• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.73-83
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• 2000

Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is a water soluble, biocompatible, non-toxic polymer and PEGylation is a well established technique for the modification of therapeutic proteins and peptides. PEG-protein drugs have been extensively studies in relation to therapies for various diseases: cancer, inflammation and others. The covalent attachment of PEG to proteins and peptides prolonged plasma half-life, reduced antigenicity and immunogenicity, increased thermal and mechanical stability, and prevented degradation by enzymes. Several chemical groups for general and site specific conjugation have been exploited to activate PEG for amino group, carboxyl group, and cysteine groups. PEGylation of many proteins and peptides have been studied to enhance their properties for the potential uses. Also, the different positional isomers in several PEG-proteins have shown the difference in vivo stability and biological indicating that the site of PEG molecule attachment is one of the important factor to develop PEG-proteins as potential therapeutic agents.

• BMB Reports
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• v.49 no.11
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• pp.585-586
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• 2016

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are natural carriers of biomolecules that play central roles in cell-to-cell communications. Based on this, there have been various attempts to use EVs as therapeutic drug carriers. From chemical reagents to nucleic acids, various macromolecules were successfully loaded into EVs; however, loading of proteins with high molecular weight has been huddled with several problems. Purification of recombinant proteins is expensive and time consuming, and easily results in modification of proteins due to physical or chemical forces. Also, the loading efficiency of conventional methods is too low for most proteins. We have recently proposed a new method, the so-called exosomes for protein loading via optically reversible protein-protein interaction (EXPLORs), to overcome the limitations. Since EXPLORs are produced by actively loading of intracellular proteins into EVs using blue light without protein purification steps, we demonstrated that the EXPLOR technique significantly improves the loading and delivery efficiency of therapeutic proteins. In further in vitro and in vivo experiments, we demonstrate the potential of EXPLOR technology as a novel platform for biopharmaceuticals, by successful delivery of several functional proteins such as Cre recombinase, into the target cells.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.7
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• pp.953-962
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• 2015

Escherichia coli is the most preferred microorganism to express heterologous proteins for therapeutic use, as around 30% of the approved therapeutic proteins are currently being produced using it as a host. Owing to its rapid growth, high yield of the product, costeffectiveness, and easy scale-up process, E. coli is an expression host of choice in the biotechnology industry for large-scale production of proteins, particularly non-glycosylated proteins, for therapeutic use. The availability of various E. coli expression vectors and strains, relatively easy protein folding mechanisms, and bioprocess technologies, makes it very attractive for industrial applications. However, the codon usage in E. coli and the absence of post-translational modifications, such as glycosylation, phosphorylation, and proteolytic processing, limit its use for the production of slightly complex recombinant biopharmaceuticals. Several new technological advancements in the E. coli expression system to meet the biotechnology industry requirements have been made, such as novel engineered strains, genetically modifying E. coli to possess capability to glycosylate heterologous proteins and express complex proteins, including full-length glycosylated antibodies. This review summarizes the recent advancements that may further expand the use of the E. coli expression system to produce more complex and also glycosylated proteins for therapeutic use in the future.

• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.118-120
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• 2002

Genetic materials including DNA plasmid are effective delivery vehicle to express interesting gene efficiently and safely not to generate replication competent virus. Moreover, it has advantages to design a better vector and to simplify manufacturing and storage condition. To understand a possible pathogenic mechanism by a flavivirus, West Nile virus (WNV), WNV genome sequence was aligned to other pathogenic viral genome. Interestingly, WNV capsid (Cp) amino acid sequence has some homology to HIV-l Vpr protein. These proteins induce apoptosis in human cell lines as well as in vivo and cell cycle arrest. Therefore, DNA plasmid carrying apoptosis-inducing and cell cycle arresting viral proteins including a HIV-1 Vpr and a WNV Cp protein can be useful for anti-cancer therapeutic applications. This WNV Cp protein is an early expressed protein which can be a reasonable target antigen (Ag) for vaccine design. Immunization of a DNA construct encoding WNV Cp protein induces a strong Ag-specific humoral and Th1-type immune responses in animal. Therefore, DNA plasmid encoding apoptotic viral proteins can be useful tool for therapeutic and prophylactic applications.

