• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.593-596
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• 2007

In this study, we describe the development of a simple and efficient method for cell lysis via the insertion of a bacteriophage lambda lysis gene cluster into the pET22b expression vector in the following order; the T7 promoter, a gene for a target protein intended for production, Sam7 and R. This insertion of R and Sam7 into pET22b exerted no detrimental effects on cellular growth or the production of a target protein. The induction of the T7 promoter did not in itself result in the autolysis of cells in culture but the harvested cells were readily broken by freezing and thawing. We compared the efficiency of the cell lysis technique by freezing and thawing to that observed with sonication, and determined that both methods completely disintegrated the cells and released proteins into the solution. With our modification of pET22b, the lysis of cells became quite simple, efficient, and reliable. This strategy may prove useful for a broad variety of applications, particularly in experiments requiring extensive cell breakage, including library screening and culture condition exploration, in addition to protein purification.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.32 no.10
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• pp.844-849
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• 2008

We present a novel cell deformability monitoring chip based on the digitally measured cell lysis rate which is dependent on the areal strain of the cell membrane. This method offers simple cell deformability monitoring by automated high-throughput testing system. We suggest the filter design considering the areal strain imposed on the cell membrane passing through the filter array having gradually increased orifice length. In the experiment using erythrocytes, we characterized the cell deformability in terms of average fracture areal strain which was $0.24{\pm}0.014\;and\;0.21{\pm}0.002$ for normal and chemically treated erythrocytes, respectively. We also verified that the areal strain of 0.15 effectively discriminates the deformability difference of normal and chemically treated erythrocytes, which can be applied to the clinical situation. We compared the lysis rates and their difference for the samples from different donors and found that the present chips can be commonly used without any calibration process. The experimental results demonstrate the simple structure and high performance of the present cell deformability monitoring chips, applicable to simple and cost-effective cell aging process monitoring.

• 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.

• BMB Reports
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.444-447
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• 2007

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a powerful technique in molecular biology and is widely used in various fields. By amplifying DNA fragments, PCR has facilitated gene cloning procedures, as well as molecular genotyping. However, the extraction of DNA from samples often acts as a limiting step of these reactions. In particular, the extraction of PCR-compatible genomic DNA from higher plants requires complicated processes and tedious work because plant cells have rigid cell walls and contain various endogenous PCR inhibitors, including polyphenolic compounds. We recently developed a novel solution, referred to as AnyDirect, which can amplify target DNA fragments directly from whole blood without the need for DNA extraction. Here, we developed a simple lysis system that could produce an appropriate template for direct PCR with AnyDirect PCR buffer, making possible the direct amplification of DNA fragments from plant leaves. Thus, our experimental procedure provides a simple, convenient, non-hazardous, inexpensive, and rapid process for the amplification of DNA from plant tissue.

• Journal of Plant Biology
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.201-203
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• 1987

Total RNA was isolated from two months old wheat, rice, tobacco and sweet potato. The procedure used was simple and provided pure RNA preparation. Lysis of plant tissue in a buffer with guanidine thiocyanate and CsCl density gradient centrifugation separated RNA from the rest of the cellular components. Subsequent cholroform/1-butanol extraction and ethanol precipitation were necessary to ensure contaminant-free RNA preparation. Storage of the lysed plant tissue in the buffer with guanidine thiocyanate preserved the sample for two months without noticeable RNA degradation.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.857-863
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• 1998

A simple and new experimental method for determination of lysozyme-M. lysodeikticus cell lysis reaction and lysozyme activity was suggested using Beer's law. The UV transmittance of the solution changed with the concentration of M. lysodeikticus and the relationship between the UV transmittance and M. lysodeikticus cell concentration followed Beer's Law. In addition, it was experimentally proven that the UV transmittance of the solution was not influenced by the lysozyme concentration and product of the lysis reaction. During the lysozyme-M. lysodeikticus cell lysis reaction, thus, M. lysodeikticus cell concentration in the solution could be measured in-situ by UV-spectrophotometer. By using these experimental data, kinetic Parameters of the Michaelis-Menten equation for the lysozyme-M. lysodeikticus cell 1ysis reaction was simply determined The maximum reaction rate constant ($k_3$) and Michaelis-Menten constants were $0.1734sec^{-1}$ and $9.83{\times}10^{-6}M$ respectively. The activity of the lysozyme could also be obtained with this experiment because the lysis reaction rate of the 1ysozyme depended on its activity.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.289-296
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• 1985

