연산 오계육은 오래전부터 건강기능 증진 및 치료 효능이 높은 것으로 알려져 왔다. 최근 천 연물 단백질 유래 기능성 펩타이드 효능이 알려짐에 따라, 본 연구는 연산오계 부산물인 내장육 단백질 로부터 고압처리기술과 프로티아제를 이용하여 펩타이드 생산 최적공정과 생성물의 특성을 연구하였다. 내장육의 가수분해는 효소 bromelain 과 내장육을 고압 반응기에 투입을 하여 실시하였다. 최적 공정 조건 확립을 위하여 고압처리기의 압력(30 - 100 MPa), 효소반응 시간 (1 - 5시간), 내장육의 양(10 – 30%)의 범위에서 수행되었다. 효소 반응 후 각 조건에 따른 내장육 단백질의 가수분해도, 생산 펩타이 드들의 아미노산 및 분자량 분포를 분석하였다. 연구 결과 내장육 단백질 가수분해 최적조건으로 압력 90 MPa, 효소반응시간 3–4시간, 내장육의 함량 20%에서 결정 되었다. 최적조건에서 오계 내장육 단백 질의 65% 이상이 가수분해 되었다. 대부분의 가수분해물의 분자량들은 400–1,000 Da 이하의 분포를 보여주어 대부분이 펩타이드로 판단되었다. 생산 펩타이드들은 비극성 소수성 아미노산들 42.3%, 극성 비전하 아미노산들 26.0%, 양 전하 아미노산들 13.3%, 음 전하 아미노산들 18.6% 로 분포되었다. 따라 서 항산화 능력이 뛰어난 비극성 아미노산의 분포를 보아 건강 기능 식품 소재로서 활용할 가치가 높을 것으로 기대를 한다.

The lesser paper wasp, Parapolybia varia, belongs to large subfamily Polistinae and is distributed in Middle East, the Indo-Papuan region and East Asia. P. varia is known to become aggressive when disturbed for defending their colonies, resulting in fatal envenomation. Vespid chemotactic peptide (VCP) and vespakinin have recently been determined to be the top two genes most abundantly transcribed in venom glands of P. varia. To investigate the pharmacological and toxicological properties of VCP and vespakinin, their antitumor, antimicrobial, and cytotoxic activities were evaluated. VCP exhibited a significantly high antitumor activity against ovarian tumor cell SK-OV-3 at 100 M. VCP also showed higher hemolytic activity than vespakinin. Antimicrobial activity was only observed with VCP against yeast Candida albicans at 1 mM. Since VCP showed a relatively low hemolytic activity but a considerable level of antitumor activity, it has further merits to be exploited as a potential antitumor agent with reduced side effects on normal cells.

연산오계는 오래전부터 건강기능 증진 및 치료 효능이 높은 것으로 알려져 왔다. 최근 건강 기능식품 소재로 기능성 펩타이드 효능이 알려짐에 따라, 연산오계 다리육으로부 올리고 펩타이드 최적 생산 공정 및 생성물 특성에 대하여 연구를 수행하였다. 최적 효소가수 분해 공정 표면반응 분석을 이 용하여 수행하였다. 최적 공정 조건을 확립하기 위해서 온도 (40, 50, 60℃), pH (pH 6.0, 7.0, 8.0), 효 소 (1, 2, 3%) 범위에서 수행을 하였다. 생성물에 대한 가수분해도, 유리아미노산, 분자량 분포를 분석 하였다. 효소 가수분해 최적 온도는 58℃, pH 7.5, 효소의 농도는 3% 이었다. 최적 조건에서 2 시간 효소 가수분해를 한 결과 75-80% 이었다. 유리 아미노산 총량은 168.131 mg/100 g 이었다. 분자량를 MALDI-TOF 으로 분석을 한 결과 90% 이상이 300-1,000 Da 분포를 보여주었다.

