• Toxicological Research
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.9-14
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• 1987

The effects of monosodium glutamate (MSG) on the activities if tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), dopamine ${\beta}$-hydroxylase (DBH), tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) and monoamine oxidase (MAO) in various regions (cerebral cortex, striatum, midbrain, pons and medulla of nat brain have been determined. It was observed that up to 1mM MSGhad no significant effects on the activities of brain tyrosine hydroxylase, dopamine ${\beta}$-hydroxylase, tryptophan hydroxylase and monoamine oxidase in all regions of rat brain. These results indicated that MSG itself exerted no direct effect on the important enzymes synthsizing and metabolizing the monoaminergic neuronal system.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.711-714
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• 2004

Peroxynitrite enters erythrocytes through band 3 anion exchanger and oxidizes cytosolic proteins therein. As a protein associated with band 3, carbonic anhydrase II may suffer from peroxynitrite-induced oxidative damages. Esterase activity of carbonic anhydrase II decreased as the concentration of peroxynitrite increased. Neither hydrogen peroxide nor hypochlorite affected the enzyme activity. Inactivation of the enzyme was in parallel with the release of zinc ion, which is a component of the enzyme's active site. SDS-PAGE of peroxynitrite-treated samples showed no indication of fragmentation but non-denaturing PAGE exhibited new bands with lower positive charges. Western analysis demonstrated that nitration of tyrosine residues increased with the peroxynitrite concentration but the sites of nitration could not be determined. Instead MALDI-TOF analysis identified tryptophan-245 as a site of nitration. Such modification of tryptophan residues is responsible for the decrease in tryptophan fluorescence. These results demonstrate that peroxynitrite nitrates tyrosine and tryptophan residues of carbonic anhydrase II without causing fragmentation or dimerization. The peroxynitrite-induced inactivation of the enzyme is primarily due to the release of zinc ion in the enzyme's active site.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.17-22
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• 2000

The separation of tryptophan enantiomers was carried out with medium-pressure liquid chromatography using BSA (bovine serum albumin)-bonded silica as a chiral stationary phase. The influence of various experimental factors such as pH and ionic strength of mobile phase, separation temperature, and the presence of organic additives on the resolution was studied. In order to expand this system to preparative scale, the loadability of sample and the stability of stationary phase for repeated use were also examined. The separation of tryptophan enantiomers was successful with this system. The data indicated that a higher separation factor (a) was obtained at a higher pH and lower temperature and ionic strength in mobile phase. Addition of organic additives (acetonitrile and 2-propanol) in mobile phase contributed to reduce the retention time of L-tryptophan. About $30\%$ of the separation factor was reduced after 80 days of repeated use.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.80-84
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• 2015

Here, we demonstrate the use of MALDI-TOF as a fast and simple analytical approach to evaluate the DNA-binding capability of various peptides. Specifically, by varying the amino acid sequence of the peptides consisting of lysine (K) and tryptophan (W), we identified peptides with strong DNA-binding capabilities using MALDI-TOF. Mass spectrometric analysis reveals an interesting novel finding that lysine residues show sequence selective preference, which used to be considered as mediator of electrostatic interactions with DNA phosphate backbones. Moreover, tryptophan residues show higher affinity to DNA than lysine residues. Since there are numerous possible combinations to make peptide oligomers, it is valuable to introduce a simple and reliable analytical approach in order to quickly identify DNA-binding peptides.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Life Science Conference
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• 2006.09a
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• pp.77.1-77.1
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• 2006

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.219-222
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• 2005

The a-subunit of Escherichia coli tryptophan synthase (${\alpha}TS$), a component of the tryptophan synthase ${\alpha}_2{\beta}_2$ complex, is a monomeric 268-residues protein (Mr = 28,600). ${\alpha}TS$ by itself catalyzes the cleavage of indole-3-glycerol phosphate to glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate and indole, which is converted to tryptophan in tryptophan biosynthesis. Wild-type and P28L/Y173F double mutant ${\alpha}$-subunits were overexpressed in E. coli and crystallized at 298 K by the hanging-drop vapor-diffusion method. X-ray diffraction data were collected to $2.5{\AA}$ resolution from the wild-type crystals and to $1.8{\AA}$ from the crystals of the double mutant, since the latter produced better quality diffraction data. The wild-type crystals belonged to the monoclinic space group C2 ($a=155.64{\AA}$, $b=44.54{\AA}$, $c=71.53{\AA}$ and ${\beta}=96.39^{\circ}$) and the P28L/Y173F crystals to the monoclinic space group $P2_1$ ($a=71.09{\AA}$, b=52.70, $c=71.52{\AA}$ and ${\beta}=91.49^{\circ}$). The asymmetric unit of both structures contained two molecules of ${\alpha}TS$. Crystal volume per protein mass ($V_m$) and solvent content were $2.15{\AA}^3\;Da^{-1}$ and 42.95% for the wild-type and $2.34{\AA}^3\;Da^{-1}$ and 47.52% for the double mutant.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.993-998
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• 2006

