• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.900-903
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• 2009

An oat gum was extracted from whole seeds of a drought harvested oat (Avena sativa). Oat gum presented a ${\beta}-glucan$ content of 65%(w/w) and an intrinsic viscosity of 141 mL/g. Gelling capability of oat gum at different concentrations was investigated. Gel hardness increased from 0.08 to 0.25 N as the oat gum concentration changed from 5 to 10%(w/v). Whippability, foam stability, emulsion stability, and reduced viscosity of oat gum at different pH were also investigated. Oat gum whippability was maximum at pH 7 (146%), while the higher foam and emulsion stability values were found at pH 9 (88 and 96%, respectively). The gum reduced viscosity increased from 715 to 958 mL/g as the pH changed from 7 to 9. Oat gum shows great potential as a gel forming, thickening, and stabilizing agent.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.2619-2623
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• 2012

The prevalence of human papillomavirus genotypes differs in various target organs. HPV16 is the most prevalent genotype in the cervix while genotypes 6 and 11 are highly prevalent in skin and aero-digestive tract infections. In this study HPV11 positive specimens were selected from cervix, larynx and lung biopsy tissue to analyze the whole genome by PCR and direct sequencing. Five HPV11 whole genomes were characterized, consisting of two cervical specimens, two laryngeal specimens and one lung specimen. The results showed high homology of HPV11 in these organs. Phylogenetic analysis showed that all HPV11 derived from various organs belonged to the same lineage. Molecular characterization and functional studies can further our understanding of virulence, expression or transmission. Additional studies on functional protein expression at different organ sites will also contribute to our knowledge of HPV infection in various organs.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.521-529
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• 2016

Extensive use of antibiotics over recent decades has led to bacterial resistance against antibiotics, including gentamicin, one of the most effective aminoglycosides. The emergence of resistance is problematic for hospitals, since gentamicin is an important broad-spectrum antibiotic for the control of bacterial pathogens in the clinic. Previous study to identify gentamicin resistance genes from environmental samples have been conducted using culture-dependent screening methods. To overcome these limitations, we employed a metagenome-based culture-independent protocol to identify gentamicin resistance genes. Through functional screening of metagenome libraries derived from soil samples, a fosmid clone was selected as it conferred strong gentamicin resistance. To identify a specific functioning gene conferring gentamicin resistance from a selected fosmid clone (35-40 kb), a shot-gun library was constructed and four shot-gun clones (2-3 kb) were selected. Further characterization of these clones revealed that they contained sequences similar to that of the RNA ligase, T4 rnlA that is known as a toxin gene. The overexpression of the rnlA-like gene in Escherichia coli increased gentamicin resistance, indicating that this toxin gene modulates this trait. The results of our metagenome library analysis suggest that the rnlA-like gene may represent a new class of gentamicin resistance genes in pathogenic bacteria. In addition, we demonstrate that the soil metagenome can provide an important resource for the identification of antibiotic resistance genes, which are valuable molecular targets in efforts to overcome antibiotic resistance.

• Journal of Marine Bioscience and Biotechnology
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2018

The objective of this study was to purify and characterize the ${\beta}-secretase$ inhibitor from enzymatic hydrolysates of blackfin flounder muscle, for development of a novel anti-dementia agent that may be used in the drug or functional food industries. ${\beta}-secretase$ inhibitory peptide was purified from various enzymatic hydrolysates of blackfin flounder muscle. Among six enzymatic hydrolysates, the Alcalase hydrolysate revealed highest ${\beta}-secretase$ inhibitory activity. Consecutive purification of the blackfin flounder muscle hydrolysate using Sephadex G-25 column chromatography and octadecylsilane C18 reversed phase HPLC techniques were used to isolate a potent ${\beta}-secretase$ inhibitory peptide composed of 5 amino acids, Leu-Thr-Gln-Asp-Trp (MW: 526.7 Da). The $IC_{50}$ value of purified ${\beta}-secretase$ inhibitory peptide was $126.93{\mu}M$. Results of this study suggest that peptides derived from blackfin flounder muscle may be beneficial as anti-dementia compounds in functional foods or as pharmaceuticals.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.193-206
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• 2010

Organic fouling and biofouling pose a significant challenge to the membrane filtration process. Photocatalysis-membrane hybrid system is a novel idea for reducing these membranes fouling however, when $TiO_2 photocatalyst nanoparticles are used in suspension, catalyst recovery is not only imposes an extra step on the process but also significantly contributes to increased membrane resistance and reduced permeate flux. In this study, $TiO_2$ photocatalyst has been immobilized by coating on the microfiltration (MF) membrane surface to minimize organic and microbial fouling. Nano-sized $TiO_2$ was first synthesized by a sol-gel method. The synthesized $TiO_2$ was coated on a Poly Vinyl Difluoride (PVDF) membrane (MF) surface using spray coating and dip coating techniques to obtain hybrid functional composite membrane. The characteristics of the synthesized photocatalyst and a functional composite membrane were studied using numerous instruments in terms of physical, chemical and electrical properties. In comparison to the clean PVDF membrane, the $TiO_2$ coated MF membrane was found more effective in removing methylene blue (20%) and E-coli (99%).

