• Journal of Radiopharmaceuticals and Molecular Probes
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.95-97
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• 2015

The translocator protein (TSPO) is one of the important targets for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging because it is associated with brain cancer, stroke, and neurodegeneration. Recently, a novel quinoline compound with high affinity agent for the translocator protein has been developed. In this highlight review, major studies for the quinoline compound are described.

• BMB Reports
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• v.51 no.12
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• pp.611-612
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• 2018

$C1q/TNF-{\alpha}-Related$ Protein 1 (CTRP1) has recently been shown to act as a blood pressure regulator, as it induces vasoconstriction. In the aorta, CTRP1 facilitates recruitment of angiotensin II receptor 1 (AT1R) to plasma membrane, through activation of the AKT/AS160 signaling pathway. This leads to activation of the Ras homolog gene family (Rho)/Rho kinase (ROCK) signaling pathway, resulting in vasoconstriction. Accordingly, mice overexpressing Ctrp1 have hypertensive phenotype. Patients with hypertension also display higher circulating CTRP1 levels, compared to healthy individuals, indicating that excessive CTRP1 may affect development of hypertension. Conversely, CTRP1 is regarded as an 'innate blood pressure modulator' because CTRP1 increases blood pressure under dehydration to prevent hypotension. Mice lacking Ctrp1 fail to maintain normotension under dehydration conditions, resulting in hypotension, suggesting that CTRP1 is an essential protein for maintaining blood pressure homeostasis. In conclusion, CTRP1 is a novel, anti-hypotensive vasoconstrictor that increases blood pressure during dehydration-induced hypotension.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.47.1-47.13
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• 2022

Klebsiella pneumoniae is a gram-negative bacterium that is known for causing infection in nosocomial settings. As reported by the World Health Organization, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, a category that includes K. pneumoniae, are classified as an urgent threat, and the greatest concern is that these bacterial pathogens may acquire genetic traits that make them resistant towards antibiotics. The last class of antibiotics, carbapenems, are not able to combat these bacterial pathogens, allowing them to clonally expand antibiotic-resistant strains. Most antibiotics target essential pathways of bacterial cells; however, these targets are no longer susceptible to antibiotics. Hence, in our study, we focused on a hypothetical protein in K. pneumoniae that contains a DNA methylation protein domain, suggesting a new potential site as a drug target. DNA methylation regulates the attenuation of bacterial virulence. We integrated computational-aided drug design by using a bioinformatics approach to perform subtractive genomics, virtual screening, and fingerprint similarity search. We identified a new potential drug, koenimbine, which could be a novel antibiotic.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.813-823
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• 2015

Because protein is a primary element responsible for biological or biochemical roles in living bodies, protein function is the core and basis information for biomedical studies. However, recent advances in bio technologies have created an explosive increase in the amount of published literature; therefore, biomedical researchers have a hard time finding needed protein function information. In this paper, a classification system for biomedical literature providing protein function evidence is proposed. Note that, despite our best efforts, we have been unable to find previous studies on the proposed issue. To classify papers based on protein function evidence, we should consider whether the main claim of a paper is to assert a protein function. We, therefore, propose two novel features - protein and assertion. Our experimental results show a classification performance with 71.89% precision, 90.0% recall, and a 79.94% F-measure. In addition, to verify the usefulness of the proposed classification system, two case study applications are investigated - information retrieval for protein function and automatic summarization for protein function text. It is shown that the proposed classification system can be successfully applied to these applications.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.1067-1075
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• 2011

Coiled-coil domain-containing protein 98 (CCDC98) plays a role in G2/M DNA damage checkpoint pathways by recruiting breast cancer 1 (BRCA1)-A complex to the DNA-damaged sites. However, the molecular mechanism of CCDC98 on the DNA damage-induced G2/M checkpoint pathways is unclear. In this study, we identifed Wilms tumor 1-associating protein (WTAP) as a novel CCDC98-binding protein, using tandem affinity purification. We confirmed the association between CCDC98 and WTAP using in vivo and in vitro binding assays. We demonstrated that CCDC98 regulates cyclin B1 expression by affecting WTAP protein stability. Based on these results, we suggest that CCDC98 may act as a novel cell cycle regulator by regulating the expression level of cyclin B1.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.72-80
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• 2012

