• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.9
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• pp.2537-2541
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• 2010

We chose a fluorescent pentapeptide sensor (-CPGHE) containing a dansyl fluorophore as a model peptide and investigated whether the selectivity and sensitivity of the peptides for heavy and transition metal ions could be tuned by changing amino acid sequence. In this process, we developed a selective peptide sensor, Cp1-d (-HHPGE, $K_d\;=\;670\;nM$) for detection of $Zn^{2+}$ in 100% aqueous solution and a selective and sensitive peptide sensor, Cp1-e (-CCHPGE, $K_d\;=\;24\;nM$) for detection of $Cd^{2+}$ in 100% aqueous solution. Overall results indicate that the selectivity and sensitivity of the metallopeptide sensors to specific heavy and transition metal ions can be tuned by changing amino acid sequence.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.11
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• pp.3099-3102
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• 2010

A label-free DNA detection method was developed for a simple electrochemical DNA sensor with a short assay time. Self-assembled monolayers of peptide nucleic acid were used as a probe on gold electrodes. The formation of the self-assembled monolayers on the gold electrodes was successfully checked by means of cyclic voltammetry. The target DNA, hybridized with peptide nucleic acid, can be detected by the anodic peak current of ferrocene dendrimers, which interact electrostatically with the target DNA. This anodic peak current was measured by square wave voltammetry at 0.3 V to decrease the detection limit on the order of the nanomolar concentrations. As a result, the label-free electrochemical DNA sensor can detect the target DNA in concentrations ranging from 1 nM to $1\;{\mu}M$ with a detection limit of 1 nM.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 2017

We precisely measured and analyzed the dynamics of peptide-antibody interactions, using an ellipsometric biosensor based on a silicon substrate. To reduce the signal error due to the imperfect flatness of the substrate for extremely low concentrations of peptide, we fabricated the biosensor with a silicon substrate coated with Dextran SAM, instead of a glass prism coated with a thin metallic thin film. At an injection speed of $100{\mu}l/min$ of buffer liquid, we detected the dynamics of antibody-Dextran SAM or peptide-antibody fixed on biosensor, respectively. We detected the dynamics of antibody-Dextran SAM interactions down to a low concentration of 5 ng per liter, and we precisely measured the dynamics of association and dissociation of peptide and antibody down to 100 nM of peptide. We obtained the rate constants for association and dissociation from fitting the data by using deduced dynamical equation. As a result, we obtained an equilibrium constant for dissociation of 97 nM of peptide-antibody complex, which belongs to Class I.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.12
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• pp.3703-3706
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• 2010

Biomolecules specific to explosives can be exploited as chemical sensors. Peptides specific to immobilized dinitrotoluene (DNT) were identified using a phage display library. A derivative of DNT that contained an extended amine group, 4-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)butan-1-amine, was synthesized and immobilized using a self-assembled monolayer surface on gold. Filamentous M13 phages displaying random sequences of 12-mer peptides specific to the immobilized DNT-derivate were isolated from the M13 phage library by biopanning. A common peptide sequence was identified from the isolated phages and the synthesized peptides showed selective binding to DNT. When the peptide was immobilized on a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) chip, it showed a binding signal to DNT, while toluene barely showed significant binding to the QCM chip. These results demonstrate that peptides screened by biopanning against immobilized DNT can be useful for quick and accurate detection of DNT.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.339-344
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• 2012

This article describes a novel method for the detection of amyloid-${\beta}$($A{\beta}$) peptide that utilizes a photo-sensitive field-effect transistor (p-FET). According to a recent study, $A{\beta}$ protein has been known to play a central role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Accordingly, we investigated the variation of photo current generated from p-FET with and without intracellular magnetic beads conjugated with $A{\beta}$ peptides, which are placed on the p-FET sensing areas. The decrease of photo current was observed due to the presence of the magnetic beads on the channel region. Moreover, a similar characteristic was shown when the Raw 264 cells take in magnetic beads treated with $A{\beta}$ peptide. This means that it is possible to simply detect a certain protein using magnetic beads and a p-FET device. Therefore, in this paper, we suggest that our method could detect tiny amounts of $A{\beta}$ for early diagnosis of AD using the p-FET devices.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.34-41
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• 2024

Extracellular traps (ETs), primarily composed of DNA and antibacterial peptides, are mainly secreted by neutrophils to inhibit pathogen spread and eliminate microorganisms. Recent reports suggest that microglia can also secrete ETs, and these microglial ETs are associated with various neurological conditions, including nerve injury, tumor microenvironment, and ischemic stroke. However, the components and functions of microglial ETs remain underexplored. Secretagogin (Scgn), a calcium-sensor protein, plays a crucial role in the release of peptide hormones, such as insulin, in endocrine cells; however, its function in immune cells, including microglia, is not well understood. Our study demonstrated that Scgn deficiency can lead to the formation of abnormal ETs. We hypothesized that this may involve the c-Jun N-terminal kinase-myeloperoxidase pathway and autophagy.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.9-14
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• 2003

