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Dietary protein-derived peptides are effective in improving dyslipidemia and hypercholesterolemia. We previously identified a novel cholesterol-lowering pentapeptide IIAEK from milk beta-lactoglobulin. However, it remains unclear whether IIAEK affects the micellar solubility of cholesterol and the bile acid-binding ability to lower cholesterol. Moreover, there is no direct evidence that IIAEK inhibits intestinal cholesterol absorption and affects hepatic cholesterol and fecal steroid excretion in vivo. Herein, we showed that IIAEK did not affect the micellar solubility of cholesterol and the bile acid-binding ability. However, we found that IIAEK decreased serum and liver cholesterol levels and increased fecal steroid excretion in mice. Interestingly, IIAEK markedly suppressed the intestinal absorption of [3 H]-cholesterol in mice. In conclusion, we found that IIAEK ameliorated cholesterol metabolism by suppressing intestinal cholesterol absorption without affecting in vitro micellar solubility of cholesterol and the bile acid-binding ability in mice. Pentapeptide IIAEK ameliorates cholesterol metabolism via the suppression of intestinal cholesterol absorption in mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have previously reported that the dipeptide Phe-Pro affects lipid metabolism in vivo and in vitro, but very little is known regarding the mechanism of action of Phe-Pro after it is absorbed by the intestines via PepT1. In this study, we administered a single oral dose of Phe-Pro to rats and quantified its concentration in the portal plasma using LC-TOF/MS analysis. Additionally, the physiological blood concentration of Phe-Pro was added to the lipid accumulation model of HepG2 cells to decrease intracellular cholesterol and increase the expression of CYP7A1 and PPARα mRNA levels. Moreover, we analyzed the binding of PPAR a and Phe-Pro using AlphaFold2. We found that Phe-Pro is a ligand for PPARα. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that shows Phe-Pro to be present in the portal plasma. We found for the first time that Phe-Pro ameliorated cholesterol metabolism in HepG2 cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We found that ascophyllan significantly inhibited the fibrillation of human insulin and was the most effective among the sulfated polysaccharides tested. Gel-filtration analysis suggested that ascophyllan was capable of forming a complex with insulin through a weak interaction. Secondary structure transition from native α-helix to β-sheet predominant structure of insulin under the fibrillation conditions was suppressed in the presence of ascophyllan. Interestingly, ascophyllan attenuated insulin fibril-induced hemolysis of human erythrocytes. Moreover, ascophyllan attenuated insulin amyloid-induced cytotoxicity on rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells and reduced the level of intracellular reactive oxygen species. This is the first report indicating that a sulfated polysaccharide, ascophyllan, can suppress the insulin amyloid fibril formation and inhibit the fibril-induced detrimental bioactivities. Ascophyllan can suppress the insulin amyloid fibril formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we found that a sulfated polysaccharide isolated from the brown alga Ascophyllum nodosum , ascophyllan, showed suppressive effects on stimulated RAW264.7 cells. Ascophyllan significantly inhibited expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase mRNA and excessive production of nitric oxide (NO) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 cells in a dose-dependent manner without affecting the viability of RAW264.7 cells. Ascophyllan also reduced the elevated level of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. Furthermore, preincubation with ascophyllan resulted in concentration-dependent decrease in ROS production in phorbol 12-myristate-13-acetate-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. Our results suggest that ascophyllan can exhibit anti-inflammatory effects on stimulated macrophages mainly through the attenuation of NO and ROS productions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endomembrane transport system begins at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), continues to the Golgi apparatus and subsequent compartment called trans-Golgi network (TGN). We found that SUT2, a tobacco sucrose-transporter ortholog and was localized in the TGN, decreased significantly under a sucrose-starvation condition. The tobacco SNARE protein SYP41, localized in the TGN and secretory vesicle cluster (SVC), also decreased under the starvation. Similarly, the SCAMP2-RFP fusion protein, which is localized in TGN, SVC, and plasma membrane (PM), was distributed solely in the PM under the starvation. Under the same starvation condition, protein secretion was not arrested but pectin deposition to cell wall was suppressed. These data indicated that the protein composition in TGN and existence of the SVC are regulated by sugar availability. Furthermore, our findings as well as the involvement of