A simple procedure for rapid isolation of plasmid DNA from lactobacillus species and streptococcus species is described. Lactic acid bacteria were cultured in the TCM broth containing 0.5％ glycine and plasmid DNA was isolated from cells treated with mutanolysin by alkaline-detergent lysis method. Good results for releasing and isolating plasmid DNA from lactobacillus species were obtained by treatment of cells with 30$\mu\textrm{g}$ of mutanolysin per ml at 37$^{\circ}C$ for 5 to 10 min. For the streptococcus species, the optimum conditions were slightly different. The procedure could be used for rapid characterization of plasmid DNA in Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus helveticus, Streptococcus lactis, Streptococcus faecalis, Streptococcus faecium, and Streptococcus cremoris strains. Using this procedure, plasmids isolated from $1.5m\ell$ cultures could readily be visualized in agarose gel.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.1752-1757
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• 2008

Simple and highly efficient droplet merging method is proposed, which enables two nanoliter or picoliter droplets to merge regularly in a straight microchannel. We observe that two droplets of the same size but of different viscosities are merged by velocity difference induced as they are transported with the carrier fluid. To make viscosity difference, the mass ratio of water and glycerol is varied. Two droplets of the same size or of different sizes are generated alternatingly in the cross channel by controlling flowrates. This droplet merging method can be used to mix or encapsulate one target sample with another material, so that it can be applied to cell lysis, particle synthesis, drug discovery, hydrogel-bead production, and so on.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.43-51
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• 1993

Background: The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a very sensitive method for the detecting of mycobacterial DNA. There are many reports revealing the efficacy of PCR for the diagnosis of M. tuberculosis, but there are many different methods for DNA extraction from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Bead beater method is a very useful method for DNA extraction from clinical spectimens, but its procedures are relatively complicated and time-consuming. So we studied other methods for the DNA extraction from Mycobacterium tuberculosis $H_{37}Rv$ and some clinical specimens (5 smear positive sputa and 5 smear negative CSF). Method: We extracted the mycobacterial DNA with 6 different methods from H37Rv strain and clinical specimens. The methods included SDS-microwave oven method, NaOH lysis method, Triton X-100-Proteinase K method, Lysis buffer method, SDS-proteinase K method and bead beater method. The target DNA was 123bp of IS6110 and was detected by examination of ethidium bromide-stained agarose gels. Results: Among 6 methods, SDS-proteinase K method, bead beater method, lysis buffer method and triton X-100-proteinase K method were excellent, but SDS-proteinase K method was the best method in the aspect of simplicity and cost-effectiveness. Conclusion: We suggest that SDS-porteinase K method is a simple and convinient method and might be the best method for the extraction of mycobacterial DNA.

• BMB Reports
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.351-355
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• 2004

Separate protocols are commonly used to prepare plasmid DNA, chromosomal DNA, or total RNA from E. coli cells. Various methods for the rapid preparation of plasmid DNA have been developed previously, but the preparation of the chromosomal DNA and total RNA are usually laborious. We report here a simple, fast, reliable, and cost-effective method to extract total nucleic acids from E. coli by direct lysis of the cells with phenol. Five distinct and sharp bands, which correspond to chromosomal DNA, plasmid DNA, 23S rRNA, 16S rRNA, and a mixture of small RNA, were observed when analyzing the prepared total nucleic acids on a regular 1-2% agarose gel. The simple and high-quality preparation of the total nucleic acids in a singe tube allowed us to rapidly screen the recombinant plasmid, as well as to simultaneously monitor the change of the plasmid copy number and rRNA levels during the growth of E. coli in the liquid medium.