Woo-Hong Joo

Antioxidant Activities of the Solvent Extracts from Tetragonia tetragonioides

To clarify the antioxidation effect of the various solvent fractionation of Tetragonia tetragoniodes which has been known to superior plants for the traditional prevention and treatment of stomach-related diseases, total polyphenol and flavonoid contents, vitamin E content, the elimination activity of a DPPH free radical and superoxide anion, inhibition activity of the superoxide generation, reducing power and metal chelating effects were estimated. The contents of the polyphenol compounds were highest in the DCM and EA fractionation, and the content of flavonoid was high in the order of HX and EA fractionation. The vitamin E content showed high in the order of the HX and DCM fractionation among solvent fractions. for the elimination effect of a DPPH radical were estimated as 554.25 and in the DCM and EA fractions, respectively. These values were higher than that of BHT widely used in antioxidation effect. The inhibition activity of the superoxide generation using the T. tetragoniodes solvent fractions represented the effects similar to that of -tocopherol known to prevent the lipoprotein oxidation, but lower consequences than that of the phenol-resins, BHT and BHA, respectively. In the antioxidation activity derived by the reducing capability, the EA fractionation in a 1.5 mg/ml concentration showed higher than that of -tocopherol.

Inhibitory Effects of Four Solvent Fractions of Alnus firma on α-Amylase and α-Glucosidase.

In this study, we investigated the inhibitory effect of four solvent fractions of Alnus firma on α-amylase, α-glucosidase and aldose reductase activities. The inhibitory test showed that methanol (MeOH) extract and hexane (HX) fraction strongly inhibited pork pancreatin and salivary α-amylase activity. The MeOH extract and HX fraction of Alnus firma at the concentration of 4 ㎎/ml inhibited more than 70% of pancreatin and salivary α-amylase activity. The inhibitory effect of fractions has different specificities against α-amylase from pancreatin and salivary. In addition, the MeOH extract and butanol (BuOH) fraction showed the highest inhibitory activity on yeast α-glucosidase at values of IC 50 137.36 ㎍/ml and 115.14 ㎍/ml respectively. The MeOH extract and BuOH fraction showed the highest inhibitory activity on yeast α-glucosidase than commercial agent such as 1-deoxynorjirimycin and acarbose. Inhibition kinetics of solvent fractions showed that α-glucosidase has been inhibited noncompetitively by the MeOH, EA and BuOH fraction. The aldose reductase from human muscle cell had been inhibited strongly by the MeOH extract and EA fraction at 57.996% and 83.293% at the concentration of 50 ㎍/ml, respectively. These findings may contribute to biological significance in that α-amylase, α-glucosidase and aldose reductase inhibitory compounds could be used as a functional food and a drug for the symptomatic treatment of antidiabetic disease in the future.

Characterization and Purification of the Bacteriocin Produced by Bacillus licheniformis Isolated from Soybean Sauce

A bacteriocin-producing bacterium identified as Bacillus licheniformis was isolated from soybean sauce. Antibacterial activity was confirmed by paper disc diffusion method, using Micrococcus luteus as a test organism. The bacteriocin also showed antibacterial activities against Bacillus sphaericus, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Lactobacillus plantarum, Paenibacillus polymyxa, and Pediococcus dextrinicus. Optimal culture conditions for the production of bacteriocin was attained by growing the cells in an MRS medium at a pH of 6.5～7.0 and a temperature of 37℃ for 36～48 hr. Solvents such as chloroform, ethanol, acetone, and acetonitrile had little effect on bacteriocin activity. However, about 50% of bacteriocin activity diminished with treatment of methanol and isopropanol at the final concentration of 50% at 25℃ for 1 hr. It was stable against a pH variation range from 3.0 and 7.0, but the activity reduced to 50% at a pH range from 9.0 to 11.0. Its activity was not affected by heat treatment at 100oC for 30 min and 50% of activity was retained after heat treatment at 100℃ for 60 min, showing high thermostability. The bacteriocin was purified to a homogeneity through ammonium sulfate precipitation, SP-Sepharose ion-exchange chromatography, and reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The entire purification protocol led to a 75-fold increase in specific activity and a 13.5% yield of bacteriocin activity. The molecular weight of purified bacteriocin was estimated to be about 2.5 kDa by tricine-SDS-PAGE.Characterization and Purification of the Bacteriocin Produced by Bacillus licheniformis Isolated from Soybean Sauce. Sung-Sub Jung 1 , Jung-I Choi 1 , Woo-Hong Joo 2 , Hyun-Hyo Suh 3 , Ae-Sil Na, Yong-Kweon Cho, Ja-Young Moon, Kwon-Chul Ha, Do-Hyeon Paik and Dae-Ook Kang*. Department of Biochemistry and Health Science, Changwon National University, Changwon 641-773, Korea, Interdisciplinary Program in Biotechnology, Graduate School, Changwon National University, Department of Biology, Changwon National University, Department of Environmental Engineering, Jinju National University, Jinju 660-758, Korea A bacteriocin-producing bacterium identified as Bacillus licheniformis was isolated from soybean sauce. Antibacterial activity was confirmed by paper disc diffusion method, using Micrococcus luteus as a test organism. The bacteriocin also showed antibacterial activities against Bacillus sphaericus, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Lactobacillus plantarum, Paenibacillus polymyxa, and Pediococcus dextrinicus. Optimal culture conditions for the production of bacteriocin was attained by growing the cells in an MRS medium at a pH of 6.5~7.0 and a temperature of 37 o C for 36~48 hr. Solvents such as chloroform, ethanol, acetone, and acetonitrile had little effect on bacteriocin activity. However, about 50% of bacteriocin activity diminished with treatment of methanol and isopropanol at the final concentration of 50% at 25 o C for 1 hr. It was stable against a pH variation range from 3.0 and 7.0, but the activity reduced to 50% at a pH range from 9.0 to 11.0. Its activity was not affected by heat treatment at 100 o C for 30 min and 50% of activity was retained after heat treatment at 100 o C for 60 min, showing high thermostability. The bacteriocin was purified to a homogeneity through ammonium sulfate precipitation, SP-Sepharose ion-exchange chromatography, and reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The entire purification protocol led to a 75-fold increase in specific activity and a 13.5% yield of bacteriocin activity. The molecular weight of purified bacteriocin was estimated to be about 2.5 kDa by tricine-SDS-PAGE.

