• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.1264-1269
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• 2011

Interleukin-2 (IL-2) is a vital cytokine secreted by activated T lymphocytes, and plays an important role in the regulation of cellular functions and immunity of animals. In this study, the recombinant duck IL-2 (rduIL-2) was secretory expressed in Pichia pastoris (P. pastoris). The recombinant P. pastoris strain was cultured in shake flasks and then scaled up in a 5.0-l bioreactor. The result showed that the maximal fresh-cell-weight of 594.1 g/l and the maximal $OD_{600}$ of 408 were achieved in the bioreactor. The rduIL-2 was purified by two steps of purification procedures, and approximately 311 mg of rduIL-2/L fermentation supernatant was obtained. SDS-PAGE showed that the purified rduIL-2 constituted a homogeneous band of ~16 kDa or ~14 kDa corresponding to the glycosylated or non-glycosylated duIL-2 protein in size, respectively. The bioactivity of rduIL-2 was determined by lymphocyte proliferation assay. The result indicated that the rduIL-2 greatly promoted the proliferation of ConA-stimulated lymphocytes in vitro. The P. pastoris expression system described here could provide promising, inexpensive, and large-scale production of the rduIL-2, which lays the foundation for development of novel immunoadjuvants to enhance both the immunity of ducks against various infectious pathogens and vaccine efficacy.

• BMB Reports
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.6-11
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• 1995

A new lectin, named TRA, was purified from Trichosanthes kirilowii root by acid-treated Sepharose 6B, Mono-Q, and TSK-gel 3000SW column sequential chromatography. The lectin appeared homogeneous by native gel electrophoresis at pH 4.3 and gave two protein bands of Mr=31 and 28 kDa by SDS-PAGE. The N-terminal amino acid sequences of the polypeptides of TRA have not been reported in amino acid sequences of the lectins. TRA lectin formed a precipitate with asialofetuin, neuraminidase-treated fetuin. A sugar inhibition assay indicated that N-acetyl-D-galactosamine, among the monosaccharides tested, was the most potent inhibitor of TRA-induced hemagglutination. Asialofetuin showed a 260-times stronger inhibitory activity than N-acetyl-D-galactosamine. TRA lectin also showed agglutination with normal leukocytes and lymphoma cells, but not with premature hemopoietic cells. These results suggest that TRA is a novel plant lectin.

• Mycobiology
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.50-54
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• 2008

This study examined the chemical composition of A. blasiliensis and the chemical structural properties of an immuno-stimulating polysaccharide. The amino acids, free sugars, and organic acids by HPLC and fatty acids by GC were analyzed. The immuno-stimulating substance from A. blasiliensis was extracted with hot water and purified by ethanol precipitation. It underwent ion exchange chromatography on DEAE-cellulose and gel filtration on Toyopearl HW 65F. Through GP-HPLC, the substance was found to be homogeneous. Its chemical structure was determined by $^{13}C-NMR$. Fatty acids, organic acids, and sugar alcohol composition consisted exclusively of linoleic acid, fumaric acid and mannitol, respectively. The amino acids were mainly glutamic acid, glycine, and arginine. By $^{13}C-NMR$ analysis, the immuno-stimulating substance was identified as ${\beta}-(1{\rightarrow}3)\;(1{\rightarrow}6)$-glucan, composed of a backbone with $(1{\rightarrow}3)$-linked D-glucopyranosyl residues branching a $(1{\rightarrow}6)$-linked D-glucopyranosyl residue. The ${\beta}$-glucan from A. blasiliensis showed pronounced immuno-stimulating activity on the antibody-production ability of B-lymphocytes by the hemolytic suspension assay. In these results, A. blasiliensis was estimated to have potent pharmacological properties and potential nutritional values.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.233-240
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• 1969

The synthesis is described of new pepsin substrates of benzyloxycarbonyl-glycyl-L-tyrosyl-L-phenylalanyl-glycine ethyl ester and benzyloxycarbonyl-glycyl-L-tyrosyl-L-phenylalanyl-glycine for studies on the specificity of pepsin, and thin layer chromatographic examination of the peptides prepared showed the new substrates are homogeneous and also, same examination of the incubation mixtures showed that two synthetic substrates are cleaved by pepsin at the L-tyrosyl-L-phenylalanyl bond and hydrolysis of these substrates by pepsin is achieved without transpeptidation. It is found that synthetic peptides are moderately soluble with the amount of the substrate up to a concentration of 0.7 mM in aqueous sodium citrate buffers (0.04 M) in the pH range 1.8-4.0, thus obviating the necessity for the adding of an organic solvent in the assay mixture. The kinetic parameters for synthetic substrates are tabulated in the following table. The data in the table indicate that the susceptibility of synthetic peptides to peptic hydrolysis are relatively large and the change of the carboxyl-terminal group of synthetic substrate from glycine ethyl ester to glycine causes a small decrease in the susceptibility of the L-tyrosyl-L-phenylalanyl bond.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.350-354
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• 2020

