• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.587-598
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• 2000

Urea in the oral cavity is hydrolyzed mainly by bacterial ureases to ammonia, which in turn, raises pH of the oral environment, maintaining oral pH homeostasis, thereby inhibiting dental caries. Streptococcus salivarius has been shown to be a major contribution to oral ureolysis. Synthesis of urease by S. salivarius appears to be constitutive, but can be greatly enhanced in the acidic environment. It has been presumed that ureolytic activity of S. salivarius strains isolated from caries-active site is greater than that of strains from caries-free site. However, no in vivo study has supported the presumption. The present study was performed to observe the ureolytic activity of S. salivarius strains isolated from different environments in the same individual, finding out whether the ureolytic activity is related to dental caries. For the purpose, S. salivarius strains were isolated from caries-active site (>C2), a caries-free site of the tooth, and the dorsum of the tongue of each of 50 patients having decayed teeth. The strains isolated from the patients who harbored S. salivarius in more than two sites were selected and then their ureolytic activities were measured. In order to examine clonal diversity of the strains, their ureC genes were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and then restricted with EcoRV, and the protein profiles of the strains were compared by SDS-PAGE. The results were as follows: 1. Of 50 patients, 13 patients harbored S. salivarius in more than two sites; a total of 61 S. salivarius strain were isolated from the patients and selected for the study. 2. Of 17 isolates from the caries-active site of 9 patients harboring S. salivarius in more than two sites including carious lesion, 10 (58.8%) showed a high ureolytic activity (> 200 ${\mu}mol/min/mg$). While, 19 out of 44 isolates (43.2%) from the caries-free site of the teeth and the dorsum of the tongues of 13 patients were the strains with a high ureolytic activity. 3. Of 9 patients harboring S. salivarius in more than two sites including caries-active site. 6 patients were found to have the strains in the caries-active site showing a lower ureolytic activity than the strains in the other sites. 4. Of 34 isolates with ureolytic activity higher than 40 ${\mu}mol/min/mg$, 32 isolates produced 0.54-Kbp PCR products regardless of the sites of bacterial collection. In contrast, of 27 isolates with ureolytic activity lower than 40${\mu}mol/min/mg$, 26 isolates yielded 1.3-Kbp PCR products or none regardless of the sites. 5. Different clonal types of S. salivarius with relatively higher and lower ureolytic activities were found in the same individuals and even in the same sites. 6. None of strains showing different ureolytic activity appeared to be the same clonal type. The overall results suggest that ureolytic activity of the isolates does not appear to be related to differences of the environments but related to their own genetic traits.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.275-283
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• 2018

Ischemic stroke can result from blockage of blood vessels, forming fibrin clots in the body and causing irreparable brain damage. Remedial thrombolytic agents or anticoagulants have been studied; however, because the FDA-approved tissue plasminogen activator has low efficacy and side effects, it is necessary to develop safer and more effective treatment candidates. This study aimed at assessing the fibrinolytic and anticoagulation features of a novel serine protease extracted and purified from Diopatra sugokai, a polychaeta that inhabits tidal flats. The purified serine protease was obtained through ammonium sulfate precipitation, affinity chromatography, and ion-exchange chromatography. Its molecular size was identified via SDS-PAGE. To characterize its enzymatic activities, the protease activity at various pH and temperatures, and in the presence of various inhibitors, was measured via azocasein assay. Its fibrinolytic activity and anticoagulant effect were assessed by fibrin zymography, fibrin plate assay, and fibrinogenolytic activity assays. The novel 38 kDa serine protease had strong indirect thrombolytic activity rather than direct activity over broad pH (4-10) and temperature ($37^{\circ}C-70^{\circ}C$) ranges. In addition, the novel serine protease exhibited anticoagulant activity by degrading the ${\alpha}$-, ${\beta}$-, and ${\gamma}$-chains of fibrinogen. In addition, it did not produce cytotoxicity in endothelial cells. Therefore, this newly isolated serine protease is worthy of further investigation as a novel alkaline serine protease for thrombolytic therapy against brain ischemia.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.12
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• pp.1719-1727
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• 2014

