• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제9권1호
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• pp.113-118
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• 1999

The insulin-like growth factor (IGF) is found in all vertebrates and its type-II molecule is regarded as a fundamental embryonic growth factor during development. We have firstly identified, in this study, a cDNA clone corresponding to IGF-II (flIGF-II) from the adult brain of the teleost, Paralichthys olivaceus. We also examined the tissue expression of flIGF-II in several adult tissues by RT-PCR. The flIGF-II cDNA contained a complete ORF consisting of 215 amino acids and one stop codon. Its molecular characteristics appear to be similar to the previously identified IGF-II molecules, in which a common primary structure exhibiting B, C, A, D, and E domains is evidently observed. This cDNA clone seems to be cleaved at $Ala_{52}$ for the $NH_2$-end signal peptide and appears to produce a 98 amino acid-long E-peptide from the $Arg^{118}$. The functional B-D domain regions, therefore, include 65 amino acids and is able to encode a 7.4-kDa protein. The most prominent structural difference between IGF-I and IGF-II was that the D domain of IGF-II exhibits a two-codon-deleted pattern compared to the 8 amino acid-containing IGF-I. The insulin family signature in the A domain and six cysteins forming three disulfide bridges between the B and A domains were evolutionary-conserved from teleosts to mammalian IGF-II. Interestingly, the E-peptide region appears to provide a distinct hallmark between teleosts in amino acid composition. The flIGF-II shows 85.1% of sequence identity to salmon and trout, 90.6% to tilapia, and 98.4% to perch in amino acid level. In tissue expressions of IGF-II, it is very likely that flIGF-II has a significant expression in the adult brain. However, liver seems to be the main source for IGF-II production, and relatively low signals were observed in the adult muscle and kidney. Taken together, it would be concluded that the functional region for IGF-II mRNA is highly similar in phylogeny and is evolutionary, conserved as a mediator for the growth of vertebrates.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• 제14권3호
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• pp.174-178
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• 2011

This study aimed to determine the degree of hydrolysis and angiotensin-I-converting enzyme (ACE)-inhibitory activity of Giant Jellyfish Nemopilema nomurai (jellyfish) hydrolysates. The degree of hydrolysis using six proteolytic enzymes (Alcalase, Flavozyme, Neutrase, papain, Protamex, and trypsin) ranged from 13.1-36.8% and the inhibitory activities from 20.46-79.58%. Using papain hydrolysate, we newly isolated and characterized ACE-inhibitory peptides with a molecular weight of 3,000-5,000 Da that originated from jellyfish collagen. The purified peptide (FII-b) was predicted to be produced from an alpha-2 fragment of the type IV collagen of jellyfish. The N-terminal sequence of FII-b was Asp-Pro-Gly-Leu-Glu-Gly-Ala-His-Gly- and showed 87% identity to the collagen type IV alpha-2 fragment of Rattus norvegicus and a predicted protein from Nematostella vectensis, indicating that the ACE-inhibitory peptide originated from the collagen hydrolysate and had an $IC_{50}$ value of 3.8 ${\mu}g$/mL. The primary structure of the fragment is now being studied; this peptide represents an interesting new type of ACE inhibitor and will provide knowledge of the potential applications of jellyfish components as therapies for hypertension.

• 한국식품과학회지
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• 제31권3호
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• pp.848-854
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• 1999

