• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.117-122
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• 2004

Bacillus sp. $\beta$-mannanase was purified by DEAE-sephadex ion exchange column chromatography. The specific activity of the purified enzyme was 21.57 units/$m\ell$ protein, representing an 95.33-folds purification of the original crude extract. The final preparation thus obtained showed a single band on SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The molecular weight was determined to be 38.9 kDa. Guar gum galactomannan was hydrolyzed by the purified $\beta$-mannanase, and then the hydrolysates was separated by activated carbon column chromatography and Sephadex G-25 gel filtration. The main hydrolysates were composed of D.P. (Degree of Polymerization) 5 and 7 galactomannooligosaccharides. To investigate the effects of guar gum galactomannooligosaccharides on in vitro growth of Bifidobacterium longum, B. bifidum, B. infantis, B. adolescentis, B. animalis, and B. breve, Bifidobacterium spp. were cultivated individually on the modified-MRS medium containing carbon source such as D.P. 5 and D.P. 7 galactomannooligosaccharides, respectively B. longum and B. bifidum grew up l0-fold and 9.8-fold more effectively by the treatment of D.P. 5 galactomannooligosaccharides, compared to those of standard MRS medium. Especially, D.P. 5 was more effective than D.P. 7 galactomannooligosaccharide on the growth of Bifidobacterium spp.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.1-11
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• 2017

The importance of data curation is increasingly recognized as the need of data reuse drastically grows. Due to recent data explosion, scientists invest almost 90% of their efforts in the retrieval and collection of data needed to their study. In this paper, we deal with the development and application of a collaborative environment for community-driven data curation which is essential to enhance scientific data reusability and citability. The collaborative scientific data curation environment focuses on the cross-linking between data (or data collections) and their associated literatures to capture and organize inter-relations among research results in a specific domain. Also, plenty of contextual information is provided as metadata in order to support users in understanding data. The cross-linking has been realized by using DOI system to guarantee global accessibility to data and their relationships to literatures. The curation environment has been adopted to build a community-driven curated DB by a globally well-known intrinsically-disorderd protein research group. The curated DB will drastically reduce researchers' efforts to retrieve and collect the data required for scientific discovery.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.9
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• pp.1701-1710
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• 2017

Classical swine fever virus (CSFV) is the etiologic agent of classical swine fever, a highly contagious disease that causes significant economic losses to the swine industry. The lapinized C-strain, a widely used vaccine strain against CSFV, has low growth efficiency in cell culture, which limits the productivity in the vaccine industry. In this study, a recombinant virus derived from C-strain was constructed and subjected to continuous passaging in PK-15 cells with the goal of acquiring a high progeny virus yield. A cell-adapted virus variant, RecCpp80, had nearly 1,000-fold higher titer than its parent C-strain but lost the ability to induce fever in rabbits. Sequence analysis of cell-adapted RecC variants indicated that at least six nucleotide changes were fixed in RecCpp80. Further adaption of RecCpp80 variant in swine testicle cells led to a higher virus yield without additional mutations. Introduction of each of these residues into the wild-type RecC backbone showed that one mutation, M979R (T3310G), located in the C-terminal region of E2 might be closely related to the cell-adapted phenotype. Rabbit inoculation revealed that $RecCpp40_{+10}$ failed to induce fever in rabbits, whereas $RecCpp80_{+10}$ caused a fever response similar to the commercial C-strain vaccine. In conclusion, the C-strain can be adapted to cell culture by introducing specific mutations in its E2 protein. The mutations in RecCpp80 that led to the loss of fever response in rabbits require further investigation. Continuous passaging of the C-strain-based recombinant viruses in PK-15 cells could enhance its in vitro adaption. The non-synonymous mutations at 3310 and 3531 might play major roles in the enhanced capacity of general virus reproduction. Such findings may help design a modified C-strain for improved productivity of commercial vaccines at reduced production cost.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.531-538
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• 2007

A total of 127 Korean native black pigs(gilt 30, boar 97) were used to investigate the carcass properties, yields of retail cut and meat quality. The average live weight, chilled carcass percentage and retail cut percentage used in this study were 74.69kg, 71.14% and 61.09% for boar, and 75.5kg, 73.88% and 56.25% for gilt, respectively. Although gilts were higher in live weight and chilled carcass percentage whereas lower in retail cut percentage when compared to boars, there was no significantly difference between gender(p<0.05). Gilts had higher fat contents than boars regardless of weight range groups. Protein contents increased as slaughter weight increased for gilt and boar groups. Gilts contained high intramuscular fat contents had significantly lower Warner-Bratzler shear force(WBS) and water holding capacity(WHC) when compared to boar in the same weight range group(p<0.05). There was no significantly different in meat color(p>0.05) although gilts had higher L(lightness), a(redness) and b(yellowness) values when compared to the same group of boar. From the result of this study can be used for the grading guideline and quality evaluation standard of Korean native black pigs by gender and live weight.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.93-100
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• 2018

