• Molecules and Cells
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• 제47권1호
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• pp.100005.1-100005.15
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• 2024

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a devastating neurodegenerative disease with a complex genetic basis, presenting both in familial and sporadic forms. The hexanucleotide (G₄C₂) repeat expansion in the C9orf72 gene, which triggers distinct pathogenic mechanisms, has been identified as a major contributor to familial and sporadic Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis cases. Animal models have proven pivotal in understanding these mechanisms; however, discrepancies between models due to variable transgene sequence, expression levels, and toxicity profiles complicate the translation of findings. Herein, we provide a systematic comparison of 7 publicly available Drosophila transgenes modeling the G₄C₂ expansion under uniform conditions, evaluating variations in their toxicity profiles. Further, we tested 3 previously characterized disease-modifying drugs in selected lines to uncover discrepancies among the tested strains. Our study not only deepens our understanding of the C9orf72 G₄C₂ mutations but also presents a framework for comparing constructs with minute structural differences. This work may be used to inform experimental designs to better model disease mechanisms and help guide the development of targeted interventions for neurodegenerative diseases, thus bridging the gap between model-based research and therapeutic application.

• Molecules and Cells
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• 제27권5호
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• pp.591-599
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• 2009

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) play important roles in nervous system functions and are involved in a variety of diseases. We previously demonstrated that ginsenosides, the active ingredients of Panax ginseng, inhibit subsets of nAChR channel currents, but not ${\alpha}7$, expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes. Mutation of the highly conserved Leu247 to Thr247 in the transmembrane domain 2 (TM2) channel pore region of ${\alpha}7$ nAChR induces alterations in channel gating properties and converts ${\alpha}7$ nAChR antagonists into agonists. In the present study, we assessed how point mutations in the Leu247 residue leading to various amino acids affect 20(S)-ginsenoside $Rg_3$ ($Rg_3$) activity against the ${\alpha}7$ nAChR. Mutation of L247 to L247A, L247D, L247E, L247I, L247S, and L247T, but not L247K, rendered mutant receptors sensitive to $Rg_3$. We further characterized $Rg_3$ regulation of L247T receptors. We found that $Rg_3$ inhibition of mutant ${\alpha}7$ nAChR channel currents was reversible and concentration-dependent. $Rg_3$ inhibition was strongly voltage-dependent and noncompetitive manner. These results indicate that the interaction between $Rg_3$ and mutant receptors might differ from its interaction with the wild-type receptor. To identify differences in $Rg_3$ interactions between wild-type and L247T receptors, we utilized docked modeling. This modeling revealed that $Rg_3$ forms hydrogen bonds with amino acids, such as Ser240 of subunit I and Thr244 of subunit II and V at the channel pore, whereas $Rg_3$ localizes at the interface of the two wild-type receptor subunits. These results indicate that mutation of Leu247 to Thr247 induces conformational changes in the wild-type receptor and provides a binding pocket for $Rg_3$ at the channel pore.

• 한국산학기술학회논문지
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• 제14권7호
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• pp.3437-3443
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• 2013

고분자 절연재료는 기존의 세라믹 절연재료에 대체되는 물질로 매년 수요가 꾸준히 급증하고 있다. 그러나, 실용에 있어 장시간 외부로부터 가해지는 열화인자에 노출됨에 따라 경시적 성능저하 및 수명단축이 발생되고, 이를 근본적으로 해결하기 위한 고분자 열화메커니즘의 규명이 안전성 향상 및 신뢰성 확보를 위해 중요한 과제로 대두되고 있다. 본 연구는 이러한 열화발생 및 진행경로를 해석하기 위한 일환으로 열, 수분에 의한 열화를 각각 임의로 모의하여, 열화 발생메커니즘을 해석하였다. 특히, 본 연구에서는 화학적 측면의 특성분석을 수행하였고, 이를 통해 표면의 친수 소수적 분자구조 분석으로 최종적인 표면열화 모델링을 도출하였다. PCB 기판용 고분자 복합재료를 대상으로 열, 수분 가속열화에 따른 표면에서의 접촉각, XPS 분석을 통해 표면의 변화 메커니즘을 분석하였다. 친수화 경향을 나타내는 표면은 접촉각의 감소와 carboxyl($-COO^*$) 라디칼이 다량 발생하였으며, 소수화 경향을 나타내는 표면은 접촉각의 증가와 표면에서 산소기의 이탈과 탄소결합의 불포화 이중결합화로 안정된 화학구조를 구성하고 있었다.

