• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.46-66
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• 2012

Metabolomic studies using human urine have shown that human metabolism is altered by a variety of environmental, cultural, and physiological factors. Comprehensive information about normal human metabolite profiles is necessary for accurate clinical diagnosis of disease and for disease prevention and treatment. In this study, metabolite correlation analyses, using $^1H$ nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy coupled with multivariate statistics, were performed on human urine to compare metabolic differences based on gender and/or obesity in healthy human subjects. First, we applied partial least squares discriminant analysis to the NMR spectral data set to verify the data's ability to discriminate by gender and obesity. Then, the differences in metabolite-metabolite correlation between male and female, and between normal and high body mass index (obese) subjects were investigated through pairwise correlations. Creatine and several metabolites, including isoleucine, trans-aconitate, and trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), exhibited different quantitative relationships depending on gender. Dimethylamine had a different correlation with glycine and TMAO, based on gender. The correlation of TMAO with amino acids was considerably lower in obese, compared to normal, subjects. We expect that the results will shed light on the metabolic pathways of healthy humans and will assist in the accurate diagnosis of human disease.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.11-18
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• 2007

Mechanisms of insecticide resistance found in insects may include three general categories. Modified behavioral mechanisms can let the insects avoid the exposure to toxic compounds. The second category is physiological mechanisms such as altered penetration, rapid excretion, lower rate transportation, or increased storage of insecticides by insects. The third category relies on biochemical mechanisms including the insensitivity of target sites to insecticides and enhanced detoxification rate by several detoxifying mechanisms. Insecticides metabolism usually results in the formation of more water-soluble and therefore more readily eliminated, and generally less toxic products to the host insects rather than the parent compounds. The representative detoxifying enzymes are general esterases and monooxygenases that catalyze the toxic compounds to be more water-soluble forms and then secondary metabolism is followed by conjugation reactions including those catalyzed by glutathione S-transferases (GSTs). However, a change in the resistant species is not easily determined and the levels of mRNAs do not necessarily predict the levels of the corresponding proteins in a cell. As genomics understands the expression of most of the genes in an organism after being stressed by toxic compounds, proteomics can determine the global protein changes in a cell. In this present review, it is suggested that the environmental proteomic application may be a good approach to understand the biochemical mechanisms of insecticide resistance in insects and to predict metabolomic changes leading to physiological changes of the resistant species.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.38 no.7
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• pp.587-596
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• 2015

Obesity and diabetes arise from an intricate interplay between both genetic and environmental factors. It is well recognized that obesity plays an important role in the development of insulin resistance and diabetes. Yet, the exact mechanism of the connection between obesity and diabetes is still not completely understood. Metabolomics is an analytical approach that aims to detect and quantify small metabolites. Recently, there has been an increased interest in the application of metabolomics to the identification of disease biomarkers, with a number of well-known biomarkers identified. Metabolomics is a potent approach to unravel the intricate relationships between metabolism, obesity and progression to diabetes and, at the same time, has potential as a clinical tool for risk evaluation and monitoring of disease. Moreover, metabolomics applications have revealed alterations in the levels of metabolites related to obesity-associated diabetes. This review focuses on the part that metabolomics has played in elucidating the roles of metabolites in the regulation of systemic metabolism relevant to obesity and diabetes. It also explains the possible metabolic relation and association between the two diseases. The metabolites with altered profiles in individual disorders and those that are specifically and similarly altered in both disorders are classified, categorized and summarized.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.26 no.10
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• pp.1416-1423
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• 2013

