• Environmental Mutagens and Carcinogens
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.20-24
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• 2006

An antimicrobial substance was purified from the giant snail body extract (Achatina fulica) using solid-phase extraction and separation on HPLC reversed-phase chromatography. The primary structure were determined by a combination of an automated amino acid sequence and MALDI-TOF Mass. Its molecular mass was found to be 1392.64 Da. This result was in excellent agrement with the theoretical molecular mass calculated from the amino acid sequence. purified peptide showed antimicrobial activity in vitro against Escherichia coli D31. This result indicate that giant snail whole body was potentially antimicrobial.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.513-525
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• 1998

The spermatogenetic process in the edible giant snail is similar to those in the other snails, except for the axoneme formation process. In this study, the axoneme formation process in the giant snail was mainly examined by means of electron microscopy. The tail portion of a spermatozoon is about $160{\mu}m$ long, and extends straight to the rear, surrounded by two large and long mitochondria in spiral forms. A number of glycogen particles $(40\sim70nm)$ are found in the swollen matrix of the mitochodria. The axoneme which composes the tail of a spermatozoon is surrounded by $7\sim10$ lamella-form fibrous sheaths of about $0.2{\mu}m$ in thickness. Most of the mature spermatozoa are found to be clustered into a group of $5\sim7$ ea in syncytial bridges formed by cytoplasmic processes. Sertoli cells contain glycogen particles, endoplasmic reticulum, a lot of mitochondria, and lipids in their cytoplasm. They protrude their filiform pseudopodia and phagocytize abnormal spermatids or spermaozoa.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.453-458
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• 1994

The nutrient content and protein quality of Giant snalil (Acchatina ) meats (white, yellow, and gray) were determined for fresh and processed products. Fresh snail meats contained 81~82% moisture, 11~14% protein, 0.9~1.3% fat, and 1.2-1.4% ash. Proximate composition of fresh meat varied (p<0.05) with meat colour and gray meat had the lowest protein and highest ash content among samples. The major minerals of fresh snail meats were calcium (318~570mg%), potassium (170~190mg%), and magnesium (74~103mg%).Gray meat showed the higher calcium and lower sodium level than the other snail meats. No differences were found between fresh snail meats on amino acid profile, and total essential amino acid was 46% of total amino acids in all snail meats. In vitro protein digestibility of fresh snail meats were ranged from 76 to 81% which were lower than that of marine moulusks. Processing resulted in some increase(1.7~5.7%) in protein digestibility but no differences were found in C-PER after processing. The 25% saline water extractable mucous materials from fresh snail meat influenced in decreasing digestibility of other protein sources from 2% (casein) to 11% (filefish protein).

• Proceedings of the Malacological Society of Korea Conference
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• 1999.11a
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• pp.7-8
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• 1999

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.889-894
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• 2002

Acharan sulfate (AS) is a glycosaminoglycan (GAG) prepared from the giant African snail, Achatina fulica. In this study, some biological activities of AS were evaluated on the basis of structural similarities to heparin/heparan sulfate and the biological functions of GAGs. We demonstrated that it exhibited strong immunostimulating activities as measured by carbon clearance test in mice and in vivo phagocytosis. It also exhibited a significant hypoglycemic activity in epinephrine (EP)-induced hyperglycemia as well as antifatigue effects by weight-loaded forced swimming test. And it showed hypolipidemic activities in cholesterol-rich mixture induced hyperlipidemia in rats. The above results indicate that AS has diverse biological activities and suggest therapeutically important target molecules.

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.16 no.1_2
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• pp.1-9
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• 2000

The visceral ganglion and the right parietal ganglion of the African giant snail, Achatina fulica, consists of two hemispheres, each in left and right side, respectively, like a butterfly. The surface of cortex and medulla in the two ganglions are crowded with nerve cells, but nerve fibers form a network at the middle portion. The nerve cells in the cortex and medulla of the visceral ganglion and the right parietal ganglion are classified into the following four classes according to their sizes: giant (above 200 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$, in diameter), large (60-70 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$, in diameter), middle (30-40 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$, in diameter) and small (10-15 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$, in diameter) nerve cells, respectively. The giant and large nerve cells are rarely found(20-22 eas. in total) while the middle and small nerve cells are found in large quantities (middle: 400-500 eas., small: 700-800 eas.). In the AB/AY double staining, the giant nerve cell is identified as light yellow cells (LYC), while large and middle none cells as dark green cells (DGC) or yellow green cells (YGC), and small nerve cells as yellow cells (YC) or blue cells (BC), The DGC, which reacts positively to somatostatin immunostain reaction, inhibits the secretion of the growth control hormone. The giant and large nerve cells are identified to do the functions of phagocytosis as well as neurosecretion.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.216.2-216.2
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• 2003

We previously reported that acharan sulfate from the African giant snail Achatina futica showed the anticoagulant activity in vitro, but it was much less than that of heparin. In present study, the anticoagulant activity of acharan sulfate was investigated in vivo. Intravenous administration of acharan sulfate prolonged the clotting time (APTT) in mice and rats in a dose-dependent manner. (omitted)

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.211.2-211.2
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• 2003

Glycosaminolycans (GAGs). such as heparin and heparan sulfate, are highly charged molecules and are of great biological importance. Protein-GAGs interactions play prominent roles in cell-cell recognition and cell growth. Acharan sulfate (AS), isolated from the giant African snail Achatina fulica, is a novel member of glycosaminoglycan families. It showed antitumor activity by the inhibition of angiogenesis. (omitted)

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2003.10b
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• pp.150.2-151
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• 2003

We have focused on various biological activities of acharan sulfate (AS) isolated from the giant African snail Achatina fulica. In a previous study, AS showed antiangiogenic and immunomodulating activity. We also investigated antitumor activity of AS. In vitro AS had no cytotoxicity within 0 to 200 ug/ml in tumor cells such as Lewis lung carcinoma(LLC) , KM1214 (human colon cancer cell) and Caki-1 (human kidney cancer cell) by both MTT and SRB assay. In vivo AS was used to treat C57BL/6 mice bearing LLC by subscutaneous injection. (omitted)

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.367-376
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• 2000

The observation using an electron microscope shows that the maturation of the oocyte of African giant snail, Achatina fulica, proceeds over three stages. The oocyte of stage 1 is a small elliptic cell $(220\times400{\mu}m)$ whose light nucleoplasm contains two nucleoli. In its cytoplasm, a number of mitochondria, rough endoplasmic reticula, and ribosomes are found, while yolk granules are not. The nucleus of the oocyte of stage 2 is relatively large in comparison with the volume of cytoplasm, and contains one nucleolus. In the nuclear envelope comprising inner and outer double membrane, there are found a lot of nuclear pores for materials to pass through. A number of mitochondria, Golgi complex and lipid yolk granules appears in the cytoplasm, and proteinous yolk granules begin to form and mature in the vacuoles of various sizes ($0.8\sim3.0{\mu}m$ in diameter). The oocyte of stage 3 has an enlarged nucleolus. Material transportation through nuclear pore is not found any longer. The cytoplasm in this stage is filled with proteinous and lipid yolk granules. The microvilli are developed around the egg plasma membrane.