• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.70-70
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• 2003

In mammalians, ketone bodies (acetoacetate, D(-)-3-hydroxybutyrate and acetone) are generated mainly in the liver via the 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA pathway, carried to and utilized in extrahepatic tissues as an energy source during starvation and diabetes in particular due to their overproduction as the consequence of elevated fatty acid oxidation and lowered glucose metabolism. (omitted)

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2003.10b
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• pp.169.1-169.1
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• 2003

Recently development of cell-based assay systems which are useful in molecular cell biology and drug discovery attracts significant attention. Here, we introduce a new technologies for monitoring enzyme activity and its inhibition inside living cells. Among various enzymes, proteases are important targets for studying various biological and disease-related processes such as viral infections, apoptosis and Alzheimer's disease. In this study, a sensitive cell-based protease detection system that enables direct fluorescence detection of a target protease and its inhibition inside living cells is introduced. (omitted)

• BMB Reports
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.83-86
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• 1995

In the course of screening for new aminopeptidase M inhibitors which were expected to be analgesic, immunopotentiating, or anti-metastatic agents, the novel synthetic substance MR-387C[(2S,3R)-3-amino-2-hydroxy-4-phenylbutanoyl-L-valyl-L-prolyl-L-leucine] (M.W. 504 daltons) was obtained. It was competitive with the substrate and had an $IC_{50}$ value of $0.04\;{\mu}m/ml$ ($7.9{\times}10^{-8}\;M$) and an inhibition constant ($K_i$) of $3.8{\times}10^{-8}\;M$. This novel MR-387C was compared with various known inhibitors of aminopeptidase M. It inhibited the enzyme more strongly than any other microorganism-originated inhibitor, except probestin.

• Oncology Letters
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.2576-2582
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• 2019

Gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD) is an unusual disease occurring in pregnancy that originates from abnormal trophoblastic cells and comprises a group of diseases with different properties of invasion, metastasis and recurrence. The GTD group includes hydatidiform moles and gestational trophoblastic neoplasms (GTNs), with GTNs being divided into invasive moles, choriocarcinoma, placental site trophoblastic tumors and epithelioid trophoblastic tumors. The present review focuses on current effective treatments for GTD, including conventional and novel promising direct enzyme prodrug therapies (DEPTs). Conventional therapies, such as chemotherapy and hysterectomy, are currently used in a clinical setting; however, the use of diverse DEPTs, including antibody-DEPT and gene-DEPT is also being attempted to cure GTNs. In addition, gene delivery tools using genetically engineered neural stem cells (NSCs) are presently being examined for the treatment of GTNs. The tumor-tropism of NSCs by chemoattractant factors is a unique characteristic of these cells and can serve as a vehicle to deliver anticancer agents. Previous studies have demonstrated that injection with NSC-expressing suicide genes into xenograft animal models has a significant inhibitory effect on tumor growth. Stem cells can be genetically engineered to express anticancer genes, which migrate to the metastatic sites and selectively target cancer cells, and are considered to effectively target metastatic GTNs. However, the safety issue of stem cell therapy, such as tumorigenesis, remains a challenge. Novel therapies comprising a combination of conventional and novel promising treatments are anticipated to be definitive treatments for metastasized and/or recurrent patients with GTNs.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.9
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• pp.1306-1313
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• 2010

The gene encoding esterase enzyme was cloned from a metagenomic library of cow rumen bacteria. The esterase gene (est1R) was 2,465 bp in length, encoding a protein of 366 amino acid residues, and the molecular weight of the enzyme was 61,166 Da. Est1R of rumen cosmid library shared 5.9% amino acid identity with Est1R (P37967) of PNB carboxylesterase, 6.1% with Est1R (1EEAA) of acetylcholinesterase and 6.1% with Est1R (1H23A) of chain A. BlastP in NCBI database analysis of Est1R revealed that it was not homologous to previous known lipases and esterases. Est1R showed optimum activity at pH 7.0 and $40^{\circ}C$. On the other hand, the enzyme was found to be most active without organic solvent, followed by 95% activity with methanol, and the enzyme activity was highly affected by hexane (lost 51% activity). Therefore, the novel esterase gene est1R is likely obtainable from cow rumen metagenome and may be utilized for industrial purposes.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.307-316
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• 2000

Bacillus circulans S-1 extracellular pullulan 6-glucanohydrolase (EP) (EC 3.2.1.41) has been characterized with a purified enzyme of 140 kDa. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the purified enzyme was P-L-N-M-S-Q-P. The enzyme displayed a temperature optimum of around $60^{\circ}C$ and a pH optimum of around pH 9.0. The enzyme was stable to incubation from pH 4.0 to pH 11.0 at $4^{\circ}C$ for 48h. The presence of substrate allowed the protection of the enzyme from heat inactivation. The activity of the enzyme was stimulated by several metal ions such as Mn2+ and Ca2+. The enzyme had an apparent Km of 7.92 mg/ml for pullulan. The purfied enzyme completely hydrolysed pullulan to maltotriose.