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.42 no.10 s.281
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• pp.654-659
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• 2005

The ceramic paper, which could adsorb VOC's effectively, was made by paper-making method with zeolite and ceramic fiber as main constituents. By this experiment, the optimal composition of the slurry for the ceramic paper formation was established. SEM observation showed that zeolite powder was uniformly dispersed and adhered to the paper by applying inorganic binder. The two type zeolites content in the ceramic paper was 26 wt$\%$ and its BET surface area was 131 $m^{2}$/g. The thickness and the basis weight of the ceramic paper were 0.2 mm and 130 g/$m^{2}$ respectively, and it had sufficient tensile characteristics to withstand tensile stress without tearing during corrugation. The total inorganic content of the paper was 78 wt$ \% $ and organic content was 22 wt$\%$. The equilibrium loading amount of toluene at the toluene at the toluene partial pressure of 0.2 mmHg was 3.2 wt$\%$.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Bioinformatics Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.17-20
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• 2000

Structural genomics aims to provide a good experimental structure or computational model of every tractable protein in a complete genome. Underlying this goal is the immense value of protein structure, especially in permitting recognition of distant evolutionary relationships for proteins whose sequence analysis has failed to find any significant homolog. A considerable fraction of the genes in all sequenced genomes have no known function, and structure determination provides a direct means of revealing homology that may be used to infer their putative molecular function. The solved structures will be similarly useful for elucidating the biochemical or biophysical role of proteins that have been previously ascribed only phenotypic functions. More generally, knowledge of an increasingly complete repertoire of protein structures will aid structure prediction methods, improve understanding of protein structure, and ultimately lend insight into molecular interactions and pathways. We use computational methods to select families whose structures cannot be predicted and which are likely to be amenable to experimental characterization. Methods to be employed included modern sequence analysis and clustering algorithms. A critical component is consultation of the presage database for structural genomics, which records the community's experimental work underway and computational predictions. The protein families are ranked according to several criteria including taxonomic diversity and known functional information. Individual proteins, often homologs from hyperthermophiles, are selected from these families as targets for structure determination. The solved structures are examined for structural similarity to other proteins of known structure. Homologous proteins in sequence databases are computationally modeled, to provide a resource of protein structure models complementing the experimentally solved protein structures.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.42.2-42.2
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• 2010

Recently, highly porous bone substitutes, which have interconnected open pore structure, have been focused on improving their mechanical properties and modifying their functions. Especially, it is highly required to develop functional gradient structured bone substitute which is available for controlling their material properties such as bioresorption rate and elastic modulus. Porous $ZrO_2$ scaffold was fabricated by the sponge replica method using PU sponge. After 3 times of dip coating and the subsequent oven drying, burning out and microwave sintering were carried out. Various $ZrO_2$-BCP powder mixtures were prepared depending on the ratio and coated on the $ZrO_2$ scaffold by dip coating process. X-ray diffraction analysis was performed to characterize the phase identification of the scaffolds. Microstructures of the bone substitutes were observed using scanning electron microscopy.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.191-195
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• 2005

In this study, we attempted to characterize the Synechococcus sp. pee 7942 mutant resultant from a disruption in the gene encoding UDP-glucose: tetrahydrobiopterin a-glucosyltransferase (BGluT). 2D­PAGE followed by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry revealed that phycocyanin rod linker protein 33K was one of the proteins expressed at lower level in the BGluT mutant. BGluT mutant cells were also determined to be more sensitive to high light stress. This is because photosynthetic O$_2$ exchange rates were significantly decreased, due to the reduced number of functional PSIs relative to the wild type cells. These results suggested that, in Synechococcus sp. pee 7942, BH4-glucoside might be involved in photosynthetic photoprotection.

• Journal of Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.267-271
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• 2019

This study aimed to investigate the function of the constitutively activating mutation D540G on eel FSHR activity by in vitro functional studies. Site-directed mutagenesis was carried out to generate the D-to-G mutation at position 540 of the pcDNA3-eel FSHR construct. Vectors expressing either wild type or mutant receptor were transfected into Chinese hamster ovary (CHO-K1) cells. The functional characteristics of both the wild type and mutant receptors were analyzed by a cAMP assay. cAMP accumulation was highly increased in cells transfected with the D540G mutant receptor in a dose-dependent manner. Of note, basal cAMP levels were remarkably increased (~13.1-fold) with expression of this mutant when compared to wild type receptor. These findings suggest that the D540G mutation in the eel FSHR may contribute to ovulation during eel sex maturation as well as play a pivotal role in inducing FSHR activity.