• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.111-121
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• 2009

Cell membrane proteins play crucial roles in the cell's molecular interaction with its environment and within itself. They consist of membrane-bound proteins and many types of transmembrane (TM) proteins such as receptors, transporters, channel proteins, and enzymes. Membrane proteomes of cellular organisms reveal some characteristics in their global topological distribution according to their evolutionary positions, and show their own information transfer complexity. Predicted transmembrane segments (TMSs) in membrane proteomes with HMMTOP showed near power-law distribution and frequency characteristics in 6-TMS and 7-TMS proteins in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, respectively. This reaffirms the important roles of membrane receptors in cellular communication and biological evolutionary history.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.162-173
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• 2015

The cellular fatty acid composition is important for metabolic plasticity in Rhodobacter sphaeroides. We explored the effects of changing the cellular ratio of unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs) to saturated fatty acids (SFAs) in R. sphaeroides by overexpressing several key fatty acid biosynthetic enzymes through the use of expression plasmid pRK415. Bacteria containing the plasmid pRKfabI₁ with the fabI₁ gene that encodes enoyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) reductase showed a reduction in the cellular UFA to SFA ratio from 4 (80% UFA) to 2 (65% UFA) and had decreased membrane fluidity and reduced cell growth. Additionally, the ratio of UFA to SFA of the chromatophore vesicles from pRKfabI₁-containing cells was similarly lowered, and the cell had decreased levels of light-harvesting complexes, but no change in intracytoplasmic membrane (ICM) content or photosynthetic (PS) gene expression. Both inhibition of enoyl-ACP reductase with diazaborine and addition of exogenous UFA restored membrane fluidity, cell growth, and the UFA to SFA ratio to wild-type levels in this strain. R. sphaeroides containing the pRKfabB plasmid with the fabB gene that encodes the enzyme β-ketoacyl-ACP synthase I exhibited an increased UFA to SFA ratio from 4 (80% UFA) to 9 (90% UFA), but showed no change in membrane fluidity or growth rate relative to control cells. Thus, membrane fluidity in R. sphaeroides remains fairly unchanged when membrane UFA levels are between 80% and 90%, whereas membrane fluidity, cell growth, and cellular composition are affected when UFA levels are below 80%.

• New Physics: Sae Mulli
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• v.68 no.11
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• pp.1173-1182
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• 2018

Mesoporous silica allows proper hydration of an ion exchange membrane under low relative humidity due to its strong hydrophilicity and structural characteristic. A mesoporous silica and Nafion composite membrane shows good proton conductivity under low relative humidity. An understanding of ion-channel formation and proton transfer through an ion-channel network in mesoporous silica and Nafion composite membranes is essential for the development and the optimization of ion exchange membranes. In this study, a mesoporous cellular foam $SiO_2/Nafion$ composite membrane is fabricated, and its proton conductivity and performance are measured. Also, the ion-channel distribution is analyzed by using electrostatic force microscopy to measure the surface charge density of the mesoporous cellular foam $SiO_2/Nafion$ composite membrane. The research reveals a few remarkable results. First, the composite membrane shows excellent proton conductivity and performance under low relative humidity. Second, the composite membrane is observed to form ion-channel-rich and ion-channel-poor region locally.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.33-42
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• 2018

Myosin X is one of myosin superfamily members having unique cellular functions on cytoskeletal reorganization. One of the most important cellular functions of myosin X is to facilitate the formation of membrane protrusions. Since membrane protrusions are important factors for diverse cellular motile processes including cell migration, cell invasion, path-finding of the cells, intercellular communications and so on, it has been thought that myosin X plays an important role in various processes that involve cytoskeletal reorganization including cancer progression and development of neuronal diseases. Recent studies have revealed that the unique cellular function of myosin X is closely correlated with its unique structural characteristics and motor properties. Moreover, it is found that the molecular and cellular activities of myosin X are controlled by its specific binding partner. Since recent studies have revealed the presence of various specific binding partners of myosin X, it is anticipated that the structural, biochemical and cell biological understanding of the binding partner dependent regulation of myosin X function can uncover the role of myosin X in diverse cell biological processes and diseases.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.167-171
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• 2011

[ ${\alpha}$ ]synuclein (${\alpha}$-syn) is implicated in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD) and other related diseases. We have previously reported that ${\alpha}$-syn binds to the cell membranes in a transient and reversible manner. However, little is known about the physiologic function and/or consequence of this association. Here, we examined whether chemically induced perturbations to the cellular membranes enhance the binding of ${\alpha}$-syn, based on hypothesis that ${\alpha}$-syn may play a role in maintenance of membrane integrity or repair. We induced membrane perturbations or alterations in ${\alpha}$-syn-overexpressing human neuroblastoma cells (SH-SY5Y) by treating the cells with hydrogen peroxide ($H_2O_2$) or oleic acid. In addition, membranes fractionated from these cells were perturbed by treating them with proteinase K or chloroform. Dynamic interaction of ${\alpha}$-syn to the membranes was analyzed by the chemical cross-linking assay that we developed in the previous study. We found that membrane interaction of ${\alpha}$-syn was increased upon treatment with membrane-perturbing reagents in a dose and time dependent manner. These results suggest that perturbations in the cellular membranes cause increased binding of ${\alpha}$-syn, and this may have significant implication in the physiological function of ${\alpha}$-syn in cells.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.111-117
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• 2018

