• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.504-511
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• 2016

Lactulose, a synthetic disaccharide, has received increasing interest because of its role as a prebiotic that can increase the proliferation of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus spp. and enhance the absorption of calcium and magnesium. While the industrial production of lactulose is still mainly achieved by the chemical isomerization of lactose in alkaline media, this process has drawbacks including the need to remove catalysts and by-products, as well as high energy requirements. Recently, the use of cellobiose 2-epimerase (CE) has been considered an interesting alternative for industrial lactulose production. In this study, to develop a process for enzymatic lactulose production using CE, we screened improved mutant enzymes ($CS-H^RC^E$) from a library generated by an error-prone PCR technique. The thermostability of one mutant was enhanced, conferring stability up to $75^{\circ}C$, and its lactulose conversion yield was increased by 1.3-fold compared with that of wild-type CE. Using a recombinant Escherichia coli strain harboring a CS35 $H^RC^E$-expressing plasmid, we prepared cell beads immobilized on a Ca-alginate substrate and optimized their reaction conditions. In a batch reaction with 200 g/l lactose solution and the immobilized cell beads, lactose was converted into lactulose with a conversion yield of 43% in 2 h. In a repeated 38-plex batch reaction, the immobilized cell beads were relatively stable, and 80% of the original enzyme activity was retained after 4 cycles. In conclusion, we developed a reasonable method for lactulose production by immobilizing cells expressing thermostable CE. Further development is required to apply this approach at an industrial scale.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2015

Lactic acid, the most widely occurring hydroxy-carboxylic acid, has traditionally been used as food, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries. Even though it has tremendous potential for large scale production and use in a wide variety of applications, high cost lactic acid materials are primarily problems. Lactic acid can be obtained on either by fermentation or chemical synthesis. In recent years, the fermentation approach has become more successful because of the increasing market demand for naturally produced lactic acid. Generally, lactic acid was produced from pure starch or from glucose. As an alternative, biomass which is the most abundant renewable resources on earth have been considered for conversion to readily utilizable hydrolysate. In this study, we conducted the fermentation method to produce L(+)-lactic acid production from pretreated hydrolysate was investigated by Lactobacillus rhamnosus ATCC 10863. The hydrolysate was obtained from pretreatment process of biomass using Ammonia percolation process (AP) followed by enzymatic hydrolysis. In order to effectively enhance lactic acid conversion and product yield, controlled medium, temperature, glucose concentration was conducted under pure glucose conditions. The optimum conditions of lactic acid production was investigated and compared with those of hydrolysate.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.572-580
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• 2019

Recently, it has been reported that benzyl alcohol (BzOH) as an additive in cosmetics, food, and medicine lead to toxicity and allergy problem. Then, to circumvent this hurdle, we carried out the synthesis of benzyl alcohol galactoside (BzO-gal). Previously, it was confirmed that BzO-gal was synthesized by transgalactosylation reaction using Escherichia coli (E. coli) ${\beta}$-galactosidase (${\beta}-gal$). Meanwhile, in this study, two peaks of BzO-gal as sodium adduct ion (m/z=293.1004) and protonated ion (m/z=271.1180) were detected in the reaction mixture by liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS). In addition, the amount of ${\beta}-gal$ and BzOH concentration, temperature, pH, and lactose concentration, respectively, were optimized (${\beta}-gal$, 0.75 U/mL; BzOH, 185 mM; temperature, $40^{\circ}C$, pH, 7.5; lactose, 350 g/l). Under these optimal conditions, 185 mM BzOH was converted into about 131 mM BzO-gal, in which the conversion yield was about 72%. In the future, BzO-gal will be applicable as a substitute for BzOH as a less toxic preservative for the cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and food industries, and we are planning to investigate the characteristics of BzO-gal as a preservative.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.663-669
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• 2008

The solvent-tolerant bacterium Enterobacter sp. VKGH12 is capable of utilizing n-butanol and contains an $NAD^+$-dependent n-butanol dehydrogenase (BDH). The BDH from n-butanol-grown Enterobacter sp. was purified from a cell-free extract (soluble fraction) to near homogeneity using a 3-step procedure. The BDH was purified 15.37-fold with a recovery of only 10.51, and the molecular mass estimated to be 38 kDa. The apparent Michaelis-Menten constant ($K_m$) for the BDH was found to be 4 mM with respect to n-butanol. The BDH also had a broad range of substrate specificity, including primary alcohols, secondary alcohols, and aromatic alcohols, and exhibited an optimal activity at pH 9.0 and $40^{\circ}C$. Among the metal ions studied, $Mg^{2+}$ and $Mn^{2+}$ had no effect, whereas $Cu^{2+},\;Zn^{2+}$, and $Fe^{2+}$ at 1 mM completely inhibited the BDH activity. The BDH activity was not inhibited by PMSF, suggesting that serine is not involved in the catalytic site. The known metal ion chelator EDTA had no effect on the BDH activity. Thus, in addition to its physiological significance, some features of the enzyme, such as its activity at an alkaline pH and broad range of substrate specificity, including primary and secondary alcohols, are attractive for application to the enzymatic conversion of alcohols.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.441-446
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• 2018

Herbaceous biomass is easier at chemical conversion than woody biomass. However, pretreatment must be needed because it has substantially lignin. Organsolv is good at fractionation of enzymatic hydrolysis inhibitors such as lignin and it is reusable by distillation when it has low molecular weight. Flow-through process can prevent recondensation of fractionated components and easily separate liquid from the biomass. In this study, the pretreatment was performed for decreasing additional process by using ethanol without catalyst because this process has a lot of operation expense at bio-alcohol production process. Flow-through pretreatment was performed at $150{\sim}190^{\circ}C$ with 30~99.5 wt% ethanol during 20~60 minutes. Also the phsyco-chemical pretreatment was performed for decreasing reaction time and temperature.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.357-362
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• 2010

