• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.909-912
• /
• 2005

In the course of screening for selective growth inhibitors against the mycelial form of Candida albicans, we isolated a Streptomyces sp. A6792 from soils. The inhibitor was isolated from the above bacterium and identified through several spectral analyses with UV and mass spectrophotometries, and various NMR. The compound was determined to be a macrocyclic dilactone antibiotic, IKD-8344 (molecular weight: 844, molecular formula: $C_{48}H_{76}O_{12}$). The compound selectively inhibited the growth of mycelial form of C. albicans with an MIC of 6.25 ${\mu}g/ml$. It also exhibited strong inhibitory effect preferentially on the mycelial form of various Candida spp. including C. krusei, C. tropicalis, and C. lusitaniae, with MICs ranging from 1.56 to 25 ${\mu}g$/ml. Furthermore, the compound showed no significant toxicity against SPF ICR mice up to 60 mg/kg. These results suggest that IKD-8344 is a useful lead compound for the development of novel antifungal agents, based on the preferential growth inhibition against Candida spp.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
• /
• v.44 no.3
• /
• pp.202-205
• /
• 2001

The root of Zingiber officinale R. was extracted with 80% aqueous MeOH, and the concentrated extract was fractionated with EtOAc, n-BuOH and water phases. The EtOAc fraction exhibited most potent antioxidant activity among them, and two active compounds were isolated by activity-guided separation using repetitive silica gel column chromatography. On the bases of spectral data and the chemical characteristics, the structure of the compounds were determined as 6-shogaol and 12-shogaol, respectively. The $EC_{50}$ values of them were evaluated as 26.4 ${\mu}M$ and 22.5 ${\mu}M$, respectively, where these values were higher than the commercial antioxidants, such as, BHA, BHT and ${\alpha}-tocopherol$.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
• /
• v.58 no.2
• /
• pp.109-112
• /
• 2015

Fruits of Rhus parviflora were extracted with 80% aqueous methanol (MeOH), and the concentrated extract was partitioned using ethyl acetate (EtOAc), n-butanol (n-BuOH), and $H_2O$, successively. Purification of EtOAc fraction led to isolation of fifteen polyphenols of which structures were identified by spectroscopic methods including 2D-NMR. Most compounds apart from compound 10 inhibited low density lipoproteinoxidation within $IC_{50}$ value of $10{\mu}M$. Among compounds, taxifolin (2), quercetin 3-O-${\alpha}$-L-rhamnopyranoside (13), agathisflavone (5) sulfuretin (4), and aureusidin (3) showed $IC_{50}$ values 0.9, 0.8, 5.8, 2.9, and $2.4{\mu}M$ which were of highly significant in comparison positive control butylated hydroxytoluene with $IC_{50}$ value of $2.1{\mu}M$. The results indicate fruits of R. parviflora as a source of antihypercholesterolemic compounds.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.16 no.11
• /
• pp.1706-1712
• /
• 2006

Because of the need for new antimicrobial substances with novel mechanisms of action, we report here the use of an Acinetobacter reporter system for high-throughput screening of active antimicrobial agents. The bioreporter Acinetobacter strain DF4/PUTK2 carrying luciferase genes luxCDABE was chosen because of its ecological importance and it is widespread in nature. This bioreporter is genetically engineered to emit light constitutively that can be measured in real time by luminometry. Hence, this reporter system was employed to determine the bacteriostatic actions of spent-culture supernatants derived from twelve bacterial isolates. Out of the results, the strongest bioluminescence inhibitory effect of the supernatants was recorded with Bacillus cereus strain BAC (S5). Subsequently, ethyl acetate extracts of extracellular products of strain BAC (S5) were separated by a thin-layer chromatography (TLC). Based on the bioluminescence inhibitory assay, three fractions were found to have antimicrobial activity. One fraction (C) having the strongest antimicrobial activity was further purified using TLC and characterized by IR, $^1H$ NMR, mass spectrometry, SDS-PAGE, and amino acid composition analysis. The results predicted the presence of 2-pyrrolidone-S-carboxylic acid (PCA) and the octadeconic-acid-like fatty acid. Fraction C also demonstrated a broad inhibitory activity on several Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. In conclusion, the Acinetobacter reporter system shows great potential to be a reliable, sensitive, and real-time indicator of the bacteriostatic actions of the antimicrobial agents.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
• /
• v.41 no.2
• /
• pp.95-102
• /
• 2011

