• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.356-361
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• 2006

The present study was conducted to determine plant growth and physiological responses of corn, barnyardgrass, and soybean to ALA (5-aminolevulinic acid). ALA effect on early seedling growth of test plants was greatly concentration dependant, suggesting that it inhibits at higher concentrations. No significant difference in herbicidal activity of two types of ALA on plant height and weight of test plants was observed. Barnyardgrass was the most sensitive to ALA and followed by corn and soybean, indicating that both crop plants were less affected by ALA concentration as well as different growth stages than barnyardgrass. Greatly reduced chlorophyll contents from leaves of three plant species were observed with increasing of ALA concentration. Compared with untreated controls, higher amounts of three tetrapyrroles were detected from three crop plants, indicating more accumulation in ALA-treated plants. The differential selectivity among plant species would be explained with the differences in tetrapyrrole accumulating capabilities, the susceptibility of various greening groups of plant species to the accumulation of various tetrapyrroles, and their metabolism in various plant tissues. The results indicate that negative biological potential of ALA exhibited differently on plant species, and that the photodynamic herbicidal activity against susceptible plants highly correlated with the extent of tetrapyrrole accumulation by the species.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.153-159
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• 2009

Recombinant Escherichia coli BLR(DE3) harboring the hemA gene from Rhodobacter capsulatus under the control of a constitutive promoter, which we constructed previously, was used for the extracellular production of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA). The effects of several factors on ALA production were investigated in flask culture. ALA production by the recombinant E. coli was more efficient at $30^{\circ}C$ than $37^{\circ}C$. The glycine concentration had an important effect on cell growth. Glycine and succinic acid concentration of 5-10 and 10-20 g/L, respectively, resulted in high ALA production. In addition, the partial replacement of succinic acid by sodium glutamate increased the ALA production. The ALA production was inhibited by the presence of glucose in the medium. Using the optimal conditions, an ALA concentration of 8.2 g/L was achieved in jar fermentation without an added inducer or ALA dehydratase inhibitor; this is the highest reported concentration.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.210-217
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• 1992

A photosynthetic bacterium strain KUP-74 producing high amount of S-amino-levulinic acid(ALA) was isolated from soils, which was identified as Rhodocyclus gelatinosus. After 10 days cultivation under anaerobic-light condition at $30^{\circ}C$, 4 Klux and pH 6.8, 5 mg/l of ALA was formed extracellularly. ALA productions were increased up to 8 mg/l and 12 mg/l in cell cultivations either by the addition of 0.5% glycerol (v/v) or 10 mM of glycine and succinic acid, respectively, using Lascelles basal medium eliminated L-glutamic acid. By cultivation in the presence of 30 mM each D,L-glutamic acids and D,L-glutamines the yield of ALA showing a late induction phenomenon was reached the maximum value of 21 mg/l. Different culture times were needed to generate maximum ALA yields by the addition of initial precursors of $C_4$ and $C_5$ pathways in basal medium, as being 107 h and 262 h, respectively. 40 mg/l yield of ALA was observed by cell cultivation with the basal medium containing each 10 mM levulinic acid(LA) and glycine simultaneously.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.1149-1156
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• 2008

The conformational study on neutral and zwitterionic L-alanines (N-Ala and Z-Ala, respectively) and the transition state (TS) for their interconversion is carried out using ab initio HF and density functional B3LYP methods with the self-consistent reaction field method in the gas phase and in solution. At both the HF and B3LYP levels of theory, the local minimum N1 for N-Ala is found to be most preferred in the gas phase and a weak asymmetric bifurcated hydrogen bond between the amino hydrogens and the carbonyl oxygen appears to play a role in stabilizing this conformation. The local minima N2a and N2b are found to be the second preferred conformations, which seem to be stabilized by a hydrogen bond between the amino nitrogen and the carboxylic hydrogen. The relative stability of the local minimum N2b is remarkably increased in solution than that in the gas phase. The local minimum N2b becomes more stable than the local minimum N2a in most of the solution. On the whole the relative free energies of Z-Ala and TS become more lowered, as the solvent polarity increases. N-Ala prevails over Z-Ala in aprotic solutions but Z-Ala is dominantly populated in ethanol and water. In aprotic solutions, the population of Z-Ala increases somewhat with the increase of solvent polarity. The barrier to Z-Ala-to-N-Ala interconversion increases on the whole with the increase of solvent polarity, which is caused by the increase of stability for Z-Ala.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.313-318
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• 2015

