• Proceedings of the Ginseng society Conference
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• 1988.08a
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• pp.47-54
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• 1988

Cholesterol a component of all eucaryotic plasma membranes. is essential for the growth and viability of cells in higher organisms. However. too much cholesterol can be lethal because of atherosclerosis resulting from the deposition of cholesterol ester plaques. It was attempted in this study to understand the preventive effect of ginseng saponin. one of the major components of the roots of Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer. against hypercholesterolemia induced by high cholesterol diet. $^{125}I-LDL$ was injected intravenously to rabbits and rats. which were fed a high cholesterol diet with and/or without ginseng saponin for 12 days. The disappearance of the radioactivity occurred faster in the test group than the control. The effect of saponin fraction from Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer and the purified ginsenosilks. $Rb_1,\;Rb_2,\;Re\;and\;Rg_1,$ on LDL receptor biosynthesis in high cholesterol fed rat has been investigated. Analysis of LDL receptors from various organs such as liver. kidney. adrenal cortex and testis showed that the population of LDL receptors of test group significantly higher than that of the control. It was also found that liver homogenate containing ginsenosides $(10^{-3}-10^{-4}\%)$ stimulated the biosynthesis of bile acid form cholesterol. From the above results. it seemed that ginsenosides lower the cholesterol level by stimulating cholesterol metabolism. which result in the suppression of the inhibitory action of cholesterol on LDL receptor biosynthesis.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.585-592
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• 2004

Our previous studies demonstrated that relaxin in concert with estrogen promotes development of the mammary parenchyma during the last third of gestation in gilts, and the specific relaxin-binding sites were present in the mammary gland. This study was conducted to determine if relaxin-binding sites in the mammary gland were functional relaxin receptors. Three cycling cross-bred gilts were bilaterally ovariectomized on day 0 of the experiment. Beginning on day 15 and continuing through day 29 post-surgery, the gilt received an im. injection of estradiol benzoate at 12-hr intervals. Beginning on day 22 post-surgery, highly purified porcine relaxin was administered(lug/hr) into the left fourth mammary gland from the anterior end via miniature osmotic pump. Physiological saline was administered to the right fourth mammary gland. The gilt was sacrificed on day 29 post-surgery and histological characteristics of the mammary parenchyma were examined. The mammary glands treated locally with saline showed little, if any, lobulo-alveolar development, whereas the mammary glands treated with relaxin showed not only marked lobulo-alveolar development but also prominent secretions in the alveoli. The saline-treated glands were characterized by relatively dense and highly organized collagen fiber bundles. Whereas, in the relaxin-treated mammary glands, collagen fiber bundles were dispersed and loosely organized. In conclusion, relaxin-binding sites in the mammary gland are functional relaxin receptors and relaxin acts directly on the pig mammary gland to promote development of the alveoli and remodeling of the extracellular matrix.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.100-121
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• 2017

The sexual reproduction of the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas is reviewed for a comprehensive understanding of the complex processes. The sexual life cycle of C. reinhardtii is distinguished into five main stages: gametogenesis, gamete activation, cell fusion, zygote maturation, and meiosis and germination. Gametogenesis is induced by nitrogen starvation in the environment. C. reinhardtii has two mating types: mating type plus ($mt^+$) and mating type minus ($mt^-$), controlled by a single complex mating type locus ($MT^+$ or $MT^-$) on linkage group VI. In the early gametogenesis agglutinins are synthesized. The $mt^+$ and $mt^-$ agglutinins are encoded by the autosomal genes SAG1 (Sexual AGglutination1) and SAD1 (Sexual ADhesion1), respectively. The agglutinins are responsible for the flagellar adhesion of the two mating type of gametes. The flagellar adhesion initiates a cAMP mediated signal transduction pathways and activates the flagellar tips. In response to the cAMP signal, mating structures between two flagella are activated. The $mt^+$ and $mt^-$ gamete-specific fusion proteins, Fus1 and Hap2/Gcs1, are present on the plasma membrane of the two mating structures. Contact of the two mating structures leads to develop a fertilization tubule forming a cytoplasmic bridge between the two gametes. Upon fusion of nuclei and chloroplasts of $mt^+$ and $mt^-$ cells, the zygotes become zygospores. It is notable that the young zygote shows uniparental inheritance of chloroplast DNA from the $mt^+$ parent and mitochondrial DNA from the $mt^-$ parent. Under the favorable conditions, the zygospores divide meiotically and germinate and then new haploid progenies, vegetative cells, are released.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.73-80
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• 2010

