• BMB Reports
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.459-467
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• 1998

A new set of functional group interaction energy descriptors relevant to the ACE (Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme) inhibitory peptide, QSAR (Quantitative Structure Activity Relationships), is presented. The functional group interaction energies approximate the charged interactions and distances between functional groups in molecules. The effective energies of the computationally derived geometries are useful parameters for deriving 3D-QSAR models, especially in the absence of experimentally known active site conformation. ACE is a regulatory zinc protease in the renin-angiotensin system. Therapeutic inhibition of this enzyme has proven to be a very effective treatment for the management of hypertension. The non bond interaction energy values among functional groups of six-feature of ACE inhibitory peptides were used as descriptor terms and analyzed for multivariate correlation with ACE inhibition activity. The functional group interaction energy descriptors used in the regression analysis were obtained by a series of inhibitor structures derived from molecular mechanics and semi-empirical calculations. The descriptors calculated using electrostatic and steric fields from the precisely defined functional group were sufficient to explain the biological activity of inhibitor. Application of the descriptors to the inhibition of ACE indicates that the derived QSAR has good predicting ability and provides insight into the mechanism of enzyme inhibition. The method, functional group interaction energy analysis, is expected to be applicable to predict enzyme inhibitory activity of the rationally designed inhibitors.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.08a
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• pp.197-197
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• 2011

In this study, in contrast with cases in which Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) tip-induced reactions were instigated by the tunneling electrons, the local electric field, or the mechanical force between a tip and a surface, we found that the tungsten oxide (WO3) covered tungsten (W) tip of a STM acted as a chemical catalyst for the S-H dissociative adsorption of phenylthiol and 1-octanethiol onto a Ge(100) surface. By varying the distance between the tip and the surface, the degree of the tip-catalyzed adsorption could be controlled. We have found that the thiol head-group is the critical functional group for this catalysis and the catalytic material is the WO3 layer of the tip. After removing the WO3 layer by field emission treatment, the catalytic activity of the tip has been lost. 3-mercapto isobutyric acid is a chiral bi-functional molecule which has two functional groups, carboxylic acid group and thiol group, at each end. 3-Mercapto Isobutyric Acid adsorbs at Ge(100) surface only through carboxylic acid group at room temperature and this adsorption was enhanced by the tunneling electrons between a STM tip and the surface. Using this enhancement, it is possible to make thiol group-terminated surface where we desire. On the other hand, surprisingly, the WO3 covered W tip of STM was found to act as a chemical catalyst to catalyze the adsorption of 3-mercapto isobutyric acid through thiol group at Ge(100) surface. Using this catalysis, it is possible to make carboxylic acid group-terminated surface where we want. This functional group-selective adsorption of bi-functional molecule using the catalysis may be used in positive lithographic methods to produce semiconductor substrate which is terminated by desired functional groups.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.147-152
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• 2006

Most plant organs develop from meristems. Rice FON1, which is an ortholog of Clv1, regulates stem cell proliferation and organ initiation. The point mutations, fon1-1 and fon1-2, disrupt meristem balance, resulting in alteration of floral organ numbers and the architecture of primary rachis branches. In this study, we identified two knockout alleles, fon1-3 and fon1-4, generated by T-DNA and Tos17 insertion, respectively. Unlike the previously isolated point mutants, the null mutants have alterations not only of the reproductive organs but also of vegetative tissues, producing fewer tillers and secondary rachis branches. The mutant plants are semi-dwarfs due to delayed leaf emergence, and leaf senescence is delayed. SEM analysis showed that the shoot apical meristems of fon1-3 mutants are enlarged. These results indicate that FON1 controls vegetative as well as reproductive development by regulating meristem size.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Dyers and Finishers Conference
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• 2010.03a
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• pp.40-40
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• 2010