${\delta}$-Aminolevulinic acid (ALA) is an endogenous metabolite formed in the mitochondria from succinyl-CoA and glycine, and plays a key role in the living body as an intermediate of the compound in the porphyrin biosynthesis pathway. ALA has been commonly used in photodynamic therapy for several years, because ALA is of interest as a biodegradable mediator, a growth regulator, and an effective agent used in dermatology. Here, we determined which ALA derivatives were the most effective for the inhibition of the cell proliferation and growth of human fibroblast. As a result, we found that the treatment of ALA derivatives including ALA, ALAP (ALA phosphate salt), MAL (Methyl 5-aminolevulinate hydrochloride salt), PBGL (phophobilinogen lactam) and PBGH (phophobilinogen-HCl) could attenuate cell proliferation of human fibroblast cells. Among them, PBGH was the most effective derivative. In addition, PBGH treatment could induce mitochondrial membrane depolarization, leading to cell death of human fibroblast. These results suggest that mitochondrial membrane depolarization induced by ALA and PBGH treatment might be responsible for inhibition of cell proliferation and death. Taken together, our results propose the possibility that PBGH can be used as one of the effective drugs in human skin disease, psoriasis.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.540-546
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• 1999

Solution conformation of cyclo-($Gln^1-Trp^2-Phe^3-{\beta}Ala^4-Leu^5-Met^6$), new NK-2 antagonist in dimethyl sulfoxide solution, has been determined by the use of two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy combined with simulated annealing calculations. The peptide exhibited converged structures with the atomic root-mean-square difference for the backbone atoms ($N,\;C^{\alpha},\;C'$) of all residues being 0.02${\AA}$ in the 25 annealed structures. The analysis of the structures indicated that the cyclic peptide has three intramolecular hydrogen bonds between $Met^6NH$ and ${\beta}Ala^4CO$, ${\beta}Ala^4NH$ and $Met^6CO$, $Phe^3NH$ and $Met^6CO$, and contain a type-I ${\beta}$-turn with Gln and Trp and ${\gamma}$-turn with Leu. The addition of an extra methylene group to Gly, i.e. P-Ala residue, may relax some unfavorable restraints in the cyclic backbone structure, hence enabling an additional hydrogen bond, which results in stabilizing one conformation.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.297-307
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• 2018

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) during in vitro maturation (IVM) on cumulus expansion, nuclear maturation, fertilization capacity and subsequent development in porcine oocytes. The oocytes were incubated with 0, 25, 50, and $100{\mu}M$ ALA. Cumulus expansion was measured at 22 h, and gene expresison and nuclear maturation were analyzed at 44 h after maturation. Then, mature oocytes with ALA were inseminated, and fertilization parameters and embryo development were evaluated. In results, both of cumulus expansion and nuclear maturation were increased in $50{\mu}M$ ALA groups compared to control groups (p<0.05). However, expression of gap junction protein alpha 1 (GJA1, cumulus expansion-related gene), delta-6 desaturase (FADS1, fatty acid metabolism-related gene), and delta-5 desaturase (FADS2) mRNA in cumulus cells were reduced by $50{\mu}M$ ALA treatment (p<0.05). Cleavage rate was enhanced in 25 and $50{\mu}M$ ALA groups (p<0.05), especially, treatment of $50{\mu}M$ ALA promoted early embryo develop to 4 and 8 cell stages (p<0.05). However, blastocyst formation and number of cells in blastocyst were not differ in 25 and $50{\mu}M$ ALA groups. Our findings show that ALA treatment during maturation could improve nuclear maturation, fertilization, and early embryo development through enhancing of cumulus expansion, however, fatty acid metabolism- and cumulus expansion-related genes were down-regulated. Therefore, addition of ALA during IVM of oocytes could improve fertilization and developmental competence, and further studies regarding with the mechanism of ALA metabolism are needed.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.12
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• pp.1912-1920
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• 2021

