• BMB Reports
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.225-231
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• 2005

Acid-labile subunit (ALS) is a component of the 150-kDa insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) complex, which, by sequestering the majority of IGFs-I and -II and thereby prolonging the half-life of them in plasma, serves as a circulating reservoir of IGFs in mammalian species. A pGEX-2T plasmid and a baculovirus expression constructs harboring a coding sequence for glutathione-S transferase (GST)-porcine ALS (pALS) fusion protein were expressed in BL21(DE3) E. coli and Sf9 insect cells, respectively. The expressed protein was purified by glutathione or Ni-NTN affinity chromatography, followed by cleavage of the fusion protein using Factor Xa. In addition, pALS and hIGFBP-3 were also produced in small amounts in the Xenopus oocyte expression system which does not require any purification procedure. A 65-kDa pALS polypeptide was obtained following the prokaryotic expression and the enzymatic digestion, but biochemical characterization of this polypeptide was precluded because of an extremely low expression efficiency. The baculovirus-as well as Xenopus-expressed pALS exhibited the expected molecular mass of 85 kDa which was reduced into 75 and 65 kDa following deglycosylation of Asn-linked carbohydrates by Endo-F glycosidase, indicating that the expressed pALS was properly glycosylated. Moreover, irrespective of the source of pALS, the recombinant pALS and hIGFBP-3 formed a 130-kDa binary complex which could be immunoprecipitated by anti-hIGFBP-3 antibodies. Collectively, results indicate that an authentic pALS protein can be produced by the current expression systems.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.12
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• pp.7523-7527
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• 2013

Thymidylate synthase (TS) catalyzes the transfer of a methyl group from methylenetetrahydrofolate to dUMP to form dTMP. It is a primary target in the chemotherapy of colorectal cancers and some other neoplasms. In order to obtain pure protein for analysis of structure and biological function, an expression vector TS-pET28b (+) was constructed by inserting wild-type human thymidylate synthase (hTS) cDNA into pET28b (+). Then an expression strain was selected after transformation of the recombined plasmid into Rosetta (DE3). Fusion protein with His-tag was efficiently expressed in the form of inclusion bodies after IPTG induction and the content was approximately 40.0% of total bacteria proteins after optimizing expression conditions. When inclusion bodies were washed, dissolved and purified by Ni-NTA under denatured conditions, the purity was up to 90%. On SDS-PAGE and West-blotting, the protein band was found to match well with the predicted relative molecular mass-36kDa. Bioactivity was 0.1 U/mg. The results indicated that high-level expression of wild-type hTS cDNA can be achieved in prokaryotes with our novel method, facilitating research into related chemotherapy.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.135-141
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• 2005

A Jopock (Jpk), a trans-acting factor associating with the position-specific regulatory element of murine Hoxa-7, has shown to have a toxicity to both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells when overexpressed. Since Jpk protein harbors a transmembrane domain and a putative endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-retention signal at the N-terminus, a subcellular localization of the protein was analyzed after fusing it into the green fluorescent protein (GFP): Both N-term (Jpk-EGFP) and C-term tagged-Jpk (EGFP-Jpk) showed to be localized in the ER when analyzed under the fluorescence microscopy after staining the cells with ER- and MitoTracker. Since ER stress triggers the ER-stress mediated apoptosis to eliminate the damaged cells, we analyzed the expression pattern of Jpk under ER-stress condition. When MCF7 cells were treated with the ER-stress inducer such as DTT and EGTA, the expression of Jpk was upregulated at the transcriptional level like that of Grp78, a molecular chaperone well known to be overexpressed under ER-stress condition. In the presence of high concentration of ER-sterss inducer (10 mM), about 70 (DTT) to $95\%$ (EGTA) of cells died stronly expressing ($10\~12$ fold) Jpk. Whereas at the low concentration ($0.001\~1.0\;mM$) of the inducer, the expression of Jpk was increased about 2.5 (EGTA) to 5 fold (DTT), which is rather similar to those of ER chaperone protein Grp78. These results altogether indicate that the ER-stress upregulated the expression of Jpk and the excess stress induces the ER-stress induced apoptosis and the concomitant expression of Jpk.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.728-732
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• 2007