Feline chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a rare disease. Its diagnosis is not simple because of the absence of clinical signs and the presence of mature lymphocytosis. An 11-year-old female spayed Russian Blue cat was referred to the veterinary medical teaching hospital for lethargy, diarrhea, weight loss, and inappetence. Marked lymphocytic leukocytosis and a significantly increased number of small-to-intermediate-sized lymphocytes in the peripheral blood were found on hematological examination. The results of the feline leukemia virus and immunodeficiency virus test were negative. Further, mild splenomegaly was detected. Bone marrow aspirate analysis revealed mature lymphocytosis and a clonally rearranged T cell receptor gene with the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for antigen receptor rearrangement assay. Flow cytometric immunophenotyping showed a homogeneous population of CD5+/CD21-T-cells in the peripheral blood and bone marrow. According to the results of the aforementioned examinations, CLL was diagnosed. Treatment was not initiated at the time of diagnosis because the clinical signs were mild and did not affect the quality of life. This report describes the clinical findings and use of advanced diagnostic tools such as molecular clonality analysis and immunophenotyping for the diagnosis of feline CLL.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.21-27
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• 1995

The only compounds with antagonistic activity via AT$_1$receptor, one of two subtypes of angiotensin II (AII) receptor, have been demonstrated to block the vasoconstriction effects of AII and thereby provide therapeutic potential. This initiated the search for compounds with high specific affinity to AT$_1$receptor and their effective screening methods. The radioligand binding assay for the AII receptor is regarded as the primary method for the evaluation of AT$_1$receptor antagonists for their activity. In this paper, we characterized the liver AT$_1$receptor and describe the efficient method of the radioligand binding assay using rat liver as a source of AT$_1$receptor. Equilibrium binding studies with rat adrenal cortex, adrenal medulla, liver and bovine adrenal showed that the specific bindings of [$^3$H] AII were saturable in all tissues and the Scatchard plots of those data were linear, suggesting a single population of binding sites. Hill slopes were very near to the unity in all tissues. Kinetic studies of [$^3$H) AII binding in rat liver homogenates yielded two association rate constants, 4.10$\times$10$^{7}$ M$^{-1}$ min$^{-1}$ and 4.02$\times$10$^{9}$ M$^{-1}$ min$^{-1}$ , with a single dissociation rate constant, 7.07$\times$10$^{-3}$ min-$^{-1}$ , possibly due to the partial dissociation phenomenon. The rank order of inhibition potencies of [$^3$H] AII binding in rat liver was AII>Sarile>Losartan>PD 123177. Rat liver homogenates revealed to have very high density of homogeneous population of the AT$_1$receptor subtype, as the specifically bound [$^3$H] AII was not inhibited by PD 123177, the nonpeptide antagonist of AT$_2$. The results of this study demonstrated that the liver homogenates from rats could be the best receptor preparation for the AT$_1$receptor binding assay and provide an efficient system for the screening of newly synthesized candidate compounds of AT$_1$receptor antagonist.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.642-651
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• 1998

The accuracy of ultrasonography for determining the presence of a functional corpus luteum in subestrous dairy cows was investigated, using a radioimmunoassay for progesterone in plasma. Luteal status (high or low progesterone concentrations) was diagnosed in 534 cows, using B-mode transrectal ultrasonography. Accuracy of ultrasonography was 96.3% and 88.8% in the cows with and without functional corpus luteum, respectively. In 362 cows diagnosed with functional corpus luteum by ultrasonographic examination, 20 cows were diagnosed with the non-functional corpus luteum by analysis of plasma progesterone concentrations (false positive). In 172 cows with non-functional corpus luteum by ultrasonographic examination, 13 cows were diagnosed with the functional corpus luteum based on plasma progesterone assay (false negative). Most of the corpus luteum with well-defined border and homogeneous echotexture were diagnosed with functional corpus luteum. All cows that were not detected a corpus luteum by ultrasonographic examination were diagnosed as non-functional corpus luteum. The corpus luteum of cows that were diagnosed with false positive appeared homogeneous echotexture and above 15 mm in diameter, but the corpus luteum was the non-functional corpus luteum within Day 5 (Day 0 is ovulation day) or after Day 19. The corpus luteum of cows that were diagnosed with false negative appeared heterogeneous echogenicity and below 15 mm in diameter, but the corpus luteum was the functional corpus luteum after Day 5 or around Day 17. It was concluded that accuracy of ultrasonography was excellent for determining the presence of a functional corpus luteum in subestrous dairy cows. The corpus luteum that was diagnosed with false positive or false negative was the developing or regressing states. Thus, ultrasonography was required a serial examination of two or three times accurately diagnosing these corpus luteum.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.635-647
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• 1995