SVC in pectin secretion suggested that synthesis and transport of pectin are regulated by the level of extracellular sugars. ER: endoplasmic reticulum; GI-TGN: Golgi-released independent TGN; GFP: green fluorescent protein; mRFP: monomeric red fluorescent protein; P4H1.1: prolyl 4-hydroxylase 1.1; PM: plasma membrane; SCAMP2: secretory carrier membrane protein 2; SUT2: sucrose transporter 2; SVC: secretory vesicle cluster; SYP41: syntaxin of plant 41; TGN: trans-Golgi network; YFP: yellow fluorescent protein Modulation of the turnover of endomembrane proteins and of the transport of macromolecules upon sucrose starvation in tobacco BY-2 cells [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluation of the molecular mechanisms by which an antibody recognizes a specific antigen could help in better understanding of the protein recognition mechanisms. We previously showed that anti-hen egg lysozyme (HEL) monoclonal antibody, HyC1, recognized the structural and hydrodynamic change in HEL. Here, we generated HyC1 single-chain Fv (scFv), and characterized it using different structural and biophysical methods. Similar to HyC1 monoclonal antibody, HyC1 scFv could recognize native HEL from carboxymethylated Cys6 and Cys127 HEL (CM6,127-HEL). Comparison of the binding thermodynamics of HyC1 scFv between HEL and CM6,127-HEL showed that the binding enthalpy change was different, while the binding entropy was remained unchanged. The results indicated that the fluctuation of the residual native structure in both HEL and CM6,127-HEL was similar. The NMR experiments for 15N-labeled HyC1 scFv indicated that the flexibility of HyC1 scFv decreased upon the binding to HEL. HyC1 single-chain Fv (scFv) could recognize native HEL from carboxymethylated Cys6 and Cys127 HEL (CM6,127-HEL). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a sulfated polysaccharide (BFP) was isolated from the edible red alga Bangia fusco-purpurea. Gel-filtration and thin layer chromatographically analyses suggested that BFP was a homogenous polysaccharide. The chemical structural analysis revealed that BFP mainly consisted of galactose together with a small amount of uronic acid, mannose, and glucose. Its molecular mass was estimated to be 133.18 kDa by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis. BFP inhibited α-amylase and α-glucosidase in a concentration-dependent manner. The IC50 values of BFP against α-amylase and α-glucosidase were estimated to be 1.26 ± 0.11 mg/mL and 1.34 ± 0.07 mg/mL, respectively. Kinetic analyses suggested that BFP showed competitive and non-competitive inhibition against α-amylase and α-glucosidase, respectively. Circular dichroism spectral and fluorescence spectral analyses suggested that BFP affects the conformational structures of these enzymes, which may lead to the inhibition of the enzymatic activities. Abbreviations: Ara: D-arabinose; AnGal: anhydro-L-galactose residues; CD spectroscopy: Circular Dichroism spectroscopy; DNS: dinitrosalicylic acid; FT-IR: fourier transform infrared spectra; Fuc: L-fucose; Gal: D-galactose; Glc: D-glucose; GlcA: D-Glucuronic acid; HPLC: high performance liquid chromatography; Man: D-mannose; pNPG: p-nitrophenyl-α-D-glucoside; TFA: trifluoroacetic acid; TLC: thin-layer chromatography; PMP: 1-phenyl-3-methyl-5-pyrazolone; Xyl: D-xylose Inhibitory effects of a sulfated polysaccharide isolated from edible red alga Bangia fusco-purpurea on α-amylase and α-glucosidase [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We overexpressed and purified 3α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase from Pseudomonas sp. B-0831 (Ps3αHSD) and its mutants where the active site residues known as the SYK triad, Ser114, Tyr153, and Lys157, were mutated. Ps3αHSD catalyzes the reaction by using a nucleotide cofactor. The NADH binding affinity of K157A mutant was much lower than that of the wild-type, mainly due to loss of a hydrogen bond. The decreased affinity would result in decreased kcat. Compared to the wild-type, the mutants S114A and Y153F showed higher Km and lower kcat values in both oxidation and reduction reactions. Simultaneous mutation of S114A and Y153F resulted in a significant decrease in kcat relative to the single mutant. These results are supported by the notion that Tyr153 is a catalytic base and Ser114 would be a substitute. Loss of hydrogen bonding with NADH upon the Y153F mutation resulted in increased enthalpy change, partially compensated by increased entropy change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enzymatically prepared alginate oligomer (AO) promoted the growth ofChlamydomonas reinhardtiiin a concentration-dependent manner. AO at 2.5 mg/mL induced increase in expression levels of cyclin A, cyclin B, and cyclin D inC. reinhardtii. CuSO4at 100 μM suppressed the growth ofC. reinhardtiin, and AO at 2.5 mg/mL significantly alleviated the toxicity of CuSO4. Increased intracellular reactive oxygen species level inC. reinhardtiiinduced by CuSO4was reduced by AO. After cultivation with CuSO4at 100 μM, expression levels of ascorbate peroxidase and superoxide dismutase inC. reinhardtiiwere increased, and AO reduced the increased levels of these enzymes. These results suggest that AO exhibits beneficial effects onC. reinhardtiithrough influencing the expression of various genes not only at normal growth condition but also under CuSO4stress. