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Sulfur-containing amino acids such as methionine, cysteine, and taurine are present in animals and plants with biological functions. The aim of this study was to determine the antioxidant activities of representative sulfur-containing amino acids using various in vitro antioxidant assays including radical scavenger activities against DPPH·, ABTS·, and superoxide radicals, ferric reducing antioxidant power, hydrogen peroxide scavenging activity, and metal chelating activities. Of the three sulfur-containing amino acids, cysteine had the highest DPPH·, ABTS·, and O2− radical and H2O2 scavenging activities, FRAP, and metal chelating activities except for Fe2+ chelating. However, methionine and taurine failed to show DPPH· or ABTS· radical scavenging activity. Based on the results of the present study, sulfur-containing amino acids with excellent antioxidant abilities might be useful for the food processing industry as antioxidant additives to extend shelf-life of food or food products and offer beneficial pharmacological effect against cell damage caused by oxidative stress. Keywords: Sulfur containing amino acid, Antioxidant, Cysteine, Radical scavenging activity, Oxidative stress

The development of new food products can be expedited by understanding the physicochemical attributes that are most relevant to consumers. Although many objective analyses are possible, not all are a suitable proxy to serve as quality markers associated with sensory preferences. In this work, we selected nine candidate laboratory assays to use on six commercial salamis, which were also eaten and informally described by a consumer discussion group familiar with China-sourced meat products. Several objective measures were strongly related to the flavour perceptions: (i) texture: instrumental texture values, fat release at oral temperature and fat saturation ratios, (ii) aroma: volatile compounds (e.g., alcohols and esters) associated with microbial fermentation and spices (terpenes and sulphur compounds) and (iii) taste: kokumi taste receptor responses. The fat released at oral temperature was associated with unsaturated fatty acids (r = 0.73). However, there was less explanatory worth for associations between sensory perceptions and proximate composition, water activity, pH or L*, a*, b* colourimetry.

Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of aged garlic powder (AGP) on physicochemical characteristics, texture profiles, and oxidative stability of ready-to-eat (RTE) pork patties. Methods There were five treatment groups: a control; 1% fresh garlic powder (T1); 0.5%, 1%, and 2% AGP (T2, T3, and T4). Pork patties with vacuum packaging were roasted at 71°C for core temperature, stored at 4°C for 14 d, and then reheated for 1 min using a microwave. Results The AGP groups showed a lower the level of lipid oxidation and higher thiol contents than the control and T1. The pH value of the control increased whereas that of aged garlic groups decreased after re-heating process. In addition, the redness significantly increased with increasing level of AGP whereas the redness of the control and T1 decreased after re-heating process. T4 added patties improved textural and sensory properties compared to the control. Conclusion The results of this study suggest that AGP addition to RTE pork patties can improve their sensory characteristics and oxidative stability.

This study investigated the effect of storage state (chilled state on sous-vide, CS; frozen state without thawing on sous-vide, FS; and frozen/thawed states on sous-vide, TS) and sous-vide cooking temperature (65°C and 72°C) on the longissimus dorsi muscle quality of pork. FS showed a higher moisture content than that of CS and TS (p

Although the yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor L.) is a promising alternative protein source, the effects of processing conditions on functional properties are unclear. In this study, a protein extract of yellow mealworm larvae (PEYM) was subjected to different heat temperature (55°C, 75°C, and 95°C) with different time (20, 40, and 60 min) to evaluate the functional properties and protein oxidation. Different heat temperature treatment significantly affected the exposure of surface hydrophobicity of the proteins and protein molecule aggregation, which reached maximum levels at 95°C for 60 min. Protein oxidation was inversely proportional to the temperature. Both the highest carbonyl value (1.49 nmol/mg protein) and lowest thiol value (22.94 nmol/mg protein) were observed at 95°C for 60 min. The heating time-temperature interaction affected several functional properties, including solubility, emulsifying potential, and gel strength (GS). Solubility decreased near the isoelectric point (pH 5 to 6). As the temperature and heating time increased, emulsifying properties decreased and GS increased. The oil absorption capacity and foaming properties decreased and the water absorption capacity increased. These results confirmed that PEYM is a suitable source of proteins for processing and applications in the food industry.

