• Molecules and Cells
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• v.46 no.9
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• pp.545-557
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• 2023

Sphingomyelinase (SMase) catalyzes ceramide production from sphingomyelin. Ceramides are critical in cellular responses such as apoptosis. They enhance mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization (MOMP) through self-assembly in the mitochondrial outer membrane to form channels that release cytochrome c from intermembrane space (IMS) into the cytosol, triggering caspase-9 activation. However, the SMase involved in MOMP is yet to be identified. Here, we identified a mitochondrial Mg²⁺-independent SMase (mt-iSMase) from rat brain, which was purified 6,130-fold using a Percoll gradient, pulled down with biotinylated sphingomyelin, and subjected to Mono Q anion exchange. A single peak of mt-iSMase activity was eluted at a molecular mass of approximately 65 kDa using Superose 6 gel filtration. The purified enzyme showed optimal activity at pH of 6.5 and was inhibited by dithiothreitol and Mg²⁺, Mn²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺, Fe²⁺, and Fe³⁺ ions. It was also inhibited by GW4869, which is a non-competitive inhibitor of Mg²⁺-dependent neutral SMase 2 (encoded by SMPD3), that protects against cytochrome c release-mediated cell death. Subfractionation experiments showed that mt-iSMase localizes in the IMS of the mitochondria, implying that mt-iSMase may play a critical role in generating ceramides for MOMP, cytochrome c release, and apoptosis. These data suggest that the purified enzyme in this study is a novel SMase.

• BMB Reports
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.617-624
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• 2007

Protein arginine methylation is a posttranslational modification involved in various cellular functions including cell signaling, protein subcellular localization and transcriptional regulation. We analyze the protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs) that catalyze the formation of methylarginines in porcine brain. We fractionated the brain extracts and determined the PRMT activities as well as the distribution of different PRMT proteins in subcellular fractions of porcine brain. The majority of the type I methyltransferase activities that catalyze the formation of asymmetric dimethylarginines was in the cytosolic S3 fraction. High specific activity of the methyltransferase was detected in the S4 fraction (high-salt stripping of the ultracentrifugation precipitant P3 fraction), indicating that part of the PRMT was peripherally associated with membrane and ribosomal fractions. The amount and distribution of PRMT1 are consistent with the catalytic activity. The elution patterns from gel filtration and anion exchange chromatography also indicate that the type I activity in S3 and S4 are mostly from PRMT1. Our results suggest that part of the type I arginine methyltransferases in brains, mainly PRMT1, are sequestered in an inactive form as they associated with membranes or large subcellular complexes. Our biochemical analyses confirmed the complex distribution of different PRMTs and implicate their regulation and catalytic activities in brain.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.10 no.1_2
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• pp.7-17
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• 1980

Electron microscope radioautography introduced by Liquier-Milward (1956) is now used routinely in many laboratories. Most of the technical difficulties in specimen preparation have been overcome. This method is modified from loop method for improvement of EM radioautographic techniques. The advantages of this method are: 1. the use of single specimens on small corks and of a large wire loop, allows the experimenter to avoid the blemishes in the membrane; 2. the surfactant dioctyl sodium sulphosuccinate is added to diluted ILford L4, thus greatly prolonging the period of time over which good emulsion layers can be made; 3. corks can be handled in perspex holder which allows about 20 specimens to be developed simultaneously. The steps of the method comprise: 1. Cut ribbons of ultrathin sections of silver interference colour 2. Pick them up on formvar-coated 200 mesh grids 3. Prestaining of tissues 4. Coat the specimens with a thin layer of carbon by evaporation (30-60A) 5. Mount the specimens on corks (about 1cm apical diameter) using double-sided scotch tape 6. Emulsion coating; a. Take a 250m1 beaker, place it on the pan of a sliding weight balance and weigh it. Add 10 grams extra to the beam. Add pieces of ILford L4 emulsion to the beaker until the balance is swinging freely. Add the 20ml of distilled water that was previously measured out. b. Surfactant dioctyl sodium sulphosuccinate is added to diluted ILford L4. 7. Prepare a series of membranes of gelled emulsion with the wire loop and apply one to each cork-borne specimen. 8. Put the specimens away to expose by pushing the corks into short length of PVC tubing, each tube having a small hole in the side 9. Place the tubes in small boxes together with silica gel. 10. Exposure 11. Developer - Kodak Microdol X for 3 minutes 12. Fixer - A perspex holder can be manufactured which allows 20 specimens to be developed simultaneously. 12. Fixer - 30% sodium thiosulfate for 10 minutes 13. Examination with Siemens Elmiskop 1A electron microscope