Human polymorphonuclear leukocytes(PMN) constitute a first line of defense against all forms of injury and microbial challenge, which share a common cell lineage with macrophage. Microbial component LPS activates macrophages to produce IL-1, MIP-1${\alpha}$, -1${\beta}$, TNF-${\alpha}$ and IL-6, etc. Those cytokines have autocrine function to the macrophages, and paracrine function to other cell such as PMN and affect them to produce some biological functions. Having a responsive homogeneous cell line, HL-60, offers us the possibility of studying extensively on the function of PMN, which were not possible previously with peripheral PMN, due to the short-lived nature and difficulty of getting a purified PMN. In the present study, I performed MIP-1 receptor binding assay using HL-60 cell and human peripheral PMN. Also, in vitro antimicrobial assay was performed using differentiated or undifferentiated HL-60 cell. Differentiation was induced by treatment with 500 M of $N^6,O^2-dibutyryl$ adenosine 3'5' cyclic monophosphate(dbcAMP) (PMN-like cell), or 20ng/ml of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate(TPA) (macrophage/monocyte-like cell). Receptors for MIP-1${\alpha}$ were identified on dbcAMP-treated HL-60 as well as peripheral PMN. However, bound radioactive MIP-1${\alpha}$ on differentiated HL-60 was much higher than that of peripheral PMN, which suggest receptor number of differentiated HL-60 cell is higher than that of peripheral PMN. Although both of TPA and dbcAMP treatment significantly enhanced antimicrobial action of HL-60 cell, dbcAMP-treated cell(PMN-like HL-60) killed S.aureus more effectively in this experiment. TPA or dbcAMP treatment significantly enhanced antimicrobial action of undifferentiated HL-60 cell. MIP-1${\alpha}$ further increased enhancing effect of TPA or dbcAMP. IL-1${\alpha}$, however, increased only dbcAMP-induced enhancing effect of antimicrobial action of HL-60 cell. These results suggest that differentiated HL-60 cell could replace peripheral PMN in analysis of various biological functions of cytokines on PMN cell.

• BMB Reports
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.584-590
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• 2005

Glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.49) was purified from Aspergillus aculeatus, a filamentous fungus previously isolated from infected tongue of a patient. The enzyme, apparently homogeneous, had a specific activity of $220\;units\;mg^{-1}$/, a molecular weight of $105,000{\pm}5,000$ Dal by gel filtration and subunit size of $52,000{\pm}1,100$ Dal by sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The substrate specificity was extremely strict, with glucose 6-phosphate (G6P) being oxidized by nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP) only. At assay pH of 7.5, the enzyme had $K_m$ values of $6\;{\mu}m$ and $75\;{\mu}m$ for NADP and G6P respectively. The $k_{cat}$ was $83\;s^{-1}$. Steady-state kinetics at pH 7.5 produced converging linear Lineweaver-Burk plots as expected for ternary-complex mechanism. The patterns of product and dead-end inhibition suggested that the enzyme can bind NADP and G6P separately to form a binary complex, indicating a random-order mechanism. The enzyme was irreversibly inactivated by heat in a linear fashion, with G6P providing a degree of protection. Phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP), adenosinetriphosphate (ATP), and fructose 6-phosphate (F6P), in decreasing order, are effective inhibitors. Zinc and Cobalt ions were effective inhibitors although cobalt ion was more potent; the two divalent metals were competitive inhibitors with respect to G6P, with $K_i$ values of $6.6\;{\mu}m$ and $4.7\;{\mu}m$ respectively. It is proposed that inhibition by divalent metal ions, at low NADPH /NADP ratio, is another means of controlling pentosephosphate pathway.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.418-423
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• 2006

Tabanus anticoagulant protein (TAP) was isolated from the whole body of the tabanus, Tabanus bivittatus, using three purification steps (ammonium sulfate fractionation, gel filtration on Bio-Gel P-60, and ion exchange chromatography on DEAE Sephadex gel). The purified TAP, with a molecular weight of 65 kDa, was assessed to be homogeneous by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and an isoelectric point of 7.9 was determined by isoelectric focusing. The internal amino acid sequence of the purified protein was composed of Ser-Leu-Asn-Asn-Gln-Phe-Ala-Ser-Phe-lle-Asp-Lys-Val-Arg. The protein was activated by $Cu^{2+}\;and\;Zn^{2+}$, and the optimal conditions were found to be at pH $3\sim6\;and\;40\sim70^{\circ}C$. Standard coagulation screen assays were used to determine thrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time. Chromogenic substrate assays were performed for thrombin and factor Xa activity. TAP considerably prolonged human plasma clotting time, especially activated partial thromboplastin time in a dose-dependent manner; it showed potent and specific antithrombin activity in the chromogenic substrate assay. Specific anti-factor Xa activity in TAP was not detected. Overall, this result suggested that TAP has significant anticoagulant activity on blood coagulation system.