• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.28 no.12
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• pp.2293-2298
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• 2007

In this study, a dithizone extraction technique involving purge & trap GC-MS was developed for the determination of methylmercury in biological samples, especially blood and fish. After alkaline digestion, methylmercury in biological samples was extracted into dithizone and back-extracted into aqueous sulfide solution. The extracted methylmercury was converted to the volatile ethyl derivative, purged and trapped onto a solid-phase collection medium, and then introduced into the GC-MS system. The determined MDLs of the established method were 0.9 ng·g?1 for biological samples and its accuracy and precision were found to be 93% and 3.8%, respectively. The method was validated by analysis of CRMs such as SRM 966, BCR 463 and IAEA 407 and all analytical results were within certified ranges with average RSDs of less than 6%. The analytical results of field-sampled fish also showed that the method can be successfully used as an alternative for commonly used distillation method followed by GC-CVAFS detection.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.273-281
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• 2007

Ceramide is involved in cell death as a lipid mediator of stress responses. In this study, we developed an improved method of ceramide quantification based on added synthetic ceramide and thin layer chromatography (TLC) separation, and applied to biological samples. Lipids were extracted from samples spiked with N-oleoyl-D-erythro-sphingosine ($C_{17}$ ceramide) as an internal standard. Ceramide was resolved by TLC, complexed with fatty-acidfree bovine serum albumin (BSA), and deacylated by ceramidase (CDase). The released sphingosine was derivatized with o-phthalaldehyde (OPA) and measured by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The limit of detection for ceramide was about 1-2 pmol and the lower limit of quantification was 5 pmol. Ceramide recovery was approximately 86-93%. Ceramide concentrations were determined in biological samples including cultured cells, mouse tissues, and mouse and human plasma. TLC separation of ceramide provides HPLC chromatogram with a clean background without any interfering peaks and the enhanced solubility of ceramide by BSAceramide complex leads to the increased deacylation of ceramide. The use of an internal standard for the determination of ceramide concentration in these samples provides an accurate and reproducible analytical method, and this method can be applicable to diverse biological samples.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.239-244
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• 2013

Somatic mutation is a major cause of cancer progression and varied responses of tumors against anticancer agents. Thus, we must obtain and characterize genome-wide mutational profiles in individual cancer subtypes. The Cancer Genome Atlas database includes large amounts of sequencing and omics data generated from diverse human cancer tissues. In the present study, we integrated and analyzed the exome sequencing data from ~3,000 tissue samples and summarized the major mutant genes in each of the diverse cancer subtypes and stages. Mutations were observed in most human genes (~23,000 genes) with low frequency from an analysis of 11 major cancer subtypes. The majority of tissue samples harbored 20-80 different mutant genes, on average. Lung cancer samples showed a greater number of mutations in diverse genes than other cancer subtypes. Only a few genes were mutated with over 5% frequency in tissue samples. Interestingly, mutation frequency was generally similar between non-metastatic and metastastic samples in most cancer subtypes. Among the 12 major mutations, the TP53, USH2A, TTN, and MUC16 genes were found to be frequent in most cancer types, while BRAF, FRG1B, PBRM1, and VHL showed lineage-specific mutation patterns. The present study provides a useful resource to understand the broad spectrum of mutation frequencies in various cancer types.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.189-197
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• 2004

Alpine and sloped-land in Gangwondo, Korea is the most important land type for cultivation of Chinese cabbage. However, farmers in these regions have major problems with insect pests, weeds and disease. Over use or inappropriate use of agrochemicals occurs frequently. No intensive study of pesticide contamination in this area has been done. The work presented in this paper addresses this deficiency. We measured pesticide residues within soil and water samples using multiresidue analysis. Samples were collected bimonthly from April to October, 2002 at three sites with to sampling spots. At the three sites, Pyeongchang, Jeongseon and Taebaeck, pesticides most frequently detected (>30% of samples) in soil samples were endosulfan, fluazinam, diniconazole, alachlor, prothiofos and dimethomorph. The amount of pesticide residues in the soils was ranged from 0.004 to $0.412\;mg\;kg^{-1}$ in these samples. Non-registered pesticides were also detected in these samples, indicating illegal use of pesticides. No pesticide were detected in the water samples collected from those sites. The results showed that pesticide residues might be dependant on physiochemical properties of pesticides, application history and soil properties. This study provides basic data for appropriate pesticide use on alpine and sloped-land in Korea.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.175-181
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• 1994

The solid-phase extraction (SPF) with subsequent tert-butyldimethylsilyl (TBDMS) derivatization was investigated for the rapid profiling and screening of various carboxylated non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) simultaneously in biological fluid samples. Compared to the conventional SPF in adsorption mode using Chromosorb 102, Chromosorb 107, Carbopak B and Thermosorb, the SPF in partition mode using Chromosorb P as the adsorbent, and ethyl acetate/methylene chloride as the eluting solvents provided hightest overall recovenies of the NSAIDs from aqueous solutions with good precision. The solid-phase extracted NASIDs were silylated with N-methyl-N-(tert-butyldimethylsily)trifuoroacetamide to TBDMS derivatives and directly analyzed by capillary gas chromatography and gs chromatography-mass spectrometry. The usefulness of the present method was examined for the profilling and screening of saliva, serum and urine samples for various NSAIDs simultaneously.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.19-22
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• 2013

