• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.41 no.8
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• pp.568-571
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• 1998

The conformations of human insulin precursors, proinsulin and preproinsulin, are described in terms of molecular dynamics simulations. Despite the presence of the C-peptide and/or the signal peptide, molecular dynamics calculations utilizing the hydration shell model over a period of 500 ps indicate that the native conformations of the A and B chains are well conserved in both cases. These results further support the NMR spectroscopy results that the C-peptide is relatively disordered and does not influence the overall conformation of the native structure. The robustness of the native structure as demonstrated by experiment and simulation will permit future protein engineering applications, whereby the expression or purification yields can be improved upon sequence modification of the C-peptide and/or the signal peptide.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.1765-1771
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• 2007

A polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based method was developed to detect the DNA of Ralstonia solanacearum, the causal agent of bacterial wilt in various crop plants. One pair of primers (RALSF and RALSR), designed using cytochrome c1 signal peptide sequences specific to R. solanacearum, produced a PCR product of 932 bp from 13 isolates of R. solanacearum from several countries. The primer specificity was then tested using DNA from 21 isolates of Ralstonia, Pseudomonas, Burkholderia, Xanthomonas, and Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. dianthi. The specificity of the cytochrome c1 signal peptide sequences in R. solanacearum was further confirmed by a DNA-dot blot analysis. Moreover, the primer pair was able to detect the pathogen in artificially inoculated soil and tomato plants. Therefore, the present results indicate that the primer pair can be effectively used for the detection of R. solanacearum in soil and host plants.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.105-107
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• 2010

To overcome the limitation of E. coli expression system such as inclusion body formation and disulfide bond failure, we tried to express the heterologous protein as a secreted form. We adopted agarase signal peptide (ASP; 23 amino acid residues) from Agarivorans albus YKW-34 which is one of marine bacteia. When we used ASP to express $\beta$-agarase, about 42% activity was detected in media.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.83-88
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• 2003

We cloned a gene encoding acetyl xylan esterase(axeA) of Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) and studied its expression pattern in Escherichia coli. The full sequence of axeA was amplified by PCR. Sequence analysis of the PCR product revealed an open reading frame of 1,008 nucleotides encoding a protein consisted of 335 amino acid residues, with a calculated molecular mass of about 38 kDa. The base sequence showed 98% homology to the same gene of Streptomyces lividans. Two different kinds of acetyl xylan esterases were produced in Escherichia coli(pLacI) by IPTG induction; their molecular weights were 38 kDa and 34 kDa, respectively. Of these, 38 kDa protein seemed to be a total protein holding N-terminal signal peptide region, whereas 34 kDa protein seemed to be a matured protein without signal peptide which was produced by peptide bond cleavage between two amino acid residues of alanine 41 and alanine 42.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.195-201
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• 2000

Glucoamylase of Saccharomyces diastaticus is produced as a large precursor composed of signal peptide (21 amino acid residues), Thr and Ser-rich region and functional glucoamylase. To evaluate the utility of the glucoamylase signal peptide (GSP) for the secretion of foreign proteins, four types of GSP mutants (ml : Pro-18 longrightarrowLeu-18, m2 : Tyr-13 longrightarrowLeu, m3 : Ser-9longrightarrowLeu-9, m4 : Asn-5 longrightarrowPro-5) were constructed and secretion efficiency of each mutant was compared with that of native GSP by the expression and secretion of Bacillus subtilis CMCase under the control of GAP in N-terminal domain and hydrophobic domain. n mutant 4, a polar amino acid was replaced by a helix - breaking Pro residue. CMCase activity assay and Western blot analysis revealed that CMCase secretion by GSP mutants replaced by Leu were increased compared with native GSP. In the case of m2 and m3, the substitution of Leu for Tyr-13 and Ser-9 in the hydrophobic region resulted in a twofold increase in the extracellular CMCase activity.

