• BMB Reports
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.385-392
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• 1999

The $NAD^+$-specific activity of a dual coenzyme-specific isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH; EC 1.1.1.41) from the primitive fungus Pythium ultimum was investigated to elucidate the regulatory factors that may influence the intracellular distribution of carbon and the availability of intermediates, e.g. citrate, for fatty acid synthesis. Inhibition of $NAD^+$-IDH activity by diphospho- and triphosphonucleotides (ATP, ADP, and GTP) reflected the sensitivity of this enzyme to cellular energy charge even though monophosphonucleotides (AMP and GMP) had little effect on activity. NADPH, but not NADH, substantially inhibited $NAD^+$-IDH activity, showing noncompetitive inhibition with isocitrate. Oxalacetate and ${\alpha}$-ketoglutarate showed competitive inhibition with isocitrate, while citrate and cis-aconitate showed mixed-noncompetitive inhibition with isocitrate. Inhibition by these substances ranged from 29 to 46% at 10 mM. The inhibitory effect of oxalacetate was increased synergistically by glyoxylate, which alone caused 31% uncompetitive inhibition at 10 mM, and a mixture of the two substances at 1 mM each showed 98% inhibition of $NAD^+$-IDH activity. The regulation of $NAD^+$-IDH in Pythium ultimum seems to be a complex process involving mitochondrial metabolites. The addition of glyoxylate (3 mM) and oxalacetate (3 mM) to the culture medium resulted in the production of 49% more lipid by P. ultimum.

• BMB Reports
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• v.45 no.8
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• pp.476-481
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• 2012

Flavodoxin (Fld) has been demonstrated to bind to ferredoxin-NADP$^+$ reductase A (FprA) in Pseudomonas putida. Two residues ($Phe^{256}$, $Lys^{259}$) of FprA are likely to be important for interacting with Fld based on homology modeling. Site-directed mutagenesis and pH-dependent enzyme kinetics were performed to further examine the role of these residues. The catalytic efficiencies of FprA-$Ala^{259}$ and FprA-$Asp^{259}$ proteins were two-fold lower than those of the wild-type FprA. Homology modeling also strongly suggested that these two residues are important for electron transfer. Thermodynamic properties such as entropy, enthalpy, and heat capacity changes of FprA-$Ala^{259}$ and FprA-$Asp^{259}$ were examined by isothermal titration calorimetry. We demonstrated, for the first time, that $Phe^{256}$ and $Lys^{259}$ are critical residues for the interaction between FprA and Fld. Van der Waals interactions and hydrogen bonding were also more important than ionic interactions for forming the FprA-Fld complex.

• BMB Reports
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• v.42 no.11
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• pp.731-736
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• 2009

The generation of functional recombinant antibodies from hybridomas is necessary for antibody engineering. However, this is not easily accomplished due to high levels of aberrant heavy and light chain mRNAs, which require a highly selective technology that has proven complicated and difficult to operate. Herein, we attempt to use an alkaline phosphate (AP)-fused form of single-chain variable fragment (scFv) for the simple identification of a hybridoma-derived, functional recombinant antibody. As a representative example, we cloned the scFv gene from a hybridoma-producing mouse IgG against branched-chain keto acid dehydrogenase complex-E2 (BCKD-E2) into an expression vector containing an in-frame phoA gene. Functional recombinant antibodies were easily identified by conventional enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) by employing scFv-AP fusion protein, which also readily serves as a valuable immuno-detective reagent.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.631-633
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• 2005

For biohydrogen production, hydrogenase is a key enzyme. In the present work we performed search of [NiFe]-hydrogenases from hydrogen producing microorganisms using degenerate polymerase chain reaction (PCR) strategy. Degenerate primers were designed from the conserved region of [NiFe]-hydrogenase group I especially on structural genes encoding for catalytic subunit of [NiFe]-hydrogenase from bacteria producing hydrogen. Most of [NiFe]-hydrogenase (group I) are expressed via complex mechanism with aid of auxiliary protein and localized through twin-arginine translocation pathway. [NiFe]-hydrogenase is composed of large and small subunits for catalytic activity. It is known that only small subunit has signal peptide for periplasmic localization and large & small subunitscome together before localization. During this process, large subunit is treated by endopeptidase for maturation. Based on these information we used signal peptide sequence and C-terminal of large subunit by recognized by endopeptidase as templates for degenerate primers. About 2,900 bp of PCR products were successfully amplified using the designed degenerate primers from genomic DNAs of several microorganisms. The amplified PCR products were inserted into T-vector and then sequenced to confirm.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.644-647
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• 2010

