• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.161-166
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• 2001

Most mammalian cells take up glucose by passive transport proteins in the plasma membranes. The best known of these proteins is the human erythrocyte glucose transporter, GLUT1. High levels of heterologous expression far the transporter are necessary for the investigation of its three-dimensional structure by crystallization. To achieve this, the baculovirus expression system has become popular choice. However, Spodoptera frugiperda Clone 9 (Sf9) cells, which are commonly employed as the host permissive cell line to support baculovirus replication and protein synthesis, grow well on TC-100 medium that contains 0.1% D-glucose as the major carbon source, suggesting the presence of endogenous glucose transporters. Furthermore, very little is known of the endogenous transporters properties of Sf9 cells. Therefore, human GLUT1 antibodies would play an important role for characterization of the GLUT1 expressed in insect cell. However, the successful use of such antibodies for characterization of GLUT1 expression m insect cells relies upon their specificity for the human protein and lack of cross-reaction with endogenous transporters. It is therefore important to determine the potential cross-reactivity of the antibodies with the endogenous insect cell glucose transporters. In the present study, the potential cross-reactivity of the human GLUT1 antibodies with the endogenous insect cell glucose transporters was examined by Western blotting. Neither the antibodies against intact GLUT1 nor those against the C-terminus labelled any band migrating in the region expected fur a protein of M$_r$ comparable to GLUT1, whereas these antibodies specifically recognized the human GLUT1. Specificity of the human GLUT1 antibodies tested was also shown by cross-reaction with the GLUT1 expressed in insect cells. In addition, the insect cell glucose transporter was found to have very low affinity for cytochalasin B, a potent inhibitor of human erythrocyte glucose transporter.

• The KIPS Transactions:PartD
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• v.10D no.1
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• pp.133-142
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• 2003

The major challenge for post-genomic study is to identify structural similarity and relationships of proteins. SCOP (Structural Classification of Proteins) is a typical database for this purpose, providing a derailed description of the structural and functional relationships of the proteins whose three-dimensional structures have been determined. Unfortunately, since the SCOP data is only available as a plain text format, it is cumbersome and error-prone to develop tools and resources to utilize the data more effectively. To meet these researchers to utilize the data more effectively. To meet these requirements, we have developed an XML representation for the SCOP site, users of the tool, named, SCOPBrowser, for effective search of SCOP database. In addition to the information available from the SCOP site, users of the tool can obtain various information such as viewing the tree hierarchy of structure classification of proteins, searching into whole protein domains, showing XML contents of a specific domain, and some useful statistics about protein structures.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.187-191
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• 2004

Actin is a ubiquitous and highly conserved protein found in eukaryotic organisms. In this study, we describe the cDNA cloning and mRNA expression of an actin gene from the mulberry longicorn beetle, Apriona germari. The A. germari actin cDNA is 1524 bp containing a complete 1128 bp open reading frame that encodes a polypeptide of 376 amino acid residues with a predicted molecular weight of about 41.5 kDa. The deduced amino acid sequence of the A.germari actin cDNA showed 99% protein sequence identity to Homalodisca coagulata actin, differing at only two amino acid positions, and 92-98% protein sequence identity to known insect species actins. The predicted three-dimensional structure of A. germari actin revealed the four residue hydrophobic pulg loop characteristic of the actin family. Northern blot analysis showed that A. germari actin is highly expressed in epidermis and muscle, and less strongly in midgut, but not in the fat body of A. germari larva.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.506-518
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• 2021

The imprinted tumour suppressor NOEY2 is downregulated in various cancer types, including ovarian cancers. Recent data suggest that NOEY2 plays an essential role in regulating the cell cycle, angiogenesis and autophagy in tumorigenesis. However, its detailed molecular function and mechanisms in ovarian tumours remain unclear. In this report, we initially demonstrated the inhibitory effect of NOEY2 on tumour growth by utilising a xenograft tumour model. NOEY2 attenuated the cell growth approximately fourfold and significantly reduced tumour vascularity. NOEY2 inhibited the phosphorylation of the signalling components downstream of phosphatidylinositol-3'-kinase (PI3K), including phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase 1 (PDK-1), tuberous sclerosis complex 2 (TSC-2) and p70 ribosomal protein S6 kinase (p70S6K), during ovarian tumour progression via direct binding to vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR-2). Particularly, the N-terminal domain of NOEY2 (NOEY2-N) had a potent anti-angiogenic activity and dramatically downregulated VEGF and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), key regulators of angiogenesis. Since no X-ray or nuclear magnetic resonance structures is available for NOEY2, we constructed the three-dimensional structure of this protein via molecular modelling methods, such as homology modelling and molecular dynamic simulations. Thereby, Lys15 and Arg16 appeared as key residues in the N-terminal domain. We also found that NOEY2-N acts as a potent inhibitor of tumorigenesis and angiogenesis. These findings provide convincing evidence that NOEY2-N regulates endothelial cell function and angiogenesis by interrupting the VEGFR-2/PDK-1/GSK-3β signal transduction and thus strongly suggest that NOEY2-N might serve as a novel anti-tumour and anti-angiogenic agent against many diseases, including ovarian cancer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Bioinformatics Conference
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• 2005.09a
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• pp.139-143
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• 2005