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Oxidative stress plays a key role in neuronal cell damage, which is associated with neurodegenerative disease. The aim of present study was to investigate the neuroprotective effects of perilla oil (PO) and its active component, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), against hydrogen peroxide $(H_2O_2)$-induced oxidative stress in SH-SY5Y neuronal cells. MATERIALS/METHODS: The SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells exposed to $250{\mu}M$ $H_2O_2$ for 24 h were treated with different concentrations of PO (25, 125, 250 and $500{\mu}g/mL$) and its major fatty acid, ALA (1, 2.5, 5 and $25{\mu}g/mL$). We examined the effects of PO and ALA on $H_2O_2$-induced cell viability, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release, and nuclear condensation. Moreover, we determined whether PO and ALA regulated the apoptosis-related protein expressions, such as cleaved-poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP), cleaved caspase-9 and -3, BCL-2 and BAX. RESULTS: Treatment of $H_2O_2$ resulted in decreased cell viability, increased LDH release, and increase in the nuclei condensation as indicated by Hoechst 33342 staining. However, PO and ALA treatment significantly attenuated the neuronal cell death, indicating that PO and ALA potently blocked the $H_2O_2$-induced neuronal apoptosis. Furthermore, cleaved-PARP, cleaved caspase-9 and -3 activations were significantly decreased in the presence of PO and ALA, and the $H_2O_2$-induced up-regulated BAX/BCL-2 ratio was blocked after treatment with PO and ALA. CONCLUSIONS: PO and its main fatty acid, ALA, exerted the protective activity from neuronal oxidative stress induced by $H_2O_2$. They regulated apoptotic pathway in neuronal cell death by alleviation of BAX/BCL-2 ratio, and down-regulation of cleaved-PARP and cleaved caspase-9 and -3. Although further studies are required to verify the protective mechanisms of PO and ALA from neuronal damage, PO and ALA are the promising agent against oxidative stress-induced apoptotic neuronal cell death.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.361-367
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• 1996

As a part of investigation for quality improvement of surimi gel from fish with a red muscle by addition of emulsion curd, we investigated the processing conditions of emulsion curd contained succinylated gelatin from conger eel skin as an emulsifier and emulsion curd-added surimi gel. Activity and stability of emulsion curd on standing at room temperature, chilled temperature and vibration were remarkably improved by the addition of 15 tunes of soybean oil and 5 times of water to succinylated gelatin from conger eel skin. The proximate composition of the emulsion curd was moisture 18%, protein 5%, lipid 76% and ash 0.5% and its appearance was white. Peroxide value and fatty acid composition of emulsion curd contained succinylated gelatin as an emulsifier were similar to these of soybean oil. By the addition of 6% of emulsion curd to mackerel surimi, gel strength, appearance and texture of the resulting surimi gel were improved, while its peroxide value and brown pigment revealed minor change. From the results of volatile basic nitrogen, viable cell counts and histamine content, the emulsion curd-added mackerel surimi gel can be safe In the sense of food sanitation.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.544-547
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• 2015

An 11-year-old, intact male Pekingese was brought to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of Kangwon National University with a 10-day history of seizures. Fifteen days before coming to Kangwon National University, the dog had visited a local animal hospital for lameness, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were prescribed to treat this symptom. However, 10 days before coming to our hospital, the dog experienced generalized seizures. Two days before his arrival, generalized ataxia and mental dullness also occurred. Our examinations revealed no remarkable findings on a routine blood test or X-ray. However, the neurological examinations confirmed mental dullness, generalized ataxia, and a lack of menace response and pupillary light reflexes. Nine hours later, dyspnea occurred, and 12 hours after that, the patient was euthanized per the client's request. A necropsy of transverse sections confirmed the presence of a prominent midline shift due to extended tumor growth. On histopathological analyses, pseudopalisading necrosis of the glial cells and microvascular proliferation were observed. In immunohistochemical analysis, glial fibrillary acidic protein, proliferating cell nuclear antigens, and ionized calcium binding adaptor molecule 1 immunoreactive cells were observed in the tumor area. Based on the results, the tumor was confirmed to be a glioblastoma. Primary intracranial tumors are rare in the veterinary field. This case report describes the clinical and histopathological findings of glioblastoma in a Pekingese.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.431-437
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• 2011

