• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.304-308
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• 2008

Noble Poly (lithium 2-acrylamido-2-methyl propane sulfonate) and its copolymer with N-vinyl formamide based on trihexyl (tetradecyl) phosphonium acetate [$(C_6H_{13})_3$ P ($C_{14}H_{29}$) $CH_3COO$; $P_{66614}$ $CH_3COO$] and trihexyl (tetradecyl)phosphonium bis(trifluoromethane sulfonyl) amide ([$(C_6H_{13})_3P(C_{14}H_{29})$] [TFSA];$P_{66614}TFSA$) were prepared and analyzed to determine their characteristics and properties. The ionic conductivity of a copolymer based $P_{66614}TFSA$ ionic liquid system exhibits a higher conductivity ($8.9{\times}10^{-5}Scm^{-1}$) than that of a copolymer based $P_{66614}CH_3COO$ system ($1.57{\times}10^{-5}Scm^{-1})$. The charge on the TFSA anion is spread very diffusely through the S-N-S core and particularly in the trifluoromethane groups, and this diffusion results in a decreased interaction between the cation and the anion. The viscosity of $P_{66614}TFSA$ (39 cP at 343 K) and $P_{66614}CH_3COO$ (124 cP at 343 K), which is very hydrophobic, was fairly high. High viscosity leads to a slow rate of diffusion of redox species. The ionic conductivity of copolymer of a phosphonium ionic liquid system also exhibits higher conductivity than that of a homopolymer system. Phosphonium ionic liquids were thermally stable at temperatures up to $400^{\circ}C$.

• BMB Reports
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.365-370
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• 2001

We constructed a comparative expression system in order to produce recombinant human ferritin homo- and heteropolymers in Escherichia coli. Human ferritin H-(hfH) and L-chain (hfL) genes were expressed without amino acid changes under the control of a tac promoter. Ferritin heteropolymers of varying subunit composition were also produced by combining two different expression systems, a bicistronic expression system and a coplasmid expression system. As a result, recombinant H-chain ferritin and ferritin heteropolymers were catalytically active in forming iron core in vivo. In particular, the ferritin heteropolymer that is composed of 7% H-subunit and 93% L-subunit was capable of forming an iron core of the protein, while the L-chain ferritin homopolymer was inactive in vivo. This result indicates that the two H-subunits (i.e., 7% H-subunit content) are important to keep ferritin active in the cells. In addition, human ferritins were identified as the major iron binding proteins in the transformed cells. Also, the amount of iron bound to the recombinant ferritins was proportional to the H-subunit content in ferritin heteropolymers in vivo.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.1133-1140
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• 2018

Pseudomonas fluorescens KLR101 was found to be capable of producing polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) using various sugars and fatty acids with carbon numbers ranging from 2 to 6. The PHA granules consisted mainly of a poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) homopolymer and/or poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) copolymer. Genomic DNA of P. fluorescens was fractionated and cloned into a lambda library, in which a 5.8-kb fragment that hybridized to a heterologous phaC probe from Ralstonia eutropha was identified. In vivo expression in Klebsiella aerogenes KC2671 (pUMS), restriction mapping, Southern hybridization experiments, and sequencing data revealed that PHA biosynthesis by P. fluorescens relied upon a polypeptide encoded by a 1,683-bp non-operonal ORF, which was preceded by a possible -24/-12 promoter and highly similar to DNA sequences of a gene encoding PHA synthase in the genus Pseudomonas. In vivo expression of the putative PHA synthase gene ($phaC_{Pf}$) in a recombinant Escherichia coli strain was investigated by using glucose and decanoate as substrates. E. coli (${phaC_{Pf}}^+$, pUMS) grown in medium containing glucose accumulated PHA granules consisting mainly of 3-hydroxybutyrate, whereas only a trace amount of 3-hydroxydecanoate was detected from an E. coli fadR mutant (${phaC_{Pf}}^+$) grown in medium containing decanoate. In vitro enzymatic assessment experiments showed that 3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA was efficiently used as a substrate of purified $PhaC_{Pf}$, suggesting that the putative PHA synthase of P. fluorescens utilizes mainly short-chain-length PHA precursors as a substrate.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.61-70
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• 2002

