• Proceedings of the SCSK Conference
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• 2003.09b
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• pp.519-523
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• 2003

Alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) includes a group of organic acids found in natural foods such as sugarcane (glycolic acid), milk (lactic acid), apples (malic acid) and oranges (citric acid). Earlier studies demonstrated the effect of AHAs on the skin by diminishing the adhesiveness of the corneal layer and increasing the viable epidermal thickness. Recent data suggest that AHAs have some effects on the dermal component of skin and even affect the aging process of the skin. A previous study revealed increased collagen production by treatment with glycolic acid among AHAs in vitro. However, the mechanism of the regulation of collagen production by glycolic acid was unclear. In present study, we tried to demonstrate the effect of glycolic acid on human dermal fibroblasts and to unveil the mechanism of regulation of collagen production by glycolic acid in human dermal fibroblasts: proliferation of fibroblasts and collagen synthesis and degradation by collagenases in fibroblasts. Our results suggested that glycolic acid had no effect on proliferation and cytotoxicity of adult human dermal fibroblasts. However, glycolic acid not only induced the increase of the collagen synthesis in human dermal fibroblasts at lower concentration than 0.1 % but also inhibited MMP-2 activity of human dermal fibroblast in the range between 0.01 and 0.4% and MMP-9 activity of human dermal fibroblast in the range between 0.06 and 0.09%. In summary, our results suggest that glycolic acid may increase wrinkle reduction partially by both increase in collagen synthesis and decrease in collagen degradation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.42 no.12
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• pp.2035-2041
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• 2013

The effects of Aspergillus oryzae rice koji (AO) and Asp. kawachii rice koji (AK) as enzyme preparations, on the quality characteristics of rice mash were invested in this study. The amount of AORM (Asp. oryzae rice mash) and AKRM (Asp. kawachii rice mash) were 50, 100, 200% (w/w) based on 100 g of rice. Firstly, in the titer measurement result on the ${\alpha}$-amylase and glucoamylase activities of AO and AK. On the other hand, the acid protease activity has values of 31.56 unit for AO and 849.17 unit for AK. The sugar solid of the AORM and AKRM groups significantly increased as the rice koji ratio on rice was higher, which were shown with values as high as 17.63~20.53 and 17.51~19.28, respectively. Glucose and maltose were detected for free sugar of AORM. Only glucose was found in AKRM. Citric acid, malic acid, and lactic acid were detected as the organic acid of KORM; oxalic acid, citric acid, and succinic acid were detected for AKRM, and the content increased as the rice koji ratio on rice increased (P<0.05). From the above result, rice koji with useful mold is expected to be used broadly in foods by looking at the fact that it has starch degradation ability and organic acid producibility.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.12
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• pp.1621-1628
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• 2012

The agar-degrading bacterium GNUM-1 was isolated from the brown algal species Sargassum serratifolium, which was obtained from the West Sea of Korea, by using the selective artificial seawater agar plate. The cells were Gram-negative, $0.5-0.6{\mu}m$ wide and $2.0-2.5{\mu}m$ long curved rods with a single polar flagellum, forming nonpigmented, circular, smooth colonies. Cells grew at $20^{\circ}C-37^{\circ}C$, between pH 5.0 and 9.0, and at 1-10% (w/v) NaCl. The DNA G+C content of the GNUM-1 strain was 45.5 mol%. The 16S rRNA sequence of the GNUM-1 was very similar to those of Alteromonas stellipolaris LMG 21861 (99.86% sequence homology) and Alteromonas addita $R10SW13^T$(99.64% sequence homology), which led us to assign it to the genus Alteromonas. It showed positive activities for agarase, amylase, gelatinase, alkaline phosphatase, esterase (C8), lipase (C14), leucine arylamidase, valine arylamidase, ${\alpha}$-chymotrypsin, acid phosphatase, naphthol-AS-BI-phosphohydrolase, ${\alpha}$-galactosidase, ${\beta}$-galactosidase, ${\beta}$-glucosidase, catalase, and urease. It can utilize citrate, malic acid, and trisodium citrate. The major fatty acids were summed feature 3 (21.5%, comprising $C_{16:1}{\omega}7c/iso-C_{15:0}$ 2-OH) and C16:0 (15.04%). On the basis of the variations in many biochemical characteristics, GNUM-1 was considered as unique and thus was named Alteromonas sp. GNUM-1. It produced the highest agarase activity in modified ASW medium containing 0.4% sucrose, but lower activity in rich media despite superior growth, implying that agarase production is tightly regulated and repressed in a rich nutrient condition. The 30 kDa protein with agarase activity was identified by zymography, and this report serves as the very first account of such a protein in the genus Alteromonas.