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Endo-1,3-β-glucanase fromCellulosimicrobium cellulansDK-1 has a carbohydrate-binding module (CBM-DK) at the C-terminal side of a catalytic domain. Out of the imperfect tandem α-, β-, and γ-repeats in CBM-DK, the α-repeat primarily contributes to β-glucan binding. This unique feature is derived from Trp273 in α-repeat, whose corresponding residues in β- and γ-repeats are Asp314 and Gly358, respectively. In this study, we generated Trp-switched mutants, W273A/D314W, D270A/W273A/D314W, W273A/G358W, and D270A/W273A/G358W, and analyzed their binding abilities toward laminarioligosaccharides and laminarin. While the binding affinities of D270A/W273A and W273A mutants were either lost or much lower than that of the wild-type, those of Trp-switched mutants recovered, indicating that a Trp introduction in β- or γ-repeat can substitute the α-repeat by primarily contributing to β-glucan binding. Thus, we have successfully engineered a CBM-DK that binds to laminarin by a mechanism different from that of the wild-type, but with similar affinity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In peaches, fruit flesh browns unattractively after peeling or cutting. A recently developed cultivar, Okayama PEH7, was distinct from other Japanese cultivars, including Okayama PEH8, with respect to its reduced browning potential. Homogenate prepared from Okayama PEH7 flesh had significantly less reddening during the browning reaction. Okayama PEH7 had less soluble phenolic compounds and higher polyphenol oxidase activity than Okayama PEH8. Reduced browning was observed even when phenols prepared from Okayama PEH7 were incubated with crude extract from Okayama PEH8, suggesting that phenols lower the browning potential of Okayama PEH7. In Okayama PEH7, contents of chlorogenic acid and its isomers were about one-tenth compared to Okayama PEH8. Exogenous addition of chlorogenic acid to Okayama PEH7 homogenate increased the browning potential and visibly enhanced reddening. These results indicate that the reduced browning of Okayama PEH7 flesh is due to a defect in chlorogenic acid accumulation. Flesh homogenate of Okayama PEH7 had less reddening during the browning reaction owing to a defect in chlorogenic acid accumulation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Promoter shutoff is a general method for analyzing essential genes, but in the fungus Aspergillus oryzae, no tightly repressed promoters have been reported. To overcome the current limitations of conditional promoters, we examined sorbitol- and galactose-responsive genes using microarrays to identify regulatable genes with only minor physiological and genetic effects. We identified two sorbitol-induced genes (designated as sorA and sorB), cloned their promoters, and built a regulated egfp and brlA expression system. Growth medium-dependent enhanced green fluorescence protein (EGFP) fluorescence and conidiation were confirmed for egfp and brlA under the control of their respective promoters. We also used this shutoff system to regulate the essential rhoA, which demonstrated the expected growth inhibition under repressed growth conditions. Our new sorbitol promoter shutoff system developed can serve as a valuable new tool for essential gene analyses of filamentous fungi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We evaluated the effect of whey protein hydrolysates (WPH) on the water absorption rate in the small intestine using a rat small intestine perfusion model. The rate was significantly higher with 5 g/L WPH than with 5 g/L soy protein hydrolysates or physiological saline (p < 0.05). WPH dose-dependently increased the water absorption rate in the range of 1.25–10.0 g/L. WPH showed a significantly higher rate than an amino acid mixture whose composition was equal to that of WPH (p < 0.05). The addition of 4-aminomethylbenzoic acid, an inhibitor of PepT1, significantly suppressed WPH’s enhancement of water absorption (p < 0.05). The rate of water absorption was significantly correlated with that of peptides/amino acids absorption in WPH (r = 0.82,p < 0.01). These data suggest that WPH have a high water absorption-promoting effect, to which PepT1 contributes. Whey protein hydrolysates promote water absorption in the rat small intestine and PepT1 is suggested to contribute to this effect. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses the results of a study suggesting that freshwater clam (Corbicula fluminea) extract (FCE) and its fat/protein fractions have various beneficial effects against liver injury accompanied by the accumulation of hepatic liquid in rats exposed to the xenobiotic chloretone. Topics mentioned include the changes caused by the administration of xenobiotics to animals, how xenobiotic diets induce CYP gene expression, and the effect of dietary proteins on hepatic lipogenesis.