Effect of Ethanol Extract from Peel of Citrus junos and Poncirus trifoliata on Antioxidant and Immune Activity

In this study, we compared with 80% ethanol extracts from peel of Poncirus trifoliata (PTP) and peel of Citrus junos (CJP) against antioxidant and immune activities. Total phenolics and flavonoids contents in PTP extracts were 60.75±1.15 and 33.75±0.15 ㎎/100 g, respectively, and those were lower than CJP extracts. Antioxidant activities of PTP were increased with the more concentration, and were similar to CJP. Antioxidant activities of PTP were increased with increasing of concentration, and were similar to those of CJP. The NO production in macrophage cell lines were increased in a dose-dependent manner, until 5 ㎎/ml of CJP and 1 ㎎/ml of PTP compared with control cells, but decreased at higher concentrations. The proliferation of mouse spleen cells were increased in a dose-dependent manner, until 1 ㎎/ml of CJP and PTP compared with control cells but decreased at higher concentrations. The NO production in macrophage cell lines treated with PTP and CJP were increased in a dose-dependent manner, compared with untreated control cells until the concentrations of 1~5 ㎎/ml (CJP) and 1 ㎎/ml (PTP) but decreased at higher concentrations than that. The proliferation of mouse spleen cells treated with PTP and CJP were increased in a dose-dependent manner, compared with untreated control cells until the concentration of 1 mg/ml but decreased at higher concentrations than that.

Anticancer Activity of Ethanol Extract from Peel of Citrus junos and Poncirus trifoliata on MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells

In this study, anti-cancer activities of peel of Citrus junos (CJP) and Poncirus trifoliata (PTP) on MCF-7 breast cancer cells, and anti-proliferative effects of cancer cells induced by environmental hormones were investigated. The ethanol extracts of CJP and PTP inhibited cancer cell growth and induced apoptosis at the concentration over 300 mg/ml treatment for 72 hr. Morphological change of MCF-7 breast cancer cells were observed treated with the CJP and PTP of 500 mg/ml concentration for 72 hr, and apoptosis was induced by activation of caspase-3. The proliferation of MCF-7 breast cancer cells was decreased in a dose-dependent manner treated with various concentration of CJP and PTP, when compared with the control at 300 mg/ml, the proliferation of the MCF-7 breast cancer cells of both extracts was decreased over 70% and 80%, respectively.

Effects of Dehydration Methods and Storage Conditions on Germinability of Pelleted Carrot Seeds

This study was conducted to identify the optimum condition for dehydration and storage for maintaining the seed vigor in pelleted carrot seeds. The water content of solid materials of un-pelleted seeds was 4.9% (F.W. basis), and that of pelleted seeds was 24%. When we dehydrated pelleted seeds for 3 hr at , , and , all seeds were dehydrated to 5% - the same level of water content as that before pelleting. Pelleted seeds did not show any significant difference in germination from un-pelleted seeds, and neither was there any significant time or germination difference between pelleted and un-pelleted seeds at the tested dehydration temperatures. However, the value of pelleted seeds increased about 3 days larger than that of un-pelleted seeds. Germination speed of pelleted seeds in which the dehydration period was prolonged at was delayed compared to those prolonged at or for the same period. The optimum dehydration condition, which could be applied for large scale in the industry, was dehydration at for 3 hr, and the optimum storage temperature which could maintain the seed performance was .