• Molecules and Cells
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• 제38권9호
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• pp.781-788
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• 2015

Mutations of MYO15A are generally known to cause severe to profound hearing loss throughout all frequencies. Here, we found two novel MYO15A mutations, c.3871C>T (p.L1291F) and c.5835T>G (p.Y1945X) in an affected individual carrying congenital profound sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) through targeted resequencing of 134 known deafness genes. The variant, p.L1291F and p.Y1945X, resided in the myosin motor and IQ2 domains, respectively. The p.L1291F variant was predicted to affect the structure of the actin-binding site from three-dimensional protein modeling, thereby interfering with the correct interaction between actin and myosin. From the literature analysis, mutations in the N-terminal domain were more frequently associated with residual hearing at low frequencies than mutations in the other regions of this gene. Therefore we suggest a hypothetical genotype-phenotype correlation whereby MYO15A mutations that affect domains other than the N-terminal domain, lead to profound SNHL throughout all frequencies and mutations that affect the N-terminal domain, result in residual hearing at low frequencies. This genotype-phenotype correlation suggests that preservation of residual hearing during auditory rehabilitation like cochlear implantation should be intended for those who carry mutations in the N-terminal domain and that individuals with mutations elsewhere in MYO15A require early cochlear implantation to timely initiate speech development.

• 대한화학회지
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• 제56권6호
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• pp.739-750
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• 2012

이 연구에서는 중학교 '과학2' 교과서에 서술되어 있는 '이온 결합 화합물'과 '분자'에 대한 내용이 요구하는 인지 요구도를 분석하였다. 우리나라는 2007년 개정 교육과정에 의하여 처음으로 '이온 결합 화합물'과 '분자' 내용들을 중학교에서 다루게 되었다. 분석에 활용한 6종 과학 교과서에 서술된 내용이 어떠한 인지 수준을 요구하는 지를 알아내는 분석틀은 영국에서 개발된 Curriculum Analysis Taxonomy의 3종류 분석틀을 사용하였다. 이 3종류 분석틀에 의하여 분석한 '과학2' 교과서에 서술된 내용이 요구하는 인지 수준들은 다음과 같았다. 첫째, '순물질과 혼합물'에 대해서 대부분의 교과서가 대부분 분류 포섭이나 분류 위계를 하고 있어서 후기 구체적 조작 수준이다. 그러나 모든 교과서가 혼합물 속에 들어 있는 각각의 순물질들이 본래의 성질을 잃지 않고 그 성질이 보존된다는 것을 알게 하고 있기 때문에 초기 형식적 조작 수준이다. 둘째, '이온 결합 화합물'과 '분자'에 대해서 교과서 모두 초기 형식적 조작 수준으로 판정되었다. 그 자체의 규칙을 따르는 가상의 계로부터 연역적인 비교를 통하여 실체를 간접적으로 해석할 수 있는 형식적 모델을 사용한다거나 또는 원자가 구조를 가진다는 것을 설명하기 때문에 형식적 조작 수준이다. 셋째, '이온 결합', '이온 결합 화합물', '화학식', '공유 결합', '공유 결합 화합물', '분자식' 등의 용어들을 사용하는 '과학2' 교과서가 많이 있었다. 이러한 용어들은 중학교 '과학3'에서도 그리고 고등학교 '과학'에서도 사용되지 않고 있으며 고등학교 '화학I'과 '화학II'에 가서야 사용되는 용어들이다.