The article focuses on study on pickles containing gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitory peptides. It mentions the use of rice bran and Kyoto vegetables in the study along with fermentation of pickles. It adds that the study revealed pickles reduce blood pressure of rats. It adds.

The article discusses research which examines the solvent-tolerance of fungi located on an interface between an agar plate and an organic solvent. Topics discussed include development of interfacial bioconversion systems for conversion of water-immiscible substrates with living microbial cells, determining relationship between hydrophobicity of organic solvent and its toxicity, and lack of effectiveness of methylcyclohexane, dibutyl ether and styrene in sterilization of fungal cells.

The article presents research on bio-functional pickles that reduce blood pressure of rats. The study investigated the addition of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE)-inhibitory peptides to pickles to develop a new type of pickle that reduces blood pressure. The new pickle developed is found to reduce blood pressure in two types of rats including spontaneously hypertensive rats and sodium chloride (NaCl)-sensitive model rats.

The article presents a study which compares the structural characteristics and evolution of the Protobothrops elegans pancreatic phospholipase (PePancPL) A2 gene with Protobothrops genus venom phospholipase A2 genes. The study uses inverted polymerase chain reaction (PRC) technique, nucleotide sequence, and phylogenetic analysis to determine the difference between the two genes. Results show that venom PLA2 are dissimilar to Protobothrops genus (Crotalinae).

The article presents the findings of a research conducted on examining the fermented mare milk to explore potential probiotics in the traditional foods of Indonesia. It discusses the methodology used in conducting the research including gram staining, catalase activity and cell morphology. The research reveals that all the isolates identified as lactobacilli as they appeared as Gram-positive rods without catalase activity.

The article discusses the findings of a study which determined the bioactivity of ascophyllan on splenic natural killer (NK) cells and RAW264.7 cells. It notes that the effects of ascophyllan were tested in vivo for NK cells, while it was in vitro cytotoxic analysis was done for the mouse macrophage RAW264.7 cells. The experiment confirmed ascophyllan's immunopotentiating characteristic through inducement of high nitric oxide (NO) levels in macrophages.

The article discusses the findings of a time course analysis conducted on fertilized eggs of the devil stinger, Inimicus japonicus fish. It suggests several factors that cause the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by devil stinger larvae including egg quality, temperature, salinity, and micro-organism contamination. Researchers suggested through analysis that the presence of ROS may be a cause of mass mortality of Inimicus japonicus under an artificial rearing environment.

The article discusses structural characteristics and evolution of PfPLA 6 phospholipase A2 (PLA2) gene which was isolated from 6,328 base pairs segment of the snakes' venoms from protobothrops flavoviridis species. The comparison of the isolated gene with the aligned nucleotide sequences of viperidae family of venoms PLA2 genes is also analyzed. It mentions that PLA2 A-type genes from viperidae family of venoms including PfPLA 6 are found to be ancestors to the B-type of phospholipase genes.

The article focuses on a comparative study regarding the toxic effects of red tide flagellates Heterocapsa circularisquama and Chattonella marina on short-necked clams. It notes that harmful algal blooms or the so-called red tide often cause mass mortality of cultured fishes and other marine organisms. Results revealed that Heterocapsa circularisquama has demonstrated higher toxic effects than Chattonella marina wherein clams exposed to such have a profound reduction in filtration activity.

The article examines the role of a Lys49phospholipase A2 (PLA2) from Protobothrops flavoviridis venom in inducing caspase-independent apoptotic cell death in human leukemia cells. It looks into the activation of procaspase 3 which indicates that the induced cell death is independent of PLA2 lipolytic activity. It notes that rapid externalization of phosphatidyl-serine in cells was determined for fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labeled annexin.

The article presents a study on the identification and evolution of venom phospholipase A2 (PLA2) inhibitors (PLIs) from Protobothrops elegans serum. P. elegans snakes were used as the study samples. The study utilizes several methods including mass spectrometry (MS), far-western blotting analysis and purification of the PLIs from the P. elegans serum. It also revealed the isolation of PeyPLI-A and PeyPLI-B cDNAs from the P. elegans liver cDNA library and their nucleotide sequences.

