• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• 제27권5호
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• pp.642-648
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• 2006

Mushroom tyrosinase (MT) structural changes in the presence of $Cu ^{2+}$ and $Ni ^{2+}$ were studied separately. Far-UV CD spectra of the incubated MT with the either of the metal ions indicated reduction of the well-ordered secondary structure of the enzyme. Increasing in the maximum fluorescence emission of anilinonaphthalene-8-sulfonic acid (ANS) was also revealing partial unfolding caused by the conformational changes in the tertiary structure of MT. Thermodynamic studies on the chemical denaturation of MT by dodecyl trimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) showed decrease in the stability of MT in the presence of $Cu ^{2+}$ or $Ni ^{2+}$ using their activation concentrations. Both activities of MT were also assessed in the presence of different concentrations of these ions, separately, with various monophenols and their corresponding diphenols. Kinetic studies revealed that cresolase activity on p-coumaric acid was boosted in the presence of either of the metal ions, but inhibited when phenol, L-tyrosine, or 4-[(4-methylphenyl)azo]-phenol was substrate. Similarly, catecholase activity on caffeic acid was enhanced in the presence of $Cu ^{2+}$ or $Ni ^{2+}$, but inhibited when catechol, L-DOPA, or 4-[(4-methylbenzo)azo]-1,2-benzenediol was substrate. Results of this study suggest that both cations make MT more fragile and less active. However, the effect of the substrate structure on the MT allosteric behavior can not be ignored.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• 제3권4호
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• pp.267-272
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• 2007

Environmental and anthropogenic changes affect the health and stability of marine ecosystem. In this study we aimed to identify molecular biomarkers for ecotoxicological pollutants risk assessment in the rockfish (Sebastes schlegeli). We designed primers based on conserved sequences by multiple alignments of target genes from related species, and cloned the partial cDNAs of cytochrome P450 (CYP1A1), glutathione S-transferase (GST), metallothionein (MT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), ubiquitin (UB), vitellogenin (VTG) and $\beta$-actin by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) from S. schlegeli. Northern blot results indicated that these six genes expressions were significantly induced by benzo[a]pyrene (BaP, 1 ${\mu}M$) and that the level of each of their transcripts increased in BaP-exposed rockfish in a time-dependent manner. This study suggests that transcriptional changes in these six genes may be used for monitoring environmental exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• 제10권2호
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• pp.65-73
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• 2004

I report that single-stranded antisense as a part of large circular (LC-) genomic DNA of recombinant M13 phage exhibits enhanced stability, sequence specific antisense activity, and no need for target site search. A cDNA fragment (708 bp) of rat TNF-$\alpha$ was inserted into a phagemid vector, and TNF-$\alpha$ antisense molecules (TNF$\alpha$-LCAS) were produced as single-stranded circular DNA. When introduced into a rat monocyte/macrophage cell line, WRT7/P2, TNF$\alpha$-LCAS was able to ablate LPS-induced TNF-$\alpha$ mRNA to completion. The antisense effect of TNF$\alpha$-LCAS was shown to be sequence-specific because expressions of three control genes ($\beta$-actin, GAPDH and IL-1$\beta$) were not significantly altered by the antisense treatment. Further, TNF$\alpha$-LCAS was found to be highly efficacious as only 0.1 $\mu$g (0.24 nM) of TNF$\alpha$-LCAS was sufficient to block TNF-$\alpha$ expression in 1$\times10^5$ WRT7/P2 cells. I have also observed specific antisense activity in reduction of NF-$\kappa$B gene expression. The results suggest that an antisense sequence as a part of single-stranded circular genomic DNA has a specific antisense activity.

