• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.12
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• pp.1938-1946
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• 2019

Isomaltooligosaccharides (IMOs) have good prebiotic effects, and long IMOs (LIMOs) with a degree of polymerization (DP) of 7 or above show improved effects. However, they are not yet commercially available, and require costly enzymes and processes for production. The N-terminal region of the thermostable Thermoanaerobacter thermocopriae cycloisomaltooligosaccharide glucanotransferase (TtCITase) shows cyclic isomaltooligosaccharide (CI)-producing activity owing to a catalytic domain of glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 66 and carbohydrate-binding module (CBM) 35. In the present study, we elucidated the activity of the C-terminal region of TtCITase (TtCITase-C; Met740-Phe1,559), including a CBM35-like region and the GH family 15 domain. The domain was successfully cloned, expressed, and purified as a single protein with a molecular mass of 115 kDa. TtCITase-C exhibited optimal activity at 40℃ and pH 5.5, and retained 100% activity at pH 5.5 after 18-h incubation. TtCITase-C synthesized α-1,6 glucosyl products with over seven degrees of polymerization (DP) by an α-1,6 glucosyl transfer reaction from maltopentaose, isomaltopentaose, or commercialized maltodextrins as substrates. These results indicate that TtCITase-C could be used for the production of α-1,6 glucosyl oligosaccharides with over DP7 (LIMOs) in a more cost-effective manner, without requiring cyclodextran.

• BMB Reports
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.279-287
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• 1999

The aromatic hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a cytosolic protein that binds the environmental pollutant, dioxin. The liganded AhR translocates into the nucleus where it heterimerizes with a constitutive nuclear protein, AhR nuclear translocator (Arnt). The N-terminal regions of both AhR and Arnt contain basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) and Per-AhR-Arnt-Sim (PAS) motifs that are required for DNA binding, dimerization, and ligand binding whereas the C-terminal regions of both AhR and Arnt contain transactivation domains. Here, results from the mammalian two-hybrid system indicate that Arnt can make a homodimer but AhR cannot. In the presence of dioxin, the interaction between AhR and Arnt is stronger than that of the Arnt homodimer, suggesting that Arnt prefers to make a heterodimer with the liganded AhR rather than a homodimer. Transfection analyses using the GAL4-driven reporter system suggest that AhR's N-terminal region represses its own transactivation domain, as well as exogenous transactivation domains such as Sp 1 and VP16. Interestingly, the repressed transactivation domains of AhR are activated by ligand-dependent heterodimerization with Arnt. These observations suggest that heterodimerzation with Arnt is necessary not only for DNA binding but also for activation of the repressed transactivation capability of AhR.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.63-69
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• 2010

Monofunctional biosynthetic peptidoglycan transglycosylase (MBPT) catalyzes the formation of the glycan chain in bacterial cell walls from peptidoglycan subunits: N-acetylglucosamine (NAG) and acetylmuramic acid (NAM). Bifunctional glycosyltransferases such as the penicillin binding protein (PBP) have peptidoglycan glycosyltransferase (PGT) on their C terminal end which links together the peptidoglycan subunits while transpeptidase (TP) on the N terminal end cross-links the peptide moieties on the NAM monosaccharide of the peptide subunits to create the bacterial cell wall. The singular function of MBPT resembles the C terminal end of PBP as it too contains and utilizes a similar PGT domain. In this article we analyzed the infectious and non infectious protein sequences of MBPT from 31 different strains of bacteria using a variety of bioinformatic tools. Motif analysis, dot-plot comparison, and phylogenetic analysis identified a number of significant differences between infectious and non-infectious protein sequences. In this paper we have made an attempt to explain, analyze and discuss these differences from an evolutionary perspective. The results of our sequence analysis may open the door for utilizing MBPT as a new target to fight a variety of infectious bacteria.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.1935-1939
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• 2006

The gene encoding the extracellular medium-chain-length poly(3-hydroxyalkanoate) (MCL-PHA) depolymerase of Pseudomonas luteola Ml3-4, $phaZ_{plu}$, was cloned and analyzed. It was found to be 849 bp, with a deduced protein of 282 amino acids, and was revealed to have a typical leader peptide at its N terminus. The amino acid sequence of $PhaZ_{plu}$ revealed relatively low identity (69 to 72%) with those of other Pseudomonas MCL-PHA depolymerases. In comparison with the amino acid sequences of all available MCL-PHA depolymerases, the depolymerase was found to consist of three domains in sequential order; signal peptide, an N-terminal substrate binding domain, and a catalytic domain, indicating that $PhaZ_{plu}$ belongs to the type IV depolymerases family. The enzyme also contained Asn as an oxyanion hole amino acid.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.289-293
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• 2008

The role of SPOP in the ubiquitination of $ER{\alpha}$ by the Cullin3-based E3 ubiquitin ligase complex was investigated. We showed that the N-terminal region of SPOP containing the MATH domain interacts with the AF-2 domain of $ER{\alpha}$ in cultured human embryonic 293 cells. SPOP was required for coimmunoprecipitation of $ER{\alpha}$ with Cullin3. This is the first report of the essential role of SPOP in $ER{\alpha}$ ubiquitination by the Cullin3-based E3 ubiquitin ligase complex. We also demonstrated repression of the transactivation capability of $ER{\alpha}$ in cultured mammalian cells.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.37 no.10
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• pp.753-758
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• 2014

