• Title/Summary/Keyword: Biomolecules

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Plant RNA Virus Sequences Identified in Kimchi by Microbial Metatranscriptome Analysis

  • Kim, Dong Seon;Jung, Ji Young;Wang, Yao;Oh, Hye Ji;Choi, Dongjin;Jeon, Che Ok;Hahn, Yoonsoo
    • Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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    • v.24 no.7
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    • pp.979-986
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    • 2014
  • Plant pathogenic RNA viruses are present in a variety of plant-based foods. When ingested by humans, these viruses can survive the passage through the digestive tract, and are frequently detected in human feces. Kimchi is a traditional fermented Korean food made from cabbage or vegetables, with a variety of other plant-based ingredients, including ground red pepper and garlic paste. We analyzed microbial metatranscriptome data from kimchi at five fermentation stages to identify plant RNA virus-derived sequences. We successfully identified a substantial amount of plant RNA virus sequences, especially during the early stages of fermentation: 23.47% and 16.45% of total clean reads on days 7 and 13, respectively. The most abundant plant RNA virus sequences were from pepper mild mottle virus, a major pathogen of red peppers; this constituted 95% of the total RNA virus sequences identified throughout the fermentation period. We observed distinct sequencing read-depth distributions for plant RNA virus genomes, possibly implying intrinsic and/or technical biases during the metatranscriptome generation procedure. We also identified RNA virus sequences in publicly available microbial metatranscriptome data sets. We propose that metatranscriptome data may serve as a valuable resource for RNA virus detection, and a systematic screening of the ingredients may help prevent the use of virus-infected low-quality materials for food production.

Heat Shock RNA 1, Known as a Eukaryotic Temperature-Sensing Noncoding RNA, Is of Bacterial Origin

  • Choi, Dongjin;Oh, Hye Ji;Goh, Chul Jun;Lee, Kangseok;Hahn, Yoonsoo
    • Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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    • v.25 no.8
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    • pp.1234-1240
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    • 2015
  • Heat shock RNA 1 (HSR1) is described as a "eukaryotic heat-sensing noncoding RNA" that regulates heat shock response in human and other eukaryotic cells. Highly conserved HSR1 sequences have been identified from humans, hamsters, Drosophila, Caenorhabditis elegans, and Arabidopsis. In a previous study, however, it was suggested that HSR1 had originated from a bacterial genome. HSR1 showed no detectible nucleotide sequence similarity to any eukaryotic sequences but harbored a protein coding region that showed amino-acid sequence similarity to bacterial voltage-gated chloride channel proteins. The bacterial origin of HSR1 was not convincible because the nucleotide sequence similarity was marginal. In this study, we have found that a genomic contig sequence of Comamonas testosteroni strain JL14 contained a sequence virtually identical to that of HSR1, decisively confirming the bacterial origin of HSR1. Thus, HSR1 is an exogenous RNA, which can ectopically trigger heat shock response in eukaryotes. Therefore, it is no longer appropriate to cite HSR1 as a "eukaryotic functional noncoding RNA."

Applications of Polymers in Bioseparations and Delivery of Biomolecules

  • Hoffman, Allan S.
    • Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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    • v.7 no.2
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    • pp.109-110
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    • 1986
  • Polymers are widely applied in bioseparation processes as well as in drug delivery systems. These two fields have a certain commonality, in that they involve either removal or delivery of specific biomolecules from or to an aqueous environment It is also to be noted that therapeutic toxin renloval is an example of a bioseparation process. This presentation will focus on the use of polys!ors in physical as well as biospecific separations and delivery of biomolecules. Several new systems will also be described.

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Loss of gene function and evolution of human phenotypes

  • Oh, Hye Ji;Choi, Dongjin;Goh, Chul Jun;Hahn, Yoonsoo
    • BMB Reports
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    • v.48 no.7
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    • pp.373-379
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    • 2015
  • Humans have acquired many distinct evolutionary traits after the human-chimpanzee divergence. These phenotypes have resulted from genetic changes that occurred in the human genome and were retained by natural selection. Comparative primate genome analyses reveal that loss-of-function mutations are common in the human genome. Some of these gene inactivation events were revealed to be associated with the emergence of advantageous phenotypes and were therefore positively selected and fixed in modern humans (the "less-ismore" hypothesis). Representative cases of human gene inactivation and their functional implications are presented in this review. Functional studies of additional inactive genes will provide insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying acquisition of various human-specific traits. [BMB Reports 2015; 48(7): 373-379]

