• Journal of the Korean Professional Engineers Association
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.16-21
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• 2001

Biominerals are mean of biochemical mineralization and forming for ore depesits of limestone, iron, phosphate and energy minerals, etc . Our Country need in large quantity of biominerals, for example, about a hundred million ton of limestones, fifty million tons of iron ores, three million tons of phosphates, seven hundred million brrels of crude oil, eleven million ton of LNG and sixty million ton of coals per year.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.29 no.10
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• pp.1969-1972
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• 2008

In this study, horse spleen apoferritins were induced to form biominerals using up to 3000 Fe atoms per protein molecule. The morphology and crystallinity of the nanometer-sized biominerals formed in the ferritins were then analyzed using field emission-energy filtering-transmission electron microscopy (FE-TEM). The ferritins were found to have reconstitution yields of 60-70% in the experiments. The mean core size of the ferritins varied somewhat with protein concentrations, indicating that crystal growth in ferritins could be controlled via protein concentrations. The core mineral size increased with the amount of Fe used. Lattice fringes of the core, associated with good crystallinity, were found in all samples. The lattice fringe images of a single domain ferrihydrite mineral appeared frequently in the (011) planes (d-spacing of 0.246 nm) under [100] zone axis in all samples of this study. In addition, the lattice image occasionally revealed fringes corresponding to the (100) planes (d = 0.254 nm) from the [001] zone axis, indicating the characteristic pattern of hexagonal crystal lattice. Diffraction patterns in the minerals identified as ferrihydrite were fitted well into the space group of $P3_{1c}$.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.291-295
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• 2015

The limited productivity of natural shell matrix proteins has hampered the investigation of their biochemical properties and practical applications, although biominerals in nature obtained by organic-inorganic assemblies have attractive mechanical and biological properties. Here, we prepared a vector for the expression of a fusion protein of a shell matrix protein from Pinctada fucata (named as GRP_BA) with the GRGDSP residue. The fusion protein of BA-RGD was simply produced in E. coli and purified through sequential steps including the treatment with $CaCl_2$ and EDTA solution for cell membrane washing, mechanical cell disruption and the application of non-ionic surfactant of Triton X-100 for BA-RGD inclusion body washing. The production yield was approximately 60 mg/L, any other protein band was not observed in SDS-PAGE and it was estimated that above 97% endotoxin was removed compared to the endotoxin level of whole cell. This study showed this simple and easy purification approach could be applied to the purification of BA-RGD fusion protein. It is expected that the protein could be utilized for the preparation of biominerals in practical aspects.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2017

About 20 chemical elements are nutritionally essential for humans with defined molecular functions. Several essential and nonessential biometals are either functional nutrients with antidiabetic actions or can be diabetogenic. A key question remains whether changes in the metabolism of biometals and biominerals are a consequence of diabetes or are involved in its etiology. Exploration of the roles of zinc (Zn) in this regard is most revealing because 80 years of scientific discoveries link zinc and diabetes. In pancreatic ${\beta}$- and ${\alpha}$-cells, zinc has specific functions in the biochemistry of insulin and glucagon. When zinc ions are secreted during vesicular exocytosis, they have autocrine, paracrine, and endocrine roles. The membrane protein ZnT8 transports zinc ions into the insulin and glucagon granules. ZnT8 has a risk allele that predisposes the majority of humans to developing diabetes. In target tissues, increased availability of zinc enhances the insulin response by inhibiting protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B, which controls the phosphorylation state of the insulin receptor and hence downstream signalling. Inherited diseases of zinc metabolism, environmental exposures that interfere with the control of cellular zinc homeostasis, and nutritional or conditioned zinc deficiency influence the pathobiochemistry of diabetes. Accepting the view that zinc is one of the many factors in multiple gene-environment interactions that cause the functional demise of ${\beta}$-cells generates an immense potential for treating and perhaps preventing diabetes. Personalized nutrition, bioactive food, and pharmaceuticals targeting the control of cellular zinc in precision medicine are among the possible interventions.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.38-44
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• 2004

