• Journal of Life Science
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.103-107
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• 2001

The equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) subunits $\alpha$ and ${\beta}$ are transcribed from different genes and associate noncovalently to form the bioactive eCG heterodimer. Dimerization is rate limiting for eCG secretion, and dissociation leads to hormone inactivation. The correct conformation of the heterodimer is alto important for efficient secretion, hormone-specific post-translational modifications, receptor binding and signal transduction. To determine whether ${\alpha}$ and ${\beta}$ subunits can be synthesized as a single polypeptide chain (tethered-eCG) and also display biological activity, the tethered-eCG molecule by fusing the carboxyl terminus of the eCG ${\beta}$-subunit to the amino terminus of the af-subunit was construe-ted and transfected into chinese hamster ovary (CHO-Kl) cells. LH- and FSH-like activities were assayed in terms of testosterone production and aromatase activity in primary cultured rat Leydig cells and granulosa cells, respectively. The tethered-eCG was efficiently secreted and showed similar LH-like activity to the dimeric eCG ${\alpha}$/${\beta}$ and native eCG. FSH-like activity of the tethered-eCG was also shown similarly in comparison with the native and wild type eCG ${\alpha}$/${\beta}$. Our data for the first time suggest that the tethered-eCG can be expressed efficiently and the produced product by the CHO-K1 cells is fully LH- and FSH-like activities in rat in vitro bioassay system. Our results also suggest that this molecular can imply particular models of FSH-like activity not LH-like activity in the eCG. Taken together, these data indicate that the constructs of tethered molecule will be useful in the study of mutants that affect subunit association and/or secretion.

• Clean Technology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.87-94
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• 2008

The catalytic properties of large pore zeolite (mordenite, beta, and Y) with 12-membered rings were comparatively evaluated in the synthesis of diethylamines from ethanol amination. The number of strong acid sites, which obviously promoted the formation of mono- and diethylamines, was decreased with the increase of Si/Al ratio of the zeolites that were used. H-beta and H-Y zeolites with multidimensional pore channels favorably formed diethylether by the dimerization of ethanol, due to their large cage volumes and low acid strength. On the other hand, H-mordenite which has one dimensional straight channel was shown to be suitable for the formation of mono- and diethylamine which are well known as the useful intermediates of fine chemicals.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.224-231
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• 2007

$H_2O_2$, as an example of oxidative stress, induces cardiac myocyte apoptosis. Bcl-2 family proteins are key regulators of the apoptotic response while their functions can be regulated by post-translational modifications including phosphorylation, dimerization or proteolytic cleavage. In this study, we examined the role of various protein kinases in regulating total BAD protein levels in adult rat cardiac myocytes undergoing apoptosis. Stimulation with 0.1 mM $H_2O_2$, which induces apoptosis, resulted in a marked down-regulation of BAD protein, which is attributed to cleavage by caspases since it can be restored in the presence of a general caspase inhibitor. Inhibition of PKC, p38-MAPK, ERK1/2 and PI-3-K did not influence the reduced BAD protein levels observed after stimulation with $H_2O_2$. On the contrary, inhibition of PKA or specifically $PKC{\delta}$ resulted in up-regulation of BAD. Decreased caspase 3 activity was observed in $H_2O_2$ treated cells after inhibition of PKA or $PKC{\delta}$ whereas inhibition of PKA also resulted in improved cell survival. Furthermore, addition of okadaic acid to inhibit selected phosphatases resulted in enhanced BAD cleavage. These data suggest that, during oxidative stress-induced cardiac myocyte apoptosis, there is a caspase-dependent down-regulation of BAD protein, which seems to be regulated by coordinated action of PKA, $PKC{\delta}$ and phosphatases.