전통된장으로부터 안지오텐신전환효소(angiotensin converting enzyme; ACE)를 저해하는 물질을 추출하여 그 구조를 밝혀냈다. ACE 저해물질을 열수추출한 다음 gel permeation chromatography (GPC)를 통하여 ACE 저해작용이 큰 두 개의 큰 획분을 받았다. 앞획분은 90%와 70%의 ACE 저해효과를 나타내었으나 단일물질로 분리되지 않아 계속하여 역상 HPLC를 통하여 순수 분리를 하였다. 그러나 앞획분은 순수분리되지 않아 결국 2차원 전기영동/TLC를 통하여 분리한 결과 분자량이 759.63인 아미노기를 갖고 있는 비펩타이드 물질임이 밝혀졌다. 뒷획분은 다른 조건의 HPLC(reverse column과 $NH_2$, column)를 이용하여 순수분리에 성공하였다. 이중 ACE 저해효과가 큰 물질은 분자량 271.33인 dipeptide인 arginine-proline임을 밝혀냈다. 이물질의 ACE $IC_{50}$은 $92\;{\mu}M$이었다. 본 연구 결과는 대부분 ACE 저해물질이 3개 내지 7개 등의 긴 펩타이드임을 감안할 때, 짧은 dipeptide로 ACE 저해펩타이드가 한국의 전통된장에서 생산할 수 있음을 보여주고 있다.

• 생명과학회지
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• 제15권3호
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• pp.427-433
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• 2005

초파리는 유전학, 발달 생물학, 행동 유전학, 노화 연구에 이르기까지 수많은 연구에 이용 되어져 왔다. 최근 초파리 전체 유전자의 염기서열이 보고되었으며, 유전자의 기능 분석과 발현 단백질에 대한 연구가 진행되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 야생형 초파리에서 추출한 단백질을 이차원 전기영동을 통해 400여개 이상의 단백질 스폿으로 분리하였으며, 각 스폿을 적출하여 트립신으로 처리하여 얻어진 펩타이드 단편을 MALDI-TOF-MS를 이용한 펩타이드 지문 검색으로 질량을 측정하였다. 측정된 질량을 초파리 데이터 베이스를 이용하여 분리한 단백질을 동정함으로써 59개의 유전자에서 발현되는 65개의 단백질 스폿을 동정하였다. 이러한 결과는 향후의 발생단계, 외부 자극, 노화 등에 관련되는 특이적 단백질 연구의 기초 자료로 활용될 수 있을 것이다.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• 제1권2호
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• pp.227-231
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• 1998

The teleosts represent ancient real-bony vertebrates in phylogeny and resemble major genetic patterns to higher vertebrates. In the present study, we have defined the single family of insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) from flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus), compared to the prototype of IGFs observed in the Agnathan hagfish. In flounder, IGFs are clearly diverged into two major types including type I and II, and they are structurally similar by displaying a multidomain structure consisting of five functional regions as previously found in other vertebrates. However, flIGF-I appears to be more basic (pI 8.03) than the flIGF-II (pI 5.34) in the fully processed form for the B to D domain region. The flIGF-I seems to contain an evolutionary conserved Asn-linked glycosylation in E domain, which is not found in flIGF­II. The most interesting feature is that flIGF-II appeared to be structurally close to hagfish IGF in secondary structures, particularly in Band D domains. This could tell us an idea on the molecular divergence of IGFs from the Agnatha to teleosts during the vertebrate phylogeny. It also support, in part, a notion regarding on how IGF-II is appeared as more embryonic during development. Nonetheless, the biologically active B to D domain region of flIGF-II shows significant sequence homology of $65.6\%$ to flIGF-Is and contains the evolutionary conserved insulin-family signature, as well as a reserved recognition site (Lys) in D domain, necessary to generate proteolytic cleavage for E-peptide. A significant structural difference was found in E domain in which flIGF-I possesses two potential alternative splicing donor site at $Val^{17,\;24}$ of E domain. Therefore, it seems so far that IGF-I sorely produces spliced variants due to the spliced E-peptide moiety while IGF-II appears to be maintained in a single type during evolution. IGF-II, however, may be also possible to transcribe unidentified variants, depending on the physiological conditions of tissues in vertebrates in vivo.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• 제24권10호
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• pp.1478-1484
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• 2003

