Enhancing biomass and fatty acid productivity of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Tetraselmis</Emphasis> sp. in bubble column photobioreactors by modifying light quality using light filters

Some artificial light sources able to emit photons at specific wavelengths, such as LEDs, are useful for studying the effects of light quality on microalgal growth and production of fatty acids; however, they should not be used for outdoor cultivation of microalgae to produce bioenergy. Instead, various light filters capable of selectively transmitting red, blue, and red+blue light regions in solar radiation were used to cover 0.4 L bubble column photobioreactors to cultivate Tetraselmis sp. KCTC12236BP and investigate the influence of light quality on microalgal growth and fatty acid production. Biomass and fatty acid productivities in red light (0.10 ± 0.05 g/L/day and 11.8 ± 0.5 mg/L/day, respectively) were 7 ~ 53% and 9 ~ 61% higher than other colored lights based on the same number of supplied photons, respectively. The composition of fatty acids did not change significantly in response to transmitted light qualities of the filter. The ratio of saturated to unsaturated fatty acids was 3:7, and their contents were 12% in all groups, which corresponds with the results of LEDs. Plotting biomass and fatty acid productivity over the red photon fraction in supplied light revealed that increased productivities were closely correlated with red photon fraction in the filtered light. Overall, the results presented herein indicate that enhanced production of algal fatty acid could be achieved by application of light filters in outdoor settings without artificial lights.     

Tripterygium regelii decreases the biosynthesis of triacylglycerol and cholesterol in HepG2 cells

In the course of screening to find a plant material decreasing the activity of triacylglycerol and cholesterol, we identified Tripterygium regelii (TR). The methanol extract of TR leaves (TR-LM) was shown to reduce the intracellular lipid contents consisting of triacylglycerol (TG) and cholesterol in HepG2 cells. TR-LM also downregulated the mRNA and protein expression of the lipogenic genes such as SREBP-1 and its target enzymes. Consequently, TR-LM reduced the TG biosynthesis in HepG2 cells. In addition, TR-LM decreased SREBP2 and its target enzyme HMG-CoA reductase, which is involved in cholesterol synthesis. In this study, we evaluated that TR-LM attenuated cellular lipid contents through the suppression of de novo TG and cholesterol biosynthesis in HepG2 cells. All these taken together, TR-LM could be beneficial in regulating lipid metabolism and useful preventing the hyperlipidemia and its complications, in that liver is a crucial tissue for the secretion of serum lipids.     

Selective inhibition of monoamine oxidase A by purpurin,an anthraquinone

Monoamine oxidase (MAO) catalyzes the oxidation of monoamines that act as neurotransmitters. During a target-based screening of natural products using two isoforms of recombinant human MAO-A and MAO-B, purpurin (an anthraquinone derivative) was found to potently and selectively inhibit MAO-A, with an IC₅₀ value of 2.50 μM, and not to inhibit MAO-B. Alizarin (also an anthraquinone) inhibited MAO-A less potently with an IC₅₀ value of 30.1 μM. Furthermore, purpurin was a reversible and competitive inhibitor of MAO-A with a K_i value of 0.422 μM. A comparison of their chemical structures suggested the 4-hydroxy group of purpurin might play an important role in its inhibition of MAO-A. Molecular docking simulation showed that the binding affinity of purpurin for MAO-A (?40.0 kcal/mol) was higher than its affinity for MAO-B (?33.9 kcal/mol), and that Ile 207 and Gly 443 of MAO-A were key residues for hydrogen bonding with purpurin. The findings of this study suggest purpurin is a potent, selective, reversible inhibitor of MAO-A, and that it be considered a new potential lead compound for development of novel reversible inhibitors of MAO-A (RIMAs).     

Isoquinoline alkaloids from Coptis japonica stimulate the myoblast differentiation via p38 MAP-kinase and Akt signaling pathway

To overcome the muscle atrophy, such as cachexia and sarcopenia, we tried to find myogenic agents from medicinal plants. From myogenic extract of Coptis japonica, we purified six isoquinoline alkaloids and evaluated their effects on transactivation of myoD and MHC expression in C2C12 cells during differentiation process. Among obtained compounds, magnoflorine most efficiently enhanced the myoblast differentiation by activating the p38 MAP kinase and Akt pathway, and also increased the number of multinucleated and cylinder-shaped myotubes. These results propose that magnoflorine from Coptis japonica might be a promising lead compound for the development of anti-muscle atrophy drug.     

Consumer preference for edible insect‐containing cookies determined by conjoint analysis: An exploratory study of Korean consumers

Consumers are the principal agents of consumption when edible insect cookies are launched into the market; therefore, there is a need for research into consumer perception of this product and the factors that could affect their choice. Therefore, through this study, we aimed to provide such information for the development and launch of edible insect cookies. We investigated the importance of product features of edible insect cookies and the part‐worth of the feature levels while predicting the market share of edible insect cookies that are currently in development. We constructed 16 main and four hold‐out profiles from six product features and 16 levels of features. Following analysis of data collected from 203 of 250 respondents, product features were found to be important in the descending order of “type”, “price”, “size”, “availability of nutrition facts”, “thickness” and “use of edible insects”. When the market share of an edible insect cookie with the optimal combination of product features was analyzed through choice simulation, it had the second‐highest share in the cookie market, thus suggesting a direction for the development of edible insect cookies.