Objective The objective of this study was to evaluate the physicochemical, sensory and taste characteristics of commercial, frozen, dry, and wet aged Hanwoo sirloin. Methods Grade 2 sirloin from 6 Hanwoo steers (about 30 months old) were obtained after 5 days postmortem. Samples were assigned to four groups which were commercial beef (CON, control group), frozen beef (Hanwoo frozen, HF; 40 days in −18°C freezer), wet-aged beef (Hanwoo wet-aging, HW; 21 days), and dry-aged beef (Hanwoo dry-aging, HD; 40 days). HW and HD were stored in a 80%±5% relative humidity cooler at 1°C. Results The HF group showed a significantly higher cooking loss and expressible drip with significantly higher pH compared to other groups. In addition, protein and fat contents in the HD group were higher than those in other groups (p

The antioxidant effects of Allium hookeri root (AHR) were investigated by evaluating lipid and protein oxidation in meatballs during refrigerated storage at 4±1℃. AHR was mixed at concentrations of 0.5% (w/w, T2) and 1% (w/w, T3) with minced longissimus dorsi muscle. Meatballs containing AHR (T2 and T3) were compared to those containing 0.05% (w/w) ascorbic acid (T1) as a reference and without antioxidant as a control. The 2-thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) value, disulfide bond formation, carbonyl contents, and volatile basic nitrogen (VBN) value of T2 were lower than those of the control during storage (p

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of dry-aging (DA) and the cooking process on the myofibril protein functionalities and in vitro digestibility of proteins in beef loin. Six sirloins from beef were dry-aged for 28 d, and the control group (n=6) was analyzed 2 d postmortem for this study. Dimensional changes (reduction of thickness and surface shrinkage) after cooking were significantly greater in the control group than the DA group, whereas the shear force of the DA group was significantly lower than that of the control. Effect of cooking on aggregation, hydrophobicity, and in vitro digestibility were significantly higher in the DA group than in the control. After cooking, the protein in DA sirloins was more oxidized than in the control samples. According to the sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis result, the low molecular weight bands (below 17 kDa) increased in the DA group, finding that the protein characteristics of dry-aged beef was affected by cooking.

This study investigated the effects of aging methods (wet aging and dry aging) and aging times (7 and 14 days) on the physicochemical and sensory characteristics of meat quality using pork loin. Dry-aged loin (DA) had significantly lower moisture content and higher crude fat protein content than wet-aged loin (WA). The pH of DA was significantly higher than that of WA and it increased with the aging time. DA showed lower cooking loss and higher aging loss than WA (p

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of Allium hookeri supplementation with whey powder in pig diet on meat quality, oxidative stability and sensory characteristics of Longissimus dorsi muscle samples. A total of 60 pigs were randomly assigned into the following three groups (four replicate pens per group with five pigs per pen): CON group, basal diet; AH, dietary supplementation with 10 g A. hookeri/kg feed and AHW, dietary supplementation with 5 g A. hookeri/40 g whey powder/kg feed. Proximate composition of muscle sample was not significantly affected by A. hookeri supplementation. On average, the AHW group showed higher pH but less cooking loss than the CON group. However, the AH and AHW groups had lower (p

This study aims to investigate antioxidative and antibacterial properties of fresh garlic (non-aged, NG) and aged garlic (AG) by-products extracted with distilled water, ethanol, or chloroform. To determine their antioxidative and antibacterial capacities, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay, 2,2′-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) radical scavenging assay, and H2O2 radical scavenging activity, Fe2+ chelating activity, total ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), and disc diffusion tests were performed. Total phenol and flavonoid contents from distilled water extract of AG were significantly higher than those of NG. DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, and H2O2 scavenging activities of distilled water extract of AG were higher than those of NG. However, Fe2+ chelating activities of ethanol and chloroform extracts were higher than those of distilled water extracts for both NG and AG. Antibacterial effects of AG were higher than those of NG. In conclusion, aged garlic showed more potent antioxidant and antibacterial effects than fresh garlic.

