• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.277-281
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• 1993

To elucidate the conformational stability of proteins in colloidal food system, molecular properties of various proteins such as chemically modified ${\beta}-lactoglobulin$, bovine serum albumin (BSA) structural intermediates, and ${\beta}-casein$ under chaotropic conditions, were examined using circular dichroism, SS bond content, and hydrodynamic radius determination. As refolding time increases, BSA intermediates approach the conformation of native BSA. And succinylation made ${\beta}-lactoglobulin$ have more aperiodic structure by increasing net negative charge. Also, under chaotropic conditions, the conformation of P-casein was affected by hydrophobic interactions. This study clearly indicates that hydrophobic interactions and electrostatic interactions are major contributing factors in conformational stability of proteins.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.360-370
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• 2009

Genetic factors clearly play a role in carcinogenesis, but migrant studies provide unequivocal evidence that environmental factors are critical in defining cancer risk. Therefore, one may expect that the lower availability of substrate for biochemical reactions leads to more genetic changes in enzyme function; for example, most studies have indicated the variant MTHFR genotype 677TT is related to biomarkers, such as homocysteine concentrations or global DNA methylation particularly in a low folate diet. The modification of a phenotype related to a genotype, particularly by dietary habits, could support the notion that some of inconsistencies in findings from molecular epidemiologic studies could be due to differences in the populations studied and unaccounted underlying characteristics mediating the relationship between genetic polymorphisms and the actual phenotypes. Given the evidence that diet can modify cancer risk, gene-diet interactions in cancer etiology would be anticipated. However, much of the evidence in this area comes from observational epidemiology, which limits the causal inference. Thus, the investigation of these interactions is essential to gain a full understanding of the impact of genetic variation on health outcomes. This report reviews current approaches to gene-diet interactions in epidemiological studies. Characteristics of gene and dietary factors are divided into four categories: one carbon metabolism-related gene polymorphisms and dietary factors including folate, vitamin B group and methionines; oxidative stress-related gene polymorphisms and antioxidant nutrients including vegetable and fruit intake; carcinogen-metabolizing gene polymorphisms and meat intake including heterocyclic amins and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon; and other gene-diet interactive effect on cancer.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.45 no.11
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• pp.806-819
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• 2022

Synaptic accumulation of α-synuclein (α-Syn) oligomers and their interactions with VAMP2 have been reported to be the basis of synaptic dysfunction in Parkinson's disease (PD). α-Syn mutants associated with familial PD have also been known to be capable of interacting with VAMP2, but the exact mechanisms resulting from those interactions to eventual synaptic dysfunction are still unclear. Here, we investigate the effect of α-Syn mutant oligomers comprising A30P, E46K, and A53T on VAMP2-embedded vesicles. Specifically, A30P and A53T oligomers cluster vesicles in the presence of VAMP2, which is a shared mechanism with wild type α-Syn oligomers induced by dopamine. On the other hand, E46K oligomers reduce the membrane mobility of the planar bilayers, as revealed by single-particle tracking, and permeabilize the membranes in the presence of VAMP2. In the absence of VAMP2 interactions, E46K oligomers enlarge vesicles by fusing with one another. Our results clearly demonstrate that α-Syn mutant oligomers have aberrant effects on VAMP2-embedded vesicles and the disruption types are distinct depending on the mutant types. This work may provide one of the possible clues to explain the α-Syn mutant-type dependent pathological heterogeneity of familial PD.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.97-105
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• 2006

Several features of the implant surface, such as roughness, topography, and composition play a relevant role in implant integration with bone. This study was conducted in order to determine the effects of ceramic-coatings on Ti surfaces on the biological responses of a human osteoblast-like cell line (MG63). MG63 cells were cultured on Zr (Zrconium-coated surface), Nb (Niobium-coated surface), and control (Uncoated Titanium) Ti. The morphology of these cells was assessed by SEM. The cDNAs prepared from the total RNAs of the MG63 were hybridized into a human cDNA microarray (1,152 elements). The appearances of the surfaces observed by SEM were different on each of the three dental substrate types. MG63 cells cultured on Zr, Nb and control exhibited cell-matrix interactions. In the expression of several genes were up-, and down-regulated on the different surfaces. The attachment and expression of key osteogenic regulatory genes were enhanced by the surface morphology of the dental materials used.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.415-426
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• 2008

