• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.161-170
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• 2002

For the hairy root of Panax ginseng, we have got mass spectrums from MALDI/TOF/MS analysis and Tandem mass spectrums from ESI/Q-TOF/MS analysis. While mass spectrum provides the molecular weights of peptide fragments digested by protease such as trypsin, tandem mass spectrum produces amino acid sequence of digested peptides. Each amino acid sequences can be a query sequence in BLAST search to identify proteins. For the specimens of animals or plants of which genome sequences were known, we can easily identify expressed proteins from mass spectrums with high accuracy. However, for the other specimens such as ginseng, it is difficult to identify proteins with accuracy since all the protein sequences are not available yet. Here we compared the mass spectrums and the peptide amino acid sequences with ginseng expressed sequence tag (EST) DB. The matched EST sequence was used as a query in BLAST search for protein identification. They could offer the correct protein information by the sequence alignment with EST sequences. 90% of peptide sequences of ESI/Q-TOF/MS are matched with EST sequences. Comparing 68% matches of the same sequences with the nr database of NCBI, we got more matches by 22% from ginseng EST sequence search. In case of peptide mass fingerprinting from MALDI/TOF/MS, only about 19% (9 proteins of 47 spots) among peptide matches from nr DB were correlated with ginseng EST DB. From these results, we suggest that amino acid sequencing using tandem mass spectrum analysis may be necessary for protein identification in ginseng proteome analysis.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.716-722
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• 2006

Superoxide dismutase (SOD) is physiologically important in regulating cellular homeostasis and apoptotic cell death, and its mutations are the cause of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FALS). Mitochondrial serine protease HtrA2 has a pro-apoptotic function and has known to be associated with neurodegenerative disorders. To investigate the relationship between genes associated with apoptotic cell death, such as HtrA2 and SOD1, we utilized the pGEX expression system to develop a simple and rapid method for purifying wild-type and ALS-associated mutant SOD1 proteins in a suitable form for biochemical studies. We purified SOD1 and SOD1 (G93A) proteins to approximately 90% purity with relatively high yields (3 mg per liter of culture). Consistent with the result in mammalian cells, SOD1 (G93A) was more insoluble than wild-type SOD1 in E. coli, indicating that research on the aggregate formation of SOD1 may be possible using this pGEX expression system in E. coli. We investigated the HtrA2 serine protease activity on SOD1 to assess the relationship between two proteins. Not only wild-type SOD1 but also ALS-associated mutant SOD1 (G93A) were cleaved by HtrA2, resulting in the production of the 19 kDa and 21 kDa fragments that were specific for anti-SOD1 antibody. Using protein gel electrophoresis and immunoblot assay, we compared the relative molecular masses of thrombin-cleaved GST-SOD1 and HtrA2-cleaved SOD1 fragments and can predict that the HtrA2-cleavage sites within SOD1 are the peptide bonds between leucine 9-lysine 10 (L9-K10) and glutamine 23-lysine 24 (Q23-K24). Our study indicates that SOD1 is one of the substrate for HtrA2, suggesting that both HtrA2 and SOD1 may be important for modulating the HtrA2-SOD1-mediated apopotic cell death that is associated with the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorder.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.584-590
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• 2017

Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) bind to ice crystals and inhibit their growth. AFPs are essential for the survival of organisms living in subzero environments. Type I AFP (AFP37) isolated from winter flounder is an ${\alpha}$-helical peptide of 37 residues long. In this study, we attempted to develop short AFP fragments with higher activity and solubility. We designed and synthesized N-terminal 15 and 21 residue-long AFPs, designated AFP15 and 21. Also dimerized AFP15 and 21, designated dAFP15N and dAFP21N, respectively, were generated through disulfide bonds between peptides containing CGG residues added to the N-terminus of AFP15 and AFP21 (designated AFP15N and 21N). Their helical contents and antifreeze activities were assessed using circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy and a nanoliter osmometer, respectively. The helical content of AFP15 AFP21, AFP15N, AFP21N, dAFP15N and dAFP21N was 47, 48, 23.8, 28, 49.1, and 52%, respectively compared to that of wild type AFP37; the antifreeze activity was 8.4, 9.3, 0.05, 5.6, 12.1, 11.2% respectively, compared to that of wild type AFP37. Contrary to our anticipation, the dimerized peptides showed almost the same antifreeze activity as their monomeric counterparts. These results indicate that the dimerized peptides behave as monomeric peptides due to the high rotational freedom of disulfide bonds connecting two monomeric peptides. The star-shaped ice crystals generated by the peptides also demonstrated weak interaction between ice and peptides.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.1944-1953
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• 2015