CRAMP was identified from a cDNA clone derived from a mouse femoral marrow cells as a member of cathelicidin-derived antimicrobial peptide. Tertiary structure of CRAMP in TFE/$H_2O$ (1 : 1, v/v) solution has been determined by NMR spectroscopy previously and consists of two amphipathic $\alpha-helices$ from Leu4 to Lys10 and from Gly16 to Leu33. These two helices are connected by a flexible region from Gly11 to Gly16. Analysis of series of fragments composed of various portion of CRAMP revealed that an 18-residue fragment with the sequence from Gly16 to Leu33 (CRAMP-18) was found to retain antibacterial activity without cytotoxicity. The effects of two Phe residues at positions 14 and 15 of CRAMP-18 on structure, antibacterial activity, and interaction with lipid membranes were investigated by $Phe^{14,15}$ ${\rightarrow}$ Ala substitution (CRAMP-18-A) in the present study. Substitution of Phe with Ala in CRAMP-18 caused a significant reduction on antibacterial and membrane-disrupting activities. Tertiary structures of CRAMP-18 in 50% TFE/$H_2O$ (1 : 1, v : v) solution shows amphipathic ${\alpha}$-helix, from $Glu^2{\;}to{\;}Leu^{18}$, while CRAMP-18-A has relatively short amphipathic ${\alpha}$-helix from $Leu^4{\;}to{\;}Ala^{15}$. These results suggest that the hydrophobic property of $Phe^{14}{\;}and{\;}Phe^15$ in CRAMP-18 is essential for its antibacterial activity, ${\alpha}$-helical structure, and interactions with phospholipid membranes.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제31권4호
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• pp.466-472
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• 2023

Exon skipping is an efficient technique to inhibit specific gene expression induced by a short-sequence peptide nucleic acid (PNA). To date, there has been no study on the effects of PNA on skin pigmentation. In melanocytes, the tripartite complex is responsible for the transport of mature melanosomes from the nucleus to the dendrites. The tripartite complex is composed of Rab27a, Mlph (Melanophilin), and Myosin Va. Defects in the protein Mlph, a melanosome transport-related protein, are known to cause hypopigmentation. Our study shows that Olipass peptide nucleic acid (OPNA), a cell membrane-permeable PNA, targets exon skipping in the Mlph SHD domain, which is involved in Rab27a binding. Our findings demonstrate that OPNA induced exon skipping in melan-a cells, resulting in shortened Mlph mRNA, reduced Mlph protein levels, and melanosome aggregation, as observed by microscopy. Therefore, OPNA inhibits the expression of Mlph by inducing exon skipping within the gene. These results suggest that OPNA, which targets Mlph, may be a potential new whitening agent to inhibit melanosome movement.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• 제32권8호
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• pp.2577-2583
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• 2011

We have designed a 20-residue hybrid peptide CA(1-8)-MA(1-12) (CAMA) incorporating residues 1-8 of cecropin A (CA) and residues 1-12 of magainin 2 (MA) with high bacterial cell selectivity. CAMA-P2 is an ${\alpha}$-helical antimicrobial peptide designed from a CAMA hybrid peptide and substitution of Gly-Ile-Gly hinge sequence of CAMA to Pro influences the flexibility at central part of CAMA. Based on structure-activity relationships of CAMA peptides, to investigate the effects of the total positive charges on antimicrobial activity of CAMA-P2, the $Ser^{14}{\rightarrow}$Lys analogue (CAMA-syn1) was synthesized. The role of tryptophan at C-terminal ${\alpha}$-helix on its antimicrobial activity as well as synergistic activity was also investigated using $Ser^{14}{\rightarrow}$Lys/$Phe^{18}{\rightarrow}$Trp analogue (CAMA-syn2). Also, we designed CAMA-syn3 by substitution of $Lys^{16}$ located opposite side of substituted $Lys^{14}$ of CAMA-syn1 with Leu residue, resulting in increase of hydrophobicity and amphipathicity of the peptide. All of CAMA-syn analogues showed good antimicrobial activities similar to those of CAMA and CAMA-P2. The CAMA-syn1 and CAMA-syn2 showed low hemolytic activity and cytotoxicity against human keratinocyte Haca-T cells while CAMA-syn3 showed hemolytic activity and cytotoxicity at its MIC value. We then investigated their abilities to act synergistically in combination with the antimicrobial flavonoids and synthetic compounds screened in our laboratory. The results showed that all peptides exhibited synergistic effects with dihydrobinetin, while only CAMA-syn2 exhibited synergistic effects with YKAs3001 against both S. aureus and MRSA, suggesting that Trp residue at C-terminus of CAMA-syn2 may facilitate the polar antibiotic flavonoids and synthetic compounds to permeabilize the membrane. This study will be useful for the development of new antibiotic peptides with potent antimicrobial and synergistic activity but without cytotoxicity.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제28권5호
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• pp.707-717
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• 2018