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.351-357
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• 2001

The rapid formation of a cream line cannot be observed in raw goat's milk standing at a low temperature. Although the poor creaming ability of goat's milk has been considered to be due to the small size of milk fat globules and the lack of euglobulin capable of being adsorbed on milk fat globules, there is much left to study. The present work attempted to elucidate a factor for poor creaming ability of goat's milk. The creaming ability of the experimental milks reconstituted from creams and skim milks separated from cow's milk or goat's milk was measured by the volume of the cream layer and the fat content of bottom layer. The polypeptides composition of the P1 the fraction (i.e., the high molecular weight fraction eluted near the void volume obtained by the gel filtration of whey) and milk fat globule membrane prepared from both milks were compared. It was found that the promotion of creaming originated from goat's skim milk was lower than that from cow's skim milk. The P1 fraction in goat's skim milk was less than that in cow's skim milk. The polypeptide (M.W. $4.3{\times}10^4$), found in the P1 fraction of cow's milk was not found in the P1 fraction of goat's milk. It is suggested that the poor creaming ability of goat milk is caused mainly by the difference from cow milk in the amount and the composition of the P1 fraction.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.765-770
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• 2007

Purpose: Peritendinous adhesion is one of the most notorious complication after the flexor tendon injury. In this study, $Alloderm^{(R)}$(LifeCell Corp., Branchburg, N.J.), which is the decellularized human dermal analogue with its intact native basement membrane components, was used for the prevention of peritendinous adhesions following flexor tendon repair. Methods: Thirty New Zealand white male rabbits were divided equally into 3 groups. In all groups, the flexor digitorum profundus of the third finger of the right back foot was cut totally and repaired by modified Kessler suture technique. Following tendon repair, $Alloderm^{(R)}$ was wrapt around the repaired tendon in the first group and sodium hyaluronate gel was sprayed to the operation field in the second group. In the control group, no external material was applied. The right back foot were immobilized for 6 weeks to optimize the formation of adhesion ingrowth. After death, the third finger that repaired tendons and sheaths was removed en bloc. We checked range of motion. and studied histologically for all groups. Results: The experimental groups had better range of motion than the control group. We checked that the range of motion was 73.5 degrees in $Alloderm^{(R)}$ group, 55.9 degrees in the hyaluronic acid group, and 38.3 degrees in the control group. in the histological study, the experimental group had less adhesions compared with the control group. Conclusion: This study concludes that $Alloderm^{(R)}$ can decrease peritendinous adhesions following flexor tendon repairs in rabbits. We think the method could be used in clinical cases.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.285-295
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• 2010

Protein expression patterns in Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) strains with diverse phenotypes, such as phage type, antibiotic resistance pattern and plasmid profiles were examined. For detailed analysis of proteins expressed by different S. Typhimurium strains, protein fractions were divided into detergent-rich phase (DP) and aqueous phase (AP) using triton X-114 detergent. The two phases were subjected to two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE), followed by protein identification using peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF). In the results, PMF showed that DP fractions consisted mainly of outer membrane proteins, whereas the AP fractions included cytosolic proteins. Comparison of 2-DE profiles of DP did not show any distinct protein spots which could be correlated with phage type, antibiotic resistance pattern or plasmid profile. However, comparisons of 2-DE profiles of the AP revealed differences in the protein spots, which could be correlated with the plasmid profile and phage types. Among these protein spots, flagellin was specific for strains containing a 90 kb plasmid. Compared to DT193 phage type, three protein spots in the range of pI 5.0-5.5 and MW 8-15 kDa of AP 2-DE profiles were absent in the DT104 phage types. Additionally, a protein spot with PI in the range of 4.5-5.0 and molecular weight (MW) between 51-69 kDa was specific for phage type DT104, while a protein spot with pI in the range of 4.0-4.8 and MW between 18-20 kDa was specific for DT193 phage type. These protein spots may be useful for discriminating phage types of S. Typhimurium.

• BMB Reports
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.219-224
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• 2001