Aberrant activation of microglia has been reported to cause neuronal damages by releasing a variety of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Besides where microglia become active, damages have been also observed in remote places, which is considered due to the migration of activated microglia. Therefore, an agent that could suppress abnormal activation of microglia and their subsequent migration might be valuable in activated microglia-related brain pathologies. The objective of the present study was to evaluate anti-inflammatory effects of betulinic acid on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated BV2 microglial cells. Pretreatment of betulinic acid significantly attenuated LPS-induced NO production and protein expression of iNOS. Betulinic acid also significantly suppressed LPS-induced release and expression of cytokines such as TNF-${\alpha}$ and IL-$1{\beta}$. Furthermore, betulinic acid significantly uppressed LPS-induced MMP-9 expression, which has been suggested to play an important role in the migration of activated microglia. In order to understand the possible mechanism by which betulinic acid suppresses LPS-induced cytokine production and migration of microglia, the role of NF-kB, a major pro-inflammatory transcription factor, was examined. Betulinic acid significantly suppressed LPS-induced degradation of IKB, which retains NF-kB in the cytoplasm. Therefore, nuclear translocation of NF-kB upon LPS stimulation was significantly suppressed with betulinic acid. Taken together, the present study for the first time demonstrates that betulinic acid possesses anti-inflammatory activity through the suppression of nuclear translocation of NF-kB in BV2 microglial cells.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.443-455
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• 2020

The thioredoxin (Trx) system plays critical roles in regulating intracellular redox levels and defending organisms against oxidative stress. Recent studies indicated that Trx reductase (TrxR) was overexpressed in various types of human cancer cells indicating that the Trx-TrxR system may be a potential target for anti-cancer drug development. This study investigated the synergistic effect of auranofin, a TrxR-specific inhibitor, on sulforaphane-mediated apoptotic cell death using Hep3B cells. The results showed that sulforaphane significantly enhanced auranofin-induced apoptosis by inhibiting TrxR activity and cell proliferation compared to either single treatment. The synergistic effect of sulforaphane and auranofin on apoptosis was evidenced by an increased annexin-V-positive cells and Sub-G1 cells. The induction of apoptosis by the combined treatment caused the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) and upregulation of Bax. In addition, the proteolytic activities of caspases (-3, -8, and -9) and the degradation of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase, a substrate protein of activated caspase-3, were also higher in the combined treatment. Moreover, combined treatment induced excessive generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, treatment with N-acetyl-L-cysteine, a ROS scavenger, reduced combined treatment-induced ROS production and apoptosis. Thereby, these results deduce that ROS played a pivotal role in apoptosis induced by auranofin and sulforaphane. Furthermore, apoptosis induced by auranofin and sulforaphane was significantly increased through inhibition of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway. Taken together, the present study demonstrated that down-regulation of TrxR activity contributed to the synergistic effect of auranofin and sulforaphane on apoptosis through ROS production and inhibition of PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.58 no.2
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• pp.147-152
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• 2020

Malaria is a potent burden on public healthcare worldwide due to requiring rapid diagnosis and treatment. Nowadays, prompt diagnosis with rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) has been widely accepted as an effective diagnostic technique in malaria-endemic countries, primarily due to their easy operation, fast output, and straightforward interpretation. The global availability and use of RDTs have gradually grown over recent decades as field-applicable diagnostic tests for the reliable confirmation of malaria infection and proper case management. This study was conducted to evaluate diagnostic performance of 3 commercially available malaria RDT kits : BIOCREDIT^TM Malaria Ag Pf(pLDH), Malaria Ag Pf(pLDH/pHRPII), and Malaria Ag Pf/Pv(pLDH/pLDH) (where pLDH and pHRPII stand for plasmodium lactate dehydrogenase and histidine-rich protein 2, respectively) for the specific detection of Plasmodium falciparum. A total of 1,129 blood samples including 95 blood samples, confirmed as vivax malaria infection by microscopic examinations and a nested-PCR method, were tested for falciparum malaria infection. The overall sensitivity and specificity of Malaria Ag Pf(pLDH/pHRPII), Malaria Ag Pf/Pv(pLDH/pLDH), and Pf(pLDH) for P. falciparum were 99.0% and 100%, 95.8% and 100%, and 100% and 100%, respectively. It is proposed that the 3 RDT kits perform reliable level of diagnostic accuracy of detection for P. falciparum parasites.