Purpose: To evaluate myocardial conductivity to understand cardiac involvement in patients with mitochondrial disease. Methods: We performed retrospective study on fifty-seven nonspecific mitochondrial encephalopathy patients with no clinical cardiac manifestations. The patients were diagnosed with mitochondrial respiratory chain complex defects through biochemical enzyme assays of muscle tissue. We performed standard 12-lead electrocardiography (ECG) on all patients. Results: ECG abnormalities were observed in 30 patients (52.6%). Prolongation of the QTc interval (>440 ms) was seen in 19 patients (33.3%), widening of the corrected QRS interval in 15 (26.3%), and bundle branch block in four (7.0%). Atrioventricular block, premature atrial contraction and premature ventricular contraction were seen in two patients each (3.5%) and Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome in one patient (1.8%). Conclusion: Given this finding, we recommend active screening with ECG in patients with mitochondrial disease even in patients without obvious cardiac manifestation.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.281-285
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• 2009

Rotenone, a mitochondrial complex I inhibitor, can induce the pathological features of Parkinson's disease (PD). In the present study, naringin, a grapefruit flavonoid, inhibited rotenone-induced cell death in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells. We assessed cell death and apoptosis by measuring mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPKs) and caspase (CASPs) activities and by performing 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining, and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining. Naringin also blocked rotenone-induced phosphorylation of Jun NH2-terminal protein kinase (JNK) and P38, and prevented changes in B-cell CLL/lymphoma 2 (BCL2) and BCL2-associated X protein (BAX) expression levels. In addition, naringin reduced the enzyme activity of caspase 3 and cleavages of caspase 9, poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), and caspase 3. These results suggest that naringin has a neuroprotective effect on rotenone-induced cell death in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.795-798
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• 2006

The phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent carbohydrate phosphotransferase system (PTS) is responsible for the simultaneous transfer and phosphorylation of various carbon sources in Escherichia coli. The ptsG gene encoding the enzyme $IICB^{Glc}$, the membrane component of the glucose-specific PTS, is repressed by Mlc and activated by the CRP cAMP complex; various other factors, such as Fis, FruR, and ArcA, are also known to be involved in ptsG regulation. Thus, in an attempt to discover a novel gene affecting the regulation of ptsG, a mutant with a decreased ptsG transcription in the presence of glucose compared with the wild-type strain was screened using transposon random mutagenesis. The mutant was found to have a transposon insertion in yhjV, a putative gene encoding a transporter protein whose function is yet unknown.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.7
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• pp.963-977
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• 2015

The well-characterized gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis is an outstanding industrial candidate for protein expression owing to its single membrane and high capacity of secretion, simplifying the downstream processing of secretory proteins. During the last few years, there has been continuous progress in the illustration of secretion mechanisms and application of this robust host in various fields of life science, such as enzyme production, feed additives, and food and pharmaceutical industries. Here, we review the developments of Bacillus subtilis as a highly promising expression system illuminating strong chemical- and temperatureinducible and other types of promoters, strategies for ribosome-binding-site utilization, and the novel approach of signal peptide selection. Furthermore, we outline the main steps of the Sec pathway and the relevant elements as well as their interactions. In addition, we introduce the latest discoveries of Tat-related complex structures and functions and the countless applications of this full-folded protein secretion pathway. This review also lists some of the current understandings of ATP-binding cassette transporters. According to the extensive knowledge on the genetic modification strategies and molecular biology of Bacillus subtilis, we propose some suggestions and strategies for improving the yield of intended productions. We expect this to promote striking future developments in the optimization and application of this bacterium.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.9
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• pp.869-872
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• 2009

The cyclic undecapeptide cyclosporin A (CyA), one of the most valuable immunosuppressive drugs, is produced nonribosomally by a multifunctional cyclosporin synthetase enzyme complex by the filamentous fungus Tolypocladium niveum. To increase CyA productivity by wild-type T. niveum (ATCC 34921), random mutagenesis was first performed using an antifungal agar-plug colony assay (APCA) selection approach. This generated a mutant strain producing more than 9-fold greater CyA than the wild-type strain. Additionally, a foreign bacterial gene, Vitreoscilla hemoglobin gene (VHb), was transformed via protoplast regeneration and its transcription was confirmed by RT-PCR in the UV-irradiated mutant cell. This led to an additional 33.5% increase of CyA production. Although most protoplast-regenerated T. niveum transformants tend to lose CyA productivity, the optimized combination of random mutagenesis and protoplast transformation described here should be an efficient strategy to generate a commercially valuable, yet metabolite low-producing, fungal species, such as CyA-producing T. niveum.

• Proceedings of the Polymer Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.254-254
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• 2006

The sensitivity of plasmid DNA (pDNA) to S1 nuclease, an enzyme to cleave a single-strand DNA, was dramatically modulated through a supramolecular assembly (polyion complex micelle) with a synthetic block copolymer, poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(L-lysine) (PEG-PLL). The pDNA condensed in stoichiometric charge ratio was cleaved into 7 fragments each being 10/12, 9/12, 8/12, 6/12, 4/12, 3/12, and 2/12 of the original DNA length, on the other hand, the pDNA condensed in higher charge ratios (>4), were digested into non-specific manner. Condensation of the pDNA was investigated from two viewpoints that how does the rigid DNA molecules fold and condense and how does the condensation influence their biological activity.