Enhancement of TRP Gene Expression and UV Absorption by Bioconverted Chestnut Inner Shell Extracts Using Lactiplantibacillus plantarum.

In this work, the suppression of tyrosinase-related genes, including an improvement in UV absorption effects of bioconverted CS extracts (BCS), was investigated to improve the skin-whitening effect. Total polyphenols and total flavonoids, which are bioactive components, increased 2.6- and 5.4-times in bioconversion using Lactiplantibacillus plantarum SM4, respectively, as compared to ultrasound-assisted extracts (UCS). The effect of BCS on radical scavenging activity, UV-A absorption, and tyrosinase activity inhibition, contributing to skin-whitening, were 1.3-, 1.2-, and 1.2-times higher than those of UCS, respectively. The main component identified in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was gallic acid in both UCS and BCS, which increased by 2.9-times following bioconversion. The gene expression of tyrosinase-related proteins, including TRP-1 and TRP-2 genes, was studied to confirm the suppression of melanin synthesis by BCS in order to identify the skin-whitening mechanism, and BCS decreased both genes' expression by 1.7- and 1.6-times, demonstrating that BCS effectively suppressed melanin synthesis. These findings imply that the chestnut inner shell can be employed as a cosmetic material by simultaneously inhibiting melanogenesis and enhancing UV-A absorption through bioconversion using L. plantarum SM4.

Distributed Authentication Model for Secure Network Connectivity in Network Separation Technology.

Considering the increasing scale and severity of damage from recent cybersecurity incidents, the need for fundamental solutions to external security threats has increased. Hence, network separation technology has been designed to stop the leakage of information by separating business computing networks from the Internet. However, security accidents have been continuously occurring, owing to the degradation of data transmission latency performance between the networks, decreasing the convenience and usability of the work environment. In a conventional centralized network connection concept, a problem occurs because if either usability or security is strengthened, the other is weakened. In this study, we proposed a distributed authentication mechanism for secure network connectivity (DAM4SNC) technology in a distributed network environment that requires security and latency performance simultaneously to overcome the trade-off limitations of existing technology. By communicating with separated networks based on the authentication between distributed nodes, the inefficiency of conventional centralized network connection solutions is overcome. Moreover, the security is enhanced through periodic authentication of the distributed nodes and differentiation of the certification levels. As a result of the experiment, the relative efficiency of the proposed scheme (REP) was about 420% or more in all cases.

Binding mode of a cationic porphyrin to parallel and antiparallel thrombin binding aptamer G-quadruplex.

The spectral properties of meso-tetrakis (N-methylpyridinium-4-yl)porphyrin (TMPyP) in the presence of parallel and antiparallel G-quadruplexes formed from a thrombin-binding aptamer G-quadruplex (5'-G3T2G3TGTG3T2G3) were investigated in this study. Red shift and hypochromism in the Soret absorption band of TMPyP were observed after binding to both parallel and antiparallel G-quadruplexes. The extent of changes in the absorption spectra were similar for both conformers. No circular dichroism spectrum was induced in the Soret region for both parallel and antiparallel G-quadruplexes. This is suggest that there is no or very weak interaction between electric transitions of nucleobases and porphyrin molecule. The accessibility of the neutral quencher I2 to the G-quadruplex-bound TMPyP was similar for both parallel and antiparallel G-quadruplexes. All these observations suggest that TMPyP was bound at the outside of the quadruplexes, and conceivably interacted with the phosphate group via a weak electrostatic interaction.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Retained binding mode of various DNA-binding molecules under molecular crowding condition.

Meso-tetrakis(N-methyl pyridinium-4-yl)porphyrin (TMPyP) intercalates between the base-pairs of DNA at a low [TMPyP]/[DNA base] ratio in aqueous solutions and molecular crowding conditions, which is induced by the addition of Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG). Studied DNA-binding drugs, including TMPyP, 9-aminoacridine, ethidium bromide, and DAPI (4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) showed similar binding properties in the presence or absence of PEG molecules which is examined by circular and linear dichroism. According to the LDr (reduced linear dichroism) results of the binding drugs examined in this work, PEG molecules induced no significant change compared to their binding properties in aqueous buffering systems. These results suggest that the transition moments are not expected to be perturbed significantly by PEG molecules. In this study, the experimental conditions of PEG 8000 were maintained at 35% (v/v) of total reaction volume, which is equal to the optimal molar concentration (0.0536 M as final concentration for PEG 8000) to maintain suitable cell-like conditions. Therefore, there was no need to focus on the conformational changes of the DNA helical structure, such as forming irregular aggregate structures, induced by large quantities of molecular crowding media itself at this stage.

Comparison of the Binding Geometry of Free-Base and Hexacoordinated Cationic Porphyrins to A- and B-Form DNA.

Although the transition from B-DNA to the A-form is essential for many biological concerns, the properties of this transition have not been resolved. The B to A equilibrium can be analyzed conveniently because of the significant changes in circular dichroism (CD) and absorption spectrum. CD and linear dichroism (LD) methods were used to examine the binding of water-soluble meso-tetrakis(N-methylpyridinium-4-yl)porphyrin (TMPyP) and its derivatives, Co-TMPyP, with B- and A-calf thymus DNA. B- to A-transitions occurred when the physiological buffer was replaced with a water-ethanol mixture (∼80 v/v %), and the fluorescence emission spectra of TMPyP bound to DNA showed a different pattern under ethanol-water conditions and water alone. The featureless broad emission bands of TMPyP were split into two peaks near at 658 and 715 nm in the presence of DNA under an aqueous solution. In the case of an ethanol-water system, however, the emission bands are split in two peaks near at 648 and 708 nm and 656 and 715 nm with and without DNA, respectively. This may be due to a change in the solution polarity. On the basis of the CD and LD data, TMPyP interacts with B-DNA via intercalation at a low ratio under a low ionic strength, 1 mM sodium phosphate. On the other hand, the interaction with A-DNA (80 v/v % ethanol-water system) occurs in a nonintercalating manner. This difference might be because the structural conformations, such as the groove of A-DNA, are not as deep as in B-DNA and the bases are much more tilted. In the case of Co-TMPyP, porphyrin binds preferably via an outside self-stacking mode with B- and A-DNA.