• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.24 no.6
• /
• pp.803-811
• /
• 2014

Concerns over drug-resistant bacteria have stimulated interest in developing alternative methods to control bacterial infections. Endolysin, a phage-encoded enzyme that breaks down bacterial peptidoglycan at the terminal stage of the phage reproduction cycle, is reported to be effective for the control of bacterial pathogenic bacteria. Bioinformatic analysis of the SPN9CC bacteriophage genome revealed a gene that encodes an endolysin with a domain structure similar to those of the endolysins produced by the P1 and P22 coliphages. The SPN9CC endolysin was purified with a C-terminal oligo-histidine tag. The endolysin was relatively stable and active over a broad temperature range (from $24^{\circ}C$ to $65^{\circ}C$). It showed maximal activity at $50^{\circ}C$, and its optimum pH range was from pH 7.5 to 8.5. The SPN9CC endolysin showed antimicrobial activity against only gram-negative bacteria and functioned by cutting the glycosidic bond of peptidoglycan. Interestingly, the SPN9CC endolysin could lyse intact gram-negative bacteria in the absence of EDTA as an outer membrane permeabilizer. The exogenous lytic activity of the SPN9CC endolysin makes it a potential therapeutic agent against gram-negative bacteria.

• Macromolecular Research
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.135-140
• /
• 2005

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) membranes crosslinked with poly(acrylic acid-co-maleic acid) (PAM) were prepared to investigate the effect of aging on their morphology by swelling them for up to 7 days. PAM was used both as a crosslinking agent and as a donor of the hydrophilic-COOH group. A $30 wt\%$ weight loss of the dry membrane was observed in the swelling test after 6 days. The surface of the membrane was dramatically changed after the swelling test. The surface roughness of the PVA/PAM membrane was increased, as determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The swelling loosened the polymer structure, due to the release of the unreacted polymer and the decomposition of the ester bond, thereby resulting in an increase in the free volume capable of containing water molecules. The water molecules present in the form of free water were determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The fraction of free water increased with increasing swelling time. The swelling of the membrane may provide space for the transport of protons and increase the mobility of the protonic charge carriers. The proton conductivity of the membranes measured at T= 30 and $50^{\circ}C$ was in the range of $10^{-3} to 10^{-2} S/cm$, and slightly increased with increasing swelling time and temperature.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
• /
• 2002.10a
• /
• pp.53-58
• /
• 2002

Electrical insulation and mechanical properties of the plasma sprayed oxide ceramic coatings were studied before and after the sealing treatment of the ceramic coatings. Plasma sprayed A1$_2$O$_3$-TiO$_2$ coating as the reference coating was sealed using three commercial sealants based on polymer. Penetration depth of the sealants to the ceramic coating was evaluated directly from the optical microscope using a fluorescent dye. It is estimated that the penetration depth of the sealants to the ceramic coating is from 0.2 to 0.5 mm depending on the sealants used. The preliminary test results with a DC puncture tester imply that the dielectric breakdown voltage mechanism of plasma sprayed ceramic coatings has been determined to be a corona mechanism. Dielectric breakdown voltage of the as-sprayed and as-ground samples have shown a linear trend with regard to the thickness showing an average dielectric strength of 20 kV/mm for the thickness scale studied. It is also shown that grinding the coating before sealing and adding fluorescent dye do not agent the penetration depth of sealants. All of the microhardness, two-body abrasive wear resistance, bond strength, and surface roughness of the ceramic coating after the sealing treatment are improved. The extent of improvement is different from the sealants used. However, three-point bending stress of the ceramic coating after the sealing treatment is decreased. This is attributed to the reduced micro-crack toughening effect since the cracks propagate easily through the lamellar of the coating without crack deflection and/or branching after the sealing treatment.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Embryo Transfer Conference
• /
• 2002.11a
• /
• pp.108-108
• /
• 2002