A novel alkaline protease from Streptomyces sp. M30, SapHM, was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation, hydrophobic interaction chromatography, and DEAE-Sepharose chromatography, with a yield of 15.5% and a specific activity of 29,070 U/mg. Tryptic fragments of the purified SapHM were obtained by electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Nucleotide sequence analysis revealed that the gene sapHM contained 1,179 bp, corresponding to 392 amino acids with conserved Asp156, His187, and Ser339 residues of alkaline protease. The first 24 amino acid residues were predicted to be a signal peptide, and the molecular mass of the mature peptide was 37.1 kDa based on amino acid sequences and mass spectrometry. Pure SapHM was optimally active at 80℃ in 50 mM glycine-NaOH buffer (pH 9.0), and was broadly stable at 0-50℃ and pH 4.0-9.0. The protease relative activity was increased in the presence of Ni²⁺, Mn²⁺, and Cu²⁺ to 112%, 113%, and 147% of control, respectively. Pure SapHM was also activated by dimethylformamide, dimethyl sulfoxide, Tween 80, and urea. The activity of the purified enzyme was completely inhibited by phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, indicating that it is a serine-type protease. The K_m and V_max values were estimated to be 35.7 mg/ml, and 5 × 10⁴ U/mg for casein. Substrate specificity analysis showed that SapH was active on casein, bovine serum albumin, and bovine serum fibrin.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.654-660
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• 2013

Three Korean native steers ($779{\pm}24$ kg) fitted with duodenal cannulas were used in a $3{\times}3$ Latin square design to investigate the influence of oral administration of soluble proteins, intact casein (IC) and acid hydrolyzed casein (AHC), on gastro-intestinal hormone (GIH) secretion in the blood and pancreatic ${\alpha}$-amylase activity in the duodenum. Oral treatment consisted of a basic diet (control), IC (C+100% protein), or AHC (C+80% amino acid, 20% peptide) for 21 d. Blood and duodenum samples were collected for measurement of serum GI hormones, and pancreatic ${\alpha}$-amylase activity was determined at 900, 1030, 1330, 1630, and 1930 h after feeding on d 21 of treatment. The levels of serum cholecystokinin (CCK) and secretin in the IC treatment group were higher compared to the other treatment groups (p<0.05). In addition to the changes in CCK and secretin levels upon IC treatment, the pancreatic ${\alpha}$-amylase activity in the duodenum was higher in the IC group compared to the control diet group (p<0.05). The response of serum ghrelin to IC and AHC treatment was in accordance with the response of serum secretin. The level of peptide fragments flowing in the duodenum was higher in the IC treatment group than the other treatment groups (p<0.05). In conclusion, this study demonstrated that an increase in duodenal CCK and secretin upon IC oral administration increased pancreatic ${\alpha}$-amylase secretion. In addition, ghrelin may be associated with GI hormone secretion in Korean native steers.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.924-939
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• 2016

The great economic losses caused by Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) infection of peppers has led to the development of genetically modified (GM) CMV-resistant peppers. We developed virus-resistant pepper plants using Agrobacterium tumefaciens -mediated transformation. The expressed recombinant protein was purified using nickel-nitrilotriacetic acid resin and immunoaffinity chromatography, and purity was assessed by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Immunoblot analysis revealed the purified CMV coat protein (CMV-CP) had a molecular mass of 25 kDa. After in-gel digestion and desalting, the internal peptide fragments of CMV-CP were sequenced by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight. Most GM pepper and Escherichia coli BL21 internal peptides had identical peptide sequences and contained 137 of 183 whole peptides in CMV-CP. A quantitative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was performed to detect CMV-resistant GM peppers. We also provide basic information about the expressed protein in GM peppers for further safety assessment. The contents of soluble protein and CMV-CP were measured in GM and control peppers cultivated in three different areas of Korea. Statistical significance in terms of cultivation areas, harvest times, generations, and plant tissue origin were determined based on a P value of 0.05. The highest amount of CMV-CP was detected at the seedling stage from plant grown in each region. T3 and T5 showed significantly different levels of CMV-CP from T4 in leaves in the whorl stage. No statistical differences were observed among GM peppers at different stages of maturity in any cultivation area. The results from this study contribute to the safety evaluation of newly designed CMV-resistant GM peppers and provide a standard against which to compare other virus-resistant GM peppers.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.160-167
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• 2014

