Food-grade mulberry powder enriched with 1-deoxynojirimycin suppresses the elevation of postprandial blood glucose in humans.

Mulberry 1-deoxynojirimycin (DNJ), a potent glucosidase inhibitor, has been hypothesized to be beneficial for the suppression of abnormally high blood glucose levels and thereby prevention of diabetes mellitus. However, DNJ contents in commercial mulberry products were as low as about 0.1% (100 mg/100 g of dry product), implying that the bioavailability of DNJ might not be expected.

Identification and overexpression of genes encoding cAMP-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunits in homobasidiomycete Schizophyllum commune.

This report describes the first cloning and overexpression experiments on genes encoding cAMP-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunits in homobasidiomycete Schizophyllum commune. We used a degenerate PCR approach to identify two novel genes (ScPKAC1 and ScPKAC2) that are very similar to the catalytic subunits in many eukaryotes. The morphological phenotypes of ScPKAC1 and ScPKAC2 overexpressing clones were compared with those of constitutively active ScGP-A overexpressing clones to determine whether ScPKAC1 and ScPKAC2 are located downstream of heterotrimeric G-protein alpha subunit ScGP-A.