Effect of Seed Priming on the Enhancement of Seed Germination in Cool Season Turfgrass

Quantity of protein, amino acid, and sugar leaked from seeds was greater as the viability of seeds was dropped by the time elapsed of seed aging treatment. In the seeds with the artificial aging treatment for 20 days, 35.8 ㎎ of protein was leaked on the 4th day after soaking, which was 6.9 times higher than that of control. Leakage of amino acid was also higher from low quality seeds treated with the aging treatment. In the seeds with the aging treatment for 20 days, 36.5 ㎍ of sugar was leaked on the 4th day after soaking, which was 2.8 times higher than that of control. The leakage of inorganic compound was higher from the low quality seeds, and leakage of total inorganic compound was relatively lower than that of protein, amino acid, and sugar. According to the quantity of leakage, water soluble compounds, which can be used for the assessment of seed quality without any destruction, were protein and potassium. Germination rate and percentage of seeds were dropped with the seed aging treatment, and the seed viability could be recovered by priming treatment. This phenomenon was very clear when the low quality seeds were germinated at low temperature.

Antifungal Activity of Bacillus sp. BCNU 2003 against the Human Pathogenic Fungi

An antifungal antibiotic-producing strain, BCNU 2003, was isolated from forest soil in Korea. The morphological and physiological characters, and 16S rRNA sequences analysis of strain BCNU 2003 identified this strain as Bacillus genus. The Bacillus sp. BCNU 2003 showed strong antifungal activities against Aspergillus niger, Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Trichophyton rubrum with inhibition ranging from 62.05 to 63.49% by using dual culture technique. Bacillus sp. BCNU 2003 produced a maximum level of antifungal substances under aerobic incubation at 28oC and pH 6.5-7.2 for 6 days in LB broth. Ethyl acetate extract of the cultured broth showed strong antifungal activity and a broad antifungal spectrum against various pathogenic fungi. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values for its active extracts ranged between 0.0625 mg/ml and 1 mg/ml. In addition, Bacillus sp. BCNU 2003 was determined to have the ability to produce enzymes such as amylase, protease, gelatinase and catalase.

Solid Cultivation of Fibrinolytic Enzyme (Bacillokinase) from Bacilis subtilis BK-17

A solid-state culture based on grain materials was attempted to produce a fibrinolytic enzyme for blood circulation improvement using Bacillus subtilis BK-17. The spore, rather than vegetative cell inoculation, of B. subtilis BK-17 on the solid-state culture was effective in the production of a fibrinolytic enzyme. Maximum spore production was obtained with a SFM medium (0.8% nutrient broth, 0.05% yeast extract, M , M , , M dipicolic acid, pH 6.5). Optimal pH and temperature were pH 6 and , respectively. The spore production reached a maximum at 60 hours of incubation. Bacillus subtilis BK-17 on the mung bean solid-state culture produced greater fibrinolytic activity, and less activity was seen in other grains such as kidney bean, soybean and corn. Protein and lipid contents of fermented soybeans were about 10 - 30% more than those of unfermented soybeans. Amino acid content was also 5 - 20% more than that of unfermented soybeans. These results indicated that fermented solid-state culture medium, fermented soybean in this case, can be utilized as a food supplement.

Genistein-induced Growth Inhibition was Associated with Inhibition of Cyclooxygenase-2 and Telomerase Activity in Human Cancer Cells.

Genistein, an isoflavone in soybean products, is a potential chemopreventive agent against various types of cancer. There are several studies documenting molecular alterations leading to cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase and induction of apoptosis; however, its mechanism of action and its molecular targets on the prostaglandin () production and telomere length regulation in human cancer remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the effect of genistein on the levels of cyclooxygenases (COXs) and telomere regulatory components of several human cancer cell lines (T24, human bladder carcinoma cells; U937, human leukemic cells; AGS, human stomach adenocarcinoma cells and SK-MEL-2, human skin melanoma cells). Genistein treatment resulted in the inhibition of cancer cell proliferation in a concentration-dependent manner. It was found that genistein treatment markedly decreased the levels of COX-2 mRNA and protein expression without significant changes in the expression of COX-1, which was correlated with a decrease in synthesis. Genistein treatment also partly inhibited the levels of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) as well as human telomerase RNA (hTR) and telomerase-associated protein (TEP)-1, and the activity of telomerase. Taken together, these findings provide important new insights into the possible molecular mechanisms of the anti-cancer activity of genistein.