Cornus officinalis (Cornaceae) is primarily grown in Asian countries. The pericarp of C. officinalis (Corni Fructus) is a well-known traditional medicine with tonic, analgesic, and diuretic properties. We analyzed methanolic extracts of Corni Fructus (grown in Korea and China) by $^1H$ NMR spectroscopy. Metabolite profiling was performed to characterize the metabolic difference between different Corni Fructus origins (Korea or China). Principal components analysis revealed significant separation between Comus Fructus from different origins. The metabolites responsible for differences were identified using loading plots, coefficients plots, and variable influence on projection followed by t-tests. As a result, 16 metabolites were identified and quantified; tyrosine, acetate, sucrose, and malate differed the most between origins. These data suggest that NMR-based metabolomics can be used to identify differences between Corni Fructus samples obtained from different regions.

Rapid exchange and hydrolysis of the tubulin-bound guanine nucleotides have been known to govern the dynamics of microtubules. However, the instability and low concentration have made it difficult for the microtubule-bound GTP to be observed directly. In this study, we circumvent these problems by lyophilization and using cross-polarization techniques. $^{31}P$ NMR signals were detected from the tubulin-bound GTP in microtubules for the first time. Analysis of the $^{31}P$ CPMAS NMR spectrum indicates that GTP hydrolysis was delayed by the presence of taxol.

A newly developed cost-effective approach to prepare $^{15}N/^{13}C$-labeled protein for NMR studies is presented. This method has been successfully applied to isotopically labeling of PTK6 SH2 domain and MTH 1880 protein. The production method generates cell density using a growing media containing $^{15}NH_4Cl$, $^{12}C_6$-D-glucose. Following a doubling time period for unlabeled metabolite exhaustion and then addition $^{13}C_6$-D-glucose into a M9 growing media, the cells are induced. Our results demonstrate that in order to get full incorporation of $^{13}C$, the isotopes are not totally required during the initial growth phase before induction. The addition of small amounts of $^{13}C_6$-D-glucose to the induction phase is sufficient to obtain more than 95% incorporation of isotopes into the protein. Our optimized protocol is two-thirds less costly than the classical method using $^{13}C$ isotope during the entire growth phase.

A new sesterterpenoid, phorbaketal derivative, was isolated from the marine sponge Phorbas species. Its planar structures was completely determined from a combination of extensive 1D and 2D NMR experiments and MS data, and also the stereochemistry on the chiral centers were established by the ROESY experiment and the comparison with the $^1H$ and $^{13}C$ chemical shifts of the known phorbaketal compounds. This compound 1 moderately showed cytotoxicity effect against hepatoma cancer HepG2 cell.

Hsp33, a prokaryotic molecular chaperone, exerts holdase activity in response to oxidative stress. In this study, the stepwise conformational change of Hsp33 upon oxidation was monitored by NMR. In order to overcome its high molecular weight (33 kDa as a monomer and 66 kDa as a dimer), spectra were simplified using a selectively [$^{15}N$]His-labeled protein. All of the eight histidines were observed in the TROSY spectrum of the reduced Hsp33. Among them, three peaks showed dramatic resonance shifts dependent on the stepwise oxidation, indicating a remarkable conformational change. The results suggest that unfolding of the linker domain is associated with dimerization, but not entire region of the linker domain is unfolded.

The line widths and spin-lattice relaxation times of protons in $[N(C_2H_5)_4]_2CoCl_4$ and $[N(CH_3)_4]_2CoCl_4$ single crystals were investigated in the temperature range 160-400 K. The temperature dependences of the spin-lattice relaxation times are attributed to the molecular motions of the ethyl and methyl groups in the $[N(C_2H_5)_4]^+$ and $[N(CH_3)_4]^+$ ions respectively. The NMR line widths indicate that the ethyl groups in $[N(C_2H_5)_4]_2CoCl_4$ have one more degree of freedom than the methyl groups in $[N(CH_3)_4]_2CoCl_4$. The experimental results are interpreted in terms of the reorientations of the methyl and ethyl groups.

Although the use of apodization functions in connection with postprocessing of a 2D NMR spectrum proves improved spectral quality, there is usually a trade-off between resolution enhancement and noise suppression due to a classical "uncertainty principle." In this study, therefore, a mathematical deconvolution technique called "Maximum Likelihood Deconvolution (MLD)" was adopted to achieve the spectral resolution and sensitivity enhancement simultaneously. The MLD technique greatly facilitates visualization and restoration of the genuine spectral information from complex 2D NMR spectra that would be problematic with the conventional apodization/FT processing. In particular, application of the MLD to the 2D-NOE spectrum would be very useful to derive the important proton connectivities, which are essential to achieve elucidating the 3D molecular structure.

Amyloid fibrils have long been known to be the well known ${\alpha}$-helix to ${\beta}$-sheet transition characterizing the conversion of cellular to scrapie forms of the prion protein. A very short sequence of Yeast prion-like protein, GNNQQNY (SupN), is responsible for aggregation that induces diseases. KSI-fused tandem repeats of SupN vector are constructed and used to express SupN peptide in Escherichia coli (E.Coli). A method for a production, purification, and cleavage of tandem repeats of recombinant isotopically enriched SupN in E. coli is described. This method yields as much as 20 mg/L of isotope-enriched fusion proteins in minimal media. Synthetic SupN peptides and $^{13}C$ Gly labeled SupN peptides are studied by Congo Red staining, Birefringence and transmission electron microscopy to characterize amyloid fibril formation. To get a better understanding of aggregation-structure relationship of 7 residues of Yeast prion-like protein, the change of a conformational structure will be studied by $^{13}C$ solid-state nmr spectroscopy as powder of both amorphous and fibrillar forms.