We earlier suggested a hierarchical regulatory network using defined modeling symbols and weights in order to improve the flux balance analysis (FBA) with regulatory events that were represented by if-then rules and Boolean logic. In the present study, the simulation results of the models, which were developed and improved from the previou model by incorporating a hierarchical regulatory network into the FBA, were compared with the experimental outcome of an aerobic batch growth of E. coli on glucose and tryptophan. From the experimental result, a diauxic growth curve was observed, reflecting growth resumption, when tryptophan was used as an alternativee after the supply of glucose was exhausted. The model parameters, the initial concentration of substrates (0.92 mM glucose and 1 mM tryptophan), cell density (0.0086 g biomass/1), the maximal uptake rates of substrates (5.4 mmol glucose/g DCW h and 1.32 mmol tryptophan/g DCW h), and lag time (0.32 h) were derived from the experimental data for more accurate prediction. The simulation results agreed with the experimental outcome of the temporal profiles of cell density and glucose, and tryptophan concentrations.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.121-128
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• 2006

The purified xylanase from Bacillus alcalophilus AX2000 was modified with various chemical modifiers to determine amino acid residues in the active site of the enzyme. Treatment of the enzyme with group-specific reagents such as carbodiimide or N-bromosuccinimide resulted in complete loss of enzyme activity. These results suggested that these reagents reacted with glutamic acid or aspartic acid and tryptophan residues located at or near the active site. In each case, inactivation was performed by pseudo first-order kinetics. Inhibition of enzyme activity by carbodiimide and N-bromosuccinimide showed non-competitive and competitive inhibition type, respectively. Addition of xylan to the enzyme solution containing N-bromosuccinimide prevented the inactivation, indicating the presence of tryptophan at the substrate binding site. Analysis of kinetics for inactivation showed that the loss of enzyme activity was due to modification of two glutamic acid or aspartic acid residues and single tryptophan residue.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.427-432
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• 1986

The regulation of three ammonia assimilatory enzymes, GDH (glutamate dehydrogenase), GS (glutamine synthetase) and GOGAT (glutamate synthase), has been examined in C. glutamicum. Three kinds of arginine auxotrophs blocked in each step of arginine biosynthetic pathway from glutamate were selected as arg 5, arg 6, arg 8. Histidine and tryptophan auxotrophs were also selected because histidine and tryptophan repressed GS biosynthesis in E. coli. These strains were cultured on the media containing nitrogen-excess and limited conditions, to compare the specific activities of ${\alpha}$-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase(${\alpha}-KGDH$), GDH, GS, GOGAT from the cell-free extracts. These results showed that enzyme levels of ${\alpha}-KGDH$ and GDH from 3 kinds of arginine auxotrophs, histidine and tryptophan auxotrophs in nitrogen-excess condition and those of GS and GOGAT in nitrogen limited condition were increased compared with opposite condition. The tryptophan and histidine auxotrophs showed higher level of glutamate and glutamine than parental strains and other mutants. it is assumed that the higher levels of ${\alpha-KGDH}$ and GDH from mutants in nitrogen-excess condition promoted the accumulation of glutamate and glutamine in fermentation broth. The inhibition of GS activities by ADP suggested that GS is regulated by energy charge in C. glutamicum. The results with histidine, tryptophan, glycine, alanine, serine and GMP implied that a system of feedback inhibition were effective. The GDH, GS and GOGAT biosynthesis in culture broth was markedly repressed by the nature and kinds of available nitrogen sources such as tryptophan, proline, glycine, alanine, serine and tyrosine.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.65-69
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• 1976

Methanolic extract of the common reed sprouts (Phragmites communis Trin.), unincubated or incubated at $27^{\circ}C$ in the dark, was subjected to thin layer chromatography for the indole compounds. Serotonin, tryptophan and tryptamine were the major indoles in the unincubated sprouts. At early stage of incubation of sprouts, however, serotonin and tryptamine decreased while other indoleamines increased. Tryptophan remained constant throughout the incubation periods. From the observation in the present study, it was speculated that serotonin be synthesized from tryptophan via tryptamine and in turn metabolized to bufotenine.