Recent studies indicated that cancer cells become resistant to ionizing radiation (IR) and chemotherapy drugs by enhanced DNA repair of the lesions. Therefore, it is expected to increase the killing of cancer cells and reduce drug resistance by inhibiting DNA repair pathways that tumor cells rely on to escape chemotherapy. There are a number of key human DNA repair pathways which depend on multimeric polypeptide activities. For example, Ku heterodimer regulatory DNA binding subunits (Ku70/Ku80) on binding to double strand DNA breaks (DSBs) are able to interact with 470-kDa DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs), and are essential for DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) activity. It has been known that DNA-PK is an important factor for DNA repair and also is a sensor-transmitting damage signal to downstream targets, leading to cell cycles arrest. Our ultimate goal is to develop a treatment of breast tumors by targeting proteins involved in damage-signaling pathway and/or DNA repair. This would greatly facilitate tumor cell cytotoxic activity and programmed cell death through DNA damaging drug treatment. Therefore, we designed a domain of Ku80 mutants that binds to Ku70 but not DNA end binding activity and used the peptide in co-therapy strategy to see whether the targeted inhibition of DNA-PK activity sensitized breast cancer cells to irradiation or chemotherapy drug. We observed that the synthesized peptide (HNI-38) prevented DNA-PKcs from binding to Ku70/Ku80, thus resulting in inactivation of DNA-PK activity. Consequently, the peptide treated cells exhibited poor to no DNA repair, and became highly sensitive to IR or chemotherapy drugs, and the growth of breast cancer cells was inhibited. Additionally, the results obtained in the present study also support the physiological role of resistance of cancer cells to IR or chemotherapy.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.134-138
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• 2017

Salmonella enterica infects a broad range of host animals, and zoonostic infection threatens both public health and the livestock and meat processing industries. Many antimicrobials have been developed to target Salmonella envelope that performs essential bacterial functions; however, there are very few analytical methods that can be used to validate the efficacy of these antimicrobials. In this study, to develop a potential biosensor for Salmonella envelope stress, we examined the transcription of the S. enterica serovar typhimurium spy gene, the ortholog of which in Escherichia coli encodes Spy (${\underline{s}}pheroplast$ ${\underline{p}}rotein$ ${\underline{y}}$). Spy is a chaperone protein expressed and localized in the periplasm of E. coli during spheroplast formation, or by exposure to protein denaturing conditions. spy expression in S. typhimurium was examined by constructing a spy-gfp transcriptional fusion. S. typhimurium spy transcription was strongly induced during spheroplast formation, and also when exposed to membrane-disrupting agents, including ethanol and the antimicrobial peptide polymyxin B. Moreover, spy induction required the activity of regulator proteins BaeR and CpxR, which are part of the major envelope stress response systems BaeS/BaeR and CpxA/CpxR, respectively. Results suggest that monitoring spy transcription may be useful to determine whether a molecule particularly cause envelope stress in Salmonella.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.1573-1576
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• 2010

Bacillus subtilis PerR is a metal-dependent peroxide-sensing transcription factor which uses metal-catalyzed histidine oxidation for peroxide-sensing. PerR contains two metal binding sites, one for structural $Zn^{2+}$ and the other for the regulatory/peroxide-sensing metal. Here we investigated the effect of mutations at both the structural and regulatory metal binding sites on the oxidation of either H37 or H91, two of the peroxide-sensing ligands. All four serine substitution mutants at the structural $Zn^{2+}$ site (C96S, C99S, C136S and C139S) exhibited no detectable oxidation at histidine residues. Two of the alanine substitution mutants at regulatory metal site (H37A and D85A) exhibited selective oxidation preferentially at the H91-containing tryptic peptide, whereas no oxidation was detected in the other mutants (H91A, H93A and D104A). Our results suggest that the cysteine residues coordinating structural $Zn^{2+}$ are essential for peroxide sensing by PerR, and that the C-terminal regulatory metal binding site composed of H91, H93 and D104 can bind $Fe^{2+}$, providing a possible explanation for the peroxide sensing mechanisms by PerR.

• Food Engineering Progress
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.413-419
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• 2011

For producing a high added-value natural seasoning ingredient, a yeast extract (Yx) was supplemented with a rice protein residue fermented with Bacillus licheniformis (Rfl) or with Bacillus subtilis (Rfs). A rice protein residue was obtained after enzymatic hydrolysis of rice protein which was used for preparing a yeast culture medium. Overall acceptabilities of the supplemented yeast extracts (YxRfl or YxRfs) were higher compared to pure yeast extract. Savory taste like umami was found to increase noticeably by adding a fermented rice protein residue to yeast extract, which was confirmed in taste sensor analysis and in sensory test. Beyond the presence of savory tasting amino acids such as Glu and Asp in a fermented rice protein residue, it is assumed that other soluble peptide fractions remained play an important role in enhancing taste of the supplemented yeast extracts. Thus, the yeast extract added with a fermented rice protein residue could be applied to manufacture a natural seasoning ingredient.