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of familiar exercise and novel exercise on motor function after intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) in rats. The rats were subjected to a unilateral striatal ICH via collagenase infusion. The rats were randomly divided into the following three groups: the CON (control group; rested one week post-ICH), the FE (familiar exercise group; familiar exercise was performed two weeks after one-week post-ICH period), and NE (novel exercise group; novel exercise was performed two weeks after one-week post-ICH period). We measured neurological behavior using a ladder rung walking test and a beam walking test; we measured the level of nerve growth factor (NGF) using immunohistochemistry and western blot analysis. We performed a one-way ANOVA test to analyze the scores obtained from the neurological behavior tests and the differences of NGF protein levels among the three groups. In the present study, the FE group and the NE group showed significant improvement during the neurological behavior tests and in their expression of NGF protein level, as compared to the CON group. Especially, NE group more increase than FE group in neurological behavior tests, the expression of NGF on motor cortex. In conclusion, these results suggest that, after ICH, familiar exercise and novel exercise enhance motor function and, novel exercise is more effective than familiar exercise.

• BMB Reports
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.28-33
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• 2005

A gene coding a novel isoform of carbamyl phosphate synthetase I (CPS1) was cloned from a human testicular library. As shown by cDNA microarray hybridization, this gene was expressed at a higher level in human adult testes than in fetal testes. The full length of its cDNA was 3831 bp, with a 3149 bp open reading frame, encoding a 1050-amino-acid protein. The cDNA sequence was deposited in the GenBank (AY317138). Sequence analysis showed that it was homologous to the human CPS1 gene. The putative protein contained functional domains composing the intact large subunit of carbamoyl phosphate synthetase, thus indicated it has the capability of arginine biosynthesis. A multiple tissue expression profile showed high expression of this gene in human testis, suggesting the novel alternative splicing form of CPS1 may be correlated with human spermatogenesis.

• BMB Reports
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.121-126
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• 2015

Here we report a new chemical inhibitor against HIV-1 with a novel structure and mode of action. The inhibitor, designated as A1836, inhibited HIV-1 replication and virus production with a 50% inhibitory concentration ($IC_{50}$) of $2.0{\mu}M$ in an MT-4 cell-based and cytopathic protection antiviral assay, while its 50% cytotoxic concentration ($CC_{50}$) was much higher than $50{\mu}M$. Examination of the effect of A1836 on in vitro HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) and integrase showed that neither were molecular targets of A1836. The characterization and re-infection assay of the HIV-1 virions generated in the presence of A1836 showed that the synthesis of early RT products in the cells infected with the virions was inhibited dose-dependently, due in part to abnormal protein formation within the virions, thus resulting in an impaired infectivity. These results suggest that A1836 might be a novel candidate for the development of a new type of HIV-1 inhibitor.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2003.10b
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• pp.175.2-175.2
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• 2003

Inhibition of the protein-modifying enzyme farnesyltransferase is considered as a major emerging strategy in cancer therapy because of the involvement of farnesylated proteins in oncogensis. We studied the structure-activity relationship of a novel class of CAAX-peptidomimetic farnesyltransferase inhibitors based on the benzophenone scaffold. FlexX docking of inhibitors confirmed reasonable fit of the molecule into the peptide binding site of farnesyltransferase. We also performed a virtual screening with LeadQuest chemical library databases to idenfity novel inhibitors of farnesyltransferase. (omitted)

• KSBB Journal
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.355-361
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• 2008

Proteins carrying unnatural amino acids with novel side chains add a new dimension to studies of protein structure and function. This article provides an overview of the various strategies that have been developed to date for the synthesis of such proteins.