This study evaluated the lignan contents of raw omija (R) and sugared omija (S), byproducts discarded after the use of raw omija, by HPLC and determined their bioactivity by feeding rats R and S for eight weeks. S retained 63% more lignan than R. Body weight gains in the raw omija-fed group (RO) and sugared omija-fed group (SO) decreased significantly compared to that of the control group (CON, p &lt, 0.05). Glucose and aspartate aminotransferase levels in the serum of the experimental groups were lower than those in CON, especially in SO (p &lt, 0.05). The amount of atrial natriuretic peptide in RO decreased significantly compared to that in CON (p &lt, 0.05). The renin activity in RO increased and that in SO decreased compared to the same in CON (p &gt, 0.05). Therefore, it was suggested that sugared omija contains lignan compounds and potentially contributes to bioactivity in that it decreases blood glucose levels and blood pressure.

This study was performed to evaluate the quality of fermented sausages manufactured with processed sulfur-fed pigs. The fermented sausages were divided into two groups; one was manufactured with non sulfur-fed pigs (NP), the other one was made with processed sulfur-fed pigs (SP). No differences were found in moisture and fat contents (p>0.05) between NP and SP, but the protein and ash contents of SP were significantly higher than those of NP (p

The present study was performed to determine the effect of dietary supplementation with processed sulfur on the quality and stability of vacuum packaged pork during aging time. All groups were designated into two groups; NP, a group fed basal diet and SP, a group fed basal diet and processed sulfur, 3 g/kg feed. Following vacuum packaging, Longissimus dorsi muscles were vacuum-packaged and stored under refrigerated condition (1-2℃) for 21 d. Weight loss of the SP group was lower (p0.05) difference in TPC between the both groups during storage. Therefore, vacuum packaged pork from pigs fed processed sulfur had better aging yield and storage stability than pork from pigs fed basal diet.

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of dietary supplementation with whey powder (WP, 1g/kg feed) from weaning to slaughter (150 d) on dry-aged loin quality of pigs. Fifty-eight pigs were randomly divided into two dietary treatment groups (seven replications of four pigs per treatments). Basal diet with 0.1% whey powder was supplied to the WP group. Basal diet was used for the control group (CON). Diet whey protein did not appear to influence the moisture or protein contents. However, ash and fat contents were significantly (p

A molecular design having t-butyl groups surrounding a donor-acceptor type core structure was developed as an approach to obtain high external quantum efficiency by suppressing concentration quenching effect caused by strong intermolecular interaction. The donor-acceptor type core structure was surrounded by six t-butyl groups to separate the donor-acceptor core structure between molecules. A heptazine acceptor and a diphenylamine donor based thermally activated delayed fluorescent emitter protected by the multiple t-butyl units achieved maximum external quantum efficiency of 32.6% at 1% doping concentration and 23.0% even at a high doping concentration of 20% by reducing concentration quenching effect. Furthermore, the lifetime of the thermally activated delayed fluorescent devices was also improved relative to that of the previous emitter with the same acceptor. The external quantum efficiency and device lifetime are better than any other results reported in the orange TADF OLEDs.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of dry-aging (DA) and the cooking process on the myofibril protein functionalities and in vitro digestibility of proteins in beef loin. Six sirloins from beef were dry-aged for 28 d, and the control group (n=6) was analyzed 2 d postmortem for this study. Dimensional changes (reduction of thickness and surface shrinkage) after cooking were significantly greater in the control group than the DA group, whereas the shear force of the DA group was significantly lower than that of the control. Effect of cooking on aggregation, hydrophobicity, and in vitro digestibility were significantly higher in the DA group than in the control. After cooking, the protein in DA sirloins was more oxidized than in the control samples. According to the sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis result, the low molecular weight bands (below 17 kDa) increased in the DA group, finding that the protein characteristics of dry-aged beef was affected by cooking.

