Japanese sake making using wild yeasts isolated from natural environments.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is one of the most important microorganisms for the food industry, including Japanese sake, beer, wine, bread, and other products. For sake making, Kyokai sake yeast strains are considered one of the best sake yeast strains because these strains possess fermentation properties that are suitable for the quality of sake required. In recent years, the momentum for the development of unique sake, which is distinct from conventional sake, has grown, and there is now a demand to develop unique sake yeasts that have different sake making properties than Kyokai sake yeast strains.

Purification and characterization of an extracellular beta-agarase from Bacillus sp. MK03.

A new beta-agarase was purified from an agarolytic bacterium, Bacillus sp. MK03. The enzyme was purified 129-fold from the culture supernatant by ammonium sulfate precipitation, anion exchange and gel filtration column chromatographic methods.

Purification and characterization of an extracellular alpha-neoagarooligosaccharide hydrolase from Bacillus sp. MK03.

An agarolytic bacterium was isolated from soil in Gifu prefecture, Japan, and identified as Bacillus sp. strain MK03. The strain secreted neoagarooligosaccharide hydroluse into the culture medium.

Association of suppression of extracellular signal-regulated kinase phosphorylation by epigallocatechin gallate with the reduction of matrix metalloproteinase activities in human fibrosarcoma HT1080 cells.

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) play a crucial role in the process of cancer invasion and metastasis. Previous findings suggested that epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a main flavanol of green tea, caused decreased levels of MMP-2 and MMP-9 activities to be secreted into culture medium. To obtain further information on EGCG-mediated regulation of these MMPs, the effects of EGCG on enzyme activity, mRNA expression, and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activities in human fibrosarcoma HT1080 cells were examined.