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are an important component of innate defense mechanisms with broad-spectrum activities against various pathogenic microorganisms, including Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Antibiotic resistance has become a pervasive and global health burden, resulting in the immediate need to develop a new class of antibiotic substances. We screened a 16-mer random peptide library using the yeast two-hybrid system with Beclin 1 as bait and found that two 16-mer peptides (named P4 and P30) appeared to interact with Beclin1 in the β-gal assay. The two candidate cDNAs were introduced into the yeast secretory system of Pichia pastoris and their expression induced in the presence of methanol. Spectrophotometric analysis and Disc clear zone assay using the supernatant of the yeast growth media showed that both of the two peptides had strong activities against Staphylococcus aureus, MRSA (methicillin resistance Staphylococcus aureus), MRSA2242, and MRSA-2250, but no effect on commensal Lactobacillus strains. PCR analysis of the genomic DNA of transformed Pichia pastoris using AOX1 primers revealed that the two cDNAs were integrated into the genome at the AOX1 locus. Our result suggests that these peptides could be developed as a useful alternative to classic chemical antibiotics.

Immune-inducible antimicrobial peptides were produced using transgenic silkworms that expressed Rel family transcription factor, truncated BmRelish1 (BmRelish1t) genes under the control of the BmA3 promoter using the piggyBac vector. BmRelish1t gene contains all domains of Bmrelish: a Rel homolog domain (RHD), nuclear localization signal (NLS), acidic and hydrophobic amino acids (AHAA) rich region except the Ankyrin repeat domain (ANK) and the death domain (DD). (1:1) Mixtures of the donor vector (pG-3xP3EGFP-BmA3BmRelish1t) and helper vector were micro-injected into 1,800 eggs of bivoltin silkworms, Baegokjam and EGFP-induced fluorescence was observed for 25 broods of transgenic silkworms under a florescence stereomicroscope. Analysis by real-time PCR indicated that transgenic silkworms expressing BmRelish1t recombinant proteins displayed higher mRNA expression levels of the Bombyx mori antimicrobial peptides such as lebocin, moricin, and nuecin than the normal silkworms. Moreover, transgenic silkworms expressing BmRelish1t showed antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli. We suggest that transgenic expression of BmRelish1t may find useful applications for the production of various antimicrobial peptides at the same time in transgenic silkworms.

In this study, we observed anti-diabetic effects of acid hydrolyzed silk peptides, where the amount of peptides in the total amino acid mixture was strictly regulated. Using in vitro diabetes models, silk peptide-containing amino acid mixtures of 5.60% (G5), 11.30% (G10), 14.50% (G15), and 20.50% (G20) were examined separately in order to determine whether they have biological activities. According to our results, a cytoprotective effect was observed following treatment of interleukin-1β in RINm5f pancreas β-cells. As a consequence, Bax, a pro-apoptotic gene, was down-regulated, while Bcl-2, a pro-survival gene, was retained at normal level. Results of the 4’,6-diamidino-2-phentylindole (DAPI) staining assay confirmed that G20 has a better cytoprotective effect. Insulin release from RINm5f cells showed a significant increase following treatment with G5-G20, suggesting that silk peptide effectively regulated and induced insulin production. Single treatment with G5-G20 resulted in enhanced glucose uptake in L6 skeletal muscle cells. In addition, a higher amount of each group inhibited the activity of α-glucosidase. In summary, these data suggest that silk peptide may have an anti-diabetic effect through protection of pancreas β-cells and enhancement of insulin release, which showed a close association with Type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM), and can improve glucose uptake, which was the major target for therapy of Type 2 diabetes. Taken together, we concluded that acid hydrolyzed silk peptides can be used effectively for control of blood sugar metabolism via improvement of the problematic indices of Type 1 and Type 2 DM.