• BMB Reports
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.315-324
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• 2007

The novel $\alpha$-amylase purified from locally isolated strain, Bacillus sp. KR-8104, (KRA) (Enzyme Microb Technol; 2005; 36: 666-671) is active in a wide range of pH. The enzyme maximum activity is at pH 4.0 and it retains 90% of activity at pH 3.5. The irreversible thermoinactivation patterns of KRA and the enzyme activity are not changed in the presence and absence of $Ca^{2+}$ and EDTA. Therefore, KRA acts as a $Ca^{2+}$-independent enzyme. Based on circular dichroism (CD) data from thermal unfolding of the enzyme recorded at 222 nm, addition of $Ca^{2+}$ and EDTA similar to its irreversible thermoinactivation, does not influence the thermal denaturation of the enzyme and its Tm. The amino acid sequence of KRA was obtained from the nucleotide sequencing of PCR products of encoding gene. The deduced amino acid sequence of the enzyme revealed a very high sequence homology to Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (BAA) (85% identity, 90% similarity) and Bacillus licheniformis $\alpha$-amylases (BLA) (81% identity, 88% similarity). To elucidate and understand these characteristics of the $\alpha$-amylase, a model of 3D structure of KRA was constructed using the crystal structure of the mutant of BLA as the platform and refined with a molecular dynamics (MD) simulation program. Interestingly enough, there is only one amino acid substitution for KRA in comparison with BLA and BAA in the region involved in the calcium-binding sites. On the other hand, there are many amino acid differences between BLA and KRA at the interface of A and B domains and around the metal triad and active site area. These alterations could have a role in stabilizing the native structure of the loop in the active site cleft and maintenance and stabilization of the putative metal triad-binding site. The amino acid differences at the active site cleft and around the catalytic residues might affect their pKa values and consequently shift its pH profile. In addition, the intrinsic fluorescence intensity of the enzyme at 350 nm does not show considerable change at pH 3.5-7.0.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.219-223
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• 1999

Various bacterial strains that secret extracellular fibrinolytic enzyme were screened from kimchi, a traditional vegetable fermented food in Korea. Three microbes of them were identified to be Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Bacillus brevis and Micrococcus luteus strains according to Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology. It was found that B. amyloliquefaciens, B. brevis and M. luteus produced 2.58, 1.48 and 2.03 plasmin unit/mL of fibrinolytic enzyme, respectively. All extracellular proteases showing the fibrinolytic activity were confirmed by SDS-PAGE and fibrin zymography assay and we propose that some of the fibrinolytic enzymes from this work are novel enzymes.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.905-912
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• 2007

A novel ${\beta}-glucosidase$ gene, bglA, was isolated from uncultured soil bacteria and characterized. Using genomic libraries constructed from soil DNA, a gene encoding a protein that hydrolyzes a fluorogenic analog of cellulose, 4-methylumbelliferyl ${\beta}-D-cellobioside$ (MUC), was isolated using a microtiter plate assay. The gene, bglA, was sequenced using a shotgun approach, and expressed in E. coli. The deduced 55-kDa amino acid sequence for bglA showed a 56% identity with the family 1 glycosyl hydrolase Chloroflexus aurantiacus. BglA included two conserved family 1 glycosyl hydrolase regions. When using $p-nitrophenyl-{\beta}-D-glucoside$ (pNPG) as the substrate, the maximum activity of the purified ${\beta}-glucosidase$ exhibited at pH 6.5 and $55^{\circ}C$, and was enhanced in the presence of $Mn^{2+}$. The $K_m\;and\;V_{max}$ values for the purified enzyme with pNPG were 0.16 mM and $19.10{\mu}mol/min$, respectively. The purified BglA enzyme hydrolyzed both pNPG and $p-nitrophenyl-{\beta}-D-fucoside$. The enzyme also exhibited substantial glycosyl hydrolase activities with natural glycosyl substrates, such as sophorose, cellobiose, cellotriose, cellotetraose, and cellopentaose, yet low hydrolytic activities with gentiobiose, salicin, and arbutin. Moreover, BglA was able to convert the major ginsenoside $Rb_1$ into the pharmaceutically active minor ginsenoside Rd within 24 h.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Applied Microbiology Conference
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• 2000.04a
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• pp.157-167
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• 2000

A thermostable chitosanase gene from the isolated strain, Bacillus sp. CK4, was cloned, and its complete DNA sequence was determined. The thermostable chitosanase gene was composed of an 822-bp open reading frame which encodes a protein of 242 amino acids and a signal peptide corresponding to a 30 kDa enzyme in size. The deduced amino acid sequence of the chitosanase from Bacillus sp. CK4 exhibits 76.6%, 15.3%, and 14.2% similarities to those from Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus ehemensis, and Bacillus circulans, respectively. C-terminal homology analysis shows that Bacillus sp. CK4 belongs to the Cluster III group with Bacillus subtilis. The size of the gene was similar to that of a mesophile, Bacillus subtilis showing a higher preference for codons ending in G or C. The functional importance of a conserved region in a novel chitosanase from Bacillus sp. CK4 was investigated. Each of the three carboxylic amino acid residues were changed to E50D/Q, E62D/Q, and D66N/E by site-directed mutagenesis. The D66N/E mutants enzymes had remarkably decreased kinetic parameters such as $V_{max}$ and k$\sub$cat/, indicating that the Asp-66 residue was essential for catalysis. The thermostable chitosanase contains three cysteine residues at position 49, 72, and 211. Titration of the Cys residues with DTNB showed that none of them were involved in disulfide bond. The C49S and C72S mutant enzymes were as stable to thermal inactivation and denaturating agents as the wild-type enzyme. However the half-life of the C211S mutant enzyme was less than 60 min at 80$^{\circ}C$, while that of the wild type enzyme was about 90 min. Moreover, the residual activity of C211S was substantially decreased by 8 M urea, and fully lost catalytic activity by 40% ethanol. These results show that the substitution of Cys with Ser at position 211 seems to affect the conformational stability of the chitosanase.