An amphiphilic cationic branched methoxy poly (ethylene glycol)-branched polyethylenimine - poly(L-phenylalanine) (mPEG-bPEI-pPhe) block copolymer was successfully synthesized by ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of N-carboxyanhydride of L-phenylalanine (Phe-NCA) with mPEG-bPEI for the preparation of more stable polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) included a hydrophobic interaction. mPEG-bPEI was firstly prepared by the coupling of mPEG and bPEI using hexamethylene diisocyanate (HMDI). The structural properties of mPEG-bPEI-pPhe copolymers were confirmed by $^1H$ NMR. The copolymers exhibited a self-assemble behavior in water above critical aggregate concentration (CAC) in the range of 0.01-0.14 g/L. The CAC of copolymers obviously depended on the hydrophobic block content in the copolymers (the value decreased with the increase of the pPhe block content). The cationic copolymers have the ability to form multi-interaction complex (MIC) with bovine serum albumin (BSA) and plasmid DNA through multi-interaction (electrostatic and hydrophobic interaction). The physicochemical characterization of the complex was carried out by the measurement of zeta potential and particle size. Their zeta-potentials were positive (approximately +10 mV) and their sizes decreased with increasing pPhe contents in the copolymers (PPF/BSA wt% ratio = 2). The complex showed good stability at high ionic strength. Therefore, mPEG-bPEI-pPhe block copolymer was considered as a potential material to enhance the stability of complex including biotherapuetic drugs.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
• /
• v.54 no.2
• /
• pp.114-119
• /
• 2011

n-Butanol extracts from Phellodendron amurense have about 50% inhibitory activity against hyaluronidase. The anti-inflammatory compound was isolated from P. amurense by Sephadex LH-20 and MCI-gel CHP-20 column chromatography with gradient elution. As a the result, its structure was identified as Jatrorrhizine by the interpretation of spectroscopic analyses including $^1H$- and $^{13}C$-NMR. In anti-inflammatory activity, the expression of nitric oxide (NO) was inhibited as above 60% at 100 ${\mu}g/mL$ concentration of extracts and then purified Jatrorrhizine from P. amurense. The inhibitory activities against the expression of inducible NO syntase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) were 45% and 29%. It seems that the extracts and purified Jatrorrhizine from P. amurense were expected anti-inflammatory effect in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated Raw264.7 cells.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.25 no.12
• /
• pp.2011-2015
• /
• 2015

Ginsenoside Rb2 (Gin-Rb2) was purified from the fruit extract of Panax ginseng. Its chemical structure was measured by spectroscopic analysis, including HR-FAB-MS, ¹H-NMR, and IR spectroscopy. Gin-Rb2 decreased potent melanogenesis in melan-a cells, with 23.4% at 80 μM without cytotoxicity. Gin-Rb2 also decreased tyrosinase and MITF protein expression in melan-a cells. Furthermore, Gin-Rb2 presented inhibition of the body pigmentation in the zebrafish in vivo system and reduced melanin contents and tyrosinase activity. These results show that Gin-Rb2 isolated from P. ginseng may be an effective skin-whitening agent via the in vitro and in vivo systems.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.251-257
• /
• 2000

