• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• 제37권2호
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• pp.227-247
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• 2013

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of recently discovered non-coding small RNA molecules, on average approximately 21 nucleotides in length, which underlie numerous important biological roles in gene regulation in various organisms. The miRNA database (release 18) has 18,226 miRNAs, which have been deposited from different species. Although miRNAs have been identified and validated in many plant species, no studies have been reported on discovering miRNAs in Panax ginseng Meyer, which is a traditionally known medicinal plant in oriental medicine, also known as Korean ginseng. It has triterpene ginseng saponins called ginsenosides, which are responsible for its various pharmacological activities. Predicting conserved miRNAs by homology-based analysis with available expressed sequence tag (EST) sequences can be powerful, if the species lacks whole genome sequence information. In this study by using the EST based computational approach, 69 conserved miRNAs belonging to 44 miRNA families were identified in Korean ginseng. The digital gene expression patterns of predicted conserved miRNAs were analyzed by deep sequencing using small RNA sequences of flower buds, leaves, and lateral roots. We have found that many of the identified miRNAs showed tissue specific expressions. Using the insilico method, 346 potential targets were identified for the predicted 69 conserved miRNAs by searching the ginseng EST database, and the predicted targets were mainly involved in secondary metabolic processes, responses to biotic and abiotic stress, and transcription regulator activities, as well as a variety of other metabolic processes.

• Animal Bioscience
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• 제34권12호
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• pp.1930-1939
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• 2021

Objective: The aim of the study was to conduct metabolic profiling of dairy cattle serum and urine using proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H-NMR) spectroscopy and to compare the results obtained with those of other dairy cattle herds worldwide so as to provide a basic dataset to facilitate research on metabolites in serum and urine. Methods: Six dairy cattle were used in this study; all animals were fed the same diet, which was composed of total mixed ration; the fed amounts were based on voluntary intake. Blood from the jugular neck vein of each steer was collected at the same time using a separate serum tube. Urine samples were collected by hand sweeping the perineum. The metabolites were determined by ¹H-NMR spectroscopy, and the obtained data were statistically analyzed by performing principal component analysis, partial least squares-discriminant analysis, variable importance in projection scores, and metabolic pathway data using Metaboanalyst 4.0. Results: The total number of metabolites in the serum and urine was measured to be 115 and 193, respectively, of which 47 and 81, respectively were quantified. Lactate (classified as an organic acid) and urea (classified as an aliphatic acylic compound) exhibited the highest concentrations in serum and urine, respectively. Some metabolites that have been associated with diseases such as ketosis, bovine respiratory disease, and metritis, and metabolites associated with heat stress were also found in the serum and urine samples. Conclusion: The metabolites measured in the serum and urine could potentially be used to detect diseases and heat stress in dairy cattle. The results could also be useful for metabolomic research on the serum and urine of ruminants in Korea.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• 제51권3호
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• pp.260-267
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• 2024

Objective: This study investigated the metabolic status of the spent culture media from embryos of patients with repeated implantation failure (RIF) undergoing in vitro fertilization-intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycles in comparison with the embryos from healthy fertile women. Methods: Metabolite levels in spent culture media were assessed and compared between embryos from RIF patients (n=35) and oocyte donors as controls (n=15). Protein levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) were determined using Western blotting. Concentrations of glucose, pyruvate, and lactate were measured using spectrophotometry. Ionic colorimetric assay kits were utilized to analyze the concentrations of sodium, chloride, calcium, and magnesium ions. High-performance liquid chromatography was employed to measure the concentrations of glutamic acid, aspartic acid, methionine, phenylalanine, and histidine. Results: Glucose consumption and lactate secretion were higher in the control group than in the RIF group. The magnesium concentration was significantly higher in the control group than in the RIF group, but glutamic acid and aspartic acid concentrations were lower in the control group than in the RIF patients (p<0.05). The levels of IGF-1, sodium, calcium, chloride, methionine, histidine, and phenylalanine did not show statistically significant differences between the two groups. Conclusion: The metabolic profile of the culture medium of the embryos in the RIF group differed from that of the control group. These findings suggest potential factors that may affect implantation capacity in RIF patients and provide a new perspective on embryo selection.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• 제9권3호
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• pp.86-90
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• 2018

Methallylescaline, 2-(3,5-dimethoxy-4-[(2-methylprop-2-en-1-yl)oxy]phenyl)ethanamine, is a new psychoactive substance with potent agonist of 5-HT receptor, but there is little information on its pharmacological effect, metabolism, and toxicity. It is necessary to characterize the metabolic profiling of methallylescaline in human hepatocytes using liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry. Methallylescaline was metabolized to three hydroxy-methallylescaline (M1-M3) and dihydroxy-methallylescaline (M4) via hydroxylation in human hepatocytes. CYP2D6, CYP2J2, CYP1A2, and CYP3A4 enzymes were responsible for the metabolism of methallylescaline. The metabolites as well as methallylescaline would be used for monitoring the abuse of methallylescaline.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제26권7호
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• pp.1242-1251
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• 2016

The ethanol production of Trichoderma reesei was improved by genome shuffling in our previous work. Using RNA-Seq, the transcriptomes of T. reesei wild-type CICC40360 and recombinant strain HJ48 were compared under fermentation conditions. Based on this analysis, we defined a set of T. reesei genes involved in ethanol production. Further expression analysis identified a series of glycolysis enzymes, which are upregulated in the recombinant strain HJ48 under fermentation conditions. The differentially expressed genes were further validated by qPCR. The present study will be helpful for future studies on ethanol fermentation as well as the roles of the involved genes. This research reveals several major differences in metabolic pathways between recombinant strain HJ48 and wild-type CICC40360, which relates to the higher ethanol production on the former, and their further research could promote the development of techniques for increasing ethanol production.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제25권6호
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• pp.559-568
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• 2017