In the present study, whispovirus immediate early 1 promoter (ie-1) was used to initiate surface expression of the hemagglutinin (HA) protein of Egyptian H5N1 avian influenza virus (AIV) by using the baculovirus expression vector system. The HA gene and whispovirus ie-1 promoter sequence were synthesized as a fused expression cassette (ie1-HA) and successfully cloned into the pFastBac-1 transfer vector. The recombinant vector was transformed into DH10Bac competent cells, and the recombinant bacmid was generated via site-specific transposition. The recombinant bacmid was used for transfection of Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf-9) insect cells to construct the recombinant baculovirus and to induce expression of the HA protein of H5N1 AIV. The recombinant glycoprotein expressed in Sf-9 cells showed hemadsorption activity. Hemagglutination activity was also detected in both extra- and intracellular recombinant HAs. Both the HA and hemadsorption activities were inhibited by reference polyclonal anti-H5 sera. Significant expression of the recombinant protein was observed on the surface of infected insect cells by using immunofluorescence. SDS-PAGE analysis of the expressed protein revealed the presence of a visually distinguishable band of ~63 kDa in size, which was absent in the non-infected cell control. Western blot analysis confirmed that the distinct 63 kDa band corresponded to the recombinant HA glycoprotein of H5N1 AIV. This study reports the successful expression of the HA protein of H5N1 AIV. The expressed protein was displayed on the plasma membrane of infected insect cells under the control of whispovirus ie-1 promoter by using the baculovirus expression vector system.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.409-417
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• 2007

Burkholderia sp. HY-10 isolated from the digestive tracts of the longicorn beetle, Prionus insularis, produced an extracellular lipase with a molecular weight of 33.5 kDa estimated by SDS-PAGE. The lipase was purified from the culture supernatant to near electrophoretic homogenity by a one-step adsorption-desorption procedure using a polypropylene matrix followed by a concentration step. The purified lipase exhibited highest activities at pH 8.5 and $60^{\circ}C$. A broad range of lipase substrates, from $C_4\;to\;C_{18}$ p-nitrophenyl esters, were hydrolyzed efficiently by the lipase. The most efficient substrate was p-nitrophenyl caproate ($C_6$). A 2485 bp DNA fragment was isolated by PCR amplification and chromosomal walking which encoded two polypeptides of 364 and 346 amino acids, identified as a lipase and a lipase foldase, respectively. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the purified lipase and nucleotide sequence analysis predicted that the precursor lipase was proteolytically modified through the secretion step and produced a catalytically active 33.5 kDa protein. The deduced amino acid sequence for the lipase shared extensive similarity with those of the lipase family 1.2 of lipases from other bacteria. The deduced amino acid sequence contained two Cystein residues forming a disulfide bond in the molecule and three, well-conserved amino acid residues, $Ser^{131},\;His^{330},\;and\;Asp^{308}$, which composed the catalytic triad of the enzyme.

• Journal of Korean Society of Archives and Records Management
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.237-243
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• 2022

Seongbuk Village Archive is a village archive built by Seongbuk-gu Office and Seongbuk Cultural Center to contain the uniqueness and specificity of the region. It is a community archive that preserves the records of the community and a digital archive that builds a database through the digitalization of source data. The management system and home page were established through annual and step-by-step promotion through public-private governance. Seongbuk Village Archive's system is designed to facilitate data accumulation and connection between individual records based on the advanced village record standard classification system. Based on this, Seongbuk Cultural Center tried to produce convergence cultural content by linking records online and off-line. In addition, the composition of items displayed on the website has been diversified to not only preserve records but also produce and utilize content. It is a structure created after contemplating how to show the creation and existence of Seongbuk's historical and cultural resources to users in context. In addition, a richer archive platform was built through various curations and activities of the resident record group.

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

• Korean Journal of Child Education & Care
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.157-170
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• 2019

Objective: The purpose of the study was to investigate the current status of early childhood teachers' picture book reading activities and their knowledge and utilization of the picture book peritexts. Methods: The subjects were 276 early childhood teachers in Seoul metropolitan area. The survey was conducted to investigate early childhood teachers' current status of picture book reading activities as well as their knowledge and utilization of picture book peritexts. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS Statistics 21.0 program to analyze descriptive statistics such as frequency and percentage. Results: As results, most early childhood teachers recognized that reading picture books to young children was very important and responded that the purpose of reading picture books was to develop children's imagination and creativity. In terms of early childhood teachers' knowledge on 12 peritexts, some peritexts such as 'title', 'cover' and 'title page' were recognized at high level but other peritexts such as typography and layout were at low level. In addition, early childhood teachers' utilization level of peritexts were shown as relatively low compared to their knowledge level. Conclusion/Implications: The study results imply that early childhood teachers need to be informed of the concepts of picture book peritexts and encouraged to utilize peritexts while reading picture books to young children.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.9-18
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• 2017