Liver regeneration is a result of highly coordinated proliferation of hepatocytes and nonparenchymal liver cells. Partial hepatectomy (PH) is the most often used stimulus to study liver regeneration because, compared with other methods that use hepatic toxins, it is not associated with the tissue injury and inflammation, and the initiation of the regenerative stimulus is precisely defined. Granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), which is a cytokine able to regulate the proliferation and differentiation of epithelial cells, was first identified as the most potent mitogen for bone marrow. Particularly, rrhGM-CSF, which is highly glycosylated and sustained longer than any other types of GM-CSF in the blood circulation, was specifically produced from rice cell culture. In this experiment, effects of rrhGM-CSF administration were evaluated in the regenerating liver after 78% PH of rats. Morphological changes induced by PH were characterized by destroyed hepatocyte plate around the central vein and enlarged nuclear cytoplasmic ratio and increased hepatocytes with two nuclei. And then, proliferation of liver cells (parenchymal and nonparenchymal) and rearrangement of plates and lobules seemed to be carried out during liver regeneration. These alterations in the experimental group preceded those of the control. Since proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) is known to be a nuclear protein maximally elevated in the S phase of proliferating cells, the protein was used as a marker of liver regeneration after PH in rats. PCNA levels by western blot analysis and immunohistology were compared between the two groups. PCNA protein expression of two groups at 12 hr and 24 hr after injury showed similar pattern. The protein expression showed the peak at 3 days in both groups, however, the protein level of the experimental group was higher than that of the control. On immunohistochemical observations, the reaction product of PCNA was localized at the nuclei of proliferating cells and the positive reaction in experimental group at 3 days was clearly stronger than that in control group. The results by Western blotting and immunohistology for PCNA showed similar pattern in terms of the protein levels. In conclusion, rrhGM-CSF administration during liver regeneration after 78% PH accelerated breakdown and restoration of the hepatic plate and expression of PCNA. These results suggest that rrhGM-CSF might play an important role during liver regeneration in rats.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.13-20
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• 2007

Sawdust biofiltration is an emerging bio-technology for control of ammonia emissions including compost odors from composting of biological wastes. Although sawdust is widely used as a medium for bulking agent in composting system and for microbial attachment in biofiltration systems, the performance of agitated bed composting and sawdust biofiltration are not well established. A pilot-scale composting of hog manure amended with sawdust and sawdust biofiltration systems for practical operation were investigated using aerated and agitated rectangular reactor with compost turner and sawdust biofilter operated under controlled conditions, each with a working capacity of approximately $40m^3\;and\;4.5m^3$ respectively. These were used to investigate the effect of compost temperature, seed germination rate and the C/N ratio of the compost on ammonia emissions, compost maturity and sawdust biofiltration performance. Temperature profiles showed that the material in three runs had been reached to temperature of 55 to $65^{\circ}C$ and above. The ammonia concentration in the exhaust gas of the sawdust biofilter media was below the maximum average value as 45 ppm. Seed germination rate levels of final compost was maintained from 70 to 93% and EC values of the finished compost varied between 2.8 and 4.8 ds/m, providing adequate conditions for plant growth.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.775-783
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• 2013

Changes in the various quality characteristics of hamburg steak depending on the packaging methods were investigated during storage at $5{\pm}1^{\circ}C$ for up to 15 days. Three packaging treatments including vacuum packaging (VAP), air-containing packaging (AC), and oxygen scavenger packaging (OS) were applied in this experiment. The initial total aerobe bacteria counts were identical at 2.3 log CFU/g in all treatments, but the growth rate of total aerobe bacteria in the AC samples was significantly faster than the VAP and OS samples during storage. The changes in the TBA and VBN values over the storage time showed that lipid oxidation and protein spoilage developed fastest in the AC sample, followed by OS and then VAP samples. The instrumental color and texture profiles were not significantly differ between treatments during storage (p>0.05). After 12 days of storage at $5^{\circ}C$, evaluation of the samples' sensory attributes showed that the AC samples had become unmarketable with a score of less than 5.0 points for all sensory properties, whereas the VAP and OS samples were still marketable.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.57 no.4
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• pp.379-386
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• 2014