The metabolomic profile of the anaerobic fungus Piromyces sp. F1, isolated from the rumen of goats, and how this is affected by the presence of naturally associated methanogens, was analyzed by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The major metabolites in the fungal monoculture were formate, lactate, ethanol, acetate, succinate, sugars/amino acids and ${\alpha}$-ketoglutarate, whereas the co-cultures of anaerobic fungi and associated methanogens produced citrate. This is the first report of citrate as a major metabolite of anaerobic fungi. Univariate analysis showed that the mean values of formate, lactate, ethanol, citrate, succinate and acetate in co-cultures were significantly higher than those in the fungal monoculture, while the mean values of glucose and ${\alpha}$-ketoglutarate were significantly reduced in co-cultures. Unsupervised principal components analysis revealed separation of metabolite profiles of the fungal mono-culture and co-cultures. In conclusion, the novel finding of citrate as one of the major metabolites of anaerobic fungi associated with methanogens may suggest a new yet to be identified pathway exists in co-culture. Anaerobic fungal metabolism was shifted by associated methanogens, indicating that anaerobic fungi are important providers of substrates for methanogens in the rumen and thus play a key role in ruminal methanogenesis.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 2015.11a
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• pp.39-39
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• 2015

Korean traditional Nuruk has been developed with various materials and shapes according to geographical environments and climates of their origins. Nuruk is also known as kokja in Korea, reflecting the understanding that microorganisms such as wild fungi, yeasts, and lactobacillus bacteria are naturally inoculated and reproduced. The objective of this study is to identify the characteristics of traditional Nuruk through recreating traditional production methods detailed in ancient Korean documents. In the present study, a total of 58 different kinds of Korean traditional Nuruk were prepared, including 46 kinds of recreated products. Each Nuruk sample was evaluated for its enzymatic activities, including glucoamylase, protease, and glucanase. Their suitability for alcoholic beverage production were compared to each other. To isolate valuable microorganisms from Nuruk samples, alcoholic beverages produced using each sample were subjected to sensory evaluation to determine their taste. In addition, metabolite changes in traditional alcoholic beverages fermented with different kinds of Nuruk were analyzed through mass-based metabolomics approach. This study presents, for the first time, the traditional production methods written in ancient Korean documents using workable production methods supported by modern technologies. In addition, this study analyzed the characteristics of reproduced Nuruk. It could be utilized as a basis for studying traditional Korean traditional alcoholic beverages and their valuable microorganisms.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.825-828
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• 2010

To classify Glycyrrhiza species, samples of different species were analyzed by $^1H$ NMR-based metabolomics technique. Partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) was used as the multivariate statistical analysis of the 1H NMR data sets. There was a clear separation between various Glycyrrhiza species in the PLS-DA derived score plots. The PLS-DA model was validated, and the key metabolites contributing to the separation in the score plots of various Glycyrrhiza species were lactic acid, alanine, arginine, proline, malic acid, asparagine, choline, glycine, glucose, sucrose, 4-hydroxy-phenylacetic acid, and formic acid. The compounds present at relatively high levels were glucose, and 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid in G. glabra; lactic acid, alanine, and proline in G. inflata; and arginine, malic acid, and sucrose in G. uralensis. This is the first study to perform the global metabolomic profiling and differentiation of Glycyrrhiza species using $^1H$ NMR and multivariate statistical analysis.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.9
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• pp.1681-1691
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• 2017

This study investigated the effect of proline addition on the salt tolerance of Tetragenococcus halophilus. Salt stress led to the accumulation of intracellular proline in T. halophilus. When 0.5 g/l proline was added to hyperhaline medium, the biomass increased 34.6% (12% NaCl) and 27.7% (18% NaCl) compared with the control (without proline addition), respectively. A metabolomic approach was employed to reveal the cellular metabolic responses and protective mechanisms of proline upon salt stress. The results showed that both the cellular membrane fatty acid composition and metabolite profiling responded by increasing unsaturated and cyclopropane fatty acid proportions, as well as accumulating some specific intracellular metabolites (environmental stress protector). Higher contents of intermediates involved in glycolysis, the tricarboxylic acid cycle, and the pentose phosphate pathway were observed in the cells supplemented with proline. In addition, addition of proline resulted in increased concentrations of many organic osmolytes, including glutamate, alanine, citrulline, N-acetyl-tryptophan, and mannitol, which may be beneficial for osmotic homeostasis. Taken together, results in this study suggested that proline plays a protective role in improving the salt tolerance of T. halophilus by regulating the related metabolic pathways.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.133-137
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• 2009