Metabolomics has been used as a powerful tool for the analysis and quality assessment of the natural product (NP)-derived medicines. It is increasingly being used in the quality control and standardization of NP-derived medicines because they are composed of hundreds of natural compounds. The most common techniques that are used in metabolomics consist of NMR, GC-MS, and LC-MS in combination with multivariate statistical analyses including principal components analysis (PCA) and partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). Currently, the quality control of the NP-derived medicines is usually conducted using HPLC and is specified by one or two indicators. To create a superior quality control framework and avoid adulterated drugs, it is necessary to be able to determine and establish standards based on multiple ingredients using metabolic profiling and fingerprinting. Therefore, the application of various analytical tools in the quality control of NP-derived medicines forms the major part of this review. $Veregen^{(R)}$ (Medigene AG, Planegg/Martinsried, Germany), which is the first botanical prescription drug approved by US Food and Drug Administration, is reviewed as an example that will hopefully provide future directions and perspectives on metabolomics technologies available for the quality control of NP-derived medicines.

• Mycobiology
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• 제42권4호
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• pp.353-360
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• 2014

Makgeolli is a traditional Korean alcoholic beverage. The flavor of makgeolli is primarily determined by metabolic products such as free sugars, amino acids, organic acids, and aromatic compounds, which are produced during the fermentation of raw materials by molds and yeasts present in nuruk, a Korean fermentation starter. In this study, makgeolli was brewed using the wild yeast strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae Y98-5, and temporal changes in the metabolites during fermentation were analyzed by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The resultant data were analyzed by partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). Various metabolites, including amino acids, organic acids, sugar alcohols, small peptides, and nucleosides, were obviously altered by increasing the fermentation period. Changes in these metabolites allowed us to distinguish among makgeolli samples with different fermentation periods (1, 2, 3, 6, 7, and 8 days) on a PLS-DA score plot. In the makgeolli brewed in this study, the amounts of tyrosine ($463.13{\mu}g/mL$) and leucine ($362.77{\mu}g/mL$) were high. Therefore, our results indicate that monitoring the changes in metabolites during makgeolli fermentation might be important for brewing makgeolli with good nutritional quality.

• 식품과학과 산업
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• 제54권3호
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• pp.145-159
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• 2021

Conventional nutrition services involve producer-oriented approaches without considering the differences in the characteristics and circumstances of each individual, whereas personalized nutrition services are consumer-oriented concepts that provide products and services for maintaining optimal health conditions based on the genetic, physiological, and metabolic characteristics of individuals, with these products based on balanced nutrition and healthy living. Currently, methods for evaluating dietary habits, monitoring dietary behaviors, deep phenotyping, and metabotyping via microbiota profiling, as well as methods for predicting big data by using machine learning, have been previously studied in Korea and abroad. With the development of medical technology and the improvement of hygiene, the demand for personalized nutrition and health services for healthier, happier, and more satisfying lives is rapidly increasing. Therefore, based on scientific technologies, attempts are needed to advance these services into global personalized markets and to boost the global competitiveness of countries and companies.

• 한국작물학회지
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• 제63권4호
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• pp.360-377
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• 2018

The levels of 12 isoflavones were measured in soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) sprouts of 68 genetic varieties from three countries (China, Japan, and Korea). The isoflavone profile differences were analyzed using data mining methods. A principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that the CSRV021 variety was separated from the others by the first two principal components. This variety appears to be most suited for functional food production due to its high isoflavone levels. Partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and orthogonal projections to latent structures discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) showed that there are meaningful isoflavone compositional differences in samples that have different countries of origin. Hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) of these phytochemicals resulted in clusters derived from closely related biochemical pathways. These results indicate the usefulness of metabolite profiling combined with chemometrics as a tool for assessing the quality of foods and identifying metabolic links in biological systems.

• 분석과학
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• 제30권6호
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• pp.355-378
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• 2017

신경전달물질(neurochemicals)은 인체 내의 항상성유지와 인지 및 행동기능에 관여하므로 수많은 퇴행성신경질환 진단에 활용할 수 있어 생물학적 시료 내에서 신경화학물질을 프로파일링할 수 있는 분석플랫폼 개발에 대한 관심이 증가하고 있다. 특히, 크로마토그래피 분리법과 결합된 질량분석법 기반의 분석법은 대사경로 내의 신경전달물질을 프로파일링하는 데 널리 사용되어 오고 있다. 하지만 생물학적 시료내 신경전달물질은 극미량으로 존재하며 화학적으로 불안정한 특징이 있어 정교한 시료전처리 과정과 고감도의 기기분석법의 개발이 수반되어야 한다. 따라서 본 총설 논문에서는 소변, 혈액, 뇌척수액과 생체조직과 같은 다양한 생물학적 시료에서 신경전달물질에 대한 질량분석법 기반의 대사체학 접근법의 분석 연구 경향에 대해서 논의할 예정이다. 이 논문은 향후 퇴행성신경질환의 진단, 예후예측과 치료를 가능하게 하는 생체지표물질을 발굴을 위한 분석플랫폼 개발에 기여할 것으로 기대된다.