• Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.41-47
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• 1999

Silk fibroin dissolved in highly concentrated calcium chloride and ethanol mixture aqueous solution turned into gel under suitable conditions. Preparation conditions and properties of gel were investigated as a function of parameters such as pH of solution, fibroin concentration, glycerol concentration and molecular weight. When pH of silk fibroin aqueous solution was near the isoelectronic point(pH 3.9~4.0), gelation occurred rapidly and strength of gel was stonger than that of pH-unadjusted due to electrostatic repulsion decrease between silk fibroin macromolecules. As concentration of silk fibroin and glycerol was higher, gelation occurred more rapid. FT Infra-red spectra of freeze-dried fibroin gel showed that gelation was derived by intermolecular anti-parallel ${\beta}$-sheet structure formation. In addition to, it was found that white-precipitate occurred instead of gelation when aqueous silk fibroin was treated by enzyme(flavouzyme), however, after flavouzyme-treated silk fibroin aqueous solution was centrifugated gelation occurred instantly. The results of differential scanning thermal analysis and infra-red spectroscopy showed that thermal stability and crystallinity of enzyme-hydrolyzed fibroin are superior to those of unhydrolyzed fibroin.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.21-28
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• 2004

We purified and characterized a crude polysaccharide from Spirodela polyrhiza with anti-complement activities. The crude polysaccharide fraction (SP-0) which had potential anti-complement activity was extracted in hot water for 4 hrs at 10$0^{\circ}C$. The ethanol-precipitate, the crude polysaccharide traction (SP-1), showed a potent anti-complement activity. Further purification of the crude polysaccharide (SP-1) was carried out by cetavlon, ion exchange chromatography and gel column chromatography. Among cetavlon fractions, SP-4 showed the most potent anti-complement activity. When 100 $\mu\textrm{g}$/mL of SP-4 was incubated with an equal volume of normal human serum (NHS), the TCH$_{50}$ was reduced by about 78%. When the SP-4 fraction was further purified by DEAE-Sepharose (Cl$^{[-10]}$ ), the SP-4IIa, SP-4IIb and SP-4IIc, absorbed fractions, were almost the same as the anti-complement activities of SP-4. SP-4IIc, having the greatest potential activation and the highest yield by ion exchange chromatography, was further purified by gel column chromatography on a Sepharose CL-6B column. Four polysaccharide fractions of SP-4IIc-1, SP-4IIc-2, SP-4IIc-3 and SP-4IIc-4 were obtained, consisting mainly of arabinose, rhamnose, galactose and glucose, with approximate molecular weights of about 305,000, 132,000, 64,000 and 12,000, respectively. Among these subfractions, SP-4IIc-1 had the most potent anti-complement activity. When the SP-4IIc-1 aggregate was applied to a gel column chromatography in 10 mM and 50 mM NaCl solution, the position of the peak fractions shifted to a low molecular weight region, and the molecular weight of SP-4IIc-1 decreased with increased NaCl concentration in the gel column chromatography. It was found that the self-aggregation formed spontaneously in void volume by gel column chromatography using Sepharose CL-6B in water and the self-aggregation significantly affected the anti-complement function.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.366-375
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• 2023

Background: Ginseng contains three active components: ginsenosides, gintonin, and polysaccharides. After the separation of 1 of the 3 ingredient fractions, other fractions are usually discarded as waste. In this study, we developed a simple and effective method, called the ginpolin protocol, to separate gintonin-enriched fraction (GEF), ginseng polysaccharide fraction (GPF), and crude ginseng saponin fraction (cGSF). Methods: Dried ginseng (1 kg) was extracted using 70% ethanol (EtOH). The extract was water fractionated to obtain a water-insoluble precipitate (GEF). The upper layer after GEF separation was precipitated with 80% EtOH for GPF preparation, and the remaining upper layer was vacuum dried to obtain cGSF. Results: The yields of GEF, GPF, and cGSF were 14.8, 54.2, and 185.3 g, respectively, from 333 g EtOH extract. We quantified the active ingredients of 3 fractions: L-arginine, galacturonic acid, ginsenosides, glucuronic acid, lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), phosphatidic acid (PA), and polyphenols. The order of the LPA, PA, and polyphenol content was GEF > cGSF > GPF. The order of L-arginine and galacturonic acid was GPF >> GEF = cGSF. Interestingly, GEF contained a high amount of ginsenoside Rb1, whereas cGSF contained more ginsenoside Rg1. GEF and cGSF, but not GPF, induced intracellular [Ca²⁺]_i transient with antiplatelet activity. The order of antioxidant activity was GPF > GEF = cGSF. Immunological activities (related to nitric oxide production, phagocytosis, and IL-6 and TNF-α release) were, in order, GPF > GEF = cGSF. The neuroprotective ability (against reactive oxygen species) order was GEF > cGSP > GPF. Conclusion: We developed a novel ginpolin protocol to isolate 3 fractions in batches and determined that each fraction has distinct biological effects.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.259-265
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• 2010

Pepper mild mosaic virus(PMMoV) and Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) are important pathogens in various vegetable crops worldwide. We have found that hot water extract of Phellinus linteus mycelium strongly inhibit PMMoV and CMV infection. Based on these results, the inhibitor named as 'PLM-WE1' formulated from extract of Phellinus linteus mycelium was tested for its inhibitory effects on PMMoV and CMV infection to each local lesion host plant (Nicotiana glutinosa: PMMoV, Chenopodium amaranticolor: CMV). Pretreatment effect of PLM-WE1 against infections of each virus (PMMoV and CMV) to local host plant was measured to be 99.2% to PMMoV and 80.3% to CMV, and its permeability effect was measured to be 45.0% to PMMoV and 41.9% to CMV. Duration of inhibitory activity of PLM-WE1 against PMMoV infection on N. glutinosa was maintained for 3 days at 75% inhibition level and CMV infection on C. amaranticolor maintained for 3 days at 62% inhibition level. Inhibitory effects on systemic host plants of PLM-WE1 were measured to be 75~85% to PMMoV and 75% to CMV. Under electron microscope, PMMoV particles were not denatured or aggregated by mixing PLM-WE1. It is suggested that the mode of action of PLM-WE1 differ from that of inactivation due to the aggregation of viruses. The methanol extract of P. linteus mycelium was sequentially partitioned with haxane, ethyl acetate, BuOH and $H_2O$. The $H_2O$ fraction was showed high activity than the other fractions. The active compound was isolated with a partial acid hydrolysis, fractional precipitation with ethanol. The inhibitory effect of the precipitate isolated from 70% ethanol fraction was 99.1% to PMMoV and 88.0% to CMV. The structure of isolated compound was determined by $^1H$-NMR and $^{13}C$-NMR. This compound was identified as a polysaccharide consisting alpha or beta-glucan.