Oligopeptidase B (OpdB) is a serine peptidase widespread among bacteria and protozoa that has emerged as a virulence factor despite its function has not yet been precisely established. By using an OpdB-overexpressing Escherichia coli strain, we found that the overexpressed peptidase makes the bacterial cells specifically less susceptible to several proline-rich antimicrobial peptides known to penetrate into the bacterial cytosol, and that its level of activity directly correlates with the degree of resistance. We established that E. coli OpdB can efficiently hydrolyze in vitro cationic antimicrobial peptides up to 30 residues in length, even though they contained several prolines, shortening them to inactive fragments. Two consecutive basic residues are a preferred cleavage site for the peptidase. In the case of a single basic residue, there is no cleavage if proline residues are present in the $P_1$ and $P_2$ positions. These results also indicate that cytosolic peptidases may cause resistance to antimicrobial peptides that have an intracellular mechanism of action, such as the proline-rich peptides, and may contribute to define the substrate specificity of the E. coli OpdB.

• The KIPS Transactions:PartD
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• v.10D no.2
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• pp.261-266
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• 2003

A protein, which is a linear polymer of amino acids, is one of the most important bio-molecules composing biological structures and regulating bio-chemical reactions. Since the characteristics and functions of proteins are determined by their amino acid sequences in principle, protein sequence determination is the starting point of protein function study. This paper proposes a protein sequence prediction method based on data mining techniques, which can overcome the limitation of previous bio-chemical sequencing methods. After applying multiple proteases to acquire overlapped protein fragments, we can identify candidate fragment sequences by comparing fragment mass values with peptide databases. We propose a method to construct multi-partite graph and search maximal paths to determine the protein sequence by assembling proper candidate sequences. In addition, experimental results based on the SWISS-PROT database showing the validity of the proposed method is presented.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.179-184
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• 2007

This study introduces the characteristics and some applications of repetitive polypeptides, especially to the biomaterial, tissue engineering scaffolds, drug delivery system, and DNA separation systems. Since some fibrous proteins, which consist of repeating peptide monomers, have been reported that their physical properties are changed dramatically by means of temperature alteration or pH shifting. For that reason, fibrous protein-mimetic polypeptides, which are produced by the recombinant technology, can be applied to the diverse biological fields. Repetitive polypeptides can also be used in the bioseparation area such as DNA sequencing, because they make DNA separation possible in free-solution electrophoresis by conjugating DNA fragments to them. Moreover, artificial synthesis of repetitive polypeptides helps to demonstrate the correlations between mechanical properties and structures of natural protein polymer, which have been proven that repetitive domains are affected by the sequence of the repeating domains and the number of repeating subunits. Repetitive polypeptides can be biologically synthesized using some special cloning methods, which are represented here. Recursive directional ligation (RDL) and controlled cloning method (CCM) have been proposed as excellent cloning methods in that we can control the number of repetition in the multimerization of polypeptides and the components of repetitive polypeptides by either method.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.587-594
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• 2000

Monoclonal antibodies against glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) from Sulfolobus solfataricus were produced and characterized using epitope mapping and biosensor technology, Five monoclonal antibodies raised against S. solfataricus GDH were each identified as a single protein band that comigrated with purified S. solfataricus GDH on the SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoblot. Epitope mapping analysis showed that only one subgroup among the antibodies tested recognized the same peptide fragments of GDH. Using the anti-S. solfataricus GDH antibodies as probes, the cross-reactivities of GDHs from various sources were investigated and it was found that the mammalian GDH is not immunologically related to S. solfataricus GDH. The structural differences between the microbial and mammalian GDHs were further investigated using biosensor technology (Pharmacia BIAcore) and monoclonal antibodies against S. solfataricus and bovine brain. The binding affinity of S. solfataricus glutamate dehydrogenase anti-S. solfataricus for GDH ($K_D$=11 nM) was much tighter than that of anti-bovine for GDH ($K_D$=450 nM). These results, together with the epitope mapping analysis, suggest that there may be structural differences between the two GDH species, in addition to their different biochemical properties.