• 청정기술
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• 제22권3호
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• pp.154-160
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• 2016

가스 하이드레이트 형성을 이용하여 담수를 생산하고자 하는 어떠한 공정이라도 가스 하이드레이트 형성속도는 경제적인 관점에서 매우 중요한 공정변수일 수밖에 없다. 이에 본 연구에서는 촉진제를 사용하여 R-134a(또는 HFC-134a) 가스 하이드레이트의 형성속도를 향상시키고자 하였는데 최종목표가 음용수 생산이므로 촉진제로 세가지 다른 형태의 식용 계면활성제를 선정하여 사용하였다. 음이온성인 카라기난(κ-carrageenan), 양쪽성인 레시틴(lecithin), 그리고 비이온성인 폴리소르베이트 80(polysorbate 80)이 그것이다. 식용 계면활성제의 농도를 변화시키면서 R-134a 가스 하이드레이트 형성속도가 어떻게 변하는지 관찰하였다. 어떠한 경우이든 식용 계면활성제의 첨가가 R-134a 가스 하이드레이트 형성속도를 향상시키는 것으로 관찰되었으며 그 효과는 폴리소르베이트 80 > 카라기난 > 레시틴의 순서를 보였다. 이론적인 설명을 위해 범밀도함수(DFT) 이론을 기반으로 한 분자모델링을 이용하여 각 식용 계면활성제를 구성하고 있는 원자들의 전하를 계산하였고 실험으로 관찰된 촉진제 효과가 계면활성제 내의 수소결합을 할 수 있는 산소들의 수와 그 산소들의 원자전하 값들이 음수인 정도에 비례하는 관계가 있음을 알 수 있었다.

• Journal of Information Display
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• 제12권3호
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• pp.145-152
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• 2011

Since the discovery of fullerenes as a class of nanostructure compounds, many potential applications have been suggested for their unusual structures and properties. The isolated pentagon rule (IPR) states that all pentagonal carbon rings are isolated in the most stable fullerene. Fullerenes $C_n$ are a class of spherical carbon allotrope group with unique properties. Electron transfer between fullerenes and other molecules is thought to involve the transfer of electrons between the molecules surrounding the fullerene cage. One class of electron transfer molecules is the methanofullerene derivatives ([6,6]-phenyl $C_{61}$-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM), 4-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-[6,6]-phenyl $C_{61}$-butyric acid methyl ester (p-EHO-PCBM), and 4-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-[6,6]-phenyl $C_{61}$-butyric acid (p-EHO-PCBA), 10-12). It has been determined that $C_{60}$ does not obey IPR. Supramolecular complexes 1-9 and 10-12 are shown to possess a previously unreported host.guest interaction for electron transfer processes. The unsaturated, cis-geometry, thiocrown ethers, (1-9) (described as [X-UT-Y], where X and Y indicate the numbers of carbon and sulfur atoms, respectively), are a group of crown ethers that display interesting physiochemical properties in the light of their conformational restriction compared with a corresponding saturated system, as well as the sizes of their cavities. Topological indices have been successfully used to construct mathematical methods that relate structural data to various chemical and physical properties. To establish a good relationship between the structures of 1-9 with 10-12, a new index is introduced, ${\mu}_{cs}$. This index is the ratio of the sum of the number of carbon atoms ($n_c$) and the number of sulfur atoms ($n_s$) to the product of these two numbers for 1-9. In this study, the relationships between this index and oxidation potential ($^{ox}E_1$) of 1-9, as well as the first to third free energies of electron transfer (${\Delta}G_{et(n)}$, for n = 1-3, which is given by the Rehm-Weller equation) between 1-9 and PCBM, p-EHO-PCBM, and p-EHO-PCBA (10-12) as [X-UT-Y]@R(where R is the adduct PCBM, p-EHO-PCBM, and p-EHO-PCBA group) (13-15) supramolecular complexes are presented and investigated.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제15권6호
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• pp.1323-1329
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• 2005

