• BMB Reports
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• v.41 no.8
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• pp.575-580
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• 2008

Thymocyte-specific transcriptional regulatory systems can be used to better understand the relationship between transcription and V(D)J recombination during early T cell development. In this study, we generated transgenic mice expressing the transactivator Gal4-VP16 or the Gal4 DNA binding domain (Gal4-DBD) under the control of the lck proximal promoter, which is only active in immature thymocytes. From these studies Gal4-VP16 and Gal4-DBD expression was shown to significantly alter thymic cellularity and differentiation without significantly changing the $CD3^+$ thymocyte distribution. Furthermore, the presence of Gal4-VP16 or Gal4-DBD in the transgenic thymocytes retarded the mobility of the Gal4 DNA binding motif as determined by a gel mobility shift assay, suggesting that the developmental alteration did not affect the functional property of the transgenic proteins. These results indicated that lck promoter-driven Gal4-VP16 or Gal4-DBD expression did not affect $CD3^+$ mature thymocytes, thus this system can be applied to study transcriptional regulation of transresponder genes in bigenic mouse model thymocytes.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.772-779
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• 2015

This paper presents a power-efficient hardware realization for a motion estimation technique that is based on the full-search block matching algorithm (FSBMA). The considered input is the quarter common intermediate format of digital video. The mean of absolute difference (MAD) is the distortion criteria employed for the block matching process. The conventional architecture considered for the hardware realization of FSBMA is that of the shift register-based 2-D systolic array. For this architecture, a conservative approximation technique is adapted to eliminate unnecessary MAD computations involved in the block matching process. Upon introducing the technique to the conventional architecture, the power and complexity of its implantation is reduced, while the accuracy of the motion vector extracted from the block matching process is preserved. The proposed architecture is verified for its functional specifications. A performance evaluation of the proposed architecture is carried out using parameters such as power, area, operating frequency, and efficiency.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.188-196
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• 2013

We have investigated the effects of formalin on the assembly of colloidal gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) prepared by laser ablation of a solid gold target in deionized water. Upon addition of formalin, the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) band at 519 nm for pure AuNPs decreases and shifts to red while a new broad SPR band appears at ~700 nm. The red-shift is prominent with increase in the incubation time. The average size of the initial AuNPs is around 12 nm but it increases to 23 nm after addition of formalin. It turns out that formalin acts as a cationic surfactant for AuNPs with negative surface charge in the colloidal solutions. Furthermore, through analysis of the Raman spectrum of formalin and the density functional theory calculations, we confirm that methanediol is the main species in formalin which is in charge of the aggregation of AuNPs.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.195-202
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• 1988

An electrochemical reduction on the 3-phenyl-4-nitrosydnone in acetonitrile solution has been studied by direct current, differential pulse polarography, cyclic voltammetry and controlled potential coulometry. Before the cleavage of phenyl-N single bond a irreversible electron transfer-chemical reaction(EC) mechanism of nitro functional group proceeded to form amino (or-hydroxylamino) group by multielectron transfer which is followed to give phenyl hydrazine by single electron transfer-chemical reaction at the 2nd and 3rd irreversible reduction wave of high negative potential region. The cathodic half-wave potentials shown to be shift negative due to inhibitory effect of cetyl-trimethyl ammonium bromide micelle while reversible anodic peaks on the 2nd and 3rd reduction waves in the presence of NaLS at high negative potential region.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.39-43
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• 2006

The relaxed torsional potential of a liquid crystalline polymer containing an ester functional group in a mesogenic unit (hereafter 12-4 oligomer) has been calculated with the ab initio self-consistent-field using 6-31G$^*$ basis set. GIAO^{13}C NMR chemical shifts also have been calculated at the B3LYP/6-31G$^*$ level of theory for each conformational structure obtained from torsional potential calculation. The results show that the phenyl ring-ester linkages are coplanar with the dihedral angle of about 0$^{\circ}$ and the ring-ring linkages in the biphenyl groups are tilted with the dihedral angle of around 43-44$^{\circ}$ in the lowest energy conformer. The biphenyl ring has a comparatively lower energy barrier of internal rotation potential in the ring-ring than that of phenyl ring-ester. The ^{13}C chemical shifts of carbonyl carbons were found to move to upfield due to $\pi$ -conjugation with phenyl ring and slightly affected about 0.5 ppm by dihedral angle of the ring-ring linkage.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.10
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• pp.1367-1374
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• 2012