The effects of molecular weights and rheological properties of polypropylene (PP), on its foam structures in batch process were investigated. The effects of crosslinking process were also considered in this study. The rheological properties of polypropylene, such as storage modulus(G'), loss modulus(G"), zero shear viscosity($\eta_O$), and relaxation time($\lambda$), increased with the increase of molecular weights, and these increases in rheological properties directly affected the stability improvements of the PP foam. The increase of crosslinked PP's gel content stopped at the irradiation dose of 3.2 Mrad. The development of foam structures was more enhanced as the irradiation dose increased up to 3.2 Mrad. When the irradiation dose exceeded 3.2 Mrad, however, it negatively affected the structural development of the foam by diminishing gel contents of the foaming material, which resulted in instability of the foam structure.ture.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.30 no.10
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• pp.2371-2376
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• 2009

Three phenoxazine-based conjugated polymers, namely, the aryl substituted phenoxazine homopolymer (P1) as well as the dimeric phenoxazine-fluorene (P2) and phenoxazine-bithiophene (P3) copolymers, were synthesized via the Ni(0) mediated Yamamoto reaction and the palladium-catalyzed Suzuki coupling reaction. The weight-averaged molecular weights ($M_w$) of P1, P2, and P3 were found to be 27,000, 22,000, and 15,000, respectively, and their polydispersity indices were 3.6, 1.8, and 2.1. All the polymers were soluble in common organic solvents such as chloroform, toluene, and so on. The UV-visible absorption maxima for P1, P2, and P3 in the film state were located at 421, 415 and 426 nm, respectively, and the ionization potentials of the polymers ranged between 4.90 and 5.12 eV. All the studied phenoxazine-based polymers exhibited amorphous behavior, as confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) studies. Thin film transistors were fabricated using the top-contact geometry. P1 showed much better thin-film-transistor performance than P2 or P3: A thin film of P1 gave a saturation mobility of 0.81 ${\times}\;10^{-3}\;cm^2V^{-1}s^{-1}$ and an on/off ratio of about $10^2$.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.248-253
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• 2009

Blend films based on the poly($\varepsilon$-caprolactone) (PCL) and amphiphilic biodegradable polymer, poly(ethylene glycol) grafted poly($\varepsilon$-caprolactone) (PCL-g- PEG), were prepared with different blend ratios in order to develop new biomedical material. PCL was the main component in the blend. The miscibility and characteristics of the blends were investigated. The crystallization temperature of the blend shifted to high temperatures with an increase of the graft copolymer contents when the homopolymer PCL was the main component of the blend. The PEG side chain in the blend affected the crystallization rate of the PCL crystals in the blend and alternating extinction bands were observed by optical microscopy. The protein adhesion behavior of the film was influenced by the water uptake of the film.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.139-148
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• 2008

Biodegradable and elastic poly(L-lactide-co-$\varepsilon$-caprolactone) (PLCL) was electrospun to prepare nanofibers, and N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) was then grafted onto their surfaces under aqueous conditions using $^{60}Co-{\gamma}$ irradiation. The graft yield increased with increasing irradiation dose from 5 to 10 kGy and the nanofibers showed a greater graft yield compared with the firms. SEM confirmed that the PLCL nanofibers maintained an interconnected pore structure after grafting with NIPAAm. However, overdoses of irradiation led to the excessive formation of homopolymer gels on the surface of thc PLCL nanofibers. The equilibrium swelling and deswelling ratio of the PNIPAAm-g-PLCL nanofibers (prepared with 10 kGy) was the highest among the samples, which was consistent with the graft yield results. The phase-separation characteristics of PNIPAAm in aqueous conditions conferred a unique temperature-responsive swelling behavior of PNIPAAm-g-PLCL nanofibers, showing the ability to absorb a large amount of water at < $32^{\circ}C$, and abrupt collapse when the temperature was increased to $40^{\circ}C$. In accordance with the temperature-dependent changes in swelling behavior, the release rate of indomethacin and FITC-BSA loaded in PNIPAAm-g-PLCL nanofibers by a diffusion-mediated process was regulated by the change in temperature. Both model drugs demonstrated greater release rate at $40^{\circ}C$ relative to that at $25^{\circ}C$. This approach of the temperature-controlled release of drugs from PNIPAAm-g-PLCL nanofibers using gamma-ray irradiation may be used to design drugs and protein delivery carriers in various biomedical applications.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.15-21
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• 2005

