• Proceedings of the Korea Crystallographic Association Conference
• /
• 2003.05a
• /
• pp.18-18
• /
• 2003

Thioredoxin (Trx) is a small redox protein that is ubiquitously distributed from achaes to human. In diverse organisms, the protein is involved in various physiological roles by acting as electron donor and regulators of transcription and apoptosis as well as antioxidants. Sequences of Trx within various species are 27～69% identical to that of E. coli and all Trx proteins have the same overall fold, which consists of central five β strands surrounded by four α helices. The N-terminal cysteine in WCGPC motif of Trx is redox sensitive and the motif is highly conserved. Compared with general cysteine, the N-terminal cysteine has low pKa value. The result leads to increased reduction activity of protein. Recently, novel thio.edoxin-related protein (TRP14) was found from rat brain. TRP14 acts as disulfide reductase like Trx1, and its redox potential and pKa are similar to those of Trx1. However, TRP14 takes up electrons from cytosolic thioredoxin reductase (TrxR1), not from the mitochondrial thioredoxin reductase (TrxR2). Biological roles of TES14 were reported to be involved in regulating TNF-α induced signaling pathways in different manner with Trx1. In depletion experiments, depletion of TRP14 increased TNF-α induced phosphorylation and degradation of IκBα more than the depletion Trx1 did. It also facilitated activation of JNK and p38 MAP kinase induced by TNF-α. Unlike Trx1, TRP14 shows neither interaction nor interference with ASK1. Here, we determined three-dimensional crystal structure of TRP14 by MAD method at 1.8Å. The structure reveals that the conserved cis-Pro (Pro90) and active site-W-C-X-X-C motif, which may be involved in substrate recognition similar to Trx1 , are located at the beginning position of strand β4 and helix α2, respectively. The TRP14 structure also shows that surface of TRP14 in the vicinity of the active site, which is surrounded by an extended flexible loop and an additional short a helix, is different from that of Trx1. In addition, the structure exhibits that TRP14 interact with a distinct target proteins compared with Trx1 and the binding may depend mainly on hydrophobic and charge interactions. Consequently, the structure supports biological data that the TRP14 is involved in regulating TNF-α induced signaling pathways in different manner with Trx1.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.264-271
• /
• 2006

Two fibrinolytic enzymes were purified from the culture supernatant of Fomitella fraxinea mycelia by ion-exchange and gel filtration chromatographies, and were designated as F. fraxenia proteases 1 and 2 (FFP1 and FFP2). The apparent molecular masses of the enzymes were estimated to be 32 kDa and 42 kDa, respectively, by SDS-PAGE and gel filtration chromatography. Both enzymes had the same optimal temperature ($40^{\circ}C$), but different pH optima (10.0 and 5.0 for FFP1 and FFP2, respectively). FFP1 was relatively stable at pH 7.0-9.0 and temperature below $30^{\circ}C$, whereas FFP2 was very stable in the pH range of 4-11 and temperature below $40^{\circ}C$. FFPI activity was completely inhibited by phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF) and aprotinin, indicating that this enzyme is a serine protease. The activity of FFP2 was enhanced by the addition of $CO^{2+}$ and $Zn^{2+}$ and inhibited by $Cu^{2+},\;Ni^{2+}$, and $Hg^{2+}$. Furthermore, FFP2 activity was strongly inhibited by EDTA and 1,10-phenanthroline, implying that the enzyme is a metalloprotease. Both enzymes readily hydrolyzed fibrinogen, preferentially digesting the $A{\alpha}$- and $B{\beta}$-chains of fibrinogen over ${\gamma}$-chain. FFP1 showed broad substrate specificity for synthetic substrates, but FFP2 did not. $K_{m}$ and $V_{max}$ values of FFP1 for a synthetic substrate, N-succinyl-Ala-Ala-Pro-Phe-pNA, were 0.213 mM and 39.68 units/ml, respectively. The first 15 amino acids of the N-terminal sequences of both enzymes were APXXPXGPWGPQRIS and ARPP(G)VDGQ(R,I)SK(L)ETLPE, respectively.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.10 no.6
• /
• pp.805-810
• /
• 2000

An antifungal protein antagonistic to the rice blast fungus, Pyricularia oryzae was purified from Paenibacillus macerans PM-1 by ammonium sulfate fractionation, Q Sepharose Fast Flow column chromatography, Phenyl Sepharose CL-4B column chromatography and Superose 12 gen filtration. An apparent molecular mass of the purified antifungal protein was determined as 8 kDa by SDS-PAGE and 9 kDa by analytical gel filtration, respectively, suggesting that the purified protein is a monomer. The antifungal protein was stable at pH range from 7-12 and up to $100^{\circ}C$. The protein was also stable at 0.1-1% Tween 20 and Triton X-100. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the antifungal protein was Thr-Glu-Leu-Pro-Leu-Gly-Ile-Val-Met-Asp-Lys-Tyr-Thr-Asp-Ala-Phe-Lys-Phe-Asp-Met-Phe. Comparison of the determined sequence with other peptide and DNA sequences did not reveal homology at all. Therefore, the purified antifungal protein was speculated to be a novel protein. The condidial germination in vitro of P. oryzae KJ301:93-39 by the purified protein ($5.9{\mu} g/ml$) was limited to $9{\pm}3.2%$ only, compared with $69{\pm}2.4%$ of the control. Ungerminated conidia were swollen at basa and mid cell by the purified protein. In vivo bioassay for inhibition of conidial germination of P. oryzae KJ 301, one of the most predominating racesin Korea. the purified protein ($5.9{\mu} g/ml$)strongly inhibited the conidial germination. The conidia, even though germinated, could not develop any further to produce appressoria efficiently.