• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• 제34권6호
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• pp.1903-1905
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• 2013

• BMB Reports
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• 제39권3호
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• pp.278-283
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• 2006

Defensins are small cysteine rich peptides with a molecular mass of 5-10 kDa and some of them exhibit potent antifungal activity. We have cloned the coding region of a cDNA of 225 bp cysteine rich defensin, named as Tfgd1, from the legume Trigonella foenum-graecum. The amino acid sequence deduced from the coding region comprised 74 amino acids, of which the N-terminal 27 amino acids constituted the signal peptide and the mature peptide comprised 47 amino acids. The protein is characterized by the presence of eight cysteine resisdues, conserved in the various plant defensins forming four disulphide bridges, which stabilize the mature peptide. The recombinant protein expressed in E coli exhibited antifungal activity against the broad host range fungus, Rhizoctonia solani and the peanut leaf spot fungus, Phaeoisariopsis personata.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제9권3호
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• pp.303-310
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• 1999

A cost-effective mass production method for a strong antimicrobial peptide, buforin II, which was isolated from the stomach of Bufo bufo gargarizans, has been developed. This method is based on the neutralization of the positive charge of buforin II by fusion with a cysteine-rich acidic peptide (CAP) to avoid any lethal effect on the host. The neutralized fusion peptide was multimerized and expressed in Escherichia coli as tandem repeats to increase the production yield. Multimers of the CAP-buforin II fusion peptide were successfully expressed at high levels in E. coli as inclusion bodies. More than 100mg of pure buforin II was obtained per 11 of E. coli culture after cleaving the multimeric polypeptide with CNBr. The buforin II obtained from the recombinant E. coli had antimicrobial activity identical to that of natural buforin II. The proposed expression system can provide a cost-effective mass production method for both antimicrobial peptides and other host-lethal basic proteins.

• Molecules and Cells
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• 제25권3호
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• pp.352-357
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• 2008

Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is a soluble decoy receptor that inhibits osteoclastogenesis and is closely associated with bone resorption processes. We have designed and determined the solution structures of potent OPG analogue peptides, derived from sequences of the cysteine-rich domain of OPG. The inhibitory effects of the peptides on osteoclastogenesis are dose-dependent ($10^{-6}M-10^{-4}M$), and the activity of the linear peptide at $10^{-4}M$ is ten-fold higher than that of the cyclic OPG peptide. Both linear and cyclic peptides have a ${\beta}$-turn-like conformation and the cyclic peptide has a rigid conformation, suggesting that structural flexibility is an important factor for receptor binding. Based on structural and biochemical information about RANKL and the OPG peptides, we suggest that complex formation between the peptide and RANKL is mediated by both hydrophobic and hydrogen bonding interactions. These results provide structural insights that should aid in the design of peptidyl-mimetic inhibitors for treating metabolic bone diseases caused by abnormal osteoclast recruitment.

• BMB Reports
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• 제44권10호
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• pp.669-673
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• 2011

Human methionine sulfoxide reductase B3A (hMsrB3A) is an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) reductase that catalyzes the stereospecific reduction of methionine-R-sulfoxide to methionine in proteins. In this work, we identified an antimicrobial peptide from hMsrB3A protein. The N-terminal ER-targeting signal peptide (amino acids 1-31) conferred an antimicrobial effect in Escherichia coli cells. Sequence and structural analyses showed that the overall positively charged ER signal peptide had an Argand Pro-rich region and a potential hydrophobic ${\alpha}$-helical segment that contains 4 cysteine residues. The potential ${\alpha}$-helical region was essential for the antimicrobial activity within E. coli cells. A synthetic peptide, comprised of 2-26 amino acids of the signal peptide, was effective at killing Gram-negative E. coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Salmonella paratyphi, but had no bactericidal activity against Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제19권6호
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• pp.610-615
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• 2009

As a provirus, polydnavirus has a segmented DNA genome on chromosome(s) of host wasp. It contains several genes in each segment that presumably play critical roles in regulating physiological processes of target insect parasitized by the wasp. A cysteine-rich protein 1 (CRP1) is present in the polydnavirus Cotesia plutellae bracovirus (CpBV) genome, but its expression and physiological function in Plutella xylostella parasitized by the viral host C. plutellae is not known. This CpBV-CRP1 encoding 189 amino acids with a putative signal peptide (20 residues) was persistently expressed in parasitized P. xylostella with gradual decrease at the late parasitization period. Expression of CpBV-CRP1 was tissue-specific in the fat body/epidermis and hemocyte, but not in the gut. Its physiological function was analyzed by inducing transient expression of a CpBV segment containing CpBV-CRP1 and its promoter, which caused significant reduction in hemocyte -spreading and delayed larval development. When the treated larvae were co-injected with double-stranded RNA of CpBV-CRP1, the expression of CpBV-CRP1 disappeared, whereas other genes encoded in the CpBV segment was expressed. These co-injected larvae significantly recovered the hemocyte-spreading capacity and larval development rate. This study reports that CpBV-CRP1 is expressed in P. xylostella parasitized by C. plutellae and its physiological function is to alter the host immune and developmental processes.