The article presents a study which analyzed the molecular components that intercede the response to hypoxia in rice and tomato through the detection of low-oxygen stress early response genes. The study examined plant materials through various procedures including stress treatment, treatment with cycloheximide and ruthenium red, and technical procedures. Results revealed the early transcriptional response to hypoxia of rice genes encoding EF-hand proteins.

The article presents a study concerning separation of mitogenic activity of CEL-I which is an N-Acetylgalactosamine (GalNac)-Specific C-Type Lectin from marine invertebrate Cucmaria echinata (Holothuriodea). It mentions that the mitogenic activity of CEL-I which attained a maximum at 100 microgram inhibited by GalNac. It shows that CEL-I is a potent mitogenic lectin with the ability to stimulate both T and B cells.

The article presents a study on the attributes of alkaline serine-proteinase obtained from Bacillus specie PN51 in fecal deposits of bats. In order to determine the characteristics of the proteinase, the study performed proteinase assay, enzyme analyses, and genetic sequence analysis. Results show that PN51 proteinase activity is highly moderated by chymostatin and phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, and its enzyme stability is relatively high against detergents particularly sodium lauryl sulfate.

The article discusses a method for determining the activation of phospholipase D (PLD), a biocatalyst in the synthesis of bioactive compounds. It explains that the method employed the tandem of unnatural phosphatidyl acceptor, which served as the substrate for PLD and the tandem electrospray ionization mass spectroscopy (ESI MS). It also tackles an experiment which showed the method's sensitivity in detecting PLD activity in cabbage leaves.

The article presents a study which examines the biological activities of fucose-containing polysaccharide ascophyllan separated from the brown alga Ascophyllum nodosum. It mentions that the study found that polysaccharide ascophyllan contains xyclose and uronic acid through the use of a composition analysis, and inhibits U937 cells proliferation and DNA fragmentation. Moreover, the study discovered that ascophyllan induces granulocyte colony-stimulating factor secretion.

The article presents a study which analyzes the relationship of fungus Amylomyces rouxii to microorganisms Rhizopus oryzae and Rhizopus delemar. Phylogenetic analysis was conducted on lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) genes, internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA), and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP). Results show that A. rouxii were separated into lactic and fumaric acid producers which exhibit strong relationships with R. oryzae and R. delemar.

The article discusses the study on the possible toxic effects of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by Cochlodinium polykrikoides on damselfish. The study conducted bioassays of damselfish using a strand of C. polykrikoides dinoflagellate, which demonstrated high mortality exposure after all the fishes died in 90 minutes. It also mentions that the exact toxic mechanism is not yet determined although possibilities of fish killing activity of C. polykrikoides was affirmed by the experiments.

The article presents a study which investigates the growth-promoting effect of an alginate oligosaccharide mixture (AOM) in a normal and Cu 2+ -induced stress condition in a unicellular marine microalga Nannochloropsis oculata. Through the process of gel-filtration and cultivation, AOM was found to promote the growth of N. oculata and overcome alga's Cu 2+ -induced growth suppression. It suggests that AOM is an agent for the establishment of mass culture of N. oculata.

The article presents a study which overviews the enzymic properties and effectiveness of sucrose-hydrolyzing enzymes purified by rhizopus oryzae and Amylomyces rouxii. The main objective of the study is to observe the difference of hydrolyzing enzymes entity of R. orzyae and rouxii. It also explores the significant role of AmyB proteins in fermenting sucrose in sugar beet.

The article investigates the effects of the extract from the freshwater clam Corbicula fluminea on the metabolism of cholesterol in rats that were fed with a high-cholesterol diet. Research findings show the gradual and dose-dependent reduction of serum and hepatic cholesterol levels in rats whose high-cholesterol diets were supplemented with the freshwater clam extract for two weeks.

The article presents a study on the structural evidence for establishing the relationship of scytalidolisin with the sedolisin family of serine-carbonyl peptidases. It details the elution as well as the effuluent monitoring of the enzyme by measuring their absorbance. Peptide peak fractions were collected and lyophilized while peptide residues are identified. The amino acid sequences alignment of major peptides and sequences of typical serine carboxyl peptidases are also presented.

The article discusses the study on liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for the detection of alginate oligosaccharides (AOs) in mouse plasma and urine. It mentions that on a calibration curve with an AO trimer peak area, the maximum plasma and urine concentrations were estimated to be 24.5µg/ml at 5 minutes and 425.5µg/ml at 30 minutes. The results suggest that the LC-MS/MS best suited to pharmacokinetic analysis of AOs in an in vivo system.

