• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.19-26
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• 2017

We investigated whether betulin affects the gene expression, secretion and proteolytic activity of matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) in primary cultured rabbit articular chondrocytes, as well as in vivo production of MMP-3 in the rat knee joint to evaluate the potential chondroprotective effect of betulin. Rabbit articular chondrocytes were cultured and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to measure interleukin-$1{\beta}$ ($IL-1{\beta}$)-induced gene expression of MMP-3, MMP-1, MMP-13, a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motifs-4 (ADAMTS-4), ADAMTS-5 and type II collagen. Effect of betulin on IL-$1{\beta}$-induced secretion and proteolytic activity of MMP-3 was investigated using western blot analysis and casein zymography, respectively. Effect of betulin on MMP-3 protein production was also examined in vivo. The results were as follows: (1) betulin inhibited the gene expression of MMP-3, MMP-1, MMP-13, ADAMTS-4, and ADAMTS-5, but increased the gene expression of type II collagen; (2) betulin inhibited the secretion and proteolytic activity of MMP-3; (3) betulin suppressed the production of MMP-3 protein in vivo. These results suggest that betulin can regulate the gene expression, secretion, and proteolytic activity of MMP-3, by directly acting on articular chondrocytes.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.805-810
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• 2002

Development of tenderizer using domestic fruits was studied. Kiwifruit was dried using various methods, and the quality of kiwifruit powder was observed during 12 week storage. Frozen kiwifruit was prepared in paste, dice, and whole flesh. After drying, paste-type kiwifruit showed 2.0 and 1.3 times higher proteolytic activity than dice and whole flesh kiwifruits, respectively. Nine hour of hot-air drying or 46 h of freeze-drying eliminated more than 90% of water from kiwifruit, during which discoloring of kiwifruit occurred. Freeze-dried powder showed 6.6 times higher yield and proteolytic activity, and resulted in almost no discolorization than those of air-dried powder. Addition of bulking agent affected the quality of hot air-dried kiwifruit powder, except color, resulting in $3.2{\sim}3.6$ times higher proteolytic activity than that without bulking agent, which is comparable to 60% of the initial freeze-dried powder content. Moisture content of kiwifruit powder with bulking agent sustained consistently during 12 week storage, whereas proteolytic activity decreased for the first 4 weeks. Freeze-drying is a preferable method to produce kiwifruit powder for tenderizer, although hot air-drying with bulking agent treatment is more economical.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.291-299
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• 2009

To elucidate HtrA3's functional roles in the HtrA3 mediated cellular processes, it is necessary to investigate its biochemical characteristics. In the present study, we constructed the plasmids encoding putative mature HtrA3 proteins (M1-HtrA3 and M2-HtrA3) based on the putative maturation sites of highly homologous HtrA1 and mouse HtrA3. We used the pGEX bacterial expression system to develop a simple and rapid purification for the recombinant HtrA3 protein. Although yields of the mature HtrA3 proteins were slightly low as 10~50 ${\mu}g$/L, the amounts and purity of M1- and M2-HtrA3 were enough to investigate their proteolytic activities. The putative mature HtrA3 proteins have proteolytic activity which could cleave $\beta$-casein as an exogenous substrate. We compared the proteolytic activity between the HtrA family, HtrA1, HtrA2, and HtrA3. The cleavage activity of HtrA3 and HtrA2 were 2 folds higher than that of HtrA1, respectively. Our study provides a method for generating useful reagents to identify natural substrates of HtrA3 in the further studies.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.1191-1195
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• 1997

This study was conducted to investigate the proteolytic properties of saewoojeot (salted and fermented shrimp) on various meat proteins. NaCl content was decreased less than 2% by electrodialysis. As electrodialysis time was passed, the protease activity was increased. The proteolytic activity of crude protease on muscle proteins of beef, pork, chicken was analyzed by SDS-PAGE. Crude enzyme easily degradated both heat-denatured and native meat proteins. Protein degradation was rapidly occurred within 5 min and most all myofibrilar protein was disappeared. Heat-denatured chicken meat (100%) was most easily degraded than heat-denatured pork meat (47%) and beef meat (31%).

