• BMB Reports
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.726-734
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• 2004

White spot disease (WSD) is caused by the white spot syndrome virus (WSSV), which results in devastating losses to the shrimp farming industry around the world. However, the mechanism of virus entry and spread into the shrimp cells is unknown. A binding assay in vitro demonstrated VP28-EGFP (envelope protein VP28 fused with enhanced green fluorescence protein) binding to shrimp cells. This provides direct evidence that VP28-EGFP can bind to shrimp cells at pH 6.0 within 0.5 h. However, the protein was observed to enter the cytoplasm 3 h post-adsorption. Meanwhile, the plaque inhibition test showed that the polyclonal antibody against VP28 (a major envelope protein of WSSV) could neutralize the WSSV and block an infection with the virus. The result of competition ELISA further confirmed that the envelope protein VP28 could compete with WSSV to bind to shrimp cells. Overall, VP28 of the WSSV can bind to shrimp cells as an attachment protein, and can help the virus enter the cytoplasm.

• BMB Reports
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.832-838
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• 2007

A novel inhibitory protein against blood coagulation factor Va (FVa) was purified from muscle protein of granulated ark (Tegillarca granosa, order Arcoida, marine bivalvia) by consecutive FPLC method using anion exchange and gel permeation chromatography. In the results of ESI-QTOF tandem mass analysis and database research, it was revealed that the purified T. granosa anticoagulant protein (TGAP) has 7.7 kDa of molecular mass and its partial sequence, HTHLQRAPHPNALGYHGK, has a high identity (64%) with serine/threonine kinase derived from Rhodopirellula baltica (order Planctomycetales, marine bacteria). TGAP could potently prolong thrombin time (TT), corresponding to inhibition of thrombin (FIIa) formation. Specific factor inhibitory assay showed that TGAP inhibits FVa among the major components of prothrombinase complex. In vitro assay for direct-binding affinity using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectrometer indicated that TGAP could be directly bound with FVa. In addition, the binding affinity of FVa to FII was decreased by addition of TGAP in dose-dependant manner ($IC_{50}$ value = 77.9 nM). These results illustrated that TGAP might interact with a heavy chain of FVa ($FVa_H$) bound to FII in prothrombin complex. The present study elucidated that non-cytotoxic T. granosa anticoagulant protein (TGAP) bound to FVa can prolong blood coagulation time by inhibiting conversion of FII to FIIa in blood coagulation cascade. In addition, TGAP did not significantly (P < 0.05) show fibrinolytic activity and cytotoxicity on venous endothelial cell line (ECV 304).

• BMB Reports
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.58-64
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• 2007

Similar to the other known structures of Bacillus thuringiensis Cry $\delta$-endotoxins, the crystal structure of the 65-kDa activated Cry4Ba toxin comprises three domains which are, from the N- to C-terminus, a bundle of $\alpha$-helices, a three-$\beta$-sheet domain, and a $\beta$-sandwich. To investigate the properties of the C-terminal domain III in isolation from the rest of the toxin, the cloned Cry4Ba-domain III was over-expressed as a 21-kDa soluble protein in Escherichia coli, which cross-reacted with anti-Cry4Ba domain III monoclonal antibody. A highly-purified domain III was obtained in a monomeric form by ion-exchange and size-exclusion FPLC. Circular dichroism spectroscopy indicated that the isolated domain III fragment distinctly exists as a $\beta$-sheet structure, corresponding to the domain III structure embodied in the Cry4Ba crystal structure. In vitro binding analysis via immuno-histochemical assay revealed that the Cry4Ba-domain III protein was able to bind to the apical microvilli of the susceptible Stegomyia aegypti larval midguts, albeit at lower-binding activity when compared with the full-length active toxin. These results demonstrate for the first time that the C-terminal domain III of the Cry4Ba mosquito-larvicidal protein, which can be isolated as a native folded monomer, conceivably participates in toxin-receptor recognition.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.666-674
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• 2022