포유동물의 암컷 생식기관에 존재하는 다양한 종류의 matrix metallo-proteinase (MMP)는 난소와 자궁의 구성성분의 주기적인 변화를 조절하며 이중 난소의 MMP는 난포의 성장과 배란 그리고 퇴화 동안 조직재구성에 매우 중요한 역할을 한다고 알려져 있다. 본 실험에서는 근래에 새로 발견된 사람의 난포액에 존재하는 분자량 약 110kDa인 MMP-2 isoform GA110을 동정하고 자 하였다. 난포액으로부터 GA110 단백질을 분리하기 위하여 난포액에 5mM ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid(EDTA)를 처리한 후 DEAE Sepharose Fast Flow를 이용한 chromatography를 시행하였다. 그 결과, 난포액 단백질들은 0.2M NaCl 의 분획에서 GA110 활성을 나타내었고 anti-human MMP-2 antibody에 대한 면역반응도 뚜렷이 나타났다. DEAE Sepharose Fast Flow에서 얻은 분획 중 GA110의 활성과 면역반응을 모두 나타내는 분획만을 모아 Gelatin Sepharose 4B affinity chromatography로 다시 분리하였다 분리한 결과 resin에 흡착된 단백질 (eluate) 분획들에서 매우 뚜렷한 GA110 gelatinase 활성을 나타내었으며 면역반응 또한 관찰되었다. 이 분획들의 단백질을 농축한 후 zymography를 시행하여 나타난 GA110 단백질 band를 잘라 내었으며 이로부터 단백질을 electroelution하여 농축한 후 reducing agent인 2-mercaptoethanol를 처리하였다. 이를 전기영동 후 MMP-2 (propeptide region) antibody를 사용하여 immunoblotting 한 결과 70-72kDa의 단백질만이 면역반응을 나타내었다. 마지막으로 위와 같이 준비된 70-72kDa 단백질의 아미노산 서열을 Edman degradation 방법으로 분석하였다. 그 결과 이 단백질의 N 말단의 10개의 아미노산 배열 순서가 알려진 사람의 proMMP-2의 전체 배열순서 중 propetide domain의 N 말단에서부터 다섯 번째에서 시작하여 10개의 아미노산의 서열과 정확하게 일치하였다. 위 결과들로 미루어 사람의 난포액에 존재하는 MMP-2의 새로운 isoform인 GA110은 70-72kDa의 ProMMP-2가 disulfide bond를 통해 homodimer 구조를 이루고 있는 것으로 여겨진다.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.152-163
• /
• 1995

This experiment was performed to observe the adhesion pattern and microleakage in the gingival margin according to variation in the resin cement thickness which results from thickness of Die spacer. which is considered to effect the adaptability of the composite resin inlays. Clearfil CR inlays were fabricated on stone models with CR Sep applicated once and Nice fit twice, 4 times, and 6 times each. After 2nd curing within the CRC-100 oven, CR inlays were cemented with CR inlay cement. Dye(2% methylene blue) penetration and adhesion pattern were evaluated after sectioning of gingival margin into :3 pieces. The results were as follows ; 1. The thickness of resin cement showed unevenchanging pattern with that of die spacer, namely, it was increased until 4 times' application of Nice-Fit but was decreased with 6 times' application of that. 2. The degree of dye penetration wasn't affected by cement thickness within a limited value. 3. Most of dye penetration was shown through the interface between cement and enamel rather than the interface between cement and CR inlay. This shows that the affinity of resin cement for CR inlay was superior to the adhesive strength with tooth structure. 4. No gap was found at the interface between enamel and cement but some showed separation between dentin and cement. It is concidered that the contraction force of cement was less than the bond strength with the enamel. 5. Lots of voids were found in the CR inlay and resin cement. There was a pooling tendency of bonding agent and cement in the axiogingival line angle portion. 6. In some specimens, cracks were shown in enamel margin. From this it could be considered that cavity preparation and surface treatment weakened the tooth structure.

• Composites Research
• /
• v.30 no.6
• /
• pp.371-378
• /
• 2017

In this study, hygroelastic behavior of thermosetting epoxy is predicted by molecular dynamics simulations. Since consistent exposures to humid environments lead to macroscopic degradation of polymer composite, computational simulation study of the hygroscopically aged epoxy cell is essential for long-time durability. Therefore, we modeled amorphous epoxy molecular unit cell structures at a crosslinking ratio of 30, 90% and with the moisture weight fraction of 0, 4 wt% respectively. Diglycidyl ether of bisphenol F (EPON862) and triethylenetetramine (TETA) are chosen as resin and curing agent respectively. Incorporating equilibrium and non-equilibrium ensemble simulation with a classical interatomic potential, various hygroelastic properties including diffusion coefficient of water, coefficient of moisture expansion (CME), stress-strain curve and elastic modulus are predicted. To establish the structural property relationship of pure epoxy, free volume and internal non-bond potential energy of epoxy are examined.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.48-58
• /
• 2009

