• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.1477-1482
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• 2007

Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus strain PA15 exhibited a minimum inhibitory concentration value of 11 mM in an LGI medium amended with $ZnCl_2$. When an LGI medium was amended with Zn metal, solubilization halos were observed in a plate assay, and further solubilization was confirmed in a broth assay. The maximum solubilization was recorded after 120 h with a 0.1% Zn metal amendment. During solubilization, the culture growth and pH of the broth were indirectly correlated. Using a Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy analysis, one of the agents solubilizing the Zn metal was identified as gluconic acid. When the Zn-amended broth was observed under a bright field microscope, long involution cells were observed, and further analysis with Atomic Force Microscopy revealed highly deformed, pleomorphic, aggregate-like cells.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.10
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• pp.3030-3034
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• 2014

Bis-chloroethylnitrosourea (BCNU) is currently used as an anti-cancer drug for glioblastoma therapy. In this study, BCNU was loaded into the hydrophobic cores of R3V6 amphiphilic peptide micelles for efficient delivery into brain tumors. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) study showed that the BCNU-loaded R3V6 peptide micelles (R3V6-BCNU) formed spherical micelles. MTT assay showed that R3V6-BCNU more efficiently induced cell death in C6 glioblastoma cells than did BCNU. In the Annexin V assay, R3V6-BCNU more efficiently induced apoptosis than did BCNU alone. Furthermore, the results showed that R3V6 was not toxic to cells. The positive charges of the R3V6 peptide micelles may facilitate the interaction between R3V6-BCNU and the cellular membrane, resulting in an increase in cellular uptake of BCNU. In vivo evaluation with an intracranial glioblastoma rat model showed that R3V6-BCNU more effectively reduced tumor size than BCNU alone. The results suggest that R3V6 peptide micelles may be an efficient carrier of BCNU for glioblastoma therapy.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.10
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• pp.2889-2892
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• 2010

The objective of this study was to validate performance characteristics of the Access 2 (Beckman coulter) system for hCG assays for use as a confirmation test for doping control. The Access 2 assay was linear up to 500 IU/L. The correlation coefficient was higher than 0.999, and the sensitivity of the linearity was 0.82. There were no false positive or false negative cases. LOD was 0.59 IU/L. The method was robust when performed by different people. Repeatability and reproducibility were below 7%. We compared reproducibility and recoveries of Access 2 and Elecsys 2010. Access 2 demonstrated higher reproducibility than Elecsys 2010. Recoveries (accuracy) of Access 2 were between 85 and 105%. Recoveries for Elecsys 2010 were between 91 and 104%.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.10
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• pp.2771-2775
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• 2010

We present a rapid biogenic method for the production of nanoscale gold particles using pear extract. The formation and stability of pear-derived gold nanoparticles (Pear-AuNPs) were monitored by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. Their morphology, elemental composition and crystalline phase were determined by transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and selected area electron diffraction. The average core size of crystalline Pear-AuNPs was in the range of $10{\pm}5\;nm$ and the observed morphology was spherical. The X-ray photoelectron spectrum showed a strong peak for the pure 'Au' phase. The circular dichroism spectrum indicated the natural capping ability of the pear extract, which generated peptide-gold nanoparticles. These nanoparticles were stable in aqueous solution for two months. A cell viability assay of Pear-AuNPs showed biocompatibility with human embryonic kidney 293 cells. Accordingly, this eco-friendly process for the bio-mimetic production of Pear-AuNPs is nontoxic in nature; consequently, it will find potential application in nano-biotechnology.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.191-196
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• 2015

Blueberry juice possesses rich-procyanidins and - anthocyanidin, comprised a group of with numerous health benefits such as protection against coronary heart disease, detoxification, and obesity. Blueberry (Vaccinium virgatum) juice extracts were analyzed and separated by an HPLC method for the purpose of the separation and quantification in polyphenolic groups. In specific HPLC conditions, a binary mobile phase consisting of formic acid: water (10:90, v/v, solvent A) and formic acid: water: acetonitrile (10:60:30, v/v/v, solvent B) was utilized and it is detected at 546 nm wavelength. The phenolic contents of the extracts are determined using Folin-Ciocalteu phenol reagent. In order to test anti-inflammation activity assay, after producing nitric oxide (NO) in lipopolysaccharide activated RAW 264.7 cells, at concentration of $20-500{\mu}g/mL$ it reduced to NO production at a dose-dependent manner. Importantly, cytotoxicity assay with up to $500{\mu}g/mL$ of the extract from blueberry juice showed ~100% cell viability for RAW264.7 cell line. Therefore, Korean blueberry juice might have potential as anti-oxidant and antiinflammation agents.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.18 no.7
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• pp.761-766
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• 1997