Pleurocidin, a 25-mer antimicrobial peptide, has been known to exhibit potent antibacterial activity. To investigate the functional roles in N- and C-terminal regions of pleurocidin on the antibacterial activity, we designed four truncated analogs. The antibacterial susceptibility testing showed that pleurocidin and its analogs exerted antibacterial effect against various bacterial strains and further possessed specific activity patterns corresponding with their hydrophobic scale [pleurocidin > Anal 3 (1-22) > Anal 1 (4-25) > Anal 4 (1-19) > Anal 2 (7-25)]. Fluorescence experiments using 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH) and 3,3'-dipropylthiadicarbocyanine iodide [$diSC_3(5)$] indicated that the differences in antibacterial activity of the peptides were caused by its membrane-active mechanisms including membrane disruption and depolarization. Blue shift in tryptophan fluorescence demonstrated that the decrease in net hydrophobicity attenuates the binding affinity of pleurocidin to interact with plasma membrane. Therefore, the present study suggests that hydrophobicity in the N- and C-terminal regions of pleurocidin plays a key role in its antibacterial activity.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.310-310
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• 2010

Electronic and photovoltaic characteristics of two sensitizers (TA-BTD-CA and TA-BTD-St-CA), composed of a different $\pi$-conjugation in the linker group, have been investigated by theoretical and experimental methods. The electronic structure, transition dipole moment and oscillator strengths of two sensitizers have been scrutinized by using density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) method. The LUMO level and the oscillator strength of TA-BTD-St-CA was higher than that of TA-BTD-CA, which may facilitate the electron injection process as well as increase the absorption coefficient. The relative efficiencies of the electron injection from the excited sensitizer to nanocrystalline TiO2 and SnO2 films have also been investigated by nanosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. The relative electron injection efficiency of TA-BTD-St-CA exhibited similar injection efficiency for two different semiconductors. However, in the case of TA-BTD-CA sensitizer, electron injection into SnO2 was approximately three times larger than that into TiO2. This enhancement of electron injection of TA-BTD-CA for the SnO2 is due to the increment of the driving force caused by positive shift of conduction band of semiconductor, which was also confirmed from the investigation for the photovoltaic characteristics according to the electrolyte additive, such as LiI additive.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.17 no.3 s.83
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• pp.345-349
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• 2007

We wished to create a set of small molecular weight PDZ domain ligands that may be used in functional studies on the proteins AF6, PSD-95 and Shank. As a starting point, the Shank3 PDZ domain was cloned, purified, and characterized the structure of Shank3 PDZ domain by 1D $^1H-NMR$. The chemical shift dispersion of the proton signals indicates that the purified Shank3 PDZ protein is very pure and globally well folded. Currently, we are working on improving the yield of the protein production for complete NMR structural analysis of the Shank3 PDZ domain.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.209-214
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• 1999

In this study, the effectof ethanol and acetaldehyde on DNA binding activities of NF-$textsc{k}$B and AP-1 were evaluated in C6 rat glial cells. Both NF-$textsc{k}$B and AP-1 are important transcription factors for the expression of various cytokines in glial cells. Our data showed that neither ethanol nor acetaldehyde induced conspicuous cell death of C6 cells at clinically realistic concentrations. When the DNA binding activities of nuclear NF-$textsc{k}$B and AP-1 were estimated using electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA), ethanol(0.3%) or acetaldehyde(1mM) induced transient activation of these transcription factors, which attained peak levels at 4~8 hours and declined to basal levels at 12 hours after treatement . The supershift analysis showed that the increased activities of NF-$textsc{k}$B in ethanol/acetaldehyde-treated C6 cells were due to the preferential induction of p65/p50 heterodimer complex. The DNA binding activities of these transcriptional factors decreased below basal levels when cells were cultured with either ethanol or acetaldehyde for 24 hours, and showed the inhibitory effect of chronic ehtanol /acetaldehyde treatment on the activities of these transsriptional factors. Our data indicate that either ethanol or acetaldehyde can induce functional changes of glial cells throught bi-directional modulation of NF-$textsc{k}$B and AP-1 DNA binding activities.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.20 no.11
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• pp.1335-1339
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• 1999

The function of 5S rRNA, a constituent of a large subunit of ribosome, is not clearly known yet. To identify RNA motifs interacting with 5S rRNA, and thereby to get an insight into the function of 5S rRNA in the ribosome, a SELEX (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment) experiment was performed. RNA molecules binding to Escherichia coli 5S rRNA were selected from a 48-mer random sequence library through 12 rounds of selection, cloned, and sequenced. Two groups of the selected RNA molecules had the consensus sequences GCGG and GUGAAA, respectively, which are present in the segment, G688 through A696, of E. coli 16S rRNA. The gel mobility shift assay showed that 5S rRNA interacted with the 16S rRNA fragment containing the GCGG and GUGAAA sequences. The enzymatic protection experiment shows that the A29CCUGA34 and G51AAGUG56 sequences of 5S rRNA and the C680AGG683 and G688CGG691 sequences of the 16S rRNA fragment are involved in the interaction between the two RNA molecules. On the basis of this observation, we suggest that 5S rRNA and 16S rRNA play a role for the association of two ribosomal subunits.