A previous exo-terrestrial life-detecting experiment, which was conducted on Mars, sought to detect the products of glucose metabolism, the most common biological process on Earth (Viking biological experiment). Today, glucose metabolism is not considered the universal process of life survival. As NASA plans to launch an orbiter mission in the near future (2020s, the Clipper) and ultimately conduct a lander mission on Europa, a detection experiment that can give broader information regarding habitability is highly required. In this study, we designed a life-detecting experiment using a more universal feature of life, the amphipathic molecular membrane, theoretically considering the environment of Europa (waterdominant environment). This designed experiment focuses on finding and profiling hydrophobic cellular membrane-like microstructures. Expected results are given by conceptual data analysis with plausible hypothetical samples.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.45-49
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• 2018

Autophagy is a lysosome-dependent degradation process that is essential for maintaining cellular homeostasis. In recent years, more studies have focused on the late stages of autophagy. Our group discovered and studied the terminal step of autophagy, namely autophagic lysosome reformation (ALR). ALR is the process that regenerates functional lysosomes from autolysosomes, thus maintaining lysosome homeostasis. ALR involves clathrin-mediated membrane budding from autolysosomes, elongation of membrane tubules along microtubules with the pulling force provided by the motor protein KIF5B, proto-lysosome scission by dynamin 2, and finally maturation of proto-lysosomes to functional lysosomes. In this review, we will summarize progress in unveiling the molecular mechanisms underlying ALR and its potential pathophysiological roles.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.12
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• pp.1744-1754
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• 2014

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA genome is replicated by an RNA replicase complex (RC) consisting of cellular proteins and viral nonstructural (NS) proteins, including NS5B, an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) and key enzyme for viral RNA genome replication. The HCV RC is known to be associated with an intracellular membrane structure, but the cellular components of the RC and their roles in the formation of the HCV RC have not been well characterized. In this study, we took a proteomic approach to identify stomatin, a member of the integral proteins of lipid rafts, as a cellular protein interacting with HCV NS5B. Co-immunoprecipitation and co-localization studies confirmed the interaction between stomatin and NS5B. We demonstrated that the subcellular fraction containing viral NS proteins and stomatin displays RdRp activity. Membrane flotation assays with the HCV genome replication-competent subcellular fraction revealed that the HCV RdRp and stomatin are associated with the lipid raft-like domain of membranous structures. Stomatin silencing by RNA interference led to the release of NS5B from the detergent-resistant membrane, thereby inhibiting HCV replication in both HCV subgenomic replicon-harboring cells and HCV-infected cells. Our results identify stomatin as a cellular protein that plays a role in the formation of an enzymatically active HCV RC on a detergent-resistant membrane structure.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.65-71
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• 2015

Intracellular organelles in eukaryotic cells play important roles in many cellular functions. Intracellular trafficking of many proteins to specific intracellular organelles is tightly regulated by various mechanisms in cells. Therefore, elucidating the targeting mechanism of novel markers for intracellular organelles is important for cellular physiology and pathology. In this study, we tried to identify the peptides which could bind to specific glycolipid in cellular membrane using GFP-fused glycolipid-binding peptides, and analyzed their cellular localization. As a result, we could identify mitochondria-, Golgi- or plasma membrane-targeting peptides. Furthermore, we found that the plasma membrane-targeting peptide was localized to the plasma membrane via electrostatic interactions. Thus, our results suggest that various glycolipid-binding peptides could be used as intracellular organelles markers.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.115-120
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• 2023

The design theory for nanoporous filtration membranes needs to be established. The present study shows that the performance and technical advancement of nanoporous filtration membranes are determined by the fundamental parameter I (in the unit Watt^1/2) which is formulated as a function of the shear strength of the liquid-pore wall interface, the radius of the filtration pore, the membrane thickness, and the bulk dynamic viscosity of the flowing liquid. This parameter determines the critical power loss on a single filtration pore for initiating the wall slippage, which is important for the flux of the membrane. It also relates the membrane permeability to the power cost by the filtration pore. It is shown that for biological cellular membranes its values are on the scale 1.0E-8Watt^1/2, for mono-layer graphene membranes its values are on the scale 1.0E-9Watt^1/2, and for nanoporous membranes made of silica, silicon nitride or silicon carbonized its values are on the scale 1.0E-5Watt^1/2. The scale of the value of this parameter directly measures the level of the performance of a nanoporous filtration membrane. The carbon nanotube membrane has the similar performance with biological cellular membranes, as it also has the value of I on the scale 1.0E-8Watt^1/2.