The integrally skinned asymmetric PAN ultrafiltration membranes were annealed for reducing the pore size. The effect of the chemical structure of two PAN polymers (homo- and copolymer) on annealing was investigated. The annealing of PAN polymer was strongly affected by the chemical structure of the polymer. In other words, the annealing effect of the copolymer was much larger than that of the homopolymer due to its less rigid structure of the main chain. Before annealing, the membranes were usually preheated in water in terms of the complete removal of remained solvents in the membranes. The annealing effect was bigger when no preheating. However, the preheating of the membrane before annealing at high temperatures leads to an increase in the pore size of membranes. The surface of the membranes was slightly negative and the salt rejection of PAN nanofiltration membrane was in the following order: R(Na₂SO₄) > R(NaCl) > R(MgSO₄) > R(CaCl₂). This salt rejection behavior could be explained by the Donnan equilibrium and the electroneutrality.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.18 no.12
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• pp.1625-1630
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• 2008

A microorganism capable of producing high level of poly-3-hydoxybutyrate (PHB) from xylose was isolated from soil. The isolated strain J-65 was identified as Bacillus megaterium based on the morphological, biochemical and molecular biological characteristics. The optimum temperature and pH for the growth of B. megaterium J-65 were $37^{\circ}C$ and 8.0, respectively. The optimum medium composition for the cell growth was 2% xylose, 0.25% $(NH_4)_2SO_4$, 0.3% $Na_2HPO_4{\cdot}12H_2O$, and 0.1% $KH_2PO_4$. The optimum condition for PHB accumulation was same to the optimum condition for cell growth. Copolymer of ${\beta}$-hydroxybutyric and ${\beta}$-hydroxyvaleric acid was produced when propionic acid was added to shake flasks containing 20 g/l of xylose. Fermenter culture was carried out to produce the high concentration of PHB. In batch culture, cell mass was 9.82 g/l and PHB content was 35% of dry cell weight. PHB produced by B. megaterium J-65 was identified as homopolymer of 3-hydoxybutyric acid by GC and NMR.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.54-63
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• 2006

Ferritin is a major eukaryotic protein and in humans is the protein of iron storage. A partial gene fragment of ferritin (255 bp) taken from the total RNA of Periserrula leucophryna, was amplified by RT-PCR using oligonucleotide primers designed from the conserved metal binding domain of eukaryotic ferritin and confirmed by DNA sequencing. Using the $^{32}P-labeled$ partial ferritin cDNA fragment, 28 different clones were obtained by the screening of the P. leucophryna cDNA library prepared in the Uni-ZAP XR vector, sequenced and characterized. The longest clone was named the PLF (Periserrula leucophryna ferritin) gene and the nucleotide and amino acid sequences of this novel gene were deposited in the GenBank databases with accession numbers DQ207752 and ABA55730, respectively. The entire cDNA of PLF clone was 1109 bp (CDS: 129-653), including a coding nucleotide sequence of 525 bp, a 5' -untranslated region of 128 bp, and a 3'-noncoding region of 456 bp. The 5'-UTR contains a putative iron responsive element (IRE) sequence. Ferritin has an open reading frame encoding a polypeptide of 174 amino acids including a hydrophobic signal peptide of 17 amino acids. The predicted molecular weights of the immature and mature ferritin were calculated to be 20.3 kDa and 18.2 kDa, respectively. The region encoding the mature ferritin was subcloned into the pT7-7 expression vector after PCR amplification using the designed primers and included the initiation and termination codons; the recombinant clones were expressed in E. coli BL21(DE3) or E. coli BL21(DE3)pLysE. SDS-PAGE and western blot analysis showed that a ferritin of approximately 18 kDa (mature form) was produced and that by iron staining in native PAGE, it is likely that the recombinant ferritin is correctly folded and assembled into a homopolymer composed of a single subunit.