• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.1204-1210
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• 2014

New control methods are proposed for indoor air quality by removing fine airborne dust-particles. As suspended fine dust-particles contain inorganic dust as well as fine organic bacteria, studies for simultaneous control of these contaminants are required. In this study, photocatalytic disinfection of indoor suspended microorganisms such as E. coli and Bacillus subtilis is performed by three types of photocatalysts with UVA irradiation. The UVA irradiation strength was controlled to the minimum $3{\mu}W/cm^2$, and ZnO, $TiO_2$, and ZnO/Laponite ball were used as the catalysts. The results indicate that E. coli was removed over 80 % after about 2 hours of reaction with UVA and all three types of photocatalysts, whereas only with UVA, around 50 % E. coli removal was obtained. Among the catalysts, ZnO/Laponite composite ball was found to have similar sterilizing capacity to $TiO_2$. However, in case of B. subtilis, which has thick cell wall in its spore state, disinfection was not effective under the low UVA irradiation condition, even with the catalysts. Further studies need to figure out the optimal UVA irradiation ranges as well as photocatalysts doses to control airborne dust, to provide healthy clean air environment.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.149-162
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• 1984

The research was conducted(1) to confirm the agent(s) responsible for the antimicrobial activity contained in the fermented tomato juice with L. acidophilus(2) to extract and purify the antimicrobial agent(s)(3) to find the biological, physical and chemical properties of the agent(s). The following results were obtained and summarized as followings; 1. The agent responsible for the inhibitory activity was confirmed by both well assay method using fermented tomato juice with L. acidophilus and turbidimetric technique using the cell-free filtrate or neutralized filtrate of tomato acidohilus culture and found exerted antimicrobial agent other than lactic acid. 2. The procedures of purification : The isolation and purification of antimicrobial agent from the lyophilized acidophilus tomato culture were carried out by (1) methanol extraction (2) acetone extraction, (3) Sephadex G-50 gel filtration (4) paper chromatography and (5) thin layer chromatography. 3. The biological, physical and chemical properties of antimicrobial agent: The biological, physical, chemical properties of the purified antimicrobial agent were: (1) The antimicrobial activity was strong against test organisms; Bacillus subtilis(ATCC 6633), Escheichia coli(ATCC 25922), Staphylococcus aureus(ATCC 167), Pseudomonas fluorescens(KFCC 32394), Proteus vulgaris and Shigella dysenteriae. (2) The pH value of the agent was 2.0 and the inhibitory activity was lost when it was neutralized at 7.0 of pH and the agent was heat stable at $121^{\circ}C$ for 60 minutes. (3) The ultraviolet light absorption spectra of methanol-acetone extract and TLC fraction exhibited a maximum absorption at 260nm and 224nm respectively. (4) The most purified agent from TLC plate increased about 130-fold in activity. (5) The agent isolated from TLC plate was free from $H_2O_2$ or lactic acid. 4. Bioautographic assy: By means of bioautography of the agent on silica gel of TLC plate a strong inhibitory activity against B. subtilis was demonstrated. 5. Mass spectrometry: The agent obtained from TLC plate was analyzed by mass spectrometry which show the parent peak at m/e 264 suggesting the molecular weight of the compound and molecular group such as [$C_2H{^+}_4$], [CO], [CH=NH], [$C_3{H^}4_7$], [$\begin{array}{rcl}O\\{\parallel}\\CH_3-C\\\end{array}$], [$C_6-H{^+}_{11}$], [$C_5H{^+}_{11}$], [$\begin{array}{rcl}O\\{\parallel}\\C_5H_7-C^+\\\end{array}$] were suggested.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.151-159
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• 2019

Ergothioneine has been known as an excellent antioxidant and a cellular protector against oxidative damage in vivo. In the present study, ergothioneine was demonstrated to possess antioxidant and anti-glycation activities. The radical scavenging activity of ergothioneine enhanced the viability of human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light. The UVA irradiation increased the proportion of senescence-associated ${\beta}$-galactosidase (SA-${\beta}$-gal) positive cells in comparison with the normal control group. The treatment of UVA-irradiated HDFs with ergothioneine decreased the level of SA-b-gal (by approximately 45% at an ergothioneine concentration of $400{\mu}M$) compared with the UVA-irradiated HDFs. We also found that ergothioneine inhibited production of glyceraldehyde-derived advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) in a concentration-dependent manner. The ergothioneine educed carboxymethyl-lysine (CML) expression in comparison to the glyoxal treatment. In addition, in the Western blot analysis, treatment of glyoxal-stimulated HDFs with ergothioneine resulted in a dose-dependent decrease in the expression level of the receptor for AGE (RAGE). These results suggest that ergothioneine may have potent anti-aging effects and could be used as a cosmetic material against cellular accumulation of AGEs.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.169-175
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• 2023

As a protective defensive mechanism against ultraviolet (UV) light exposure in skin tissue, melanocytes produce the pigment melanin. Tyrosinase plays a key role in melanin production in melanocytes. However, the overproduction of melanin can lead to lesions, such as freckles and dark spots. Thus, it is clinically important to find a modulating molecule to control melanogenesis by regulating tyrosinase expression and/or activity. It is known that catechin, a plant flavonoid, can reduce melano- genesis through the downregulation of tyrosinase expression. Here, we tested whether catechin derivatives isolated from the stem bark of Ulmus parvifolia have an effect on melanin production by regulating tyrosinase in mouse melanoma cells and in vitro mushroom tyrosinase. The catechin derivatives used in this study included C5A, C7A, C7G, and C7X. Treatments using these catechin derivatives reduced melanin production in mouse melanoma B16F10 cells in which melanogenesis was stimulated by α-MSH. Notably, the anti-melanogenic effects of catechin derivatives were similar to those of kojic acid, a well-known anti-melanogenic molecule. Both C5A and C7A directly inhibited the activity of tyrosinase isolated from mushrooms in vitro. Furthermore, our in silico computational simulation showed that these two compounds were expected to bind to the active site of tyrosinase, which is similar to kojic acid. In addition, all four catechin derivatives reduced tyrosinase protein expression. In summary, our results showed that catechin derivatives can reduce melanogenesis by regulating tyrosinase activity or expression. Thus, this study suggests that catechin derivatives isolated from U. parvifolia can be novel modulators of melanin production.