Searching for systems of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) that can be used as templates for chemical lithography, we found that nitro groups on aromatic SAMs are selectively converted on Ag to amino groups by irradiation with a visible laser. 4-nitrobenzenethiol on Ag was thus converted to 4-aminobenzenethiol by irradiating it with an $Ar^+$ laser. This was evident from surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) as well as from a coupling reaction forming amide bonds. The surface-induced photoreaction allowed us to prepare patterned binary monolayers on Ag that showed different chemical reactivities. Using the binary monolayers as a lithographic template, we induced site-specific chemical reactions, such as the selective growth of biominerals on either the nitro- or amine-terminated regions by adjusting the crystal-growth conditions. We also demonstrated that patterned, amine-terminated monolayers can be fabricated even on gold by using silver nanoparticles as photoreducing catalysts.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.62-67
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• 2024

In this paper, we developed and optimized a chitosan-based polymer microbial bead carrier that is cell-friendly, has a high moisture absorption rate, and effectively provides the conditions for microbial biomineral formation as an optimal microbial carrier that protects microorganisms in concrete, and evaluated the self-healing performance of mortar using it. In order to incorporate circular-shaped microbial endospores, a circular-shaped microbial bead carrier was developed by combining chitosan and alginate polymers, and the amount of calcium carbonate produced could be actively controlled by adjusting the composition of the carrier. The amount of biominerals formed and the size of crystals were maximized in the hydrogel bead carrier containing chitosan, and in the case of mortar cracks using this, it was confirmed that self-healing of cracks with a maximum crack width of 0.3mm was achieved within 96 hours after crack generation.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.128-134
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• 2012

Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is one of the most notorious and contagious viral diseases afflicting cloven-hoofed animals. In this study, the physicochemical properties of leachate from a FMD landfill site at 773-1, Waryong, Andong, Korea and the ground water from 777, Waryong, Andong, Korea, were analyzed for 1 year from December $10^{th}$ 2010 to November $17^{th}$ 2011. The leachate was collected from the FMD landfill site during March, May, July, September and November, 2011 and changes in pH, brix, water content, insoluble solids, crude proteins, crude lipids, total and reducing sugars and ash content were determined. Considering the annual profiles of temperature and rainfall at the FMD landfill site, the dramatic changes in the physicochemical properties of the leachate from March to July, and especially from May to July, such as increases in pH, and a rapid reduction of brix and organic matter, may be closely linked to the growth of microorganisms in the leachate. The sharp decreases in the concentration of biominerals, such as Mg, Ca, and Fe from 1073, 4311 and 56.2 ppm in March to 151, 78, and 0.1 ppm in November, further suggest that decreases in organic matter in the leachate result from degradation by microorganisms originating from the intestines of the livestock. Analysis of the profiles of the organic materials in the leachate revealed that the properties of the leachate were similar to those of excremental matter-derived water. These results could be applied to a number of fields for the analysis of organic matter behavior, the development of the degradation process, and risk analysis in the environment for hygiene and food industries, of leachate from FMD landfill sites.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.205-209
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• 2019

The exquisite structure and attractive biological properties of biominerals have great potential and increased interest for use in a wide range of medical and industrial applications. Calcium carbonate biomineralization, mainly controlled by shell matrix proteins, has been used as a representative model to understand the biomineralization mechanism. In this study, in vitro calcium carbonate crystallization was carried out under room temperature and atmospheric pressure using recombinant shell matrix protein GRP_BA and artificial shell matrix protein GG1234. Both proteins inhibited the growth of typical rhombohedral calcite crystals in the calcium carbonate crystallization using $CaCl_2$ solution and $(NH_4)_2CO_3$ vapor, and spherulitic calcite crystals with rosette-like structures were synthesized in both the presence of GRP_BA and GG1234. These results might be caused by the properties of block-like domain structure and intrinsically disordered proteins. We expect that this study can contribute to enhance understanding of the calcium carbonate biomineralization controlled by shell matrix proteins.