A mathematical model was developed for predicting the growth kinetics of Listeria monocytogenes in tryptic soy broth (TSB) as a function of combined effects of temperature, pH, and NaCl. The TSB containing four different concentrations of NaCl (2, 4, 5, and $10\%$) was initially adjusted to six different pH levels (pH 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10) and incubated at 4, 10, 25, or 37$^{circ}C$. In all experimental variables, the primary growth curves were well fitted ($r^{2}$=0.982 to 0.998) to a Gompertz equation to obtain the lag time (LT) and specific growth rate (SGR). Surface response models were identified as appropriate secondary models for LT and SGR on the basis of coefficient determination ($r^{2}$=0.907 for LT, 0.964 for SGR), mean square error (MSE=3.389 for LT, 0.018 for SGR), bias factor ($B_{1}$B,=0.706 for LT, 0.836 for SGR), and accuracy factor ($A_{f}$=1.567 for LT, 1.213 for SGR). Therefore, the developed secondary model proved reliable predictions of the combined effect of temperature, NaCl, and pH on both LT and SGR for L. monocytogenes in TSB.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제27권6호
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• pp.1138-1149
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• 2017

The use of microalgal biomass is an interesting technology for the removal of heavy metals from aqueous solutions owing to its high metal-binding capacity, but the interactions with bacteria as a strategy for the removal of toxic metals have been poorly studied. The goal of the current research was to investigate the potential of Burkholderia tropica co-immobilized with Chlorella sp. in polyurethane discs for the biosorption of Hg(II) from aqueous solutions and to evaluate the influence of different Hg(II) concentrations (0.041, 1.0, and 10 mg/l) and their exposure to different contact times corresponding to intervals of 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 h. As expected, microalgal bacterial biomass adhered and grew to form a biofilm on the support. The biosorption data followed pseudo-second-order kinetics, and the adsorption equilibrium was well described by either Langmuir or Freundlich adsorption isotherm, reaching equilibrium from 1 h. In both bacterial and microalgal immobilization systems in the co-immobilization of Chlorella sp. and B. tropica to different concentrations of Hg(II), the kinetics of biosorption of Hg(II) was significantly higher before 60 min of contact time. The highest percentage of biosorption of Hg(II) achieved in the co-immobilization system was 95% at pH 6.4, at 3.6 g of biosorbent, $30{\pm}1^{\circ}C$, and a mercury concentration of 1 mg/l before 60 min of contact time. This study showed that co-immobilization with B. tropica has synergistic effects on biosorption of Hg(II) ions and merits consideration in the design of future strategies for the removal of toxic metals.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제54권6호
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• pp.759-768
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• 2016

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) treatment urgently requires a novel drug. The p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are a family of Ser/Thr protein kinases, but still have to be characterized in Echinococcus granulosus. We identified a 1,107 bp cDNA encoding a 368 amino acid MAPK protein (Egp38) in E. granulosus. Egp38 exhibits 2 distinguishing features of p38-like kinases: a highly conserved T-X-Y motif and an activation loop segment. Structural homology modeling indicated a conserved structure among Egp38, EmMPK2, and H. sapiens $p38{\alpha}$, implying a common binding mechanism for the ligand domain and downstream signal transduction processing similar to that described for $p38{\alpha}$. Egp38 and its phosphorylated form are expressed in the E. granulosus larval stages vesicle and protoscolices during intermediate host infection of an intermediate host. Treatment of in vitro cultivated protoscolices with the p38-MAPK inhibitor ML3403 effectively suppressed Egp38 activity and led to significant protoscolices death within 5 days. Treatment of in vitro-cultivated protoscolices with $TGF-{\beta}1$ effectively induced Egp38 phosphorylation. In summary, the MAPK, Egp38, was identified in E. granulosus, as an anti-CE drug target and participates in the interplay between the host and E. granulosus via human $TGF-{\beta}1$.