• Proceedings of the Korean Biophysical Society Conference
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• 2003.06a
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• pp.69-69
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• 2003

Human CD99 is a ubiquitous 32-kDa transmembrane protein encoded by the mic2 gene. The major cellular functions of CD99 protein are related to homotypic cell adhension, apoptosis, vesicular protein transport, and differentiation of thymocytes or T cells. Recently it has been reported that expression of a splice variant of CD99 transmembrane protein (Type I and Type II) increases invasive ability of human breast cancer cells. To understand structural basis for cellular functions of CD99 (Type I), we have initiated studies on hCD99$^{TMcytoI}$ and hCD99$^{cytoI}$ using circular dichroism (CD) and multi-dimensional NMR spectroscopy. CD spectrum of hCD99$^{TMcytoI}$ in the presence of 200mM DPC and CHAPS displayed an existence $\alpha$-helical conformation. The solution structure of hCD99$^{cytoI}$ determined by NMR is composed of one N-terminal $\alpha$-helix, $\alpha$A, two C-terminal short $\alpha$-helix segments, $\alpha$B and $\alpha$C. While $\alpha$A and $\alpha$B are connected by the long flexible loop, $\alpha$B and $\alpha$C connected by type III$\beta$-turn. Although it has been rarely figured out the correlation between structure and functional mechanism of hCD99$^{TMcytoI}$ and hCD99$^{cytoI}$, there is possibility of dimerization or oligomerization. In addition, the feasible mechanism of hCD99$^{cytoI}$ is that it could have intramolecular interaction between the N- and C- terminal domain through large flexible AB loop.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.1769-1774
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• 2004

Jun/Fos, a crucial factor in transmitting the tumor-promoting signal from the extracellular environment to the nuclear transcription machinery, has a dimerization interface possessing several coiled structural properties. Jun and Fos can interact with the DNA regulatory region, AP-1 (Activator Protein-1), which is composed of 5'-TGAC/GTCA-3'.$^1$ Curcumin is a well-known anticancer and anti-inflammatory compound.$^{2,3}$ It also acts as an inhibitor of the Jun-Fos function. c-Fos and c-Jun with a bZIP region are overexpressed in BL21 E. coli and purified with an $Ni^{2+}$ affinity column. The inhibitors of Fos-Jun-AP-1 complex formation were searched through the EMSA (electrophoresis mobility shift assay) experiment, and new curcuminoids were synthesized and investigated as to their inhibitory effect on the same system. Two curcuminoids showed a stronger inhibitory effect than curcumin. This inhibitory activity was quantified with EMSA. 1,7-bis(4-methyl)-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione (BJC003) and 1,7-bis(4-hydroxy-5-methoxy-3-nitrophenyl)-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione (BJC005) showed remarkably high inhibitory activities. $IC_{50}$ of 1,7-bis(4-methyl)-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione (BJC003) and 1,7-bis(4-hydroxy-5-methoxy-3-nitrophenyl)-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione (BJC005) are 8.98 ${\mu}M$ and 5.40 ${\mu}M$, respectively. However, 1,7-bis(4-methyl-3-nitrophenyl)-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione (BJC004) did not show inhibitory activity.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.229-235
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• 2004

For the study of hydrogen bonding phenomenon of high energetic compounds, we have been carried out a theoretical calculations for the nitromethane with the program Gaussian-98. The calculations at levels of restricted BLYP/6-311++G(d,p), B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) and MP2/6-311++G have been performed to obtain molecular structures, hydrogen bonding effects and vibrational spectra of nitromethane monomer and dimer. The results show nitromethane is favored to make two hydrogen bonds between molecules and the nitromethane dimer is more stable than the monomer about 15.2, 19.4 and 32.6 kJ/mol for the BLYP, B3LYP, and MP2 level calculations, respectively.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.25 no.9
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• pp.1379-1384
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• 2004