• BMB Reports
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• 제34권1호
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• pp.21-27
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• 2001

The structural stability of brain pyrydoxine-5'-phosphate (PNP) oxidase and the catalytic properties of the monomeric species were investigated. The unfolding of brain pyridoxine-5'-phosphate (PNP) oxidase by guanidine hydrochloride (GuHCl) was monitored by means of fluorescence and circular dichroism spectroscopy Reversible dissociation of the dimeric enzyme into subunits was attained by the addition of 2 M GuHCl. The perturbation of the secondary structure under the denaturation condition resulted in the release of the cofactor FMN. Separation of the processes of refolding and reassociation of the monomeric species was achieved by the immobilization method. Dimeric PNP oxidase was immobilized by the covalent attachment to Affi-gel 15 without any significant lass of its catalytic activity. Matrix-bound monomeric species were obtained from the reversible refolding processes. The matrix bound-monomer was found to be catalytically active, possessing only a slightly decreased specific activity when compared to the refolded dimeric enzyme. In addition, limited chymotrypsin digestion of the oxidase yields two fragments of 12 and 161 kDa with a concomitant increase of catalytic activity The catalytically active fragment was isolated by ion exchange chromatography and analyzed for association of two subunits using the FPLC gel filtration analysis. The retention time indicated that the catalytic fragment of 16 kDa behaves as a compact monomer. Taken together, these results are consistent with the hypothesis that the native quaternary structure of PNP oxidase is not a prerequisite for catalytic function, but it could play a role in the regulation.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• 제28권2호
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• pp.93-108
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• 1995

The Bobae sericite deposit occurs in rhyodacite of the Cretaceous volcanogenic sedimentary rocks, Upper Yucheon Group, in the western part of Pusan. The alteration zones are divided into the phyllie and prophylitic zone based on the mineral assemblages. The phyllic zone is subdivided into three subzones; Andalusite-Pyrophyllite, Sericite and Albite subzones. Oxides vs. $Al_2O_3$ contents show variations corresponding to mineral assemblage in each alteration zone. On the basis of bulk chemical compositions, it was found that $SiO_2$ increases in the Andalusite-Pyrophyllite subzone and $K_2O$ in the Sericite subzone. The oxygen, hydrogen and sulfur isotope analysis indicates that the fluids were originally derived from the residual magmatic solution. It has been mixed with abundant meteoric water later. The ore-forming temperatures obtained from sericite (illite) geothermometer are about $250{\sim}350^{\circ}C$. Considering the phase stability relation, PoT conditions of the andalusite-pyrophyllite subzone were estimated to be less than 0.5 kb and almost $400^{\circ}C$, respectively. The K-Ar ages of sericites indicate that the clay deposit is genetically related to the Cretaceous-Paleogene Masan Hornblende-Biotite Granite.

• Advances in Computational Design
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• 제2권4호
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• pp.313-331
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• 2017

In this study, teaching-learning based optimization (TLBO) is improved by incorporating model of multiple teachers, adaptive teaching factor, self-motivated learning, and learning through tutorial. Modified TLBO (MTLBO) is applied for simultaneous topology, shape, and size optimization of space and planar trusses to study its effectiveness. All the benchmark problems are subjected to stress, displacement, and kinematic stability constraints while design variables are discrete and continuous. Analyses of unacceptable and singular topologies are prohibited by seeing element connectivity through Grubler's criterion and the positive definiteness. Performance of MTLBO is compared to TLBO and state-of-the-art algorithms available in literature, such as a genetic algorithm (GA), improved GA, force method and GA, ant colony optimization, adaptive multi-population differential evolution, a firefly algorithm, group search optimization (GSO), improved GSO, and intelligent garbage can decision-making model evolution algorithm. It is observed that MTLBO has performed better or found nearly the same optimum solutions.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• 제16권3호
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• pp.182-186
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• 1988

The possibility of strain improvement of cellulolytic fungus, Penicillium verruculosum via protoplast fusion was investigated. The cellulolytic activities of the six fusants, finally selected for their hyper-cellulolytics were 2 times of those of wild type and 1.2 to 4.4 times of those parental auxotrophs. It was confirmed that the nuclear fusion occurred in fusants by their DNA contents and nuclear staining with Giemsa. It was also found that the fusants were aneuploids, and their genetic stability was demonstrated from the subculture for four months.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• 제23권2호
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• pp.164-169
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• 1995