Studies on attractive color changing property of dye chromophore and fluorophore have been greatly enjoyed in the related industrial and research fields such as optoelectronics, chemosensor, biosensor and so on. The optical property based on D-$\Pi$-A intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) system of chromophore molecules can be utilized as suitable sensing probes for checking media polarity and determining colorimetric chemosensing effect, especially heavy metal detection. These finding are obtained by absorption and emission properties. In this work, donor-acceptor D-$\Pi$-A type fluorescent dyes were designed and synthesized with the corresponding donor and acceptor groups. The selected donor moieties might be provided prominent amorphous properties which are very useful in designing and synthesizing functional polymers and in fabricating devices. Another reasons to choose are commercial availabilities in high purity and low price. Donor-bridge-acceptor (D-A) type dyes can produce impressive optical-physical properties, yielding them potentially suitable for applications in the synthesis of small functional organic molecules. Small organic functional molecules have unique advantages, such as better solubility, amorphous character, and represent an area of research which needs to be explored and developed. Currently, their applications in metalorganic compounds is rapidly expanding and becoming widespread in self-assembly processes, photoluminescence applications, chiral organocatalysts, and ingrafts with nanomaterials. Colloidal nanoparticles have received great attentions in recent years. The photophysical properties of nanoparticles, particularly in terms of brightness, photostability, emission color purity and broad adsorption range, are very attractive functions in many applications. To our knowledge background, colloidal nanoparticles have been enjoyed their applications in bio-probe research fields. This research interest can be raised by the advantages of the materials such as high photoluminescence quantum yields, sharp emission band, long-term photostability and broad excitation spectra. In recent, the uses of nanoparticles being embedded in a polymer matrix and binded on polymer surface have been explored and their properties such as photo-activation and strong photoluminescence have been proposed. The prepared chromophores and nanoparticles were investigated with absorption and emission properties, solvatochromic behaviors, pH induced color switching effects, chemosensing effects and HOMO/LUMO energy potentials with computer simulation. In addition, synthesized fluorophore dyes and particles were applied onto PE/Aramid fiber fluorescing colorations. And the related details were then discussed.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.651-660
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• 2006

Natural products are a rich source of biologically active small molecules and a fertile area for lead discovery of new drugs [10, 52]. For instance, 5% of the 1,031 new chemical entities approved as drugs by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were natural products between 1981 and 2002, and another 23% were natural product-derived molecules [53]. These molecules have evolved through millions of years of natural selection to interact with biomolecules in the cells or organisms and offer unrivaled chemical and structural diversity [14, 37]. Nonetheless, a large percentage of nature remains unexplored, in particular, in the marine and microbial environments. Therefore, natural products are still major valuable sources of innovative therapeutic agents for human diseases. However, even when a natural product is found to exhibit biological activity, the cellular target and mode of action of the compound are mostly mysterious. This is also true of many natural products that are currently under clinical trials or have already been approved as clinical drugs [11]. The lack of information on a definitive cellular target for a biologically active natural product prevents the rational design and development of more potent therapeutics. Therefore, there is a great need for new techniques to expedite the rapid identification and validation of cellular targets for biologically active natural products. Chemical genomics is a new integrated research engine toward functional studies of genome and drug discovery [40, 69]. The identification and validation of cellular receptors of biologically active small molecules is one of the key goals of the discipline. This eventually facilitates subsequent rational drug design, and provides valuable information on the receptors in cellular processes. Indeed, several biologically crucial proteins have already been identified as targets for natural products using chemical genomics approach (Table 1). Herein, the representative case studies of chemical genomics using natural products derived from microbes, marine sources, and plants will be introduced.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.27 no.11
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• pp.590-596
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• 2017

We demonstrated a CNT synaptic transistor by integrating 6,6-phenyl-C61 butyric acid methyl ester(PCBM) molecules as charge storage molecules in a polyimide(PI) dielectric layer with carbon nanotubes(CNTs) for the transistor channel. Specifically, we fabricated and compared three different kinds of CNT-based synaptic transistors: a control device with $Al_2O_3/PI$, a single PCBM device with $Al_2O_3/PI:PCBM$(0.1 wt%), and a double PCBM device with $Al_2O_3/PI:PCBM$(0.1 wt%)/PI:PCBM(0.05 wt%). Statistically, essential device parameters such as Off and On currents, On/Off ratio, device yield, and long-term retention stability for the three kinds of transistor devices were extracted and compared. Notably, the double PCBM device exhibited the most excellent memory transistor behavior. Pulse response properties with postsynaptic dynamic current were also evaluated. Among all of the testing devices, double PCBM device consumed such low power for stand-by and its peak current ratio was so large that the postsynaptic current was also reliably and repeatedly generated. Postsynaptic hole currents through the CNT channel can be generated by electrons trapped in the PCBM molecules and last for a relatively short time(~ hundreds of msec). Under one certain testing configuration, the electrons trapped in the PCBM can also be preserved in a nonvolatile manner for a long-term period. Its integrated platform with extremely low stand-by power should pave a promising road toward next-generation neuromorphic systems, which would emulate the brain power of 20 W.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.482-489
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• 2007