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.11
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• pp.1859-1869
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• 2021

Objective: The effects of a crude protease extracted from Cordyceps militaris (CM) mushrooms on the postmortem tenderization mechanism and quality improvement in spent hen breast were investigated. Methods: Different percentages of the crude protease extracted from CM mushrooms were introduced to spent hen breast via spray marination, and its effects on tenderness-related indexes and proteolytic enzymes were compared to papain. Results: The results indicated that there was a possible improvement by the protease extracted from CM mushroom through the upregulation of endogenous proteolytic enzymes involved in the calpain system, cathepsin-B, and caspase-3 coupled with its nucleotide-specific impact. However, the effect of the protease extracted from CM mushroom was likely dose-dependent, with significant improvements at a minimum level of 4%. Marination with the protease extracted from CM mushroom at this level led to increased protein solubility and an increased myofibrillar fragmentation index. The sarcoplasmic protein and collagen contents seemed to be less affected by the protease extracted from CM mushroom, indicating that substrate hydrolysis was limited to myofibrillar protein. Furthermore the protease extracted from CM mushroom intensified meat product taste due to increasing the inosinic acid content, a highly effective salt that provides umami taste. Conclusion: The synergistic results of the proteolytic activity and nucleotide-specific effects following treatments suggest that the exogenous protease derived from CM mushroom has the potential for improving the texture of spent hen breast.

• The Korean Journal of Zoology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.185-190
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• 1988

To investigate whether malignant behavior of skin tumor correlates with changes in the level of proteolytic activities in skin tumors, rats were treated with 7,12-dimethylbenzanthracene followed by photbor ester. Tumors induced upon the treatrnents exhibited more than 20-fold increase in the activity of plasminogen activator and about 3-fold of plasmin-like activity. as compared to those in treated controls. Furthermore, the former activity was raised to about 6-fold even in the preneoplastic dssues of the skin tissues. On the other hand, the proteolytic activity against casein and insulin decreased to several-fold in the tumor tissues while antitrvpsin activity remained similar in both tumor and controls. Thus, the increase in the activities of plasmInogen activator and plasminlike enzyme appears to occur as a charaderistic to skin cancer and may involve in invasion and metsstasis of the tumor.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.46-60
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• 2022

In this study, angiotensin-I-converting enzyme inhibitory (ACEI) activity was evaluated in fermented goat milk fermented by lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from fermented foods and breast milk. Furthermore, the potential for ACEI peptides was identified in fermented goat milk with the highest ACEI activity. The proteolytic specificity of LAB was also evaluated. The 2% isolate was inoculated into reconstituted goat milk (11%, w/v), then incubated at 37℃ until pH 4.6 was reached. The supernatant produced by centrifugation was analyzed for ACEI activity and total peptide. Viable cell counts of LAB and titratable acidity were also evaluated after fermentation. Peptide identification was carried out using nano liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), and potential as an ACEI peptide was carried out based on a literature review. The result revealed that ACEI activity was produced in all samples (20.44%-60.33%). Fermented goat milk of Lc. lactis ssp. lactis BD17 produced the highest ACEI activity (60.33%; IC₅₀ 0.297±0.10 mg/mL) after 48 h incubation, viable cell counts >8 Log CFU/mL, and peptide content of 4.037±0.27/mL. A total of 261 peptides were released, predominantly derived from casein (93%). The proteolytic specificity of Lc. lactis ssp. lactis BD17 through cleavage on the amino acid tyrosine, leucine, glutamic acid, and proline. A total of 21 peptides were identified as ACEI peptides. This study showed that one of the isolates from fermented food, namely Lc. lactis ssp. lactis BD17, has the potential as a starter culture for the production of fermented goat milk which has functional properties as a source of antihypertensive peptides.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.46-60
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• 2023