The root of Astragalus membranaceus is a traditional folk medicine that has been used for many therapeutic purposes in Asia. It reportedly acts as an immunostimulant, tonic, hepatoprotective, diuretic, antidiabetic, analgesic, expectorant, sedative, and anticancer drug. In this study, metabolomic profiling was applied to the roots of A. membranaceus of different ages using NMR coupled with two multivariate statistical analysis methods: such as principal components analysis (PCA) and canonical discriminant analysis (CDA). This allowed various metabolites to be assigned in NMR spectra, including $\gamma$-aminobutyric acid (GABA), aspartic acid, succinic acid, glutamic acid, glutamine, N-acetyl aspartic acid, acetic acid, arginine, alanine, threonine, lactic acid, and valine. The score plot from PCA and also CDA allowed a clear separation between samples according to age.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.86-95
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• 2019

The modern era of microbial genome analysis began in earnest in the 2000s with the generalization of metagenomics and gene sequencing techniques. Studying complex microbial community such as oral cavity and colon by a pure culture is considerably ineffective in terms of cost and time. Therefore, various techniques for genomic analysis have been developed to overcome the limitation of the culture method and to explore microbial communities existing in the natural environment at the gene level. Among these, DNA fingerprinting analysis and microarray chip have been used extensively; however, the most recent method of analysis is metagenomics. The study summarily examined the overview of metagenomics analysis techniques, as well as domestic and foreign studies on disease genomics and cluster analysis related to oral metagenome. The composition of oral bacteria also varies across different individuals, and it would become possible to analyze what change occurs in the human body depending on the activity of bacteria living in the oral cavity and what causality it has with diseases. Identification, isolation, metabolism, and presence of functional genes of microorganisms are being identified for correlation analysis based on oral microbial genome sequencing. For precise diagnosis and treatment of diseases based on microbiome, greater effort is needed for finding not only the causative microorganisms, but also indicators at gene level. Up to now, oral microbial studies have mostly involved metagenomics, but if metatranscriptomic, metaproteomic, and metabolomic approaches can be taken together for assessment of microbial genes and proteins that are expressed under specific conditions, then doing so can be more helpful for gaining comprehensive understanding.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.12
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• pp.1971-1981
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• 2018

In this study, we investigated the altered enzymatic activities and metabolite profiles of koji fermented using varying permutations of Aspergillus oryzae and/or Bacillus amyloliquefaciens. Notably, the protease and ${\beta}$-glucosidase activities were manifold increased in co-inoculated (CO) koji samples (co-inoculation of A. oryzae and B. amyloliquefaciens). Furthermore, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS)-based metabolite profiling indicates that levels of amino acids, organic acids, sugars, sugar alcohols, fatty acids, nucleosides, and vitamins were distinctly higher in CO, SA (sequential inoculation of A. oryzae, followed by B. amyloliquefaciens), and SB (sequential inoculation of B. amyloliquefaciens, followed by A. oryzae). The multivariate principal component analysis (PCA) plot based on GC-MS datasets indicated a clustered pattern for MA and MB (koji samples inoculated either with A. oryzae or B. amyloliquefaciens) across PC2 (20.0%). In contrast, the CO, SA, and SB metabolite profiles displayed segregated patterns across PLS1 (22.2%) and PLS2 (21.1%) in the partial least-square discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) model. Intriguingly, the observed disparity in the levels of primary metabolites was engendered largely by higher relative levels of sugars and sugar alcohols in MA, SA, and CO koji samples, which was commensurate with the relative amylase activities in respective samples. Collectively, the present study emphasizes the utility of integrated biochemical and metabolomic approaches for achieving the optimal permutation of fermentative inocula for industrial koji preparation.