• BMB Reports
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.150-157
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• 2006

Native grass carp (Ctenopharygodon idellus) growth hormone, has 5 cysteine amino acid residues, forms two disulphide bridges in its mature form. Recombinant grass carp growth hormone, when over-expressed in E. coli, forms inclusion bodies. In vitro oxidative renaturation of guanidine-hydrochloride dissolved recombinant grass carp growth hormone was achieved by sequential dilution and stepwise dialysis at pH 8.5. The redox potential of the refolding cocktail was maintained by glutathione disulphide/glutathione couple. The oxidative refolded protein is heterogeneous, and contains multimers, oligomers and monomers. The presence of non-disulphide-bond-forming cysteine in recombinant grass carp growth hormone enhances intermolecular disulphide bond formation and also non-native intramolecular disulphide bond formation during protein folding. The non-disulphide-bond-forming cysteine was converted to serine by PCR-mediated site-directed mutagenesis. The resulting 4-cysteine grass carp growth hormone has improved in vitro oxidative refolding properties when studied by gel filtration and reverse phase chromatography. The refolded 4-cysteine form has less hydrophobic aggregate and has only one monomeric isoform. Both refolded 4-cysteine and 5-cystiene forms are active in radioreceptor binding assay.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.476-480
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• 2005

Immunosuppressive therapy in pediatric renal transplant recipients is changing consequence of the increasing number of available immunosuppressive agents. The optimal use of immunosuppressive agents requires a thorough understanding of the pharmacokinetic characteristics, but the information on the pharmacokinetic characteristics of these drugs in pediatric transplant recipients is still limited. In general, patients younger than 5 years old show higher clearance rates, therefore the need for higher dosages in younger patients seems evident. By the therapeutic drug monitoring, trough($C_{min}$) and peak level($C_{max}$) are measured and the area under the blood concentration-time curve(AUC), which is taken as being representative of total systemic exposure can be calculated. Cyclosporine A (CSA) has poor bioavailability, which contributes to high inter- and intra-patient pharmacokinetic variability. CSA concentration measured 2 hours after administration($C_2$) has better correlation with the AUC than $C_{min}$ and is an alternative technique that predicts the AUC. Tacrolimus(Tac) has a great deal of inter-individual variability like CSA but intra-individual variability in systemic exposure is considered to be low. Both CSA and Tac are metabolized by a cytochrome P-450 enzyme isoform(CYP3A4). We should consider changing the dosages when CSA or Tac is used in combination with the medicines that inhibit or induce the CYP3A4. In case of steroid-free immunosuppressive therapy, the blood concentration of Tac should be frequently checked and dosage adjustment may be needed.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.86-90
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• 2000

We have earlier reported on the cloning and identification of bft-k from an enterotoxigenic strain of Bacteroides fragilis 419, which was isolated from the blood of a Korean patient who suffered from systemic infections [4,5]. The bft-k gene encodes a 397-amino-acids metalloprotease enterotoxin, and the protein has been identified as a new isoform of B. fragilis enterotoxins (BFTs), which are cytopathic to intestinal epithelial cells to induce fluid secretion and tissue damage in ligated intestinal loops [4, 6, 18, 20]. This report describes the cloning and sequencing of the enterotoxin pahogenicity islet of B. fragilis 419 which contains the bft-k gene. the cloned enterotoxin pathogenicity islet was found to have 6,045 bp in length and to contain 120bp direct repeats near its end. In the pathogenicity islet, in addition to the BFR-K, two putative open reading frames (ORFs) were identified; (1) the t-3 gene encoding a 396-amino-acids protein of a putative metalloprotease; (2) the third gene encoding an ORF of a 59-amino-acids protein, whose function has not yet beenn characterized. The expression of the t-3 gene in B. fragilis 419 was verified by western blot analysis.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.295-298
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• 2008

Creatine kinase (CK; E.C. 2.7.3.2) is an important enzyme that catalyzes the reversible transfer of a phosphoryl group from ATP to creatine in energy homeostasis. The brain-type cytosolic isoform of creatine kinase (BB-CK), which is found mainly in the brain and retina, is a key enzyme in brain energy metabolism, because high-energy phosphates are transfered through the creatine kinase/phosphocreatine shuttle system. The recombinant human BB-CK protein was overexpressed as a soluble form in Escherichia coli and crystallized at $22^{\circ}C$ using PEG 4000 as a precipitant. Native X-ray diffraction data were collected to $2.2{\AA}$ resolution using synchrotron radiation. The crystals belonged to the tetragonal space group $P4_32_12$, with cell parameters of a=b=97.963, $c=164.312{\AA},\;and\;{\alpha}={\beta}={\gamma}=90^{\circ}$. The asymmetric unit contained two molecules of CK, giving a crystal volume per protein mass $(V_m)$ of $1.80{\AA}^3\;Da^{-1}$ and a solvent content of 31.6%.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.85-105
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• 1998

