• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제29권1호
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• pp.30-36
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• 2019

Numerous studies have reported that enteric neurons involved in controlling neurotransmitter secretion and motility in the gut critically contribute to the progression of gut inflammation. Clostridium difficile toxins, which cause severe colonic inflammation, are also known to affect enteric neurons. Our previous study showed that C. difficile toxin A directly induces neural cell toxicities, such as viability loss and apoptosis. In the current study, we attempted to identify a potent inhibitor of toxin A-induced neural cell toxicity that may aid in managing toxin A-induced gut inflammation. In our recent study, we found that the Korea dung beetle-derived antimicrobial peptide CopA3 completely blocked neural cell apoptosis caused by okadaic acid or 6-OHDA. Here, we examined whether the antimicrobial peptide CopA3 inhibited toxin A-induced neural cell damage. In neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells, CopA3 treatment protected against both apoptosis and viability loss caused by toxin A. CopA3 also completely inhibited activation of the pro-apoptotic factor, caspase-3. Additionally, CopA3 rescued toxin A-induced downregulation of neural cell proliferation. However, CopA3 had no effect on signaling through ROS/p38 $MAPK/p27^{kip1}$, suggesting that CopA3 inhibits toxin A-induced neural cell toxicity independent of this well-characterized toxin A pathway. Our data further suggest that ability of CopA3 to rescue toxin A-induced neural cell damage may also ameliorate the gut inflammation caused by toxin A.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제27권4호
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• pp.694-700
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• 2017

Clostridium difficile, which causes pseudomembranous colitis, releases toxin A and toxin B. These toxins are considered to be the main causative agents for the disease pathogenesis, and their expression is associated with a marked increase of apoptosis in mucosal epithelial cells. Colonic epithelial cells are believed to form a physical barrier between the lumen and the submucosa, and abnormally increased mucosal epithelial cell apoptosis is considered to be an initial step in gut inflammation responses. Therefore, one approach to treating pseudomembranous colitis would be to develop agents that block the mucosal epithelial cell apoptosis caused by toxin A, thus restoring barrier function and curing inflammatory responses in the gut. We recently isolated an antimicrobial peptide, Periplanetasin-2 (Peri-2, YPCKLNLKLGKVPFH) from the American cockroach, whose extracts have shown great potential for clinical use. Here, we assessed whether Peri-2 could inhibit the cell toxicity and inflammation caused by C. difficile toxin A. Indeed, in human colonocyte HT29 cells, Peri-2 inhibited the toxin A-induced decrease in cell proliferation and ameliorated the cell apoptosis induced by this toxin. Moreover, in the toxin A-induced mouse enteritis model, Peri-2 blocked the mucosal disruption and inflammatory response caused by toxin A. These results suggest that the American cockroach peptide Peri-2 could be a possible drug candidate for addressing the pseudomembranous colitis caused by C. difficile toxin A.

• BMB Reports
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• 제28권3호
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• pp.227-231
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• 1995

In order to figure out the relationships between structural features and biological activity of the host-specific HC-toxin in maize, structurally related cyclic tetrapeptides, chlamydocin and CYL-2 were isolated, and their biological activities in maize were examined. Biological activities of preparations were determined by root growth inhibition and electrolyte leakage bioassays. Chlamydocin and CYL-2 showed toxicities to maize. However, the toxicities of these compounds were non-specific. Thus, the precise peptide ring structure of HC-toxin apparently does not play an important role in toxicity, while resistance of maize to HC-toxin is based on a precise ring conformation.

• BMB Reports
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• 제40권1호
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• pp.113-118
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• 2007

Tolaasin, a pore-forming peptide toxin, is produced by Pseudomonas tolaasii and causes brown blotch disease of the cultivated mushrooms. P. tolaasii 6264 was isolated from the oyster mushroom damaged by the disease in Korean. In order to isolate tolaasin molecules, the supernatant of bacterial culture was harvested at the stationary phase of growth. Tolaasin was prepared by ammonium sulfate precipitation and three steps of chromatograpies, including a gel permeation and two ion exchange chromatographies. Specific hemolytic activity of tolaasin was increased from 1.7 to 162.0 HU $mg^{-1}$ protein, a 98-fold increase, and the purification yield was 16.3%. Tolaasin preparation obtained at each purification step was analyzed by HPLC and SDS-PAGE. Two major peptides were detected from all chromatographic preparations. Their molecular masses were analyzed by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and they were identified as tolaasin I and tolaasin II. These results demonstrate that the method used in this study is simple, time-saving, and successful for the preparation of tolaasin.

• 한국균학회지
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• 제16권1호
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• pp.9-15
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• 1988

H. sativum 배양액에서 두가지 종류의 식물독소물질이 검출되었으며, 이들을 M-toxin과 D-toxin으로 명명하였다. Lettuce 식물반응결과는 D-toxin 보다 뿌리성장의 저해작용이 적었다. 화학분석결과 M-toxin은 특별히 작은 peptid로 되어 있었다. D-toxin는 Helrninthosporal와 화학적 성질이 비슷하였으나 같지는 않았다. 이는 UV, proton NMR와 질량분석기의 기본 자료인 결과이며, D-toxin은 적어도 두개의 isomers로 되어 있었다.

• 대한치과의사협회지
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• 제41권12호통권415호
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• pp.826-830
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• 2003

botulinum toxin type A는 anaerobic bacterium clostridium botulinum에서 유래된 poly peptide neurotoxin으로서 사시, 안면연축, 수부다한증등에 치료목적으로 안정적으로 사용되어오다 최근에는 이마주름, 눈가주름등 주름살의 개선 목적으로 널리 사용되어 오고있다. 특히 턱얼굴외과 영역에서는 이러한 주름살의 개선이외에도 사각턱, 안면 신경의 이상으로 인한 안면 비대칭등 적용범위가 상당히 넓고 치료효과도 만족할 만하다고 하겠다. 이에 턱얼굴외과의사 나아가 치과의사들의 많은 사용을 기대하여 botulinum toxin 사용의 역사적 배경, 약리 및 작용기전, 가능한 합병증, 턱얼굴영역에서의 적용가능성 등에 대해 알아보고자 한다.