Slaughterhouse blood is a by-product of animal slaughter that can be a good source of animal protein. This research purposed to examine the functional qualities of the blood plasma from Hanwoo cattle, black goat, and their hydrolysates. Part of the plasma was hydrolyzed with proteolytic enzymes (Bacillus protease, papain, thermolysin, elastase, and α-chymotrypsin) to yield bioactive peptides under optimum conditions. The levels of hydrolysates were evaluated by 15% sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The antioxidant, metal-chelating, and angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory properties of intact blood plasma and selected hydrolysates were investigated. Accordingly, two plasma hydrolysates by protease (pH 6.5/55℃/3 h) and thermolysin (pH 7.5/37℃/3-6 h) were selected for analysis of their functional properties. In the oil model system, only goat blood plasma had lower levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances than the control. The diphenyl picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity was higher in cattle and goat plasma than in proteolytic hydrolysates. Ironchelating activities increased after proteolytic degradation except for protease-treated cattle blood. Copper-chelating activity was excellent in all test samples except for the original bovine plasma. As for ACE inhibition, only non-hydrolyzed goat plasma and its hydrolysates by thermolysin showed ACE inhibitory activity (9.86±5.03% and 21.77±3.74%). In conclusion, goat plasma without hydrolyzation and its hydrolysates can be a good source of bioactive compounds with functional characteristics, whereas cattle plasma has a relatively low value. Further studies on the molecular structure of these compounds are needed with more suitable enzyme combinations.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.10
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• pp.1369-1379
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• 2010

This study investigated purification and milk-clotting activity of the enzymes produced by Bacillus subtilis var, natto and Rhizopus oligosporus compared with that of commercial rennet. The clotting time, viscosity, tension and microstructure of the curd and electrophoretic patterns of milk proteins were determined. The milk-clotting activity/proteolytic activity ratios (MCA/PA ratio) of B. subtilis, R. oligosporus and commercial rennet were also compared. The results revealed that the curd formed by the commercial rennet had the highest viscosity and curd tension and the shortest clotting time among the three enzymes. However, curd produced by Rhizopus enzymes was ranked as second. From the MCA/PA ratio and electrophoretogram analyses it could be concluded that the enzyme produced by B. subtilis had the highest proteolytic activity, while the commercial rennet had the highest milk-clotting activity. Observations of microstructures of SEM showed that the three-dimensional network for curd formed by commercial rennet was denser, firmer and more smooth. The milk-clotting activity, specific activity, purification ratio and recovery of the purified enzymes produced by both the tested organisms were also determined with ion exchange chromatography and gel filtration.

• Korean journal of food and cookery science
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.29-37
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• 2011

Protease activity of fig (Ficus carica L.), cultivated in Korea was estimated. In particular, the proteolytic effect on myofibrilar protein was studied. A crude protease extract of fig was prepared in two ways; fig was homogenized in buffer followed by centrifugation, and the supernatant was precipitated by saturated ammonium sulfate followed by dialysis. The former method resulted in 41.15 mM/g fig protease activity, whereas the latter method resulted in 17.65 mM/g fig protease activity. The crude fig protease extract showed high specificity for casein as a substrate followed by egg white, bovine serum albumin, myofibrilar protein, collagen, and elastin. The extract had stable proteolytic activity in a pH range of 6.5~9.0 (optimal at pH 7-8) but lost activity, at pH 2-3. Proteolytic activity for myofibrilar protein was sensitive to pH. The proteolytic activity of the fig extract was steady up to $60^{\circ}C$ but declined at higher temperature. It also began to lose stability in salt concentrations >0.7 M NaCl. Fig has been used as a meat tenderizer for cooking, and these results support the tenderizing effectiveness of fig, particularly for Korean style meat marinating.