Plum (Prunus salicina L.) slices were dehydrated with red algae extract (RAE) at a concentration of 30% (w/w), and the dried samples were compared with maltodextrin (MD)-treated and hot-air dried samples in terms of physicochemical properties such as rehydration ratio, ascorbic acid, microstructure, and color. The rehydration ratios and colors of RAE-treated plum slices were better than those of MD-treated and hot-air dried samples. The ascorbic acid contents of RAE-treated samples were higher and their microstructures were finer than those of MD-treated or hot-air dried samples. These results suggest that plum slices can be dehydrated with RAE without loss of quality.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.423-443
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• 2020

Freshwater fungi are a poly-phylogenetic group of taxonomically diverse organisms. In this study, we isolated diverse fungal strains from various environmental samples obtained from freshwaters in Korea. These strains were identified by performing molecular phylogenetic analyses of rDNA and/or other sequences (beta-tubulin, RNA polymerase II, and translation elongation factor 1). In addition, we examined their morphological characteristics microscopically and cultural characteristics using different media. We identified eleven unrecorded Pezizomycotina species: Cladosporium angulosum, Pseudorobillarda phragmitis, Paraconiothyrium estuarinum, Pseudopithomyces palmicola, Pyrenochaetopsis paucisetosa, Thelebolus globosus, Plagiostoma mejianum, Trichoderma cremeum, Fusarium tanahbumbuense, Coniochaeta endophytica, and Chaetomium tenue. Environmental samples obtained from different freshwater ecosystems in Korea could thus be a good source for isolating and investigating novel fungal species.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.12 no.spc2
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• pp.54-59
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• 2023

To obtain unrecorded bacterial species from Korean islands, various samples were collected from the islands in 2022. After plating the samples on marine agar or Reasoner's 2A, and incubating aerobically, approximately 1,200 bacterial strains were isolated and identified using 16S rRNA gene sequences. A total of 10 strains showed ≥98.7% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with the bacterial species that were validly published but not reported in Korea. The unrecorded bacterial strains belong to three phyla, five classes, 10 orders, 10 families, and 10 genera, which are assigned to Sphingomonas, Falsirhodobacter and Asticcacaulis of the class Alphaproteobacteria; Colwellia and Halomonas of the class Gammaproteobacteria; Chitinophaga of the class Chitinophagia; Chryseobacterium of the class Flavobacteriia; Microlunatus, Zhihengliuella, and Streptomyces of the class Actinomycetia. The details of the unreported species including Gram reaction, colony and cell morphology, biochemical characteristics, and phylogenetic position are also provided in the description of the strains.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.95-105
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• 2022

Amatoxin-induced mushroom poisoning starts with nonspecific symptoms of toxicity but hepatic damage may follow, resulting in the rapid development of liver insufficiency and, ultimately, coma and death. Accurate detection of amatoxins, such as α-, β-, and γ-amanitin, within the first few hours after presentation is necessary to improve the therapeutic outcomes of patients. Therefore, analytical methods for the identification and quantification of α-, β-, and γ-amanitin in biological samples are necessary for clinical and forensic toxicology. This study presents a literature review of the analytical techniques available for amatoxin detection in biological matrices, and established an inventory of liquid chromatography (LC) techniques with mass spectrometry (MS), ultraviolet (UV) detection, and electrochemical detection (ECD). LC-MS methods using quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry, time-of-flight mass spectrometry, and orbitrap MS are powerful analytical techniques for the identification and determination of amatoxins in plasma, urine, serum, and tissue samples, with high sensitivity, specificity, and reproducibility compared to LC with UV and ECD, enzyme-linked immunoassay, and capillary electrophoresis methods.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery Conference
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• 2000.11c
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• pp.521-524
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• 2000

Nearinfra-red(NIR) reflectance NIR a spectra (400 to 2,100 nm) were collected on 32 beef samples to find feasibility of predicting beef tenderness. The study to predict beef tenderness was accomplished with the stepwise second differential data of the collected NIR spectra. Beef tenderness was measured by Warner-Bratzler(WB) shear force using a Universal Testing Machine(UTM). After modeling the relation between Warner-Bratzler shear force and NIR spectrum of 19 samples among the 32 beef samples, the verification was carried out through predicting the other 13 samples. The SEC and R$^2$ values in the prediction equation were 9.07(N) and 0.6463, respectively. The SEP and R$^2$ were 14.8(N) and 0.7082 (wave length 552 nm, 1988 nm) respectively. The result implied that it was possible to predict the beef tenderness using NIR spectrum and that the tenderness could be predicted non-destructively in real time.