To identify the antioxidative peptides in the gelatin hydrolysate of bovine skin, the gelatin was hydrolyzed with serial digestions in the order of Alcalase, pronase E, and collagenase using a three-step recycling membrane reactor. The second enzymatic hydrolysate (hydrolyzed with pronase E) was composed of peptides ranging from 1.5 to 4.5 kDa, and showed the highest antioxidative activity, as determined by the thiobarbituric acid method. Three different peptides were purified from the second hydrolysate using consecutive chromatographic methods. This included gel filtration on a Sephadex G-25 column, ion-exchange chromatography on a SP-Sephadex C-25 column, and high-performance liquid chromatography on an octadecylsilane chloride column. The isolated peptides were composed of 9 or 10 amino acid residues. They are: Gly-Glu-Hyp-Gly-Pro-Hyp-Gly-Ala-Hyp (PI), Gly-ProHyp-Gly-Pro-Hyp-Gly-Pro-Hyp-Gly (PII), and Gly-ProHyp-Gly-Pro-Hyp-Gly-Pro-Hyp (PIII), as characterized by Edman degradation and fast-atom bombardment mass spectrometry. The antioxidative activities of the purified peptides were measured using the thiobarbituric acid method, and the cell viability with a methylthiazol tetrazolium assay The results showed that PII had potent antioxidative activity on peroxidation of linoleic acid. Moreover, the cell viability of cultured liver cells was significantly enhanced by the addition of the peptide. These results suggest that the purified peptide, PII, from the gelatin hydrolysate of bovine skin is a natural antioxidant, which has potent antioxidative activity.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.1018-1023
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• 2001

Oleamide (cis-9-octadecenamide) is endogenous primary amide of fatty acid that is produced in small amounts in animal brains. It is known to induce sleep and to lower temperature by destroying the lipid plasma membrane structure of cells, thereby disclosing gap junction channels. To develop a new biological production method for oleamide, a screening program was conducted to isolate a microorganism producing oleamide. Among 1,500 soil microorganisms tested, KK90378 exhibited a potent positive reaction with Dragendoff`s reagent, used to detect the primary amide of oleamide. KK90378 was identified as a Streptomyces species based on cultural and morpohological characteristics, the presence of diaminopimelic acid in the cell wall, and the sugar patterns for the whole-cell extrat. Streptomyces sp. KK90378 produced oleamide 3 days after culture at $28^{\circ}C$, pH 7.2 A series of purification steps, including hexane extraction, silica gel column, and preparative thin layer chromatographies, were performed for the purification of oleamide. A spectrophotometric analysis using $^1H$, $^13C$-NMR, and GC-MS confirmed that the chemical structure of the purified oleamide was identical to that of authentic oleamide.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.370-375
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• 2014

BACE2 is a membrane-bound aspartic protease that is highly homologous with BACE1. While BACE1 processes the amyloid precursor protein (APP) at a key step in generating ${\beta}$-amyloid peptide and presumably causes Alzheimer's disease (AD), BACE2 has not been demonstrated to be involved in APP processing directly, and its physiological functions are unknown. To determine its function and to develop inhibitors from marine sources, we constructed an overexpression vector for producing BACE2. The gene encoding human BACE2 protease was amplified using the polymerase chain reaction and cloned into the pET11a expression vector, resulting in pET11a/BACE2. Recombinant BACE2 protease was overexpressed successfully in E. coli as inclusion bodies, refolded using the rapid-dilution method, and purified via two-step fast protein liquid chromatography using Sephacryl S-300 gel filtration and Resource-Q column chromatography. The BACE2 protease produced was an active form. This study provides an efficient method not only for studying the basic properties of BACE2, but also for developing inhibitors from natural marine sources.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.392-399
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• 2007

Objective : Arsenic trioxide ($As_2O_3$) has been used as an anticancer agent in traditional Chinese medicine for thousand years and berberine is an isoquinoline alkaloid present that has indicated significant antimicrobial activity. We have examined the combined anticancer effects of $As_2O_3$ and berberine against the human neuroblastoma (HNB) SH-SY5Y cells in vitro, and to elucidate underlying molecular mechanism. Methods : HNB SH-SY5Y cells were treated with $2\;{\mu}M\;As_2O_3$ and $75\;{\mu}g/ml$ berberine, and their survival, cell death mechanism as well as synergistic cytotoxic effects were estimated by using MTT assay, DAPI staining, agarose gel electrophoresis, flow cytometric analysis, and western blot analysis. Results : The combined treatment of two drugs also markedly decreased cell viability. The cytotoxic effects of two drugs were revealed as apoptosis characterized by chromatin condensation, DNA fragmentation, and the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential. The apoptotic cytotoxicity was accompanied by activation of caspase-3 protease as well as decreased the expression of Bcl-2, Bid, and Bcl-x/L. In addition, the cells treated with combination of two drugs also showed significantly increased intracellular reactive oxygen species levels and lipid peroxidation compared to cells $As_2O_3$or berberine only. Conclusion : Combined treatment of $As_2O_3$ with berberine induced activation of apoptotic signaling pathways in HNB SH-SY5Y cells. These results suggest that the possibility of the combined treatment of two chemotherapeutic agents with low concentration improving cytotoxic effect for cancer cells with minimal side effects.