• BMB Reports
• /
• v.31 no.4
• /
• pp.350-354
• /
• 1998

To understand the role of protein kinase C (PKC) in the regulation of chondrogenesis, we examined proteins which are phosphorylated by PKC. Stage 23/24 chick embryo wing mesenchymes were micromass-cultured to induce chondrogenesis and cell extracts were phosphorylated in a condition that activates PKC. Several proteins including 63 and 66 kDa proteins were phosphorylated. The 66 kDa protein was phosphorylated only in the presence of phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) and phosphatidylserine CPS), and the phosphorylation was almost completely diminished by bisindolylmaleimide, a PKC inhibitor. In addition, partially purified PKC increased the phosphorylation of the 66 kDa protein. Treatment of cultures with lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) promoted chondrogenesis and phosphorylation of 66 kDa protein, while PMA and thymeleatoxin inhibited both of the two events. Our results suggest that the 66 kDa protein is a putative substrate of PKC, and phosphorylation of the 66 kDa protein, probably by $PKC\alpha$ is required for chondrogenesis.

• Genomics & Informatics
• /
• v.11 no.3
• /
• pp.155-160
• /
• 2013

Structural information has been a major concern for biological and pharmaceutical studies for its intimate relationship to the function of a protein. Three-dimensional representation of the positions of protein atoms is utilized among many structural information repositories that have been published. The reliability of the torsional system, which represents the native processes of structural change in the structural analysis, was partially proven with previous structural alignment studies. Here, a web server providing structural information and analysis based on the backbone torsional representation of a protein structure is newly introduced. The web server offers functions of secondary structure database search, secondary structure calculation, and pair-wise protein structure comparison, based on a backbone torsion angle representation system. Application of the implementation in pair-wise structural alignment showed highly accurate results. The information derived from this web server might be further utilized in the field of ab initio protein structure modeling or protein homology-related analyses.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.41 no.9
• /
• pp.645-650
• /
• 2008

Nucleoside diphosphate kinase (NDPK) is involved in multiple signaling pathways in mammalian systems, including G-protein signaling. Arabidopsis NDPK2, like its mammalian counterparts, is multifunctional despite its initial discovery phytochrome-interacting protein. This similarity raises the possibility that NDPK2 may play a role in G-protein signaling in plants. In the present study, we explore the potential relationship between NDPK2 and the small G proteins, Pra2 and Pra3, as well as the heterotrimeric G protein, GPA1. We report a physical interaction between NDPK2 and these small G proteins, and demonstrate that NDPK2 can stimulate their GTPase activities. Our results suggest that NDPK2 acts as a GTPase-activating protein for small G proteins in plants. We propose that NDPK2 might be a missing link between the phytochrome-mediated light signaling and G protein-mediated signaling.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.267-273
• /
• 1999

In this study we examined the potential for the synergistic augmentation of the antitumor activity of inflammatory mouse peritoneal macrophages by stimulation with protein A combined with $IFN-\gamma$. The moderate augmentative effect induced by preincubation with protein A was demonstrated to be concentration-dependent, whereas IFN-, had a very low activating effect. Following preincubation with both protein A and $IFN-\gamma$, a marked enhancement of macrophage activity was noted. In addition, based on the utilization of neutralizing antibody to TNF-$\alpha$ or the inhibition of NO Production, TNF-$\alpha$ and NO were proven to be involved as mediators during the activation of tumoricidal macrophages by protein A in combination with $IFN-\gamma$. We also demonstrated that supernatants from macrophages treated with protein A plus $IFN-\gamma$ contained both TNF-$\alpha$ and NO at markedly increased levels. Thus, tumor cell lysis in the combined system was mediated via TNF-$\alpha$ or NO. These results demonstrate the synergistic effects on mouse pertioneal macrophage function of protein A in combination with $IFN-\gamma$ and suggest that combinations of such agents may serve as the basis for future in vivo immunotherapy.