Chitin synthases are identified as key enzymes of chitin biosynthesis in most of the fungi. Among them, chitin synthase II has been reported to be and essential enzyme in chitin biosynthesis, and exists as a membrane-bound form. To search and screen new antifungal agents from natural resources to inhibit chitin synthase II, the assay conditions were established using the enzyme isolated from Saccharomyces cerevisiae ECY38-38A(pAS6) that overproduces only chitin synthase II. This enzyme was activated only by partial proteolysis with trypsin. Its actibity reached the maximum at $80{\;}\mu\textrm{g}/ml$ of trypsin and was strongly stimulated by 2.0 mM $Co^{2+}$, 1.0 nM UDP-[$^{14}C$]-GicNAc, and 32 mM free-GlcNAc. Under these assay conditions, the highest chitin synthase II activity was observed by incubation at $30^{\circ}C$ for 90 min. However, and extremely narrow range of organic solvents up to as much as 25% of DMSO and 25% of MeOH was useful for determining optimal assay conditions. After a search or potent inhibitors of chitin synthase II from natural resources, prodigiosin was isolated from Serratia marcescens and purified by solvent extration and silica gel column chromatographies. The structure of prodigiosin was determined by UV, IR, Mass spectral, and NMR spectral analyses. Its molecular weight and formula were found to be 323 and $C_{20}H_{25}N_{3}O$, respectively. Prodigiosin ingibited chitin synthase II by 50% at the concentration of $115{\;}\mu\textrm{g}/ml$.

• Macromolecular Research
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.348-356
• /
• 2007

The aim of this study was to fabricate a submicro-and micro-patterned fibronectin coated wafer for a cell culture, which allows the positions and dimensions of the attached cells to be controlled. A replica molding was made into silicon via a photomask in quartz, using E-beam lithography, and then fabricated a polydimethylsiloxane stamp using the designed silicon mold. Hexadecanethiol $[HS(CH_2){_{15}}CH_3]$, adsorbed on the raised plateau of the surface of polydimethylsiloxane stamp, was contact-printed to form self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of hexadecanethiolate on the surface of an Au-coated glass wafer. In order to form another SAM for control of the surface wafer properties, a hydrophilic hexa (ethylene glycol) terminated alkanethiol $[HS(CH_2){_{11}}(OCH_2CH_2){_6}OH]$ was also synthesized. The structural changes were confirmed using UV and $^1H-NMR$ spectroscopies. A SAM terminated in the hexa(ethylene glycol) groups was subsequently formed on the bare gold remaining on the surface of the Aucoated glass wafer. In order to aid the attachment of cells, fibronectin was adsorbed onto the resulting wafer, with the pattern formed on the gold-coated wafer confirmed using immunofluorescence staining against fibronectin. Fibronectin was adsorbed only onto the SAMs terminated in the methyl groups of the substrate. The hexa (ethylene glycol)-terminated regions resisted the adsorption of protein. Human dermal fibroblasts (P=4), obtained from newborn foreskin, only attached to the fibronectin-coated, methyl-terminated hydrophobic regions of the patterned SAMs. N-HDFs were more actively adhered, and spread in a pattern spacing below $14{\mu}m$, rather than above $17{\mu}m$, could easily migrate on the substrate containing spacing of $10{\mu}m$ or less between the strip lines.

• Macromolecular Research
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.363-369
• /
• 2007

Novel biodegradable elastic hydrogels, based on hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymer blocks, were synthesized via the radical crosslinking reaction of diacrylates of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and poly(${\varepsilon}-caprolactone$) (PCL). PEG and PCL diols were diacrylated with acryloyl chloride in the presence of triethylamine, with the reaction confirmed by FT-IR and $^1H-NMR$ measurements. The diacrylate polymers were used as building-blocks for the syntheses of a series of hydro gels, with different block compositions, by simply varying the feed ratios and molecular weights of the block components. The swelling ratio of the hydrogels was controlled by the balance between the hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymer blocks. Usually, the swelling ratio increases with increasing PEG content and decreasing block length within the network structure. The hydrogels exhibited negative thermo-sensitive swelling behavior due to the coexistence of hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymer components in their network structure, and such thermo-responsive swelling/deswelling behavior could be repeated using a temperature cycle, without any significant change in the swelling ratio. In vitro degradation tests showed that degradation occurred over a 3 to 8 month period. Due to their biodegradability, biocompatibility, elasticity and functionality, these hydrogels could be utilized in various biomedical applications, such as tissue engineering and drug delivery systems.