In the present article, a novel fusion expression vector for Escherichia coli was developed based on the pTORG plasmid, a derivative of pET32a. This vector, named pT7MT(GenBank Accession No DQ504436), carries a T7 promoter and it drives the downstream gene encoding Metallothionein 2A(MT2A). There are in-framed multiple cloning sites(MCS) downstream of the MT2A gene. A target gene can be cloned into the MCS and fused to the C-terminal of the MT2A gene in a compatible open reading frame(ORF) to achieve fusion expression. The metal-binding capability of MT2A allows the purification of fusion proteins by metal chelating affinity chromatography, known as $Ni^{2+}$-affinity chromatography. Using this expression vector, we successfully got the stable and high-yield expression of MT2A-GST and MT2A-Troponin I fusion proteins. These two proteins were easily purified from the supernatant of cell lysates by one-step $Ni^{2+}$-affinity chromatography. The final yields of MT2A-GST and MT2A-Troponin I were 30mg/l and 28mg/l in LB culture, respectively. Taken together, our data suggest that pT7MT can be applied as a useful expression vector for stable and high-yield production of fusion proteins.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 2011

Insect lysozymes are basic, cationic proteins synthesized in fat body and hemocytes in response to bacterial infections and depolymerize the bacterial cell wall. The c-type lysozyme of the insect Spodoptera litura (SLLyz) is a single polypeptide chain of 121 residues with four disulfide bridges and 17 rare codons and is approximately 15 kDa. The full-length SLLyz cDNA is 1039 bp long with a poly(A) tail, and contains an open reading frame of 426 bp long (including the termination codon), flanked by a 54 bp long 5' UTR and a 559 bp long 3' UTR. As a host for the production of high-level recombinant proteins, E. coli is used most commonly because of its low cost and short generation time. However, the soluble expression of heterologous proteins in E. coli is not trivial, especially for disulfide-bonded proteins. In order to prevent inclusion body formation, GST was selected as a fusion partner to enhance the solubility of recombinant protein, and fused to the amplified products encoding mature SLLyz. The expression vector pGEX-4T-1/rSLLyz was then transformed into E. coli BL21(DE3)pLysS for soluble expression of rSLLyz, and the soluble fusion protein was purified successfully. Inhibition zone assay demonstrated that rSLLyz showed antibacterial activity against B. megaterium. These results demonstrate that the GST fusion expression system in E. coli described in this study is efficient and inexpensive in producing a disulfide-bonded rSLLyz in soluble, active form, and suggest that the insect lysozyme is an interesting system for future structural and functional studies.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.188-197
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• 2001

Organophosphorus acid anhydrolases(OPAA) catalyzing the hydrolysis of toxic organophosphates have been found in a variety of prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. Of the several kinds of OPAA that can degrade nerve agents, such as DFP, sarin and soman, a OPAA gene harbored in the chromosomal DNA of Alteromonas haloplanktis strain was subcloned in order to develope an enzymatic degradation method of toxic organophosphorus compounds. For this 1481 bp DNA fragment containing OPAA gene and its flanking regions has been synthesized through PCR using chromosomal DNA of A. haloplanktis strain. After subcloning and subsequent expression, crude OPA anhydrolase was prepared and assayed. It was shown that the OPAA had a very high hydrolytic activity on DFP. The specific activity of the enzyme was 1,110 $\mu$mole.$min^{p-1}.mg^{-1}$ protein. It seemed that OPAA with such a high hydrolytic activity may give a good prospects to its use, as a biodegradation tool, in detoxifying toxic organophosphorus compounds, such as pesticides and chemical stockpiles which are posing a potential threat to the field environment and human health.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.9
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• pp.1355-1359
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• 2014