Rearrangements of 1,3-oxathiolane sulfoxides 8 and 9 in the presence of base are described from a mechanistic viewpoint of sigmatropic and elimination reactions. In the presence of triethylamine the (Z)-sulfoxide 8 gave the corresponding thiolsulfinate 10 by way of dimerization of the sulfenic acid intermediate 2 at room temperature while the (E)-sulfoxide 9 was recovered even after refluxing in ethyl acetate by the reversal of the [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement of the sulfenic acid 4. Triethylamine promoted the developing charge separation in the transition state of the sigmatropic rearrangement of the (Z)-sulfoxide 8 to facilitate the ring opening to the sulfenic acid 2. The reason for more facile ring opening of the (Z)-sulfoxide 8 in comparison with the corresponding (E)-sulfoxide 9 is attributable to the differences in the reactivity of the hydrogen adjacent to the carbonyl group. Triethylamine was not strong base to deprotonate the carbonyl-activated methylene hydrogen of the (E)-sulfoxide 9 but enough to catalyze the sigmatropic process of the sulfoxides. The sulfenic acid 2 dimerized to the thiolsulfinate 10 while the sulfenic acid 4 proceeded the sigmatropic ring closure. In the presence of strong base such as potassium hydroxide, the elimination reaction was predominant over the sigmatropic rearrangement. In this reaction condition, both sulfoxides 8a and 9a gave a mixture of the disulfide 12, the isomeric disulfide 14, and the sulfinic acid 13. Under the strong alkaline condition an elimination of activated hydrogen from the carbon adjacent to the carbonyl group to furnish the sulfenic acid 2a and the isomeric sulfenic acid 18. The formation of the transient intermediate in the reaction was proven by isolation of the isomeric disulfide 14. The reactive entity was regarded as the sulfenic acid rather than sulfenate anion under these reaction conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.72-77
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• 2017

${\beta}-catenin$ is a key signaling protein which regulates cell signaling and gene transcription. Abnormal activation of ${\beta}-catenin$ is linked to many cancers, particularly with colorectal cancers. Although many genetic and biological studies on $Wnt/{\beta}-catenin$ have been reported and structures of the complex between ${\beta}-catenin$ and its diverse binding partners have been published, many of them have focused on armadillo repeat domain of ${\beta}-catenin$. Both N- and C-terminal domains have been suggested to regulate interactions of ${\beta}-catenin$ with other molecules, but still little is known about the C-terminal unstructured domain. To investigate the structure of this domain, construct of C-terminus was designed and structural studies were performed using size exclusion chromatography (SEC), circular dichroism (CD), fluorescence and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. We observed that not only the purified full-length construct but the purified C-terminal construct also dimerizes in solution by SEC, suggesting that this domain involves in dimerization of ${\beta}-catenin$. CD and fluorescence data indicate its flexibility and structural formation in the presence of membrane environments.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.273-281
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• 2021

Severe acute respiratory syndrome CoV-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Signaling pathways that are essential for virus production have potential as therapeutic targets against COVID-19. In this study, we investigated cellular responses in two cell lines, Vero and Calu-3, upon SARS-CoV-2 infection and evaluated the effects of pathway-specific inhibitors on virus production. SARS-CoV-2 infection induced dephosphorylation of STAT1 and STAT3, high virus production, and apoptosis in Vero cells. However, in Calu-3 cells, SARS-CoV-2 infection induced long-lasting phosphorylation of STAT1 and STAT3, low virus production, and no prominent apoptosis. Inhibitors that target STAT3 phosphorylation and dimerization reduced SARS-CoV-2 production in Calu-3 cells, but not in Vero cells. These results suggest a necessity to evaluate cellular consequences upon SARS-CoV-2 infection using various model cell lines to find out more appropriate cells recapitulating relevant responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro.

• Mycobiology
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.200-206
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• 2019

Allelic differences in A and B mating-type loci are a prerequisite for the progression of mating in the genus Pleurotus eryngii; thus, the crossing is hampered by this biological barrier in inbreeding. Molecular markers linked to mating types of P. eryngii KNR2312 were investigated with randomly amplified polymorphic DNA to enhance crossing efficiency. An A4-linked sequence was identified and used to find the adjacent genomic region with the entire motif of the A locus from a contig sequenced by PacBio. The sequence-characterized amplified region marker $7-2_{299}$ distinguished A4 mating-type monokaryons from KNR2312 and other strains. A BLAST search of flanked sequences revealed that the A4 locus had a general feature consisting of the putative HD1 and HD2 genes. Both putative HD transcription factors contain a homeodomain sequence and a nuclear localization sequence; however, valid dimerization motifs were found only in the HD1 protein. The ACAAT motif, which was reported to have relevance to sex determination, was found in the intergenic region. The SCAR marker could be applicable in the classification of mating types in the P. eryngii breeding program, and the A4 locus could be the basis for a multi-allele detection marker.