Sorting nexin 9 (SNX9) is a member of the sorting nexin family of proteins and plays a critical role in clathrinmediated endocytosis. It has a Bin-Amphiphysin-Rvs (BAR) domain which can form a crescent-shaped homodimer structure that induces deformation of the plasma membrane. While other BAR-domain containing proteins such as amphiphysin and endophilin have an amphiphatic helix in front of the BAR domain which plays a critical role in membrane penetration, SNX9 does not. Thus, whether and how SNX9 BAR domain could induce the deformation of the plasma membrane is not clear. The present study identified the internal putative amphiphatic stretch in the $1^{st}$ ${\alpha}$-helix of the SNX9 BAR domain and proved that together with the N-terminal helix ($H_0$) region, this internal putative amphiphatic stretch is critical for inducing membrane tubulation. Therefore, our study shows that SNX9 uses a unique mechanism to induce the tubulation of the plasma membrane which mediates proper membrane deformation during clathrinmediated endocytosis.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.503-510
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• 2013

Toxoplasma gondii is an apicomplexan parasite with a broad host range of most warm-blooded mammals including humans, of which one-thirds of the human population has been infected worldwide which can cause congenital defects, abortion, and neonatal complications. Here, we developed a rapid diagnostic test (RDT) for T. gondii infection. Antigenic N-terminal half of the major surface antigen (SAG1) was linked with intrinsically unstructured domain (IUD) of dense granule protein 2 (GRA2). The recombinant GST-GRA2-SAG1A protein was successfully expressed and purified as 51 kDa of molecular weight. Furthermore, antigenicity and solubility of the rGST-GRA2-SAG1A protein were significantly increased. The overall specificity and sensitivity of GST-GRA2-SAG1A loaded RDT (TgRDT) were estimated as 100% and 97.1% by comparing with ELISA result which uses T. gondii whole cell lysates as the antigen. The TgRDT tested with Uganda people sera for field trial and showed 31.9% of seroprevalence against T. gondii antibody. The TgRDT is proved to be a kit for rapid and easy to use with high accuracy, which would be a suitable serodiagnostic tool for toxoplasmosis.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.9
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• pp.1416-1421
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• 2006

We identified a gene encoding the N-acetylmuramoyl L-alanine amidase (amiB) of Vibrio anguillarum, which catalyzes the degradation of peptidoglycan in bacteria. The entire open reading frame (ORF) of the amiB gene was composed of 1,722 nucleotides and 573 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence of AmiB showed a modular structure with two main domains; an N-terminal region exhibiting an Ami domain and three highly conserved, continuously repeating LysM domains in the C-terminal portion. An amiB mutant was constructed by homologous recombination to study the biochemical function of the AmiB protein in V. anguillarum. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed morphological differences, and that the mutant strain formed trimeric and tetrameric unseparated cells, suggesting that this enzyme is involved in the separation of daughter cells after cell division. Furthermore, inactivation of the amiB gene resulted in a marked increase of sensitivity to oxidative stress and organic acids.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.10-14
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• 2014

Hsp90 is a good drug target molecule that is involved in regulating various signaling pathway in normal cell and the role of Hsp90 is highly emphasized especially in cancer cells. Thus, much efforts for discovery and development of Hsp90 inhibitor have been continued and a few Hsp90 inhibitors targeting the N-terminal ATP binding site are being tested in the clinical trials. There are no metabolic signature molecules that can be used to evaluate the effect of Hsp90 inhibition. We previously found a potential C-domain binder named PPC1 that is a synthetic small molecule. Here we report the metabolomics study to find signature metabolites upon treatment of PPC1 compound in lung cancer cell line, A549 and discuss the potentiality of metabolomic approach for evaluation of hit compounds.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.205-210
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• 2013

Lumazine protein is a fluorescent protein isolated from the bioluminescent bacteria of Photobacterium species. To generate minimal size of lumazine protein with possessing fluorescent characteristic, the gene coding for the wild type N-terminal domain of lumazine protein (N-LumP 118) containing amino acids up to 118 from Photobacterium leiognathi was produced. In addition, the genes coding for the variant proteins of N-LumP 118, replaced with one tryptophan amino acid (N-LumP 118 V41W, S48W, T50W, D64W, and A66W), were also constructed by Polymerase Chain Reaction and Site Directed Mutagenesis. These proteins were expressed in Escherichia coli by transformation with recombinant plasmids and purified by 6X-His tagging system. Spectroscopic studies have show that the purified proteins are capable of binding to the fluorescent ligand 6,7-dimethyl-8-ribityllumazine, resulted in showing of fluorescent characteristic with the minimal size of protein. From these studies, the mutant proteins containing single tryptophan amino acid residue, possessing its own intrinsic flouophore character at the different position, will be able to the use as a probe for further studies to deduce their three dimensional structure and the binding modes.