The antioxidant effects of Allium hookeri root (AHR) were investigated by evaluating lipid and protein oxidation in meatballs during refrigerated storage at 4±1℃. AHR was mixed at concentrations of 0.5% (w/w, T2) and 1% (w/w, T3) with minced longissimus dorsi muscle. Meatballs containing AHR (T2 and T3) were compared to those containing 0.05% (w/w) ascorbic acid (T1) as a reference and without antioxidant as a control. The 2-thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) value, disulfide bond formation, carbonyl contents, and volatile basic nitrogen (VBN) value of T2 were lower than those of the control during storage (p

This study was performed to investigate the effect of dietary processed sulfur supplementation on water-holding capacity, color, and lipid profiles of pork according to the level of dietary processed sulfur (0%, CON; 0.3%, S). The pigs were slaughtered at an average final weight of 120 kg, and the longissimus dorsi muscles were collected from the carcasses. As results, pork processed with sulfur had significantly higher moisture and ash contents compared to those of CON but lower crude fat, pH, expressible drip, lower redness and yellowness, and greater lightness. Pork processed with sulfur showed significantly lower total lipid content, triglycerides, and atherosclerosis index but significantly higher high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Feeding processed sulfur significantly lowered myristic acid, heptadecanoic acid, and stearic acid contents, whereas monounsaturated fatty acids and oleic acids were significantly higher compared to those in the CON. Higher amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids and n-6 fatty acids were observed in the pork processed with sulfur than that of the CON. Therefore, supplementing pigs with dietary sulfur improved nutrient and meat quality.

This study was performed to investigate the changes in meat quality characteristics of the sous vide cooked chicken breast during refrigerated storage at 4℃ for 14 d between before and after sous-vide cooking. Cooking loss and shear force were significantly increased, whereas expressible drip was significantly decreased along with reduction in the water holding capacity in both of two groups. Redness of meat juice was significantly (p

This study was performed to investigate the chemical composition, mineral status, oxidative stability, and texture attributes of dry-cured ham from pigs fed processed sulfur (S, 1 g/kg feed), and from those fed a basal diet (CON), during the period from weaning to slaughter (174 d). Total collagen content and soluble collagen of the S group was significantly higher than that of the control group (p

Chicken breast dipped with citric acid (CA) was treated by sous vide processing and stored in a refrigerated state for 0, 3, 6, 9, and 14 d. A non-dipped control group (CON) and three groups dipped in different concentrations of citric acid concentration were analyzed (0.5%, 0.5CIT; 2.0%, 2CIT and 5.0%, 5CIT; w/v). Cooking yield and moisture content increased due to the citric acid. While the redness of the juice and meat in all groups showed significant increase during storage, the redness of the citric acid groups was reduced compared to the control group (p

Despite astounding economic growth and TB control efforts, incidence remains the highest among high-income countries., After the Korean War (1950–1953), nearly 6.5% of South Korea’s population had active tuberculosis (TB). In response, South Korea implemented the National Tuberculosis Program in 1962. From 1965 to 1995, the prevalence of bacteriologically confirmed pulmonary TB in South Korea decreased from 940 to 219 cases per 100,000 population. Astounding economic growth might have contributed to this result; however, TB incidence in South Korea remains the highest among high-income countries. The rate of decrease in TB incidence seems to have slowed over the past 15 years. A demographic shift toward an older population, many of whom have latent TB and various concurrent conditions, is challenging TB control efforts in South Korea. The increasing number of immigrants also plays a part in the prolonged battle against TB. A historical review of TB in South Korea provides an opportunity to understand national TB control efforts that are applicable to other parts of the world.

The objective of this study was to determine the antioxidant and quality characteristics of yogurt added green olive powder stored at 4°С for 15 d. The following four groups were used in this study: Control group (GY0), Yogurt added with 1% green olive (GY1), with 3% green olive (GY3), and with 5% green olive (GY5). The more time of titratable acidity went by, the more it increased. Except GY0, viscosity tended to decrease in other groups (p>0.05), and the more time of syneresis went by, the more it increased, but GY3 of them showed the lowest syneresis. Lactic acid bacteria showed no significant with GY0 until 5 d, but after that, GY1, GY3 and GY5 showed lower than GY0. Yogurt added green olive showed darker color than GY0 (low L* and high a*). The antioxidant activity of GY5 was found to be the highest among the four groups at day 1 of storage. Total phenolic content, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, and reducing power of GY5 was found to be the highest among the four groups at day 1 of storage which were 6.96 mg GAE/kg, 47.53%, and 0.57, respectively. In the sensory evaluation sweet and overall of GY3 indicated the highest score among the four groups. Results of this study demonstrated that green olive powder might be used to improve the antioxidant capacity and sensory characteristics of yogurt.