Clinical, Cytogenetic and CYP1A1 exon-1 Gene Mutation Analysis of Beedi Workers in Vellore Region, Tamil Nadu

  • Sundaramoorthy, Rajiv;Srinivasan, Vasanth;Gujar, Jidnyasa;Sen, Ayantika;Sekar, Nishu;Abilash, Valsala Gopalakrishnan
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.14 no.12
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    • pp.7555-7560
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    • 2013
  • Background: Beedi rollers are exposed to unburnt tobacco dust through cutaneous and pharyngeal route and it is extremely harmful to the body since it is carcinogenic in nature and can cause cancer during long exposure. This indicates that occupational exposure to tobacco imposes considerable genotoxicity among beedi workers. Materials and Methods: In the present study, 27 beedi workers and age and sex matched controls were enrolled for clinical, cytogenetics and molecular analysis. Clinical features were recorded. The workers were in the age group of 28-67 years and were workers exposure from 8-60 years. Blood samples were collected from workers and control subjects and lymphocyte cultures were carried out by using standard technique, slides were prepared and 50 metaphases were scored for each sample to find the chromosomal abnormalities. For molecular analysis the genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood, to screen the variations in gene, the exon 1 of CYP1A1 gene was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and then screened with Single Strand Conformation Polymorphism (SSCP) analysis. Results: A statistically significant increase was observed in the frequencies of chromosomal aberrations in exposed groups when compared to the respective controls and variations observed in Exon 1 of CYP1A1(Cytochrome P450, family 1, subfamily A, polypeptide 1) gene. Conclusions: This study shows that, the toxicants present in the beedi that enter into human body causes disturbance to normal state and behavior of the chromosomes which results in reshuffling of hereditary material causing chromosomal aberrations and genomic variations.

Positively Charged Silver Nanoparticles Threaded on Carbon Nanotube for the Efficient Delivery of Negatively Charged Biomolecules

  • Park, Hyung-Seok;Hwang, Ji-Young;Shin, Ueon-Sang;Kim, Hae-Won;Gong, Myoung-Seon
    • Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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    • v.32 no.10
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    • pp.3581-3586
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    • 2011
  • Silver nanoparticle (Ag-NPs)-immobilized and amine-functionalized carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), MWCNT-Ag-$NH_2$, were easily prepared in order to develop an efficient delivery system of biomolecules without complicated processes of manufacture. For this, Ag-NPs-immobilized MWCNTs, MWCNT-Ag, were initially prepared in order to create large surface area to enable more efficient linkage with guest-molecules using pristine MWCNTs. The Ag-NPs on MWCNTs were further positively functionalized with 2-aminoethanthiol to allow ionic linkage with biomolecules. Ultimately, the positively charged delivery system proved to be highly effective for the binding capacity of bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a negatively charged model protein, when compared to that of lysozyme used as a positively charged model protein. The releasing profile of BSA was observed in almost linear pattern for about two weeks in a saline solution. This study demonstrated the potential usefulness of the pristine MWCNTs in conjunction with Ag-NPs for the selective delivery of many (negatively or positively) charged biomolecules including proteins and genes.

Rapid Determination of Volatile Organic Compounds in Human Whole Blood Using Static Headspace Sampling with Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry

  • Lee, Ji-Young;Kim, Seungki;Lee, Jong-Tae;Choi, Jong-Ho;Lee, Jeongae;Pyo, Heesoo
    • Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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    • v.33 no.12
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    • pp.3963-3970
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    • 2012
  • Headspace (HS) and headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) were studied for extracting volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from whole blood, with chemical and instrumental variables being optimized for maximum sensitivity: incubation at $60^{\circ}C$, equilibration for 30 min, pH 11, and 2 mL injection volume. Both techniques provided accurate analyses, with detection limits of 0.05-0.1 ng $mL^{-1}$ and 0.05-0.5 ng $mL^{-1}$. HS showed better sensitivity, reproducibility, and analysis times than HS-SPME. Overall levels of chloroform in whole blood were found to be 0.05-5.84 ng $mL^{-1}$; detected levels of benzene were 0.05-2.20 ng $mL^{-1}$.

