Constituents from the Branches of Sambucus sieboldiana var. pendula with the Properties of Collagen Synthesis Activation.

For the purpose of developing anti-wrinkle cosmetic ingredients, the extracts from branches of a woody plant Sambucus sieboldiana var. pendula were examined on collagen synthesis activities using fibroblast HDFn cells. As a result, the S. sieboldiana ethanol extract (SSE) proved to activate the production of type I procollagen in a dose-dependent manner without showing cell toxicity. Phytochemical study was conducted to isolate the active constituents in the extracts by solvent fractionation followed by chromatographic purifications. From this procedure, two known compounds, kaempferol 3-O-sophoroside (1) and daucosterol (2), were identified by spectroscopic studies. From the isolates, the flavonoid glycoside 1 was verified to induce the synthesis of the type I procollagen dose-dependently. These results suggested that S. sieboldiana extract containing the flavonoid 1 could be useful as an active ingredient in wrinkle-care cosmetics.

Post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder presented as small bowel intussusception in adult liver transplant patient / 대한외과학회지

Intestinal obstruction after liver transplant is a rare complication, with diverse clinical manifestations. Intestinal adhesion is the most common cause. However, internal hernia, abdominal wall hernia, and neoplasm are also reported. Intussusception is another rare cause of intestinal obstruction, which has been reported primarily in pediatric patients. Herein, we report a case of intestinal obstruction from intussusception in an adult liver transplant patient associated with post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder.

Molecular cloning, expression and characterization of alpha-amylase gene from a marine bacterium Pseudoalteromonas sp. MY-1.

A gene (amyA) encoding an extracellular alpha-amylase from a marine bacterium Pseudoalteromnonas sp. MY-1 was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. It comprised an open-reading-frame of 2,007 base pairs and encoded a protein of 669 amino acids with a predicted molecular weight of 73,770 daltons and a pI of 5.15. The entire amino acid sequence of amyA gene showed 86% similarity to the alpha-amylase preproprotein from Pseudoalteromonas haloplanktis. It consisted of a signal peptide, alpha-amylase catalytic domain and an amy C domain. The recombinant amylase was purified to homogeneity and biochemically characterized. The enzyme revealed maximum activity at pH 7.0 and 40 degrees C. The enzyme hydrolyzed soluble starch and some maltooligosaccharides to several oligosaccharides, and maltose was the common product from different substrates.

Overexpression and characterization of a novel chitinase gene from a marine bacterium Pseudomonas sp. BK1.

The chitinase A (ChiA)-coding gene of Pseudomonas sp. BK1, which was isolated from a marine red alga Porphyra dentata, was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The structural gene consists of 1602 bp encoding a protein of 534 amino acids, with a predicted molecular weight of 55,370 Da. The deduced amino acid sequence of ChiA showed low identity (less than 32%) with other bacterial chitinases. The ChiA was composed of multiple domains, unlike the arrangement of domains in other bacterial chitinases. Recombinant ChiA overproduced as inclusion bodies was solubilized in the presence of 8 M urea, purified in a urea-denatured form and re-folded by removing urea. The purified enzyme showed maximum activity at pH 5.0 and 40 degrees C. It exhibited high activity towards glycol chitosan and glycol chitin, and lower activity towards colloidal chitin. The enzyme hydrolyzed the oligosaccharides from (GlcNAc)4 to (GlcNAc)6, but not GlcNAc to (GlcNAc)3. The results suggest that the ChiA is a novel enzyme, with different domain structure and action mode from bacterial family 18 chitinases.

Donor Bone Marrow Infusion in Deceased and Living Donor Renal Transplantation

The infusion and persistence in a transplant recipient of donor-derived bone marrow cells (DBMC) of multi-lineage can lead to a state of permanent chimerism. In solid vascular organ transplantation, the donor bone marrow lineage cells can even be derived from the transplant organ, and these cells can be detected in very small numbers in the recipient. This has been called microchimerism. Much controversy has developed with respect to the function of chimeric cells in organ transplantation. One idea is that the occurrence of these donor cells found in microchimerism in the recipient are coincidental and have no long-term beneficial effect on engraftment. A second and opposing view, is that these donor cells have immunoregulatory function that affect both the acute and chronic phases of the recipient anti-donor responses. It follows that detecting quantitative changes in chimerism might serve as an indication of the donor-specific alloimmune or regulatory response that could occur in concert with or independent of other adaptive immune responses. The latter, including autoimmune native disease, need to be controlled in the transplant organ. The safety and immune tolerance potential of DBMC infusion with deceased and living donor renal transplants was evaluated in a non-randomized trial at this center and compared with non-infused controls given identical immunosuppression. Overall DBMC infusions were well tolerated by the recipients. There were no complications from the infusion (s), no episodes of graft-vs-host disease (GVHD) and no increase infections or other complications. In the deceased DBMC- kidney trial, actuarial graft survival at 5 years was superior especially when graft survival was censored for recipient death. Acute rejections were significant reduced in patients given two DBMC infusions, and chronic rejection was dramatically reduced in all DBMC treated patients. The most interesting finding was that the degree of microchimerism slowly increased over the years the DBMC group that had exhibited no rejection episodes. In the DBMC-living related trial, the incidence of acute rejection did not differ between groups. However, DBMC chimerism in recipient iliac crest marrow had increased more rapidly than might be predicted from results previously seen in the cadaver group, despite four times fewer DBMC infused, with the generation of T- regulartory cells in-vitro assays.