Nine bacilli with fibrinolytic activities were isolated from doenjang, a traditional Korean fermented soy food. Among them, RSB34 showed the strongest activity and was identified as Bacillus amyloliquefaciens by 16S rRNA and recA gene sequencing. During growth on LB up to 96 h, RSB34 showed the highest fibrinolytic activity ($83.23mU/{\mu}l$) at 48 h. Three bands of 23, 27, and 42 kDa in size were observed when the culture supernatant was analyzed by SDS-PAGE and 27 and 42 kDa bands by fibrin zymography. The gene encoding the 27 kDa fibrinolytic enzyme AprE34 was cloned by PCR. BLAST analyses confirmed that the gene was a homolog to genes encoding AprE-type proteases. aprE34 was overexpressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) using pET26b(+). Recombinant AprE34 was purified and examined for its properties. The $K_m$ and $V_{max}$ values of recombinant AprE34 were $0.131{\pm}0.026mM$ and $16.551{\pm}0.316{\mu}M/l/min$, respectively, when measured using an artificial substrate, N-succinyl-ala-ala-pro-phe-p-nitroanilide. aprE34 was overexpressed in B. subtilis WB600 using pHY300PLK. B. subtilis transformants harboring pHYRSB34 (pHY300PLK with aprE34) showed higher fibrinolytic activity than B. amyloliquefaciens RSB34.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.12
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• pp.1726-1736
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• 2013

Biosynthesis of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) via the indole-3-pyruvic acid pathway involves three kinds of enzymes; aminotransferase encoded by aspC, indole-3-pyruvic acid decarboxylase encoded by ipdC, and indole-3-acetic acid dehydrogenase encoded by iad1. The ipdC from Enterobacter cloacae ATCC 13047, aspC from Escherichia coli, and iad1 from Ustilago maydis were cloned and expressed under the control of the tac and sod promoters in E. coli. According to SDS-PAGE and enzyme activity, IpdC and Iad1 showed good expression under the control of $P_{tac}$, whereas AspC was efficiently expressed by $P_{sod}$ originating from Corynebacterium glutamicum. The activities of IpdC, AspC, and Iad1 from the crude extracts of recombinant E. coli Top 10 were 215.6, 5.7, and 272.1 nmol/min/mg-protein, respectively. The recombinant E. coli $DH5{\alpha}$ expressing IpdC, AspC, and Iad1 produced about 1.1 g/l of IAA and 0.13 g/l of tryptophol (TOL) after 48 h of cultivation in LB medium with 2 g/l tryptophan. To improve IAA production, a tnaA gene mediating indole formation from tryptophan was deleted. As a result, E. coli IAA68 with expression of the three genes produced 1.8 g/l of IAA, which is a 1.6-fold increase compared with wild-type $DH5{\alpha}$ harboring the same plasmids. Moreover, the complete conversion of tryptophan to IAA was achieved by E. coli IAA68. Finally, E. coli IAA68 produced 3.0 g/l of IAA after 24 h cultivation in LB medium supplemented with 4 g/l of tryptophan.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.232-237
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• 2005

Lactoferrin is a member of the transferrin family of iron-binding glycoproteins. It is originally found in milk. In addition to its antibacterial and antiviral activities, lactoferrin has many other biological functions include anti-inflammatory properties, antitumor, cell growth-promoting activity as well as antioxidant effect In the present study, we report the production of recombinant bovine lactoferrin and lactoferrin N-lobe in the Rhodococcus erythropolis (R erythropolis) using pTip vector. The expression level was investigated in various range of temperature, and we could successfully expressed the bovine lactoferrin and lactoferrin N-lobe in R erythropolis at low temperature. The recombinant proteins were purified by Nickel-Nitrolotriacetic acid (Ni-NTA). The purified proteins were confirmed by SDS-PAGE and Western blot, which indicating that the recombinant proteins have a molecular weight of 80kDa and 43kDa for bovine lactoferrin and lactoferrin N-lobe, respectively.