• 한국수산과학회지
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• 제31권6호
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• pp.875-881
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• 1998

젓갈 및 자건품으로 소비량이 많은 멸치의 기능특성해석 및 기능성 조미 소재 제조의 일환으로 단백질 분해효소에 의한 멸치 육단백질 가수분해물의 peptide-nitrogen 생성량과 ACE 저해작용을 검토하였다. 소화효소와 식품공업용 단백질분해효소를 이용한 탈지 멸치육 가수분해물의 $50\%$ ethanol 가용성 peptide-nitrogen 생성량은 반응 8시간을 전후로 하여 거의 일정수준에 도달하였고, ACE 저해효과 역시 높게 나타났다. 따라서, 가수분해 8시간째의 각 효소 가수분해물의 peptide-nitrogen의 함량과 ACE 저해효과를 검토한 결과, 소화효소의 경우, $\alpha$-chymotrypsin으로 가수분해시켰을 때, $50\%$ ethanol 가용성 peptide-nitrogen의 생성량과 ACE 저해효과가 높은 것으로 나타났다 또한, 식품공업용 단백질분해 효소를 사용한 경우는 Alcalase 0.6L를 사용하였을 때가 $50\%$ ethanol 가용성 peptide-nitrogen의 생성량 및 ACE 저해효과가 가장 우수하였고, Protamex에 의해서는 $50\%$ ethanol 가용성 peptide-nitrogen의 생성량은 적었지만, ACE 저해효과는 높게 나타났다. ACE 저해효과가 우수한 멸치육 효소 가수분해물의 $50\%$ ethanol 가용성 획분의 아미노산 조성은 대부분의 가수분해물에서 glutamic acid의 함량이 가장 많았고, 그 다음으로 aspartic acid. cysteine 및 leucine의 순이었다.

• 한국작물학회지
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• 제49권4호
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• pp.342-348
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• 2004

Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the $60\%$ isopropanol extract of soybean(Glycine max [L.] Merr.) seed revealed two abundant proteins with molecular masses of 19 and 10 kDa. Amino acid analysis revealed that the isopropanol-extractable protein fraction was rich in cysteine. Two-dimensional gel electro-phoretic analysis indicated that the 19kDa and 10kDa proteins had pI of 4.2 and 4.0 respectively. Peptide mass fingerprints of trypsin digests of the two proteins obtained using matrix-assisted, laser desorption/ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectroscopy revealed the 19kDa protein was Kunitz trypsin inhibitor and the 10kDa protein was Bowman-Birk proteinase inhibitor. When resolved under non-denaturing conditions, the isopropanol-extracted proteins inhibited trypsin and chymotrypsin activity. Results presented in this study demonstrate that isopropanol extraction of soybean seed could be used as a simple and rapid method to obtain a protein fraction enriched in Kunitz trypsin and Bowman-Birk proteinase inhibitors. Since proteinase inhibitors are rich in sulfur amino acids and are putative anticarcinogens, this rapid and inexpensive isolation procedure could facilitate efforts in nutrition and cancer research.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제12권1호
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• pp.139-147
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• 1999

Peptides are formed in the rumen as the result of microbial proteinase activity. The predominant type of activity is cysteine ptoteinase, but others, such as serine proteinases, are also present. Many species of protozoa, bacteria and fungi are involved in ptoteolysis; large animal-to-animal variability is found when proteinase activities in different animals are compared. The peptides formed from proteolysis are broken down to amino acids by peptidases. Different peptides are broken down at different rates, depending on their chemical composition and particularly their N-terminal structure. Indeed, chemical addition to the N-terminus of small peptides, such as by acetylation, causes the peptides to become stable to breakdown by the rumen microbial population; the microorganisms do not appear to adapt to hydrolyse acetylated peptides even after several weeks exposure to dietary acetylated peptides, and the amino acids present in acetylated peptides are absorbed from the small intestine. The amino acids present in some acetylated peptides remain available in nutritional trials with rats, but the nutritive value of the whole amino acid mixture is decreased by acetylation. The genus Prevotella is responsible for most of the catabolic peptidase activity in the rumen, via its dipeptidyl peptidase activities, which release dipeptides rather than free amino acids from the N-terminus of oligopeptides. Studies with dipeptidyl peptidase mutants of Prevotella suggest that it may be possible to slow the rate of peptide hydrolysis by the mixed rumen microbial population by inhibiting dipeptidyl peptidase activity of Prevotella or the rate of peptide uptake by this genus. Peptides and amino acids also stimulate the growth of rumen microorganisms, and are necessary for optimal growth rates of many species growing on tapidly fermented substrates; in rich medium, most bacteria use pre-formed amino acids for more than 90% of their amino acid requirements. Cellulolytic species are exceptional in this respect, but they still incorporate about half of their cell N from pre-formed amino acids in rich medium. However, the extent to which bacteria use ammonia vs. peptides and amino acids for protein synthesis also depends on the concentrations of each, such that preformed amino acids and peptides are probably used to a much lesser extent in vivo than many in vitro experiments might suggest.

• BMB Reports
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• 제47권11호
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• pp.625-630
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• 2014

Defensins, which are small cationic molecules produced by organisms as part of their innate immune response, share a common structural scaffold that is stabilized by three disulfide bridges. Coprisin is a 43-amino acid defensin-like peptide from Copris tripartitus. Here, we report the intramolecular disulfide connectivity of cysteine-rich coprisin, and show that it is the same as in other insect defensins. The disulfide bond pairings of coprisin were determined by combining the enzymatic cleavage and mass analysis. We found that the loss of any single disulfide bond in coprisin eliminated all antibacterial, but not antifungal, activity. Circular dichroism (CD) analysis showed that two disulfide bonds, Cys20-Cys39 and Cys24-Cys41, stabilize coprisin's ${\alpha}$-helical region. Moreover, a BLAST search against UniProtKB database revealed that coprisin's ${\alpha}$-helical region is highly homologous to those of other insect defensins.