• Title/Summary/Keyword: Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans)

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Short-term Treatment of Daumone Improves Hepatic Inflammation in Aged Mice

  • Park, Jong Hee;Ha, Hunjoo
    • The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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    • v.19 no.3
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    • pp.269-274
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    • 2015
  • Chronic inflammation has been proposed as one of the main molecular mechanisms of aging and age-related diseases. Although evidence in humans is limited, short-term calorie restriction (CR) has been shown to have anti-inflammatory effects in aged experimental animals. We reported on the long-term treatment of daumone, a synthetic pheromone secreted by Caenorhabditis elegans in an energy deficient environment, extends the life-span and attenuates liver injury in aged mice. The present study examined whether late onset short-term treatment of daumone exerts anti-inflammatory effects in the livers of aged mice. Daumone was administered orally at doses of 2 or 20 mg/kg/day for 5 weeks to 24-month-old male C57BL/6J mice. Increased liver macrophage infiltration and gene expression of proinflammatory cytokines in aged mice were significantly attenuated by daumone treatment, suggesting that short-term oral administration of daumone may have hepatoprotective effects. Daumone also dose-dependently suppressed tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ (TNF-${\alpha}$ )-induced nuclear factor-${\kappa}B$ (NF-${\kappa}B$) phosphorylation in HepG2 cells. The present data demonstrated that short-term treatment of daumone has anti-inflammatory effects in aged mouse livers possibly through suppression of NF-${\kappa}B$ signaling and suggest that daumone may become a lead compound targeting aging and age-associated diseases.

Genome Characteristics of Lactobacillus fermentum Strain JDFM216 for Application as Probiotic Bacteria

  • Jang, Sung Yong;Heo, Jaeyoung;Park, Mi Ri;Song, Min-Ho;Kim, Jong Nam;Jo, Sung Ho;Jeong, Do-Youn;Lee, Hak Kyo;Kim, Younghoon;Oh, Sangnam
    • Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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    • v.27 no.7
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    • pp.1266-1271
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    • 2017
  • Lactobacillus fermentum strain JDFM216, isolated from a Korean infant feces sample, possesses the ability to enhance the longevity and immune response of a Caenorhabditis elegans host. To explore the characteristics of strain JDFM216 at the genetic level, we performed whole-genome sequencing using the PacBio system. The circular draft genome has a total length of 2,076,427 bp and a total of 2,682 encoding sequences were identified. Five phylogenetically featured genes possibly related to the longevity and immune response of the host were identified in L. fermentum strain JDFM216. These genes encode UDP-N-acetylglucosamine 1-carboxyvinyltransferase (E.C. 2.5.1.7), ErfK/YbiS/YcfS/YnhG family protein, site-specific recombinase XerD, homocysteine S-methyltransferase (E.C. 2.1.1.10), and aspartate-ammonia ligase (E.C. 6.3.1.1), which are involved in peptidoglycan synthesis and amino acid metabolism in the gut environment. Our findings on the genetic background of L. fermentum strain JDFM216 and its potential candidate genes for host longevity and immune response provide new insight for the application of this strain in the food industry as newly isolated functional probiotic.