This study was investigated to evaluate the antioxidant activity, the angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition effect, and the &alpha, amylase and &alpha, glucosidase inhibition activities of hot pepper water extracts both before and after their fermentation. The fermented pepper water extract (FP) showed significantly higher total phenol content, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical inhibition effect, metal chelating activity and ACE inhibition activity compared to the non-fermented raw pepper water extract (RP) (p &lt, 0.05). Meanwhile, the FP showed lower &alpha, amylase and higher &alpha, glucosidase inhibitory activities, but the RP showed similar levels of &alpha, glucosidase inhibitory activities. Taken together, these results suggested that fermented pepper extract using water should be expected to have potentially inhibitory effects against both hyperglycemia and hypertension.

This study was performed to investigate the quality characteristics of salami sausages added with different levels of whole buckwheat flour (BWF) during storage. Samples included the control (Con), addition of 1% BWF (T1), 3% BWF (T2), and 5% BWF (T3). Water activity (aw) and pH decreased with increased level of BWF. Salami sausage samples containing 5% BWF demonstrated significantly lower 2-thiobarbituric acid (TBA) values than the control. Changes in TBA values between day 0 and 21 for T2 and T3 were less than that for control. Total plate count (TPC) of all groups significantly decreased, whereas lactic acid bacteria significantly increased after 21 days. TPC of samples added with BWF was significantly lower during storage. Inclusion of BWF seemed to be an effective means of retarding lipid oxidation and enhancing storability of salami sausages.

This study was conducted to investigate the physical and sensory properties of ice cream containing fermented pepper powder. Three ice cream formulas were manufactured: 1, control; 2, supplemented with 0.1% fermented pepper powder; and 3, supplemented with 0.2% fermented pepper powder. Formulas 2 and 3 had significantly higher viscosity and lower overrun than formula 1 (p

According to several studies, some nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) structures are of lower quality, less reliable and less suitable for structural analysis than high-resolution X-ray crystallographic structures. We present a public database of 2405 refined NMR solution structures [statistical torsion angle potentials (STAP) refinement of the NMR database, http://psb.kobic.re.kr/STAP/refinement] from the Protein Data Bank (PDB). A simulated annealing protocol was employed to obtain refined structures with target potentials, including the newly developed STAP. The refined database was extensively analysed using various quality indicators from several assessment programs to determine the nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE) completeness, Ramachandran appearance, chi(1)-chi(2) rotamer normality, various parameters for protein stability and other indicators. Most quality indicators are improved in our protocol mainly due to the inclusion of the newly developed knowledge-based potentials. This database can be used by the NMR structure community for further development of research and validation tools, structure-related studies and modelling in many fields of research.

Genotyping Tool for Viral SEQuences (GTVseq) provides scientists with the genotype information on the viral ge-nome sequences including HIV-1, HIV-2, HBV, HCV, HTLV-1, HTLV-2, poliovirus, enterovirus, flavivirus, Han-tavirus, and rotavirus. GTVseq produces alternative and additive genotype information for the query viral se-quences based on two different, but related, scoring methods. The genotype information produced is re-ported in a graphical manner for the reference genotype matches and each graphical output is linked to the de-tailed sequence alignments between the query and the matched reference sequences. GTVseq also reports the potential 'repeats' and/or 'recombination' sequence re-gion in a separated window. GTVseq does not replace completely other well-known genotyping tools such as NCBI's virus sequence genotyping tool (http://www.ncbi. nlm.nih.gov/projects/genotyping/formpage.cgi), but pro-vides additional information useful in the confirmation or for further investigation of the genotype(s) for the newly isolated viral sequences.Keywords: Genotyping, Recombination, Subtyping, Viral Genome, Viral Sequence, Virus database, Visualization, Web-Server