To detect goat vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-mediated regrowth of hair, full-length VEGF164 cDNA was cloned from Inner Mongolia cashmere goat (Capra hircus) into the pET-his prokaryotic expression vector, and the recombinant plasmid was transferred into E. coli BL21 cells. The expression of recombinant $6{\times}his-gVEGF164$ protein was induced by 0.5 mM isopropyl thio-${\beta}$-D-galactoside at $32^{\circ}C$. Recombinant goat VEGF164 (rgVEGF164) was purified and identified by western blot using monoclonal anti-his and anti-VEGF antibodies. The rgVEGF164 was smeared onto the dorsal area of a shaved mouse, and we noted that hair regrowth in this area was faster than in the control group. Thus, rgVEGF164 increases hair growth in mice.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.7
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• pp.1245-1251
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• 2008

Oxalate decarboxylases (OXDCs) (E.C. 4.1.1.2) are enzymes catalyzing the conversion of oxalate to formate and $CO_2$. The OXDCs found in fungi and bacteria belong to a functionally diverse protein superfamily known as the cupins. Fungi-originated OXDCs are secretory enzymes. However, most bacterial OXDCs are localized in the cytosol, and may be involved in energy metabolism. In Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58, a locus for a putative oxalate decarboxylase is present. In the study reported here, an enzyme was overexpressed in Escherichia coli and showed oxalate decarboxylase activity. Computational analysis revealed the A. tumefaciens C58 OXDC contains a signal peptide mediating translocation of the enzyme into the periplasm that was supported by expression of signal-peptideless and full-length versions of the enzyme in A. tumefaciens C58. Further site-directed mutagenesis experiment demonstrated that the A. tumefaciens C58 OXDC is most likely translocated by a twin-arginine translocation (TAT) system.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.1280-1285
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• 2004

Retron is a prokaryotic genetic element, producing a short single-stranded DNA covalently linked to RNA (msDNA-RNA) by a reverse transcriptase (RT). In retron EC83, msDNA is further processed at between the 4th and the $5^{th}$ nucleotides, leaving a 79 nucleotide-long single-stranded DNA as a final product. To investigate this site-specific cleavage in msDNA synthesis, we purified the RT protein of retron EC83. Initially, RT ORF was cloned under the tac promoter, but the expression was very poor largely because of poor translation. In order to facilitate translation, the nucleotide sequence for the first nine amino acids was randomized with synonymous codons. This change of downstream sequence of translational initiation codon greatly affected the efficiency of translation. We could isolate clones which greatly increased RT production, and their sequences were compared to those of the low producers. The overproduced protein was purified and was shown to have RT activity.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.103-120
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• 1998

Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells respond to heat stress and other environmental abuses by synthesizing a small set of stress proteins and by inhibiting post-transcription synthesis of normal proteins. The purpose of the present study was to document the stress response produced by inflamed gingival tissue in vivo, and cytokine inducted human periodontal ligament cells. Human PDL cells were exposed to TNF-$\alpha$(1ng/ml), INF-$\gamma$(200 U/ml), LPS(100ug/ml), combination of cytokine, and SDS-PAGE gels running and Western blotting analysis was done. In vivo studies, the healthy gingival tissusse of a control group and inflamed gingival tissue of adult periodontitis were studied by immunohistochemistry and histology. The results were as follows 1. HSP 47 was distributed on basal layer in healthy gingiva, but stronger stained in basal, suprabasal, and spinous layer of inflamed gingiva. 2. HSP 47 was rare on endothelial cells and mononuclear cells in healthy gingiva, but stronger expressed in inflamed gingiva. 3. HSP 70 expression was rare on epihelium and inflammatory cells hi both healthy & inflamed gingiva. 4. HSP 70 was actively expressed on endothelial cells and inflammatory cells of capillary lumen in moderately & mild inflamend gingiva. 5. PDL cells showed low level of HSP 47 protein expression which was significantly induced by cytokine stimulation (LSP only and combination). 6. Maximum HSP 70 protein induction was seen with stimulation by a combination of the cytokine, Combination of TNF-$\alpha$, INF-$\gamma$, LPS have been shown to synergistically effects of HSP 70 expression. On the above findings, HSP Is influenced by cytokine and chronic inflammation in vivo, and may be involved in protection of tissue during periodontal inflammatiom.