The article presents a study that intends to clarify the mechanism by which NPWDQ inhibited allergen permeation in vitro and investigate the effect of enzyme-modified cheese (EMC) on allergen permeation in vivo. It depicts that supplemental administration of EMC can effectively suppressed ovalbumin (OVA) permeation in rats suffering from indomethacin-induced intestinal inflammation. It proposes that EMC was useful in the prevention of food allergy by inhibiting allergen permeation.

The article presents a study on the application of asymmetric reduction of benzyl to (S)-benzoin with Penicillium claviforme IAM 7294 to a liquid-liquid interface bioreactor (L-L IBR) with the use of ballooned microsphere (MS). The study detects that L-L IBR has exhibited excellent performance compared with suspension, solid-liquid interface bioreactor (S-L IBR), and organic-aqueous two-liquid-phase, affording 14.4 grams per liter-organic phase of (S)-benzoin.

The article presents a study where in the glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) gene from lactobacillus was cloned and expressed. It discusses the methods used in the study as well as the procedures where in gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-producing microorganisms from fermented foods were screened. The result indicates that GAD gene from lactobacillus was 1.440 encoding a protein of 480 amino acids, while the nucleotide sequence showed 99% identity with that of lactobacillus.

The article reports on the results of a study of sphingolipid classes and their contents in Japanese meals that have been prepared by a nutritionist. According to the article, sphingolipids have attracted attention as physiologically functional lipids. A description of the experimental set-up and measurement methods is presented. The study confirmed that the major sphingolipids in meals eaten daily by Japanese were cerebroside and sphingomyelin.

The article analyzes the structure of the fundamental polymer of the sheath created by Sphaerotilus natans. The sheath is composed of cystein-rich peptide and polysaccharide moieties. It was labeled with a thiol-selective fluorogenic reagent, 4-(aminosulfonyl)-7-fluoro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazole. According to the authors, the sheath was formed by association of a mucopolysaccharide modified with N-acetyl-L-cysteinylglycine.

The article reports on the results of a study of the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by various marine fish species during the larval stage. A description of the experimental setup and measurement method is presented. The study showed that the larvae of six marine fishes produce ROS to different extended depending on the species.

The article examines the discrepancy between two methods, electron spin resonance (ESR)-spin trapping method and luminol analog (L-012)-dependent chemiluminescence (CL) method, to determine the effect of ferric-protein complexes on superoxide scavenging activity. Results indicate that the presence of such a ferric-protein complex is a causative factor in the discrepancy between the ESR and the luminol CL methods when determining superoxide scavenging activity.

The article examines the antioxidant properties of aqueous extracts from the dinophycean flagellates Gymnodinium impudicum and Alexandrium affine and the raphidophycean flagellate Chattonella ovata. It highlights the results of an electron spin resonance-spin trapping method coupled with steady state kinetic analysis. The article suggests that the heat-resistance of the extract from G. impudicum might make it desirable antioxidant.

The article investigates the superoxide-scavenging activity of aqueous extracts obtained from dinophycean red tide flagellates by a luminol analog L-012-dependent chemiluminescence (CL) method and an electron spin resonance (ESR)-spin trapping method. The authors compared the activity to that of raphidophycean red tide flagellates. They found that both aqueous extracts from raphidophycean and dinophycean red tide flagellates showed superoxide-scavenging activity in both methods.

The article focuses on the toxic effects of Ulva fasciata's polyunsaturated fatty acids on red tide phyotoplankter species. Alpha linolenic acid and linoleic acid from U. fasciata affected red tide phytoplankters in a concentration-dependent manner. Six species were tested and raphidophycean flagellate Heterosigma akashiwo was the most susceptible to the fatty acids.

The article focuses on the use of alginate oligosaccharides to induce multiple cytokine secretion from RAQ264.7 cells. The Bio-Plex assay system was used to investigate the activities of gluluronate and mannuronate oligomers on RAW254.7 cells. M-oligomers were more potent than G-oligomers in terms of cytokine induction.

The article focuses on the binding of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) to human blood type B-antigen or H-antigen expressed on intestinal mucosa. Twenty lactobacilli isolated feces were examined for binding to human blood type B-antigen and H-antigen and founded two strains, L. gasseri OLL2755 and OLL2877 that binds to human B-antigen. In conclusion, the LAB strains can detect and bind to the same receptors as the pathogens, and the binding may prevent infection by replacing those pathogens.