• BMB Reports
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.741-748
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• 2004

The hepatitis C virus is associated with the development of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinomas. Among the 10 polyproteins produced by the virus, no function has been clearly assigned to the non-structural 5A (NS5A) protein. This study was designed to identify the hepatocellular proteins that interact with NS5A of the HCV. Yeast two-hybrid experiments were performed with a human liver cDNA prey-library, using five different NS5A derivatives as baits, the full-length NS5A (NS5A-F, amino acid (aa) 1~447) and its four different derivatives, denoted as NS5A-A (aa 1~150), -B (aa 1~300), -C (aa 300~447) and D (aa 150~447). NS5A-F, NS5A-B and NS5A-C gave two, two and 10 candidate clones, respectively, including an AHNAK-related protein, the secreted frizzled-related protein 4 (SFRP4), the N-myc downstream regulated gene 1 (NDRG1), the cellular retinoic acid binding protein 1 (CRABP-1), ferritin heavy chain (FTH1), translokin, tumor-associated calcium signal transducer 2 (TACSTD2), phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase (PI4K) and $centaurin{\delta}$ 2 ($CENT{\delta}2$). However, NS5A-A produced no candidates and NS5A-D was not suitable as bait due to transcriptional activity. Based on an in vitro binding assay, CRABP-1, PI4K, $CENT{\delta}2$ and two unknown fusion proteins with maltose binding protein (MBP), were confirmed to interact with the glutathione S-transferase (GST)/NS5A fusion protein. Furthermore, the interactions of CRABP-1, PI4K and $CENT{\delta}2$ were not related to the PXXP motif (class II), as judged by a domain analysis. While their biological relevance is under investigation, the results contribute to a better understanding of the possible role of NS5A in hepatocellular signaling pathways.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.205-212
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• 2008

The efficient soluble expression of human epidermal growth factor (hEGF) was achieved by using functional fusion partners in cytoplasm and periplasm of Escherichia coli (E. coli). hEGF was over-expressed in inactive inclusion body form in cytoplasm of E. coli due to improper disulfide bond formation and hydrophobic interaction, yielding about 5.9 mg/L in flask culture. Six functional fusion partners were introduced by linking to N-terminal part of hEGF gene for the high-level expression of soluble and active hEGF in cytoplasm and peri plasm region. Three fusion partners for cytoplasmic expression such as acidic tail of synuclein (ATS), thioredoxin (Trx) and lipase, and three fusion partners for periplasmic expression such as periplasmic cystein oxidoreductases (DsbA and DsbC) and maltose binding protein (MBP) were investigated. hEGF fused with ATS and DsbA showed over 90% of solubility in cytoplasm and periplasm, respectively. Especially DsbA was found to be an efficient fusion partner for soluble and high-level expression of hEGF, yielding about 18.1 mg/L and three-fold higher level compared to that of insoluble non-fusion hEGF in cytoplasm. Thus, heterologous proteins containing complex disulfide bond and many hydrophobic amino acids can effectively be produced as an active form in E. coli by introducing a suitable peptide or protein.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.341-346
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• 2012

Indican (indoxyl-${\beta}$-D-glucoside) is a colorless natural compound and can be used as a precursor for the production of indigo. This production step only require an enzyme, ${\beta}$-glucosidase, that readily screened from microbial resource by using selective media supplemented with indican as a sole carbon source. Agrobacterium tumefaciens was well grown in this media and thus presumed to produce a related enzyme. The corresponding gene, encoding a protein with a calculated molecular mass of 51 kDa, was cloned and overexpressed as MBP fusion proteins. The purified enzyme was determined to be a dimer and showed the maximum activity for indican at pH 7.0 and $40^{\circ}C$. The kinetic parameters for indican, Km and Vmax, were determined to be 1.4 mM and 373.8 ${\mu}M/min/mg$, respectively. The conversion yield of indican into indigo using this enzyme was about 1.7-1.8 folds higher than that of previously isolated enzyme from Sinorhizobium meliloti. Additionally, this enzyme was able to hydrolyze various ${\beta}$-1,4 glycoside substrates.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.102-108
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• 1994

Autonomously replicating sequence Binding Factor 1(ABF1) is a DNA-binding protein that specifically recognizes the $RTCRYN_5ACG$ at many sites in the yeast genome including the promoter element, mating-type silencer and ARS. To express the intact full-length ABF1 gene in E. coli, the ABF1 gene has been cloned into pMAL-c2 and His-61, Leu-353 and Leu-360 were substituted with other amino acid. ABF1 fusion proteins of wild type ABF1 and H61A, L353R and L360R nutants were purified by amylose resin affinity chromatography. Fusion protein of MBP and ABF1 was digested by Factor Xa and Characterized by gel retardation assay and complementation test. As aresult, we suggested that other DNA binding motif except atypical inc-finger motif is in the middle region of ABF1.