This study was investigated to assess the effects of buckwheat (BW) and fermented buckwheat (FBW) on the proximate compositions, pH change, cooking quality, lipid oxidation, textural properties, and sensory characteristics of pork patties. Pork patties treated with BW and FBW were divided into six groups; Con, non-treated patties; T0, reduced fat patties; T1 and T2, addition of 1 and 3 % BW; FT1 and FT2, addition of 1 and 3 % FBW. FBW showed significantly higher antioxidant activity and total phenolic contents than BW (P

The effects of dietary supplementation of processed sulfur in pigs according to the level provided during the fattening phase were examined. The pigs were divided into three groups: control (CON), non-sulfur fed pigs; T1, 0.1% processed sulfur fed pigs; T2, 0.3% processed sulfur fed pigs. Physicochemical and sensory properties, as well as meat quality and oxidative stability of the Longissimus dorsi muscle were investigated. The feeding of processed sulfur did not affect moisture and protein contents (p>0.05). However, the crude fat content of T2 was significantly decreased compared to CON (p

Effects of Salmonella typhimurium lipopolysacharide(LPS) and dietary krill meal on the Growth and feed utilization were investigated in broiler chicks. Eight cages of five newly hatched chicks each were assigned and fed to one of the experimental diets containing 0.0,(basal) 0.5 or 1.0% krill meal during 3 weeks of experimental period. And half(four) of the eight cages were i.p. injected with saline or LPS(Immune response activation) every alternate day three times beginning 8 day-old during 2 week of age. Dietary krill meal did not affect growth, feed efficiency, nitrogen balance(NB), uric acid excretion, and ME utilization when the saline was injected. However, the immune response activation lowered daily gain and feed intake and NB and increased uric acid excretion, and the relative liver and spleen weight. Also, birds fed diet containing krill meal 1.0% reduced the feed efficiency and increased spleen weight, and ME and NB or ME required for gain compared with those fed basal and krill meal 0.5% diets in LPS-injected chicks. During recovery period from the immunological stress in 3rd week of age, the krill meal diet reduced the weight of liver and spleen, The results showcd that dietary krill meal did not affect the growth of broiler chicks, but the higher uric acid excretion or dietary ME value indicated the increased protein decomposition or absorption of dietary energy sources in immune response activated birds.

Bioinformatics tools and databases are useful for understanding and processing various biological data. Numerous resources are being published each year. It is not a trivial task to find up-to-date relevant tools and databases. Moreover, no server is available to provide comprehensive coverage on bioinformatics resources in all biological fields. Here, we present a directory server called IntoPub that provides information on web resources. First, we downloaded XML-formatted abstracts containing web URLs from the NCBI PubMed database by using `ESearch-EFetch` function in the NCBI E-utilities. The information is obtained from abstracts in the PubMed by extracting `www` or `http` prefixes. Then, we cu-rate the downloaded abstracts both in automatic and manual fashion. As of July 2011, the IntoPub database has 12,118 abstracts containing web URLs from 174 journals. Our anal-ysis shows that the number of abstracts containing web resources has increased signifi-cantly every year. The server has been tested by many biologists from several countries to get opinion on user satisfaction, usefulness, practicability, and ease of use since January 2010. In the IntoPub web server, users can easily find relevant bioinformatics resources, as compared to searching in PubMed. IntoPub will continue to update and incorporate new web resources from PubMed and other literature databases. IntoPub, available at http://into.kobic.re.kr/, is updated every day.

This study was performed to assess the antioxidant activity of Allium hookeri root extract (AHE) on lipid oxidation of raw sulfur-fed pork patties for 14 d of refrigerated storage. Different concentration of ethanol (0-100%) and time (1-12 h) were applied to determine the extraction condition. Water (0% ethanol) extraction for 1 h was selected as an optimal extraction condition of AHE for the following study showing the highest total phenolic content and total flavonoid content, as well as the strongest antioxidant activity. The 1% AHE (SP1), 3% AHE (SP2), and 0.05% ascorbic acid (SP3) were added into sulfur-fed pork patties against controls; SP0 (sulfur-fed pork patties with no AHE) and P0 (normal pork patties with no AHE). The pH values of P0 and SP0 significantly increased (p