• BMB Reports
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.476-481
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• 2002

The CHH/MIH/GIH peptide family of black tiger prawn (Paneaus monodon) is important in shrimp reproduction and growth enhancement. In this study, the cDNA that encodes the complete peptide that is related to the CHH/MIH/GIH family (so-called, Pem-CMG) in the eyestalk of P. monodon was successfully expressed in a methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris under the control of an alcohol oxidase promoter. In order to obtain the secreted Pem-CMG, a secretion signal of either the Saccharomyces cerevisiae $\alpha$-factor or Pem-CMG was employed. The results demonstrated that ${\alpha}Pem$-CMG, either with (${\alpha}2EACMG$) or without (${\alpha}CMG$) the Glu-Ala repeats, was secreted into the medium, while Pem-CMG with its own secretion signal failed to be secreted. The total protein amount that was secreted from the transformant that contained either ${\alpha}2EACMG$ or ${\alpha}CMG$ was approximately 60 mg/l and 150 mg/l, respectively. The N-terminus of the Pem-CMG peptide of both ${\alpha}2EACMG$ and ${\alpha}CMG$ was correctly processed. This produced the mature Pem-CMG peptide.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.310-314
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• 2011

The Banna miniature pig (BNMP) is a representative miniature pig breed in China. Even though BNMP dwarfism is obvious, its underlying causative mutations remain unknown. In this study, the BNMP and Large White pig (LWP) serum growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) levels were detected by ELISA and compared. BNMP serum IGF-1 levels were significantly lower than LWP levels (P<0.05). The miniature condition may arise from mutations in the GH and GH receptor (GHR) genes. Therefore, GH and GHR cDNA from the BNMP were cloned into a pMD18-T vector by RT-PCR using the total RNA obtained from the BNMP's pituitary and liver tissues. Sequencing results indicated that the open reading frame of the BNMP GH gene is composed of a 26-residue signal peptide and a 191-residue mature peptide. The coding sequence of the BNMP GHR gene contained 639 amino acids, including a signal peptide that is 18 amino acids long. Two amino acid substitutions, A09V and R22Q, were found in the signal peptide of the GH gene. Additionally, the S104P mutation was found in the BNMP's mature GH protein. Four mutations in the cytoplasmic domain of GHR may influence the downstream signal transduction of GHR, which needs further experimental evidence.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.212-217
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• 2004

The gene coding for mannanase from Bacillus subtilis WL-7, a number of glycosyl hydrolase family 26, was hyperexpressed in Escherichia coli. Two recombinant plasmids, pE7MAN and pENS7, were constructed by introducing the complete mannanase gene and the mature mannanase gene lacking N-terminal signal peptide region into a expression vector pET24a(＋), respectively. The level of mannanase produced by E. coli BL21 (DE3) carrying pENS7, which included the mature mannanase gene, was considerably higher than that by E. coli BL21 (DE3)/pE7MAN. Almost mannanase produced by the recombinant E. coli carrying pENS7 at growth temperature of $37^{\circ}C$ existed as inactive enzyme of insoluble form. Growth at temperature below $31^{\circ}C$ increased the soluble fraction of mannanase having catalytic activity in the recombinant E. coli cells. The highest productivity of active mannanase was observed in cell-free extract of the recombinant E. coli grown at growth temperature ranging from $25^{\circ}C$ to $28^{\circ}C$, while mannanase activity per soluble protein of the cell-free extract was highest in the cells grown at $^31{\circ}C$.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.41 no.8
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• pp.572-577
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• 1998

The solution conformation of the human insulin precursor, preproinsulin, is described in terms of NMR spectral data. NMR experiments were performed on preproinsulin, whose structure was compared with the NMR structure of native human insulin. Despite the presence of the C-peptide and/or the signal peptide, secondary structure analyses indicate that the native structures of the A and B chains are well conserved even in preproinsulin. The observed relative robustness of the native structure in precursor forms permits further protein engineering experiments where the C-peptide or N-terminal signal sequence can be altered for the purpose of increasing expression or purification yields when producing recombinant human insulin.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.588-594
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• 1997

N-(tert-Butoxycarbonyl)-O-(dicyanoethylthiophosphono)-L-tyrosine(7), the key intermediate for the synthesis of thiophosphotyrosine-containing peptide derivat ives, was prepared. For the phosphorylation, we used t-Boc-tyrosine and phosphoramidite in the presence of 1H-tetrazol. For the protection of thiophosphate moiety, cyanoethyl protecting group was used. Thiophosphotyrosine-containing peptides could be used as tools for the elucidation of mechanism of signal transduction pathway and also prepared as PTK inhibitors, PTPase inhibitors and cytosolic protein binding blockers. It may be contributed for the development of potential anticancer agents.