular bands and the signal band was at 12 kDa on the Western-blot film. This purified IGF-I fraction showed a peak at retention time of eight min. The quantity of IGF-I in 20 g deer antler tissue as starting weight was calculated using a standard curve to be 2910 ng/ml, and total IGF-I amount is 0.291 g. The results show that IGF-I, which can be found in deer antler, can be partially purified and quantified by classic protein isolation methods.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.81-88
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• 2011

Biological activities (${\alpha},{\alpha}'$-diphenyl-${\beta}$-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging activity, fibrinolytic activity and reducing power) and biochemical properties (protein content and electrophoretical protein patterns) were examined in solid state fermentation with Bacillus subtilis and Aspergillus kawachii using silkworm powder (SP) as substrate. The highest protein contents and free radical scavenging activities were seen in the SP fermented for 12 days with B. subtilis and A. kawachii, and these were in a time-dependent manner. The highest reducing power was seen in the SP fermented for 6 days with B. subtilis and for 12 days with A. kawachii, respectively. The highest fibrinolytic activities were seen in silkworm fermented for 6 days with B. subtilis and A. kawachii, but this activity was higher in the A. kawachii fermented SP than that of B. subtilis. When total protein patterns were analyzed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), the proteins of the SP fermented with B. subtilis for 3 days were completely degraded, while the protein degradation in the SP fermented with A. kawachii occurred after 12 days and this degradation increased proportionally to culture time. As a result, the SP fermented with both B. subtilis and A. kawachii showed higher fibrinolytic activities after 6 days of fermentation and antioxidative activity after 12 days, indicating that physiological activities of the fermented SP using these strains were highly improved compared to the unfermented SP, and that this compound could be a candidate material as a dietary supplement of healthy functional foods.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.305-310
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• 2008

Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most significant pathogens and a causative agents of nosocomial infections. The emergence of methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA), in particular, has become a major clinical and epidemiological problems worldwide. In this study, we analyzed the toxin genes and investigated molecular epidemiological characteristics of S. aureus isolated from stools of diarrheal patients at the hospitals in Incheon. Of the 609 strains from 2,281 specimens, 173 strains retained enterotoxin; 68 isolates (39.30%), 100 isolates (57.80%) were classified to A and C type, respectively. In the antibiotic susceptibility, all of enterotoxin positive isolates were resistant to oxacillin. Eighty eight strains (50.86%) of 173 MRSA isolate possessed tsst gene, but eta and eth genes were not detected at all. In the detection of MRSA associated genes by PCR method, mecA genes were detected in 167 strains (96.53%). From the result of PFGE analysis, we classified tsst-positive MRSA to 10 types and 24 subtypes. Type A, H and F were the major strains comprised of 57.95% (51 strains), 10.22% (9 strains) and 9.09% (8 strains) respectively.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.21 no.1 s.96
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• pp.20-27
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• 2006

The fibrinolytic activities of soluble proteins extracted from seeds of Coix lacryma-jobi L., Carthamus tinctorius L. and Malva venicillata L. were studied. Fibrinolytic activity of extract from C. lacryma-jobi L. showed 1.3 times higher than plasmin used as positive control. The fibrinolytic enzyme was confirmed and extracted directly from seed of C. lacryma-jobi L. by a fibrin zymography. The protein was composed of a single polypeptide and its apparent molecular weight was found to be 7.8 kDa, as judged by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The effect of temperature for the proteolytic enzyme activity were stabilized above $50^{\circ}C$ and then dramatically decreased. Also, the enzyme activity was clearly inhibited by APMSF, PMSF and TPCK, suggesting that it is a member of the chymotrypsin-like serine pretense. In addition, effects of gamma-irradiated on seed of each plants were revealed that 8 Gy and 64 Gy were higher than others. This result shown that gamma-irradiation of seeds were capable to increase the fibrinolytic activity. All these results suggest the pretense is a fibrinolytic enzyme belong to a family of chymotrypsin-like serine pretense.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.584-592
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• 2004

A thermostable $\beta$-glycosidase gene, tfi $\beta$-gly, was cloned from the genomic library of Thermus filiformis Wai33 A1. ifi $\beta$-gly consists of 1,296 bp nucleotide sequence and encodes a polypeptide of 431 amino acids. It shares a strong amino acid sequence similarity with the $\beta$-glycosidases from other Thermus spp. belonging to the glycosyl hydrolase family 1. In the present study, the enzyme was overexpressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) using the pET21b(+) vector system. The recombinant enzyme was purified to homogeneity by heat treatment and a $Ni^{2+}$-affinity chromatography. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) showed that the recombinant Tfi $\beta$-glycosidase was a monomeric form with molecular mass of 49 kDa. The temperature and pH range for optimal activity of the purified enzyme were 80- $90^{\circ}C$ and 5.0-6.0, respectively. Ninety-three percent of the enzyme activity was remained at $70^{\circ}C$ after 12 h, and its half-life at $80^{\circ}C$ was 6 h, indicating that Tfi $\beta$-glycosidase is highly thermostable. Based on its K_m$, or $K_{cat}K_m$, ratio, Tfi $\beta$-glycosidase appeared to have higher affinity for $\beta$-D-glucoside than for $\beta$-D-galactoside, however, $K_{cat} for \beta$-D-galactoside was much higher than that for $\beta$-D-glucoside. The activity for lactose hydrolysis was proportionally increased at $70^{\circ}C$ and pH 7.0 without substrate inhibition until reaching 250 mM lactose concentration. The specific activity of Tfi TEX>$\beta$-glycosidase on 138 mM lactose at $70{^\circ}C$ and pH 7.0 was 134.9 U/mg. Consequently, this newly cloned enzyme appears to have a valuable advantage of conducting biotechnological processes at elevated temperature during milk pasteurization in the production of low-lactose milk.