Phospholipase C from Clostridium perfringens is known to catalyze the hydrolysis of phospholipids in biological membranes. In this study, a simple and sensitive method for assaying phospholipase C was developed by using liposomes entrapping calcein as a fluorescent marker. Phospholipase C-induced lysis of liposomes was determined by measuring the fluorescence intensity of calcein released out from liposomes, Various liposomes with different compositions were prepared by reverse-phase evaporation method to investigate the effect of liposomal composition on the lytic activity of phospholipase C. The calcein-entrapping efficiency of liposomes was affected by the chain length of fatty acid in phosphatidylcholine constituting liposomes. The lytic activity of phospholipase C was the highest against liposomes prepared with eggPC. The lytic activity decreased with increasing chain length of fatty acid in phosphatidylcholine. Incorporation of cholesterol more than 20% into the liposomal bilayer inhibited the phospholipase C-induced lysis. The lysis of liposomes was more greatly increased by the addition of 10 mM of calcium. The lytic activity of phospholipase C was also affected by the surface charge of liposomes. Taken together, it was concluded that reverse-phase evaporation vesicles composed of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine and cholesterol in the molar ratio of 9 : 1 allowed to detect the lowest concentration of phospholipase C (0.10 μg/assay volume). This study suggested that the use of liposomes can provide a simple, sensitive and inexpensive method for assaying phospholipase C.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.685-688
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• 2001

A gas chromatography/mass spectrometric assay method has been developed for the simultaneous determination of benzidine (BZ), N-acetyl benzidine (ABZ) and N,N-diacetyl benzidine (DABZ) in rat urine. BZ, ABZ and DABZ were extracted from urine at pH 8 with ethyl ether. Conjugated urinary metabolites were extracted at pH 8 after hydrolysis with 1 M HCl for 30 min at 100 $^{\circ}C.$ The dried extract was dissolved in 100 ${\mu}{\ell}$ of ethylacetate and then injected in gas chromatography-mass spectrometric (GC-MS) system without further purification or modification. BZ, ABZ and DABZ have good chromatographic properties and offer very sensitive response for the EI-MS (SIM) without any derivatization. The recoveries for BZ, ABZ and DABZ were about 98.0, 81.8 and 71.4%, respectively, at pH 8.0 and the concentration of 5.0 ng/mL. The coefficients of variation of BZ and ABZ were less than 9.5% from 0.1 to 100 ng/mL and that of DABZ was less than 13% in the same concentration range. The detection limits of the assay were 0.01 ng/mL for both BZ and ABZ, and 0.05 ng/mL for DABZ in urine or plasma 1.0 mL.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.65 no.4
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• pp.337-341
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• 2022

In this study, the effect of the combined use of a lipid-soluble n-hexane extract of red ginseng marc (HERGM) and water-soluble arginine, which exhibits anticaries activity, on the growth of Streptococccus mutans was investigated. As a result of checkerboard assay, HERGM and arginine showed a synergistic effect in inhibiting the growth of S. mutans with a fractional inhibitory concentration index of 0.396. Combination treatments of HERGM and arginine resulted in leakage of nucleic acid components and decrease in the viable cell counts of S. mutans, all of which were proportional to the concentration of HERGM. In conclusion, the synergistic effect of HERGM and arginine on the growth inhibition of S. mutans is mainly attributed to HERGM.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.610-613
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• 2012

In this study, plant extracts including 25% Saururus chinensis, 20% Morus bombycis stem and 20% Morus papyrifera stem were tested to use as possible cosmetic agent. As cosmetic effect test, cell toxicity test, elastase inhibition assay, tyrosinase inhibition assay, anti-oxidation assay and temperature stability test were done as cosmetic assays. Plant extract showed low cell toxicity, excellent elastase inhibition and anti-oxidation effect, however, tyrosinase inhibition effect was lower. Skin, lotion and essence formulation was made using plant extracts and temperature stability test was done. Skin and essence indicated good stability, however, lotion showed phase separation and severe viscosity variation, which means lotion formulation change. From the research, plant extracts including Saururus chinensis, Morus bombycis stem and Morus papyrifera stem were suitable for possible cosmetic agent.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.27 no.9
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• pp.1335-1340
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• 2006

It has been found that a number of diseases are associated with mutations in the mitochondrial DNA. Therapeutic gene delivery to mitochondria has been suggested as a clinical option for these diseases. In this study, we developed a gene carrier to mitochondria by the conjugation of mitochondrial leader peptide (LP) to polyethylenimine (PEI). Mitochondrial LP conjugated PEI (PEI-LP) was synthesized with low molecular weight PEI (2,000 Da, PEI2K). Gel retardation assay showed that PEI2K-LP formed complexes at a 1.0/1 weight ratio. In addition, PEI2K-LP protected DNA from the enzymatic degradation for at least 60 min, while naked DNA was completely degraded within 20 min. PEI2K-LP was compared with LP conjugated high molecular weight PEI (25,000 Da, PEI25K) in terms of toxicity and delivery efficiency. MTT assay showed that PEI2K-LP had much lower cytotoxicity than PEI25K-LP to 293 cells. In addition, cell-free DNA delivery assay showed that PEI2K-LP delivered more DNA to mitochondria at a 1.8/1 weight ratio than naked DNA or PEI. This result suggests that PEI2K-LP may be useful for the development of mitochondrial gene therapy system with lower cytotoxicity.