Cytochrome P450 14${\alpha}$-sterol demethylase enzyme (CYP51) is the target a of azole type antifungals. The azole blocks the ergosterol synthesis and thereby inhibits fungal growth. A three-dimensional (3D) homology model of CYP51 from Candida albicans was constructed based on the X-ray crystal structure of CYP51 from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Using this model, the binding modes for the substrate (24-methylene-24, 25-dihydrolanosterol) and the known inhibitors (fluconazole, voriconazole, oxiconazole, miconazole) were predicted from docking. Virtual screening was performed employing Structure Based Focusing (SBF). In this procedure, the pharmacophore models for database search were generated from the protein-ligands interactions each other. The initial structure-based virtual screening selected 15 compounds from a commercial available 3D database of approximately 50,000 molecule library, Being evaluated by a cell-based assay, 5 compounds were further identified as the potent inhibitors of Candida albicans CYP51 (CACYP51) with low minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) range. BMD-09-01${\sim}$BMD-09-04 MIC range was 0.5 ${\mu}$g/ml and BMD-09-05 was 1 ${\mu}$g/ml. These new inhibitors provide a basis for some non-azole antifungal rational design of new, and more efficacious antifungal agents.

• 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.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.40-47
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• 2015

Glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK-3) is a serine/threonine protein kinase that has recently emerged as a promising target in drug discovery. It is involved in multiple cellular processes and associated with the pathogenesis of several diseases. A three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship (3D-QSAR) analysis was performed on a series of GSK-3 inhibitors to understand the structural basis for inhibitory activity. Comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) method was used to derive 3D-QSAR models. A reliable CoMFA model was developed using ligand-based alignment scheme. The model produced statistically acceptable results with a cross-validated correlation coefficient ($q^2$) of 0.594 and a non-cross-validated correlation coefficient ($r^2$) of 0.943. Robustness of the model was checked by bootstrapping and progressive scrambling analysis. This study could assist in the design of novel compounds with enhanced GSK-3 inhibitory activity.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.83-87
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• 2015

Syndesmos, which is co-localized with syndecan-4 cytoplasmic domain ($Syn4^{cyto}$) in focal contacts, interacts with various cell adhesion adaptor proteins including $Syn4^{cyto}$ to control cell signaling. Syndesmos consists of 211 amino acids and it exists as a dimer (44kDa) in solution. Recently, we have determined the structure of syndesmos by x-ray crystallography, however, dynamics related to syndecan binding still remain elusive. In this report, we performed NMR experiments to acquire biochemical and structural information of syndesmos. Based on a series of three-dimensional triple resonance experiments on a $^{13}C/^{15}N/^2H$ labeled protein, NMR spectra were obtained with well dispersed and homogeneous NMR data. We present the sequence specific backbone assignment of syndesmos and assigned NMR data with combination structural information can be directly used for the studies on interaction with $Syn4^{cyto}$ and other binding molecules.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.889-892
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• 2000

Antisense molecules are structurally simple linear oligomers of nucleotides. They can recognize a complementary sequence by base pairing, therefore, antisense drugs composed of 15-16 bases are potentially useful, unlike drugs such as protein agonists, antagonists, and inhibitors. Since antisense oligomers are classified as nucleotides, they are subject to attack by nucleases. In order to be antisense drugs resistant to degradation by nucleases, the structural modifications in the linkages, bases, and sugars to satisfy this requirement are considerable. We attempted in this study, to synthesize 16-mer antisenses with a modified linkage and adenosine. When studying on the three-dimensional structure of the oligomer, however, the existence of isomers may complicate the interpretation of the NMR data. Therefore, an attempt was made to eliminate the above problem, thus, two dimers were synthesized and their structural studies were carried out.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.58 no.6
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• pp.560-568
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• 2014

The contribution of electrostatic interactions to protein folding reaction was studied by using mutant ubiquitin with lysine to alanine mutation at residue position 29. Based on the three dimensional structure of ubiquitin, lysine 29 is located close to negatively charged glutamate 16 and aspartate 21 and considered to stabilize the native state of ubiquitin by electrostatic interactions between these residues. The equilibrium unfolding experiment showed that the native stability was decreased by about ~20% upon mutation. This observation indicates lysine 29 indeed forms electrostatic interactions with nearby residues. Folding kinetics measurements using stopped-flow device and quantitative analysis of kinetics data indicate that ubiquitin folds from unfolded state to native state via intermediate state as observed previously. This intermediate state was observed to form immediately after the initiation of folding reaction. The folding intermediate was shown to be destabilized considerably upon lysine to alanine mutation. These observations indicate that electrostatic interactions can form early stage of protein folding and hence lead the folding reaction.