• 대한화학회지
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• 제59권1호
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• pp.22-30
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• 2015

본 연구에서는 디프테리아 독소가 세포막의 지질에 미치는 영향을 알아보기 위해 HepG2 세포에서 포스포리파제 D와 유리된 지방산(Free fatty acid)의 변화를 살펴보았다. 지질변화는 pH 5.1에서 최고 값을 나타냈으며, 이 pH에서 포스포리파아제 D의 활성을 3.5배 가량, 유리된 지방산의 방출은 5배 정도 증가되었다. 이는 디프테리아 독소가 세포 안으로 들어가는 과정에서 세포막이 교란되어 재배열되었음을 시사한다. 한편 세포막을 무작위로 교란시키는 디지토닌의 영향이 디프테리아 독소의 그것보다 중성 pH에서 4배 이상 상당히 높게 나타난 것으로 미루어 보아 디프테리아 독소의 영향이 상대적으로 선택적인 교란 현상인 것으로 보여진다. 이런 세포막 교란의 연유를 밝히고자 세포막 구멍 형성 저해제인 cibacron blue와 세포막 융합 펩티드를 갖고 있는 hemagglutinin의 영향을 검토하였다. Cibacron blue는 디프테리아 독소에 의한 지질 변화를 50% 정도 저해시켰으며, hemagglutinin에 의한 지질변화는 디프테리아 독소의 그것과 유사함을 관찰 할 수 있었다. 이들 결과들은 디프테리아 독소에 의한 세포막 교란이 구멍형성과 독소의 소수성 펩티드가 세포막에 삽입되는 과정이 서로 연계되어 있음을 암시한다. 그 외 일련의 실험으로 디프테리아 독소가 세포막을 통과하는 과정에서 HepG2 세포의 투과성은 상승시켰으나, 세포의 생존능력은 상당히 높게 유지되었고 DNA 토막내기 같은 세포의 괴사는 일어나지 않았다. 이런 조건하에서 디프테리아 독소는 산성 pH에서 HepG2 세포의 지질의 변화를 가져 온다는 것을 밝힐 수 있었다.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제12권6호
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• pp.986-988
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• 2002

A plasmid expression vector of pEStxl encoding a mature form of the B chain of the Shiga toxin was constructed without a signal peptide under the control of an inducible n promoter. The encoded protein was purified to 90% by simple heat treatment, and then further purified to 95% by Phenyl-Sepharose and DEAE-Sepharose chromatographies, all in a single day. Accordingly, this expression system and heat treatment could facilitate the rapid purification of gram-scale amounts of the Shiga toxin B subunit from recombinant Escherichia coli cells.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• 제50권4호
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• pp.257-261
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• 2007

Pseudomonas tolaasii에 의해서 분비되는 펩티드 독소인 tolaasin은 재배버섯에 세균성 갈반병을 유발한다. Tolaasin의 독성은 적혈구를 파괴하는 용혈활성으로 평가된다. Tolaasin 펩티드는 C-말단부위에 두 개의 amine기를 갖고있어, 이 펩티드의 세포막 결합은 amine기의 전하상태에 따라 다를 수 있다. 이것을 확인하기 위하여 tolaasin을 적정하였을 때, 적정곡선은 pH 7.0에서 9.6 사이에서 적정이 되는 amine기가 있음을 보였다. Tolaasin에 의한 용혈활성의 pH 의존성을 조사하였을 때, 용혈활성은 알칼리 조건에서 증가함을 확인하였다. 따라서, pH 변화에 따른 tolaasin의 막결합 특성을 조사하기 위하여 적혈구를 tolaasin과 사전배양한 후, tolaasin을 포함하지 않은 완충액으로 씻어내고, 사전배양중 적혈구에 결합한 tolaasin의 용혈활성을 측정하였을 때, 활성은 pH 8 이상에서 크게 증가하였다. 이러한 결과는 tolaasin이 전하가 없거나 양전하량이 적은 상태에서 세포막에 잘 결합하여 세포독성이 커진다는 것을 의미한다.

• BMB Reports
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• 제39권3호
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• pp.270-277
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• 2006

Helices 4 and 5 of the Bacillus thuringiensis Cry4Ba $\delta$-endotoxin have been shown to be important determinants for mosquito-larvicidal activity, likely being involved in membrane-pore formation. In this study, the Cry4Ba mutant protein containing an additional engineered tryptic cleavage site was used to produce the $\alpha4$-$\alpha5$ hairpin peptide by an efficient alternative strategy. Upon solubilization of toxin inclusions expressed in Escherichia coli and subsequent digestion with trypsin, the 130-kDa mutant protoxin was processed to protease-resistant fragments of ca. 47, 10 and 7 kDa. The 7-kDa fragment was identified as the $\alpha4$-loop-$\alpha5$ hairpin via N-terminal sequencing and mass spectrometry, and was successfully purified by size-exclusion FPLC and reversed-phase HPLC. Using circular dichroism spectroscopy, the 7-kDa peptide was found to exist predominantly as an $\alpha$-helical structure. Membrane perturbation studies by using fluorimetric calcein-release assays revealed that the 7-kDa helical hairpin is highly active against unilamellar liposomes compared with the 65-kDa activated full-length toxin. These results directly support the role of the $\alpha4$-loop-$\alpha5$ hairpin in membrane perturbation and pore formation of the full-length Cry4Ba toxin.