Detection of Protein Molecules by Electrical Current Response Using Two-Electrode Method

  • Lyu, Hong-Kun;Woo, Sung-Ho;Han, Yoon-Soo;Lee, Hee-Ho;Shin, Jang-Kyoo
    • Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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    • v.20 no.2
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    • pp.90-95
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    • 2011
  • In order to protect human lives from disease, various biosensors having the potential to analyze a variety of biomolecules have been utilized. Biosensors constitute one of the most promising ways to monitor and detect various biomolecules corresponding to diseases. In this study, we demonstrate that the reaction of streptavidin molecules with biotin on a gold electrode can be detected using the twoelectrode method with a gold electrode and a platinum reference electrode. We also show the characteristics of the electrical current response. While detecting 2-${\mu}M$ streptavidin molecules dissolved in phosphate buffered saline(PBS) solution, we found that an analytical biosensor can operate on the principle of detecting an antigen-antibody reaction event of protein molecules using the two-electrode method. We think that the "potential step" method might be useful to detect the occurrence of any antigen-antibody reactions and can be combined with other devices or ICs such as BJTs, MOSFETs, and OP-amps for the detection of biomolecules of diseases.

Single Interaction Force of Biomolecules Measured with Picoforce AFM (원자 힘 현미경을 이용한 단일 생분자 힘 측정)

  • Jung, Yu-Jin;Park, Joon-Won
    • Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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    • v.16 no.1
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    • pp.52-57
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    • 2007
  • The interaction force between biomolecules(DNA-DNA, antigen-antibody, ligand-receptor, protein-protein) defines not only biomolecular function, but also their mechanical properties and hence bio-sensor. Atomic force microscopy(AFM) is nowadays frequently applied to determine interaction forces between biological molecules and biomolecular force measurements, obtained for example using AFM can provide valuable molecular-level information on the interactions between biomolecules. A proper modification of an AFM tip and/or a substrate with biomolecules permits the direct measurement of intermolecular interactions, such as DNA-DNA, protein-protein, and ligand-receptor, etc. and a microcantilever-based sensor appeared as a promising approach for ultra sensitive detection of biomolecular interactions.

The significant influence of residual feed intake on flavor precursors and biomolecules in slow-growing Korat chicken meat

  • Poompramun, Chotima;Molee, Wittawat;Thumanu, Kanjana;Molee, Amonrat
    • Animal Bioscience
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    • v.34 no.10
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    • pp.1684-1694
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    • 2021
  • Objective: This study investigated the association between feed efficiency, physicochemical properties, flavor precursors and biomolecules in the thigh meat of Korat (KR) chickens. Methods: The feed intake and body weight of individual male KR chickens were recorded from 1 to 10 weeks old to calculate the individual residual feed intake (RFI) of 75 birds. At 10 weeks of age, chickens with the 10 highest (HRFI) and lowest RFI (LRFI) were slaughtered to provide thigh meat samples. The physicochemical properties (ultimate pH, water holding capacity [WHC], drip loss) and flavor precursors (guanosine monophosphate, inosine monophosphate (IMP), adenosine monophosphate and inosine) were analyzed conventionally, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used to identify the composition of biomolecules (lipids, ester lipids, amide I, amide II, amide III, and carbohydrates) and the secondary structure of the proteins. A group t-test was used to determine significant differences between mean values and principal component analysis to classify thigh meat samples into LRFI and HRFI KR chickens. Results: The physicochemical properties of thigh meat samples from LRFI and HRFI KR chickens were not significantly different but the IMP content, ratios of lipid, lipid ester, protein (amide I, amide II) were significantly different (p<0.05). The correlation loading results showed that the LRFI group was correlated with high ratios of lipids, lipid esters, collagen content (amide III) and beta sheet protein (rg loading >0.5) while the HRFI group was positively correlated with protein (amide I, amide II), alpha helix protein, IMP content, carbohydrate, ultimate pH and WHC (rg loading >0.5). Conclusion: The thigh meat from chickens with different RFI differed in physiochemical properties affecting meat texture, and in the contents of flavor precursors and biomolecules affecting the nutritional value of meat. This information can help animal breeders to make genetic improvements by taking more account of traits related to RFI.