The interactions between the host and microbial pathogen largely dictate the onset, progression, and outcome of infectious diseases. Pathogens subvert host components to promote their pathogenesis and, among these, cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans are exploited by many pathogens for their initial attachment and subsequent cellular entry. The ability to interact with heparan sulfate proteoglycans is widespread among viruses, bacteria, and parasites. Certain pathogens also use heparan sulfate proteoglycans to evade host defense mechanisms. These findings suggest that heparan sulfate proteoglycans are critical in microbial pathogenesis, and that heparan sulfate proteoglycan-pathogen interactions are potential targets for novel prophylactic and therapeutic approaches.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.58 no.2
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• pp.153-159
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• 2014

Herein, the cyclic voltammetric (CV) investigations of structurally similar bisnitrocompounds (N3, N4, N5, N6, having different-$CH_2$-spacer length) is presented. CV study offered interesting interactional possibilities of bisnitrocompounds with chicken blood ds.DNA at physiological pH 4.7 and human body temperature, 310 K. The results indicated strong interaction by these symmetric molecules with ds.DNA and strength of binding is found to depend on length of $CH_2$ spacer group in their molecular structure. Thermodynamics derived from electrochemical binding parameters also favored the irreversible interactions. Moreover, threading intercalation mode of binding is suggested based on thermodynamic and kinetic binding parameters extracted from CV studies.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.9
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• pp.2738-2742
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• 2014

Geometry relaxation effects on the formation of benzene excimer were investigated by means of ab initio calculation at SOS-CIS($D_0$)/aug-cc-pVDZ level. In the case of T-shaped dimer configuration, intermolecular interactions in the excited states are found to be nearly the same as those in the ground state and structural deformations are limited within a single molecule; the geometry relaxation effects are then negligible and singlet-triplet energy gap remains constant. As for face-to-face eclipsed dimer, on the other hand, both molecules undergo structural change. As a result, intermolecular interactions in the excited states are significantly different than those in the ground state. Although the intermolecular distances obtained from potential energy curve calculation with frozen molecular structures are in qualitative agreement, the excited-state binding energies are notably overestimated with respect to those at optimized structures. In particular, the effects are calculated to be larger in $T_1$ state and hence singlet-triplet energy gap, which reduces markedly in this configuration, is underestimated without relaxation.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.170-177
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• 2017

HOTAIR is an lncRNA that has been known to have an oncogenic role in different cancers. There is limited knowledge of genetic and epigenetic elements and their interactions for the gene encoding HOTAIR. Therefore, understanding the molecular mechanism and its regulation remains to be challenging. We used different in silico analyses to find genetic and epigenetic elements of HOTAIR gene to gain insight into its regulation. We reported different regulatory elements including canonical promoters, transcription start sites, CpGIs as well as epigenetic marks that are potentially involved in the regulation of HOTAIR gene expression. We identified repeat sequences and single nucleotide polymorphisms that are located within or next to the CpGIs of HOTAIR. Our analyses may help to find potential interactions between genetic and epigenetic elements of HOTAIR gene in the human tissues and show opportunities and limitations for researches on HOTAIR gene in future studies.

• BMB Reports
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.102-106
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• 2011

Thermodynamic stability and refolding kinetics of firefly luciferase and three representative mutants with depletion of negative charge on a flexible loop via substitution of Glu by Arg (ER mutant) or Lys (EK mutant) as well as insertion of another Arg in ER mutants (ERR mutant) was investigated. According to thermodynamic studies, structural stability of ERR and ER mutants are enhanced compared to WT protein, whereas, these mutants become prone to aggregation at higher temperatures. Accordingly, it was concluded that enhanced structural stability of mutants depends on more compactness of folded state, whereas aggregation at higher temperatures in mutants is due to weakening of intermolecular repulsive electrostatic interactions and increase of intermolecular hydrophobic interactions. Kinetic results indicate that early events of protein folding are accelerated in mutants.

• Proceedings of the Polymer Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.207-208
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• 2006

Here, we discuss various thermodynamic factors that affect the design of nanomaterials based on block copolymers. It is well known that the ordering behavior is determined by composition, chain size N, and the ubiquitous Flory. However, the recent discovery of ordering upon heating, immisibility loops, and baroplasticity addresses a clear need for further microscopic interpretation of such. in order to help to design nanomaterials at aimed purposes. Employing a perturbed hard sphere chain model, the molecular factors such as self and cross-interactions, free space distribution, and directional interactions are incorporated in. It is shown that not only typical ordering phenomena, but also the recent observations just mentioned are all described through this unified way.