Since inhibition of angiotensin II type 1 (AT1) receptor reduces chronic inflammation associated with hypertension, we evaluated the anti-inflammatory potential and the underlying mechanism of fimasartan, a Korean Food and Drug Administration approved anti-hypertension drug, in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages. Fimasartan suppressed the expressions of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) by down-regulating its transcription, and subsequently inhibited the productions of nitric oxide (NO). In addition, fimasartan attenuated LPS-induced transcriptional and DNA-binding activities of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) and activator protein-1 (AP-1). These reductions were accompanied by parallel reductions in the nuclear translocation of NF-κB and AP-1. Taken together, our data suggest that fimasartan down-regulates the expression of the iNOS in macrophages via NF-κB and AP-1 inactivation.

Summary p150 Glued is the major subunit of dynactin, a complex that functions with dynein in minus-end-directed microtubule transport. Mutations within the p150 Glued CAP-Gly microtubule-binding domain cause neurodegenerative diseases through an unclear mechanism. A p150 Glued motor neuron degenerative disease-associated mutation introduced into the Drosophila Glued locus generates a partial loss-of-function allele ( Gl G38S ) with impaired neurotransmitter release and adult-onset locomotor dysfunction. Disruption of the p150 Glued CAP-Gly domain in neurons causes a specific disruption of vesicle trafficking at terminal boutons (TBs), the distal-most ends of synapses. Gl G38S larvae accumulate endosomes along with dynein and kinesin motor proteins within swollen TBs, and genetic analyses show that kinesin and p150 Glued function cooperatively at TBs to coordinate transport. Therefore, the p150 Glued CAP-Gly domain regulates dynein-mediated retrograde transport at synaptic termini, and this function of dynactin is disrupted by a mutation that causes motor neuron disease.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a late-onset neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the loss of motor neurons. Fused in sarcoma/translated in liposarcoma (FUS/TLS) and TAR DNA-binding protein (TDP)-43 are DNA/RNA-binding proteins found to be mutated in sporadic and familial forms of ALS. Ectopic expression of human ALS-causing FUS/TLS mutations in Drosophila caused an accumulation of ubiquitinated proteins, neurodegeneration, larval-crawling defect and early lethality. Mutant FUS/TLS localized to both the cytoplasm and nucleus, whereas wild-type FUS/TLS localized only to the nucleus, suggesting that the cytoplasmic localization of FUS/TLS is required for toxicity. Furthermore, we found that deletion of the nuclear export signal strongly suppressed toxicity, suggesting that cytoplasmic localization is necessary for neurodegeneration. Interestingly, we observed that FUS/TLS genetically interacts with TDP-43 in a mutation-dependent fashion to cause neurodegeneration in vivo. In summary, we demonstrate that ALS-associated mutations in FUS/TLS cause adult-onset neurodegeneration via a gain-of-toxicity mechanism that involves redistribution of the protein from the nucleus to the cytoplasm and is likely to involve an interaction with TDP-43.

Background A disease-causing mutation refers to a heritable genetic change that is associated with a specific phenotype (disease). The detection of a mutation from a patient's sample is critical for the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of the disease. There are numerous databases and applications with which to archive mutation data. However, none of them have been implemented with any automated bioinformatics tools for mutation detection and analysis starting from raw data materials from patients. We present a Locus Specific mutation DB (LSDB) construction system that supports both mutation detection and deposition in one package. Results COMUS (Clinician-Oriented locus specific MUtation detection and deposition System) is a mutation detection and deposition system for developing specific LSDBs. COMUS contains 1) a DNA sequence mutation analysis method for clinicians' mutation data identification and deposition and 2) a curation system for variation detection from clinicians' input data. To embody the COMUS system and to validate its clinical utility, we have chosen the disease hemophilia as a test database. A set of data files from bench experiments and clinical information from hemophilia patients were tested on the LSDB, KoHemGene http://www.kohemgene.org, which has proven to be a clinician-friendly interface for mutation detection and deposition. Conclusion COMUS is a bioinformatics system for detecting and depositing new mutations from patient DNA with a clinician-friendly interface. LSDBs made using COMUS will promote the clinical utility of LSDBs. COMUS is available at http://www.comus.info.