The purpose of this study was to investigate anti-oxidant effects of loach muscle-derived peptides in vitro and in vivo. Loach muscle peptides were prepared by 4 different methods: boiling (B), enzymatic hydrolysis (E), boiling and enzymatic hydrolysis (BE), alkaline and enzymatic hydrolysis (AE). Two different in vitro analyses, DPPH radical scavenging activity and xanthine-xanthine oxidase-induced superoxide radical scavenging activity, were performed. All the four preparations showed concentration-dependent DPPH radical scavenging activity. However, superoxide radical scavenging activity was found only with AE and E preparations. To evaluate in vivo effects, mice were fed with 10% AE-containing diets for 4 weeks before hepatotoxicity induction with CCl4. In serum glutamate-oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT) and glutamate-pyruvate transaminase (GPT) levels, total antioxidant levels, and relative hepatic weight ratio, no evidence for anti-oxidant effects was found with AE indicating the absence of anti-oxidant effect in the in vivo mouse experiment. It needs to be clarified why anti-oxidant activity of loach protein hydrolysates was not evident in vivo. Furthermore, these results suggest that in vivo evaluation is crucial in demonstrating anti-oxidant activities.

Antimicrobial peptides are widely found in living organisms and are known to play a critical role in innate immunity. Numerous antimicrobial peptides from diverse species appear to be effective against pathogenic microorganisms of bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and viruses. Because antibiotic resistance is a global health issue in the fight against pathogenic microorganisms, there has been an urgent need for development of new antibiotic substances. In the current study, we performed yeast two hybrid screening using Beclin1 bait in order to find new peptide antibiotics from a random peptide library. Two candidate peptides from the screening were expressed in a yeast secretory system of Pichia pastoris and tested for any antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, MRSA, MRSA2242, MRSA2250, Lactobacillus casei, and Lactobacillus acidophilus. Disc clear zone assay and spectrophotometric analysis revealed that the two peptides exert a decent activity against the pathogenic bacteria, in contrast to minimal effect on the commensal Lactobacillus strains. Taken together, this study presents novel peptides with antibacterial activity against the pathogenic forms of Staphylococcus aureus and suggests the possibility that these peptides, upon further characterization, may be developed as clinically useful antibiotics.

This study is manufacturing method and analysis of feasibility about collagen peptide from fish scale. This is processed by enzyme hydrolysis, isolating and refining etc. The results of analysis of nutritional composition showed protein content of collagen peptide. In the analysis of constitutive amino acids, the ratio of contents of hydroxyproline and glycine, the characteristics of collagen peptides appeared similar and the contents of glutamic acid and aspartic acid which are involved in protein metabolism. As a result of measurement of total polyphenol content and total flavonoid, it showed that collagen peptide had more contents generally, and the effect of bioactivity of pig-skin collagen peptide appeared higher although different kinds of scale collagen peptide showed a little DPPH radical scavenging ability, total antioxidant capacity by ABTS, ACE inhibitory.

Three venom peptides, OdVP1, OdVP2, and OdVP3 were isolated from the venom of the solitary wasp Orancistrocerus drewseni (Hymenoptera: Eumenidae). The venom peptide amino acid sequences were determined by Q-TOF/MS/MS. The OdVP1, 2, and 3 with amidated C-terminals showed similar peptide sequences to the mastoparan from Vespula lewisii or the protonectin from Protonectarina sylveirae, suggesting that they adopt an amphipathic α-helix secondary structure. The amidation of C-terminal Leu of the venom peptides have been known to be required for their biological activities. The full-length open reading frame (ORF) sequences of the OdVP1, 2, and 3 were analyzed by 5’- and 3’-rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). The overall gene structure of OdVPs showed a high homology to that of mastoparan B from Vespa basalis by containing signal sequence, prosequence, mature peptide and C-terminal glycine, but the mature peptide sequences were distinct from each other. The toxicological property and antimicrobial activity of OdVPs were characterized using synthetic peptides. This study on the venom peptides from O. drewseni should promote further studies on bioactive ingredients in the venom of solitary hunting wasps.