An endogenous cryptic plasmid, pBL1, which has been used to construct plasmid vectors for coryneform bacteria producing amino acids, was eliminated from Brevibacterium lactofermentum. The pBL1 was partially digested with Sau3AI and the resulting DNA fragments were subcloned into a suicide vector pEM1 which contains a kanamycin-resistant (km$^{r}$) gene. KM$^{r}$ B. lactofermentum transconjugants were obtained by conjugal transfer of the pEM1 derivatives containing pBL1 DNA fragments from Escherichia coli into B. lactofermentum. A km$^{r}$ transconjugant was analyzed to contain a plasmid pEB14, which occurred in vivo by homologous recombination between pBL1 and the conjugal-transferred plasmid. The pEB14 including the pEM1-derived km$^{r}$ gene was found to be lost concomitantly with km$^{r}$ phenotype, resulting in the construction of a pBL1-free strain of B lactofermentum. Based on transformation efficiencies and plasmid stability, the resultant pBL1- free strain is more useful than wild strain as a host cell for genetic manipulation. It could be concluded that foreign plasmid DNAs are efficiently isolated and analyzed from the pBL1-free strain because of the absence of endogenous pBL1 plasmid.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제22권9호
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• pp.1279-1287
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• 2012

We established an efficient transformation method for thermophile Geobacillus kaustophilus HTA426 using conjugative transfer from Escherichia coli of host-mimicking plasmids that imitate DNA methylation of strain HTA426 to circumvent its DNA restriction barriers. Two conjugative plasmids, pSTE33T and pUCG18T, capable of shuttling between E. coli and Geobacillus spp., were constructed. The plasmids were first introduced into E. coli BR408, which expressed one inherent DNA methylase gene (dam) and two heterologous methylase genes from strain HTA426 (GK1380-GK1381 and GK0343-GK0344). The plasmids were then directly transferred from E. coli cells to strain HTA426 by conjugative transfer using pUB307 or pRK2013 as a helper plasmid. pUCG18T was introduced very efficiently (transfer efficiency, $10^{-5}-10^{-3}\;recipient^{-1}$). pSTE33T showed lower efficiency ($10^{-7}-10^{-6}\;recipient^{-1}$) but had a high copy number and high segregational stability. Methylase genes in the donor substantially affected the transfer efficiency, demonstrating that the host-mimicking strategy contributes to efficient transformation. The transformation method, along with the two distinguishing plasmids, increases the potential of G. kaustophilus HTA426 as a thermophilic host to be used in various applications and as a model for biological studies of this genus. Our results also demonstrate that conjugative transfer is a promising approach for introducing exogenous DNA into thermophiles.

• Journal of Information Processing Systems
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• 제5권2호
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• pp.105-116
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• 2009

To solve the general problems surrounding the application of genetic algorithms in stereo matching, two measures are proposed. Firstly, the strategy of simplified population-based incremental learning (PBIL) is adopted to reduce the problems with memory consumption and search inefficiency, and a scheme for controlling the distance of neighbors for disparity smoothness is inserted to obtain a wide-area consistency of disparities. In addition, an alternative version of the proposed algorithm, without the use of a probability vector, is also presented for simpler set-ups. Secondly, programmable graphics-hardware (GPU) consists of multiple multi-processors and has a powerful parallelism which can perform operations in parallel at low cost. Therefore, in order to decrease the running time further, a model of the proposed algorithm, which can be run on programmable graphics-hardware (GPU), is presented for the first time. The algorithms are implemented on the CPU as well as on the GPU and are evaluated by experiments. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm offers better performance than traditional BMA methods with a deliberate relaxation and its modified version in terms of both running speed and stability. The comparison of computation times for the algorithm both on the GPU and the CPU shows that the former has more speed-up than the latter, the bigger the image size is.