Kaempferitrin, isolated from Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus), was examined to evaluate its modulatory effects on antigen-presenting cell functions of macrophages/monocytes such as phagocytosis of foreign materials, up-regulation of costimulatory molecules (CD40, CD80 and CD86), adhesion molecule activation, and antigen processing and presentation. Kaempferitrin strongly blocked up-regulation of CD40, CD80 and CD86, but not pattern recognition receptor (PRR) (e.g., TLR2). It also suppressed functional activation of CD29 (${\beta}1$-integrins), as assessed by cell-cell adhesion assay, required for T cell-antigen-presenting cell (APC) interaction. Furthermore, this compound did not block a simple activation of CD29, as assessed by cell-fibronectin adhesion assay. However, the compound did not diminish phagocytic uptake, an initial step for antigen processing, and ROS generation in RAW264.7 cells. In particular, to understand molecular mechanism of kaempferitrin-mediated inhibition, the regulatory role of LPS-induced signaling events was examined using immunoblotting analysis. Interestingly, this compound dose dependently suppressed the phosphorylation of $I{\kappa}B{\alpha}$, Src, Akt and Syk, demonstrating that it can negatively modulate the activation of these signaling enzymes. Therefore, our data suggested that kaempferitrin may be involved in regulating APC function-relevant immune responses of macrophages and monocytes by regulating intracellular signaling.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.38.1-38.12
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• 2020

Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen-presenting cells (APCs) that initiate both T-cell responses and tolerance. Tolerogenic DCs (tDCs) are regulatory DCs that suppress immune responses through the induction of T-cell anergy and Tregs. Because lactoferrin (LF) was demonstrated to induce functional Tregs and has a protective effect against inflammatory bowel disease, we explored the tolerogenic effects of LF on mouse bone marrow-derived DCs (BMDCs). The expression of CD80/86 and MHC class II was diminished in LF-treated BMDCs (LF-BMDCs). LF facilitated BMDCs to suppress proliferation and elevate Foxp3⁺ induced Treg (iTreg) differentiation in ovalbumin-specific CD4⁺ T-cell culture. Foxp3 expression was further increased by blockade of the B7 molecule using CTLA4-Ig but was diminished by additional CD28 stimulation using anti-CD28 Ab. On the other hand, the levels of arginase-1 and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-1 (known as key T-cell suppressive molecules) were increased in LF-BMDCs. Consistently, the suppressive activity of LF-BMDCs was partially restored by inhibitors of these molecules. Collectively, these results suggest that LF effectively causes DCs to be tolerogenic by both the suppression of T-cell proliferation and enhancement of iTreg differentiation. This tolerogenic effect of LF is due to the reduction of costimulatory molecules and enhancement of suppressive molecules.

• BMB Reports
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.365-370
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• 2012

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA is often integrated into hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Although the relationship between HBV integration and HCC development has been widely studied, the role of HBV integration in HCC development is still not completely understood. In the present study, we constructed a pooled BAC library of 9 established cell lines derived from HCC patients with HBV infections. By amplifying viral genes and superpooling of BAC clones, we identified 2 clones harboring integrated HBV DNA. Screening of host-virus junctions by repeated sequencing revealed an HBV DNA integration site on chromosome 11q13 in the SNU-886 cell line. The structure and rearrangement of integrated HBV DNA were extensively analyzed. An inverted duplicated structure, with fusion of at least 2 HBV DNA molecules in opposite orientations, was identified in the region. The gene expression of cancer-related genes increased near the viral integration site in HCC cell line SNU-886.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.793-797
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• 2014

To develop a methodology for absolute determination of the surface areal density of functional groups on organic and bio thin films, medium energy ion scattering (MEIS) spectroscopy was utilized to provide references for calibration of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) or Fourier transformation-infrared (FT-IR) intensities. By using the MEIS, XPS, and FT-IR techniques, we were able to analyze the organic thin film of a Ru dye compound ($C_{58}H_{86}O_8N_8S_2Ru$), which consists of one Ru atom and various stoichiometric functional groups. From the MEIS analysis, the absolute surface areal density of Ru atoms (or Ru dye molecules) was determined. The surface areal densities of stoichiometric functional groups in the Ru dye compound were used as references for the calibration of XPS and FT-IR intensities for each functional group. The complementary use of MEIS, XPS, and FT-IR to determine the absolute surface areal density of functional groups on organic and bio thin films will be useful for more reliable development of applications based on organic thin films in areas such as flexible displays, solar cells, organic sensors, biomaterials, and biochips.