• BMB Reports
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• v.51 no.10
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• pp.486-492
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• 2018

The CCN protein family is composed of six matricellular proteins, which serve regulatory roles rather than structural roles in the extracellular matrix. First identified as secreted proteins which are induced by oncogenes, the acronym CCN came from the names of the first three members: CYR61, CTGF, and NOV. All six members of the CCN family consist of four cysteine-rich modular domains. CCN proteins are known to regulate cell adhesion, proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. In addition, CCN proteins are associated with cardiovascular and skeletal development, injury repair, inflammation, and cancer. They function either through binding to integrin receptors or by regulating the expression and activity of growth factors and cytokines. Given their diverse roles related to the pathology of certain diseases such as fibrosis, arthritis, atherosclerosis, diabetic nephropathy, retinopathy, and cancer, there are many emerging studies targeting CCN protein signaling pathways in attempts to elucidate their potentials as therapeutic targets.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2004

More than twenty years have passed since the approval of the first recombinant DNA product for therapeutic use (recombinant human insulin, 1982). However, the biotechnology industry is still facing a shortage of manufacturing capacity due to the increasing demand of therapeutic proteins. This demand has prompted the search for a growing number of biological production systems but, nevertheless, the Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli remains one of the most attractive production hosts. This review highlights the most important features and developments of plasmid vector design, emphasizing the different reported strategies for improving the expression and secretion of heterologous proteins using the cellular machinery of E. coli.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.494-503
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• 2008

Many therapeutic glycoproteins have been successfully generated in plants. Plants have advantages regarding practical and economic concerns, and safety of protein production over other existing systems. However, plants are not ideal expression systems for the production of biopharmaceutical proteins, due to the fact that they are incapable of the authentic human N-glycosylation process. The majority of therapeutic proteins are glycoproteins which harbor N-glycans, which are often essential for their stability, folding, and biological activity. Thus, several glyco-engineering strategies have emerged for the tailor-making of N-glycosylation in plants, including glycoprotein subcellular targeting, the inhibition of plant specific glycosyltranferases, or the addition of human specific glycosyltransferases. This article focuses on plant N-glycosylation structure, glycosylation variation in plant cell, plant expression system of glycoproteins, and impact of glycosylation on immunological function. Furthermore, plant glyco-engineering techniques currently being developed to overcome the limitations of plant expression systems in the production of therapeutic glycoproteins will be discussed in this review.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.267-280
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• 2024

Apoptosis, programmed cell death pathway, is a vital physiological mechanism that ensures cellular homeostasis and overall cellular well-being. In the context of cancer, where evasion of apoptosis is a hallmark, the overexpression of anti-apoptotic proteins like Bcl2, Bcl-xL and Mcl-1 has been documented. Consequently, these proteins have emerged as promising targets for therapeutic interventions. The BCL-2 protein family is central to apoptosis and plays a significant importance in determining cellular fate serving as a critical determinant in this biological process. This review offers a comprehensive exploration of the BCL-2 protein family, emphasizing its dual nature. Specifically, certain members of this family promote cell survival (known as anti-apoptotic proteins), while others are involved in facilitating cell death (referred to as pro-apoptotic and BH3-only proteins). The potential of directly targeting these proteins is examined, particularly due to their involvement in conferring resistance to traditional cancer therapies. The effectiveness of such targeting strategies is also discussed, considering the tumor's propensity for anti-apoptotic pathways. Furthermore, the review highlights emerging research on combination therapies, where BCL-2 inhibitors are used synergistically with other treatments to enhance therapeutic outcomes. By understanding and manipulating the BCL-2 family and its associated pathways, we open doors to innovative and more effective cancer treatments, offering hope for resistant and aggressive cases.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.293-299
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• 2011

PEGylation, the attachment of polyethylene glycol (PEG) to proteins, is currently main technology for improving efficacy of protein drugs. This technology can prolong the plasma half-life, augment the in vivo stability, and diminish the immunogenicity of therapeutic proteins. Therefore, PEGylated proteins have the enhanced therapeutic efficacy and the reduced undesirable effects versus their native therapeutics. Since the first PEGylated protein product appeared on the market in the early 1990s, currently ten PEGylated protein products have been launched. These marketed drug products have proved the applicability and safety of the PEGylation technology. This review presents overview of PEGylation technology and addresses characteristics of PEGylation methods applied for the development of several protein drugs.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.237-243
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• 2001

Substantial progress has been made towards understanding the folding mechanisms of proteins in virto and in vivo even though the general rules governing such folding events remain unknown. This paper reviews current folding models along with experimental approaches used to elucidate the folding pathways. Protein misfolding is discussed in relation to disease states, such as amyloidosis, and the recent findings on the mechanism of converting normally soluble proteins into amyloid fibrils through the formation of intermediates provide an insight into understanding the pathogenesis of amyloid formation and possible cules for the development of therapeutic treatments. Finally, some commonly adopted refolding strategies developed over the part decade are summarized.