Objective: This study investigated the effects of 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) on the motility parameters, mitochondrial membrane depolarization, and ATP levels in chicken sperm. Methods: The pooled semen from Barred Plymouth Rock males was used. In the first experiment, the semen was diluted 4-times with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS (-)) containing various concentrations (0, 0.01, 0.05, and 0.1 mM) of 5-ALA, and then the sperm motility parameters after incubation were evaluated by computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA). In the second experiment, the semen was diluted 4-times with PBS (-) containing 0.05 mM 5-ALA, and then sperm mitochondrial membrane depolarization and ATP levels after 1.5 h of incubation were analyzed with the MitoPT^® JC-1 Assay and ATP Assay kits, respectively. In the third experiment, the semen was removed from the seminal plasma and resuspended with the mediums of PBS (-), PBS (-) supplemented with CaCl₂ and MgCl₂ (PBS (+)) + 5-ALA, PBS (+) + caffeine, and PBS (+) + caffeine + 5-ALA. Then, the sperm motility parameters after incubation were evaluated by CASA. In the last experiment, the semen was treated with the mediums of PBS (-), PBS (-) + 5-ALA, 5.7% glucose, 5.7% glucose + 5-ALA after removing the seminal plasma, and then the sperm motility parameters were evaluated by CASA. Results: The addition of 0.05 mM 5-ALA significantly increased the chicken sperm motility, progressive motility, linearity, average path velocity, curvilinear velocity, straight-line velocity, and the wobble. The sperm mitochondrial membrane depolarization was also increased by the 5-ALA treatment. The 5-ALA treatment decreased the sperm ATP levels. Both the caffeine treatment and glucose treatment decreased the sperm motility during incubation period. Conclusion: 5-ALA might increase sperm mitochondrial membrane depolarization to utilize the ATP for enhancing sperm movement.

• Journal of Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.357-365
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• 2020

The aim of present study was to investigate regulatory mechanism of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) during in vitro maturation (IVM) on nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation of porcine oocytes. Basically, immature cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were incubated for 22 h in IVM-I to which hormone was added, and then further incubated for 22 h in IVM-II without hormone. As a result, relative cumulus expansion was increased at 22 h after IVM and it was enhanced by treatment of ALA compared with control group (p < 0.05). During IVM process within 22 h, cAMP level in oocytes was decreased at 6 h (p < 0.05) and it was recovered at 12 h in ALA-treated group, while oocytes in control group recovered cAMP level at 22 h. In cumulus cells, it was reduced in all time point (p < 0.05) and ALA did not affect. Treatment of ALA enhanced metaphase-I (MI) and MII population of oocytes compared with oocytes in control group at 22 and 44 h, respectively (p < 0.05). Intracellular GSH levels in ALA group was increased at 22 and 44 h after IVM (p < 0.05), whereas it was increased in control group at 44 h after IVM (p < 0.05). In particular, the GSH in ALA-treated oocytes during 22 h of IVM was higher than control group at 22 h (p < 0.05). Lipid amount in oocytes from ALA group was higher than control group (p < 0.05). Treatment of ALA did not influence to absorption of glucose from medium. Cleavage and blastocyst formation of ALA-treated oocytes were enhanced compared with control group (p < 0.05). These findings suggest that supplementation of ALA could improve oocyte maturation and development competence through increasing GSH synthesis, lipid storage, and regulation of cAMP accumulation during early 22 h of IVM, and these might be mediated by cumulus expansion.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.1028-1032
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• 1997

Low-temperature crystallization method silver nitrate-impregnated silicic acid column chromatography were applied for the isolation of pure $\alpha$-linolenic acid(ALA) from perilla seed oil. ALA or 78% in purity(HALA; yield, 83%) was obtained from the fatty acid mixture(ALA, 65.7%) derived from perilla oil by the low-temperature crystallization method, when the mixture was frozen at -8$0^{\circ}C$ for 210min. ALA over 90% in purity(yield, 71%) was also obtained from HALA ethyl esters(ALA, 78%) by the silver nitrate-impregnated silicic acid column(100cm$\times$10cm, i.d.) chromatography. In addition, the silver nitrate-impregnated silicic acid could be semipermanently used for isolation of ALA, because $Ag^{+}$ ion was not dissociated from the stationary phase.