Background: Ginsenosides and their metabolites have antidepressant-like effects, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We previously identified 14-3-3 ζ as one of the target proteins of 20 (S)-protopanaxadiol (PPD), a fully deglycosylated ginsenoside metabolite. Methods: Corticosterone (CORT) was administered repeatedly to induce the depression model, and PPD was given concurrently. The tail suspension test (TST) and the forced swimming test (FST) were used for behavioral evaluation. All mice were sacrificed. Golgi-cox staining, GSK 3β activity assay, and Western blot analysis were performed. In vitro, the kinetic binding analysis with the Biolayer Interferometry (BLI) was used to determine the molecular interactions. Results: TST and FST both revealed that PPD reversed CORT-induced behavioral deficits. PPD also ameliorated the CORT-induced expression alterations of hippocampal Ser9 phosphorylated glycogen synthase kinase 3β (p-Ser9 GSK 3β), Ser133 phosphorylated cAMP response element-binding protein (p-Ser133 CREB), and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Moreover, PPD attenuated the CORT-induced increase in GSK 3β activity and decrease in dendritic spine density in the hippocampus. In vitro, 14-3-3 ζ protein specifically bound to p-Ser9 GSK 3β polypeptide. PPD promoted the binding and subsequently decreased GSK 3β activity. Conclusion: These findings demonstrated the antidepressant-like effects of PPD on the CORT-induced mouse depression model and indicated a possible target-based mechanism. The combination of PPD with the 14-3-3 ζ protein may promote the binding of 14-3-3 ζ to p-GSK 3β (Ser9) and enhance the inhibition of Ser9 phosphorylation on GSK 3β kinase activity, thereby activating the plasticity-related CREBeBDNF signaling pathway.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.59 no.1
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• pp.29-39
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• 2015

In recent years, physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling has been widely used in pharmaceutical industries as well as regulatory health authorities for drug discovery and development. Several application areas of PBPK have been introduced so far including drug-drug interaction prediction, transporter-mediated interaction prediction, and pediatric PK prediction. The purpose of this review is to introduce PBPK and illustrates one of its application areas, particularly pediatric PK prediction by utilizing existing adult PK data and in vitro data. The evaluation of the initial PBPK for adult was done by comparing with experimental PK profiles and the scaling from adult to pediatric was conducted using age-related changes in size such as tissue compartments, and protein binding etc. Sotalol and lorazepam were selected in this review as model drugs for this purpose and were re-evaluated using the PBPK models by GastroPlus$^{(R)}$. The challenges and strategies of PBPK models using adult PK data as well as appropriate in vitro assay data for extrapolating pediatric PK at various ages were also discussed in this paper.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.181-185
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• 1999

Xenopus oocyte is one of the widely used heterologous expression systems of ion channels for electrophysiological studies. Here we describe a new method in which cRNA produced by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and in vitro transcription is injected to express ion channels in oocytes. This method enables us (1) to eliminate all or a part of the untranslated region of the cDNA and to replace it with a known sequence which helps increase the expression level in oocytes, and (2) to use the PCR product for in vitro transcription without subcloning. Using this method, the expression level of one of the neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) $\alpha$$_{6}$ subtype in oocytes was systematically increased by more than 100-fold, which was confirmed both by the $\alpha$-Bungarotoxin ($\alpha$,/TEX>Bgt) binding assay and the current measurement.t.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.241-252
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• 2014

A series of N-benzoylated ligands incorporating three different benzoyl groups 2,2'-(benzoyliminodiethylene)-4-substituted phenols ($L^{1,4,7}$), 2,2'-(4-nitrobenzoyliminodiethylene)-4-substituted phenols ($L^{2,5,8}$) and 2,2'-(3,5-dinitrobenzoyliminodiethylene)-4-substituted phenols ($L^{3,6,9}$) were synthesized and characterized by IR, $^1H$ NMR, $^{13}C$ NMR and mass spectroscopy. The In vitro antibacterial activity of investigated ligands were tested against human pathogenic bacteria such as four Gram (-) Enterococcus faecalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Vibrio cholera, Vibrio harveyi and two Gram (+) Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus mutans. Furthermore, docking studies were undertaken to gain insight into the possible binding mode of these compounds with the binding site of the topoisomerase II (PDB: 4FM9) enzyme which is involved in DNA superhelicity and chromosome seggregation. The N-benzoylated derivatives $L^{5,7,8}$ have significant anticancer activity as Topoisomerase inhibitors. The ligands $L^5$ and $L^8$ were tested for their anticancer activity against human liver adenocarcinoma (HepG2) cell line with the MTT assay.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.1795-1799
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• 2008

The heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein K (hnRNP K) is a component of hnRNP complexes. This protein binds strongly to cytidine-rich RNA/DNA sequences. It is a nucleocytoplasmic shuttling protein. To investigate the functions of hnRNP K, I searched for hnRNP K-interacting proteins in HeLa cDNA library using a yeast two-hybrid screening system. One of the cDNA clones is identical to human hnRNP E1 (poly(rC) binding protein 1) cDNA (GenBank accession number XM_031585). In this study, hnRNP K is shown to specifically interact with hnRNP E1 in yeast two-hybrid system and in vitro biochemical assay.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.697-704
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• 1996

Quinolone derivatives, SJ5b (ethyl 5,12-dihydro-5-dihydro-5-oxobenzoxazolo[3,2-a]quinoline-6-carboxylate) and SQ7b (3-fluoro-2-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)-5.12-dihydro-5-oxobenzoxa zolo[3,2-a]quinoloine carboxylic acid) showed in vitro cytotoxicities against various tumor cell lines. SJ5b and SQ7b completely inhibited the DNA relaxation activities of human placental topoisomerase II at the concentration of 15.63 and 1.95 ${\mu}$g/ml, respectively. However, unlike etoposide which stabilize the topoisomerase II-DNA complex, SQ7b did not cause topoisomerase II-mediated DNA cleavage and SJ5b weakly stabilized the topoisomerase II-DNA cleavable complex. Through both experiments. DNA relaxation assay by the increment of topoisomerase II concentration and DNA unwinding assay, it was shown that SJ5b and SQ7b did not interact with topoisomerase II itself but bound to DNA. Therefore, it was concluded that DNA binding of SJ5b and SQ7b caused the inhibition of topoisomerase II related to DNA relaxation but no or very weak stabilization of topoisomerase II-DNA cleavable complex. In addition, SJ5b and SQ7b prevented whole cell nucleic acid syntheses in HL60 cells.

• Proceedings of the Korean Biophysical Society Conference
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• 2003.06a
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• pp.45-45
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• 2003

We isolated a novel ankyrin-repeat containing protein, rSIAP (rSlo Interacting Ankyrin-repeat Protein), as an interacting protein to the cytosolic domain of the alpha-subunit of rat large-conductance Ca$\^$2+/-activated K$\^$+/ channel (rSlo) by yeast two-hybrid screening. Affinity pull-down assay showed the direct and specific interaction between rSIAP and rSlo domain. The channel-binding proteins can be classified into several categories according to their functional effects on the channel proteins, i.e. signaling adaptors, scaffolding net, molecular tuners, molecular chaperones, etc. To obtain initial clues on its functional roles, we investigated the cellular localization of rSIAP using immunofluorescent staining. The results showed the possible co-localization of rSlo and rSIAP protein near the plasma membrane, when co-expressed in CHO cells. We then investigated the functional effects of rSIAP on the rSlo channel using electrophysiological means. The co-expression of rSIAP accelerated the activation of rSlo channel. These effects were initiated at the micromolar [Ca$\^$2+/]$\_$i/ and gradually increased as [Ca$\^$2+/]$\_$i/ raised. Interestingly, rSIAP decreased the inactivation kinetics of rSlo channel at micromolar [Ca$\^$2+/]$\_$i/, while the rate was accelerated at sub-micromolar [Ca$\^$2+/]$\_$i/. These results suggest that rSIAP may modulate the activity of native BK$\_$Ca/ channel by altering its gating kinetics depending on [Ca$\^$2+/]$\_$i/. To localize critical regions involved in protein-protein interaction between rSlo and rSIAP, a series of sub-domain constructs were generated. We are currently investigating sub-domain interaction using both of yeast two-hybrid method and in vitro binding assay.