• KSBB Journal
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.96-100
• /
• 2009

One of the major drawbacks associated with the high-level expression of the recombinant proteins in Escherichia coli is the formation of insoluble inclusion bodies in the cytoplasm. Production of recombinant protein at reduced temperature has proven effective in improving the solubility of a number of structurally and functionally unrelated proteins, but a major limitation of using low temperatures for recombinant protein production in E. coli is the reduced rate of synthesis of the heterologous protein caused by the significant reduction of cell growth rate. Here we investigated the effect of co-expression of CspA, a cold-shock protein known to be RNA chaperone at low temperature, on the productivity of recombinant protein at various temperatures by using green fluorescence protein (GFP) as a model recombinant protein. We could observe that the co-expression of CspA enhanced the productivity of GFP at $15^{\circ}C$ by accelerating the growth of E. coli at the temperature. On the other hand, the CspA coexpression didn't affect the cell growth rate as well as the specific GFP production rate at other tested temperatures, $20^{\circ}C$, $25^{\circ}C$, and $37^{\circ}C$.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
• /
• v.11 no.3
• /
• pp.258-261
• /
• 2006

The addition of zeolite particles enhances the stability of mRNA molecules in a cell-free protein synthesis system. When $20{\mu}g/{\mu}L$ of zeolite (Y5.4) is added to a reaction mixture of cell-free protein synthesis, a substantial increase in protein synthesis is observed. The stabilizing effect of zeolite is most dearly observed in an in vitro translation reaction directed by purified mRNA, as opposed to a coupled transcription and translation reaction. Upon the addition of zeolite in the in vitro translation reaction, the life span of the mRNA molecules is substantially extended, leading to an 80% increase in protein synthesis. The effect of zeolite upon the mRNA stability appears be strongly related to the cation exchange (potassium to sodium) reaction. Our results demonstrate the possibility of modifying this biological process using heterogeneous, non-biological substances in a cell-free protein synthesis system.

• Korean Journal of Computational Design and Engineering
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.321-327
• /
• 2015

In the protein database search, 3D structural shape comparison for protein screening plays a important role. Protein databases have big size and have been grown rapidly. Exhaustive search methods cannot provide a satisfactory performance. As protein is composed of a set of spheres, the similarity calculation of two set of spheres is very expensive. Thus, a reasonable filtering method could be an answer for the speedup of protein screening. In this paper, we suggest a speedup method for protein screening with atom number and bounding sphere. We also show some experimental results for the validity of our method.

• Biomedical Science Letters
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.305-311
• /
• 2007

cAMP-dependent protein kinase A (PKA) is the best-characterized protein kinases and has served as a model of the structure and regulation of cAMP-binding protein as well as of protein kinases. To determine the function of PKA in development, we employed the yeast two-hybrid system to screen for catalytic subunit of PKA $(C\alpha)$ interacting partners in a cDNA library from mouse embryo. A Testis-brain RNA-binding protein (TB-RBP), specifically bound to $C\alpha$. This interaction was verified by several biochemical analysis. Our findings indicate that $C\alpha$ can modulate nucleic acid binding proteins of TB-RBP and provide insights into the diverse role of PKA.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.42 no.8
• /
• pp.467-474
• /
• 2009

The modification of proteins by reversible phosphorylation is a key mechanism in the regulation of various physiological functions. Abnormal protein kinase or phosphatase activity can cause disease by altering the phosphorylation of critical proteins in normal cellular and disease processes. Alzheimer' disease (AD), typically occurring in the elderly, is an irreversible, progressive brain disorder characterized by memory loss and cognitive decline. Accumulating evidence suggests that protein kinase and phosphatase activity are altered in the brain tissue of AD patients. Tau is a highly recognized phosphoprotein that undergoes hyperphosphorylation to form neurofibrillary tangles, a neuropathlogical hallmark with amyloid plaques in AD brains. This study is a brief overview of the altered protein phosphorylation pathways found in AD. Understanding the molecular mechanisms by which the activities of protein kinases and phosphatases are altered as well as the phosphorylation events in AD can potentially reveal novel insights into the role aberrant phosphorylation plays in the pathogenesis of AD, providing support for protein phosphorylation as a potential treatment strategy for AD.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
• /
• v.19 no.12
• /
• pp.3011-3016
• /
• 2015

Representing protein three-dimensional structure by concatenating a sequence of protein fragments gives an efficient application in analysis, modeling, search, and prediction of protein structures. This paper investigated the effective combination of distance measures, which can exploit large protein structure database, in order to construct a protein fragment library representing native protein structures accurately. Clustering method was used to construct a protein fragment library. Initial clustering stage used inter alpha-carbon distance having low time complexity, and cluster extension stage used the combination of inter alpha-carbon distance, Binet-Cauchy distance, and root mean square deviation. Protein fragment library was constructed by leveraging large protein structure database using the proposed combination of distance measures. This library gives low root mean square deviation in the experiments representing protein structures with protein fragments.