Chromatin is an instructive DNA structure that can widely respond to external signals. An important change of chromatin is the modifications of histone for this regulation. There are accumulating lists of these modifications and the complexity of their action is gradually understood. It is evident that histone modifications play important roles in most biological processes that are involved in the expression or repression of DNA. The surface of nucleosomes is susceptible to multiplicity of modifications. Chromatin modifications can play either by eliminating chromatin contacts or by recruiting non-histone proteins to chromatin. Many of these regulations seem to be epigenetically inherited. Thus, histone modifications are closely correlated with many fundamental biological processes in animal, plant and microbial kingdoms. Failures of histone modification lead, in general, to defective chromosome condensation or decondensation, impeding many biological functions including development, maturation, and protection against various diseases.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 1998

A Corynebacterium diphtheriae iron-repressible gene dirA, that was homologous to TSA of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and AhpC subunit of Salmonella typhimurium alkyl hydroperoxide reductase, was amplified with PCR and expressed in E. coli. The DirA purified from the transformed E. coli crude extracts prevented the inactivation of enzyme caused by metal-catalyzed oxidation (MCO) system containing thiols but not by ascorbate/Fe$^{3+}$/$O_2$ MCO system. The DirA concentration, which inhibited the inactivation of glutamine synthetase by 50% (IC$_{50}$) against MCO system, was 0.12 mg/ml. The multimeric forms of DirA were converted to the monomeric form in SDS-PAGE under the thioredoxin system comprised of NADPH, Saccharomyces cerevisiae thioredoxin reductase, and thioredoxin. Also, DirA showed thioredoxin dependent peroxidase activity. All of these results were consistent with the characteristics of a thiol specific antioxidant (TSA) protein having two conserved cysteine residues.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.277-284
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• 2008

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of soaking time on physicochemical properties of waxy rice, waxy rice flour and waxy rice starch. Waxy rice (WR), waxy rice flour (WRF), waxy rice starch (WRS) were soaked at $18^{\circ}C$ for 14 days and dried at $40^{\circ}C$. Dried samples were grounded and sieved using 180 mesh. Physicochemical properties of the three samples, such as swelling power, solubility, moisture sorption isotherms and pasting properties using rapid visco analyzer (RVA) and crystal pattern using X-ray diffractometer were determined. In all samples, soaking time greatly influenced moisture sorption isotherms but no typical pattern was shown. Swelling power was not greatly changed by soaking time in the three samples. Solubility increased with increasing soaking time in all three samples, indicating that some soluble particles were exuded during soaking. In RVA pasting properties, WR and WRF showed a similar pattern, while WRS showed different pasting properties, suggesting that rice protein plays a significant role in pasting properties. X-ray diffraction patterns of all three samples showed typical A-type crystal pattern suggesting that soaking did not affect crystalline region of samples.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.39-45
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• 2002

It was found that the peptides originated from the hydrolysates of silk fibroin have in vitro immunostimulating effects in murine macrophage RAW264.7 cells. The stimulation effects on nitric oxide (NO) production resulted from treatments of acid or enzymatic hydrolysates were measured. The silk fibroin preparation isolated from cocoon was most efficiently digested by acid hydrolysis. Even though the sole treatment of acid hydrolysate stimulated the NO production in dose-dependent pattern, a part of its activity was found to be caused by the contaminated endotoxin, LPS. When each endotoxin-free hydrolysates obtained by filtering it through an ultrafiltration membrane of molecular weight (MW) cut-off 10,000 to eliminate LPS was used, the peptic hydrolysate with lowest degree of hydrolysis showed the highest activity. The fractions of peptic hydrolysate with MW ranges of 1,000∼10,000, 500∼1,000 and below 500 also showed a higher MW-higher activity correlation. From the analyses of amino acid composition of each hydrolysate, it was found that the contents of arginine, lysine, alanine and glycine residues affected the activity level of hydrolysate. The results of this study showed a possibility of utilizing fibroin as a source for immunostimulating (chemopreventive) functional peptides.