Green alga, Ulva pertusa kjelmann has been known to be one of the largest pollutants in Korea. Therefore, the efficient pretreatment processes have been required to improve the yields of fermentable sugar. The optimal pretreatment conditions were determined to be $195^{\circ}C$ for 15 min. The sugar yield of glucose and xylose were estimated as 20.5%, and 5.0% respectively, based on theoretical yields. However solid residues were estimated enzymatic digestibility of 90-95% with cellulase loading of 15 FPU/g glucan. This process was proved to generate the low concentration of Hydroxy-Methyl-Furfural (51 ppm), which resulted in ethanol production with 95% of the maximum conversion yield from glucose in the culture of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (ATCC, 24858). This study showed that Ulva pertusa kjellmann can be used as a bioetahnol resource using the high temperature liquefaction process.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.112-118
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• 2008

Laccases are multicopper-containing oxidases that catalyze the oxidation of many aromatic compounds with concomitant reduction of oxygen to water. Interest in this enzyme has arisen in many fields of industry, including detoxification, wine stabilization, paper processing, and enzymatic conversion of chemical intermediates. In this study, we cloned a laccase gene (GLlac1) from the white-rot fungus Ganoderma lucidum. The cloned gene consists of 4,357 bp, with its coding region interrupted by nine introns, and the upstream region has putative CAAT and TATA boxes as well as several metal responsive elements (MREs). We also cloned a full-length cDNA of GLlac1, which contains an uninterrupted open reading frame (ORF) of 1,560 bp coding for 520 amino acids with a putative 21-residue signal sequence. The DNA and deduced amino acid sequences of GLlac1 were similar but not identical to those of other fungal laccases. GLlac1 was released from the cells when expressed in P. pastoris, and had high laccase activity. In addition, GLlac1 conferred antioxidative protection from protein degradation, and thus may be useful in bio-medical applications.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.344-351
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• 2011

Ginsenoside $Rb_1$ is the main component in ginsenosides. It is a protopanaxadiol-type ginsenoside that has a dammarane-type triterpenoid as an aglycone. In this study, ginsenoside $Rb_1$ was transformed into gypenoside XVII, ginsenoside Rd, ginsenoside $F_2$ and compound K by glycosidase from Leuconostoc mesenteroides DC102. The optimum time for the conversion was about 72 h at a constant pH of 6.0 to 8.0 and the optimum temperature was about $30^{\circ}C$. Under optimal conditions, ginsenoside $Rb_1$ was decomposed and converted into compound K by 72 h post-reaction (99%). The enzymatic reaction was analyzed by highperformance liquid chromatography, suggesting the transformation pathway: ginsenoside $Rb_1$ ${\rightarrow}$ gypenoside XVII and ginsenoside Rd${\rightarrow}$ginsenoside $F_2{\rightarrow}$compound K.

• BMB Reports
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.120-125
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• 2000

M2PI is an active single chain mini-proinsulin with a 9-residue linker containing the turn-forming sequence 'YPGDV' between the B- and A-chains, but which retains about 50% of native insulin receptor binding activity. The refolding efficiency of M2PI is higher than proinsulin by 20-40% at alkaline pH, and native insulin is generated by the enzymatic conversion of M2PI. The solution structure of M2PI was determined by NMR spectroscopy. The global structure of M2PI is similar to that of native insulin, but the flexible linker between the B- and A-chains perturbed the N-terminal A-chain and C-terminal B-chain. The helix in the N-terminal A-chain is partly perturbed and the ${\beta}$-turn in the B-chain is disrupted in M2PI. However, the linker between the two chains was completely disordered indicating that the designed turn was not formed under the experimental conditions (20% acetic acid). Considering the fact that an insulin analogue, directly cross-linked between the C-terminus of the B-chain and the N-terminus of the A-chain, has negligible binding activity, a flexible linker between the two chains is sufficient to keep binding activity of M2PI, but the perturbed secondary structures are detrimental to receptor binding.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 1994.04a
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• pp.260-260
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• 1994

Mammalian pyruvate dehydrogenase complex(PDC) enzyme consists of multiple oopies of three major oligomeric enzymes-El, E2 E3. And protein X is one of the enzymatic constituents which is tightly bound to E2 subunit This complex enzyme is responsible for the oxidative decarboxylation of pyruvate producing of acetyl CoA which is a key intermediate for the entry of carbohydrates into the TCA cycle for its complete metabolic conversion to CO$_2$. And the overall activity of the complex enzyme is regulated via covalent nodification of El subunit by a El specific phosphatase ad kinase. Protein X has lipoyl moiety that undergoes reduction and acetylation during ezymatic reaction and has been known h be involved in the binding of E3 subunit to E2 core and in the regulatory activity of kinase. The purification of protein X has not been achieved majorly because of its tight binding to E2 subunit The E2-protein X subcomplex was obtained by the established methods and the detachment of protein X from E2 was accomplished in the 0.1M borate buffer containing 150mM NaCl. During the storage of the subcomplex in frozen state at -70$^{\circ}C$, the E2 subunit was precipitated and the dissociated protein X was obtained by cntrifegation into the supernatant The verification of protein X was accomplished by (1)the migration on SDS-PAGE, (2)acetylation by 〔2$\^$-l4/C〕 pyruvate, and (3)internal amino acid sequence analysis of tryptic digested enzyme.