Glycosyl hydrolases (GH, EC 3.2.1.-) are key enzymes which can hydrolyze the glycosidic bonds between two or more carbohydrates, or between a carbohydrate and a non-carbohydrate moiety. The new enzyme nomenclature of glycoside hydrolases is based on their amino acid sequence similarity and structural features. Here, we examined the glycosyl hydrolase family(GHF) genes reported from earthworm species. Among overall 115 GHFs, 12 GHFs could be identified from earthworm species through CAZy database. Of 12 GHF group genes, five genes including GHF2, 5, 17, 18, 20 are thought to be potent for industrial applications. The alignment of these genes with same genes from other animal species exhibited high sequence homology and some important amino acid residues necessary for enzyme activity appeared to be conserved. These genes can be utilized as a pest control agent or applicable to the food industry, clinical therapeutics and organic wastes disposition.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.31 no.11
• /
• pp.3333-3340
• /
• 2010

A three dimensional pharmacophore model was generated for the molecules which are responsible for anti-inflammatory activities targeting Interleukin-2 inducible tyrosine kinase (Itk). 16 structurally diverse molecules were selected as training set to generate the hypotheses using Discovery Studio v2.1. The best hypothesis, Hypo1, comprises two hydrogen bond acceptor (HBA), one hydrophobic aromatic (HA), one ring aromatic (RA) and shows high cost difference (63.71), high correlation coefficient (0.97) as well as low RMS deviation (0.81). Hypo1 has been further validated toward a test set, decoy set and Fischer's randomization method. Furthermore, Hypo1 was used to screen NCI and Maybridge databases. Finally, 2 hit molecules were identified as potential leads against Itk, which may be useful for future drug development.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
• /
• v.38 no.4
• /
• pp.215-221
• /
• 2013

Objectives: To determine the retentive strength and failure mode of undercut composite post, glass fiber post and polyethylene fiber post luted with flowable composite resin and resin-cement. Materials and Methods: Coronal parts of 120 primary canine teeth were sectioned and specimens were treated endodontically. The teeth were randomly divided into 6 groups (n = 20). Prepared root canals received intracanal retainers with a short composite post, undercut composite post, glass fiber post luted with flowable resin or resin-cement, and polyethylene fiber post luted with flowable resin or resin-cement. After crown reconstruction, samples were tested for retentive strength and failure mode. Statistical analysis was done with one-way ANOVA and Tukey tests (p < 0.05). Results: There were statistically significant differences between groups (p = 0.001). Mean bond strength in the undercut group was significantly greater than in the short composite post (p = 0.030), and the glass fiber post (p = 0.001) and the polyethylene fiber post group luted with resin-cement (p = 0.008). However, the differences between the undercut group and the groups with flowable composite as the luting agent were not significant (p = 0.068, p = 0.557). Adhesive failure was more frequent in the fiber post groups. Conclusions: Although the composite post with undercutting showed the greatest resistance to dislodgement, fiber posts cemented with flowable composite resin provided acceptable results in terms of retentive strength and fracture mode.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
• /
• v.29 no.1
• /
• pp.50-58
• /
• 2006

Translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP), also known as histamine releasing factor (HRF), is found abundantly in different eukaryotic cell types. The sequence homology of TCTP between different species is very high, belonging to the MSS4/DSS4 superfamily of proteins. TCTP is involved in both cell growth and human late allergy reaction, as well as having a calcium binding property; however, its primary biological functions remain to be clearly elucidated. In regard to many possible functions, the TCTP of Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) is known to bind with an antimalarial agent, artemisinin, which is activated by heme. It is assumed that the endoperoxide-bridge of artemisinin is opened up by heme to form a free radical, which then eventually alkylates, probably to the Cys14 of PfTCTP. Study of the docking of artemisinin with heme, and subsequently with PfTCTP, was carried out to verify the above hypothesis on the basis of structural interactions. The three dimensional (3D) structure of PfTCTP was built by homology modeling, using the NMR structure of the TCTP of Schizosaccharomyces pombe as a template. The quality of the model was examined based on its secondary structure and biological function, as well as with the use of structure evaluating programs. The interactions between artemisinin, heme and PfTCTP were then studied using the docking program, FlexiDock. The center of the peroxide bond of artemisinin and the Fe of heme were docked within a short distance of $2.6{\AA}$, implying the strong possibility of an interaction between the two molecules, as proposed. When the activated form of artemisinin was docked on the PfTCTP, the C4-radical of the drug faced towards the sulfur of Cys14 within a distance of $2.48{\AA}$, again suggesting the possibility of alkylation having occurred. These results confirm the proposed mechanism of the antimalarial effect of artemisinin, which will provide a reliable method for establishing the mechanism of its biological activity using a molecular modeling study.