Leukocytes are reportedly the first line of the innate immune defense and essential for the control of common bacterial infections. Therefore, in this work, the antibacterial activity of crocodile leukocyte extract against Propionibacterium acnes was evaluated, and we also characterized the related activity of skin infection. The leukocyte extract showed the minimum inhibitory concentration to be $100{\mu}g/ml$ to P. acnes. SEM imaging demonstrated that the leukocyte extract adversely affected P. acnes cell permeability in a concentration-dependent manner. Furthermore, the crocodile leukocyte extract could significantly reduce proinflammatory markers and decrease inflammatory signs in infected mouse ears. The crude leukocyte extract was further purified using FPLC and RP-HPLC. The resulting fraction F5 was indicated as the anti-acne peptide-containing fraction. The molecular mass of the peptide contained in F5 was calculated to be 4,790.5 Da. N-Terminal sequencing revealed the amino acid sequence as GPEPVPAIYQ, which displays similarities to immunoglobulin A and leucine-rich repeat neuronal protein. This is the first reported amino acid sequence of a crocodile leukocyte extract that possesses anti-acne activity. To attempt to use it in a prototype cosmetic, an anti-acne gel containing crude crocodile leukocyte extract was formulated, resulting in seven gel formulations (G1, G2, G3, G4, G5, G6, and G7). The formulations G5, G6, and G7 exhibited 2-fold higher anti-acne activity than G1-G4. Investigation of accelerating stability studies of anti-acne gel formulations G5, G6, and G7 demonstrated that a low storage temperature ($4^{\circ}C$) is suitable for maintaining the physical properties and biological activity of the anti-acne gel products.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• 제30권3호
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• pp.281-291
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• 2003

In this review, we described the catalogues of the rice proteome which were constructed in our program, and functional characterization of some of these proteins was discussed. Mass-spectrometry is the most prevalent technique to rapidly identify a large number of proteome analysis. However, the conventional Western blotting/sequencing technique has been used in many laboratories. As a first step to efficiently construct protein cata-file in proteome analysis of major cereals, we have analyzed the N-terminal sequences of 100 rice embryo proteins and 70 wheat spike proteins separated by two-dimensional electrophoresis. Edman degradation revealed the N-terminal peptide sequences of only 31 rice proteins and 47 wheat proteins, suggesting that the rest of separated protein sports are N-terminally blocked. To efficiently determine the internal sequence of blocked proteins, we have developed a modified Cleveland peptide mapping method. Using this above method, the internal sequences of all blocked rice proteins(i, e., 69 proteins) were determined. Among these 100 rice proteins, thirty were proteins for which homologous sequence in the rice genome database could be identified. However, the rest of the proteins lacked homologous proteins. This appears to be consistent with the fact that about 45% of total rice cDNA have been deposited in the EMBL database. Also, the major proteins involved in the growth and development of rice can be identified using the proteome approach. Some of these proteins, including a calcium-binding protein that tuned out to be calreticulin, gibberellin-binding protein, which is ribulose-1.5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygense active in rice, and leginsulin-binding protein in soybean have functions in the signal transduction pathway. Proteomics is well suited not only to determine interaction between pairs of proteins, but also to identify multisubunit complexes. Currently, a protein-protein interaction database for plant proteins(http://genome.c.kanazawa-u.ac.jp/Y2H)could be a very useful tool for the plant research community. Also, the information thus obtained from the plant proteome would be helpful in predicting the function of the unknown proteins and would be useful be in the plant molecular breeding.