Prions cause neurodegenerative diseases in animals and humans. The scrapie prion protein (PrPSc) is the major-possibly only-component of the infectious prion and is generated from the cellular isoform (PrPC) by a conformational change. Limited proteolysis of PrPSc produces an polypeptide comprised primarily of residues 90 to 231, which retains infectivity. The three-dimensional structure of rPrP(90-231), a recombinant protein resembling PrPC with the Syrian hamster (SHa) sequence, was solved using multidimensional NMR. Low-resolution structures of rPrP(90-231), synthetic peptides up to 56 residues, a longer (29-231, full-length) protein with SHa sequence, and a short here further structure refinement of rPrP(90-231) and dynamic features of the protein. Consideration of these features in the context of published data suggests regions of conformational heterogeneity, structural elements involved in the PrPC\longrightarrowPrPSc transformation, and possible structural features related to a species barrier to transmission of prion diseases.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.10
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• pp.1496-1502
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• 2006

Skeletal muscle contains slow and fast twitch fibers. These skeletal muscle fibers express type I and type II myosin, respectively, and these myosin isoenzymes have different ATPase activity. The aim of this study was to investigate protein profiles of bovine skeletal muscles by proteomic analysis. Fifty seven spots of distinct proteins were excised and characterized. The expression of sixteen spots was differed in longissimus dorsi muscle with a minimal 2-fold change compared to biceps femoris muscle. The majority of differentially expressed proteins belonged to metabolic regulation-related proteins such as glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase, triosephosphate isomerase and carbonic anhydrase 3. The real time-PCR assay confirmed an increase or induction of specific genes: RGS12TS isoform, GAPDH, triosephosphate isomerase and carbonic anhydrase. These results suggest that the expression of metabolic proteins is under a specific control system in different bovine skeletal muscle. These observations could have significant implications for understanding the physiological regulation of bovine skeletal muscles.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.12
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• pp.4253-4257
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• 2011

Sodium dodecyl sulfate-capillary gel electrophoresis (SDS-CGE) and capillary isoelectric focusing (CIEF) were employed to characterize and compare ricin E purified from the small grain seeds of Ricinus communis with ricin D isoform. During the purification of ricin E using ion-exchange and size-exclusion chromatography, SDS-CGE was found to be useful for monitoring the efficiencies of purification steps. SDS-CGE showed that the molecular size of ricin E was not significantly different from that of ricin D, which was confirmed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. CIEF was useful for discriminating ricin E from ricin D based on their isoelectric points (pI). The pI values of ricin E and D were 8.6-8.8 and 7.0-7.4, respectively. This study demonstrates the usefulness of SDS-CGE and CIEF for the characterization of ricin toxins.

• The Journal of Natural Sciences
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.79-88
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• 2005

There are five isoforms of thiol peroxidase in yeast. Each isoform was named after its subcellular localization such as cytoplasmic TPx I, cTPx II, cTPx III, mitochondrial TPx (mTPx), and nuclear TPx (nTPx). Recently, we reported that unlike other TPx null mutants, cTPx IInull mutant showed a slow-growth phenotype. This observation suggests that cTPx II might be involved in yeast cell growth. In this study, for a first step toward to investigate the physiological function of cTPx II in yeast, we have identified a novel interaction between cTPx II and various proteins by using the yeast two-hybrid system.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.289-294
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• 2004

This study was carried out to investigate the antioxidative enzymes and isozymes between chilling-tolerant and -susceptible varieties at the booting stage under cold water stress $(13^{\circ}C)$ in japonica rice. Total SOD, CAT, POX, and GR activities on the basis of protein were found to be important factors to defend cold water stress. Especially, SOD and CAT activities showed distinctive differences between chilling-tolerant and -susceptible varieties. Chilling-tolerant varieties were higher than chilling-susceptible varieties for SOD and CAT activities. One of eight isozyme bands for SOD was a inducible isoform. Three isozymes for CAT and one isozyme for POX were closely correlated with defense to cold water stress. Total GR activities except Stejaree 45 on the basis fresh weight and POX were increased by cold water stress, but there was no difference between chilling-tolerant and -sus­ceptible varieties.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.112-117
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• 2010

Altered mRNA expression of two metallothionein isoforms (MT-IA and MT-IB) in response to acute heavy metal exposure was examined in mud loach, Misgurnus mizolepis, fry using a real-time RTPCR assay. Sublethal exposure (1 or 5 ${\mu}M$) to Cd, Cr, Fe, Mn, Ni, and Zn resulted in highly variable transcriptional responses of the two MT isoforms to the heavy metal ions, including upregulation, a steady state, and downregulation. Overall, the most potent inducer of both MT isoforms was Cd (up to 6-fold). Another exposure experiment using a series of doses of Cu revealed that the stimulation patterns of the two MT isoforms differed: MT-IA transcription was soon saturated at higher concentrations (about 2-fold at 1-4 ${\mu}M$ of Cu), whereas the activation of MT-IB was more dependent on the treatment dose (increased up to 5-fold at 3 ${\mu}M$). The isoform-specific allotment of constitutive and inducible functions was not as clear in fry as in adult tissues. Coordinated interaction between the MT-IA and MT-IB isoforms was hypothesized based on the finding that MT-IA represented a primary action under 'less stressful' or 'sublethal' conditions, whereas the activation of MT-IB became important under 'more stressful' or 'lethal' circumstances in this species.