• BMB Reports
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.363-367
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• 1995

E. coli methionyl-tRNA synthetase is one of the class I tRNA synthetases. The Tryptophane residue at the position 461 located in the C-terminal domain of the enzyme is a key amino acid for the interaction with the anticodon of $tRNA^{Met}$. W461 was replaced with other amino acids to determine the chemical requirement for the interaction with the anticodon of $tRNA^{Met}$. Saturation mutagenesis at the position 461 generated a total of 12 substitution mutants of methionyl-tRNA synthetase. All the mutants showed the same in vivo stability as the wild-type enzyme, suggesting that the amino acid substitutions did not cause severe conformational change of the protein The mutants containing tyrosine, phenylalanine, histidine and cysteine substitutions showed in vivo activity while all the other mutants did not. The comparison of the in vitro aminoacylation activities of these mutants showed that aromatic ring structure, Van der Waals volume and hydrogen bond potential of the amino acid residue at the position 461 are the major determinants for the interaction with the anticodon of $tRNA^{Met}$.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.110-121
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• 2005

E.coli methionyl tRNA synthetase consist of 676 amino acids and plays a key role in initiation of protein synthesis. The native form of this enzyme is a homodimer, but the monomeric enzyme truncated approximately C-terminal 120 amino acids retains the full enzymatic activities. X-ray crystal structure of the active monomeric enzyme shows that it has two domains. The N-terminal domain is thought to be a binding site for acceptor stem of tRNA, ATP, and methionine. The C-terminal domain is mainly a-helical and makes an interaction with the anticodon of $tRNA^{Met}$. Especially it is suggested that the region of helix-loop-helix including the tryptophan residue at the position 461 may be the essential for the interaction with anticodon of $tRNA^{Met}$. In this work the structure and function of E. coli methionyl-tRNA synthetase was studied by spectroscopic method (NMR, CD, Fluorescence). The importance of tryptophan residue at the position 461 was investigated by fluorescence spectroscopy. Tryptophan 461 is expected to be an essential site for the interaction between E. coli methionyl-tRNA synthetase and E. coli $tRNA^{Met}$. Proton and heteonuclear 2-dimensional NMR spectroscopy were also used to elucidate the protein-tRNA interaction.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.170-175
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• 2018

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the most common movement disorder and the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's disease. Approximately 5~10% of PD patients are familial PD cases. Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) has been known to be a causal gene of PD when it is mutated. LRRK2 contains the functional kinase and GTPase domains as well as leucine-rich repeat (LRR) and WD40 domains that are known to play critical roles for protein-protein interaction, suggesting that LRRK2-interacting proteins are important regulators for PD pathogenesis. In an effort to identify proteins interacting with LRRK2, we carried out co-immunoprecipitation of LRRK2 antibody using extracts of NIH3T3 cells that express LRRK2 at a relatively high level. The mass spectrometry analysis of a precipitated band revealed that the co-precipitated band was methionyl-tRNA synthetase (MRS), an ancient enzyme that transfers methionin to its cognate tRNA. The interaction of MRS with LRRK2 was confirmed again by co-immunoprecipitation of endogenous proteins and GST pull-down assays. However, LRRK2 did not phosphorylate recombinant MRS protein in in vitro kinase assays, and over-expression of LRRK2 or MRS did not affect the stability of its partner protein. Our data indicate that LRRK2 interacts with but does not phosphorylate MRS, and the stability of each partner is not affected by the other.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Applied Microbiology Conference
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• 2001.06a
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• pp.83-89
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• 2001

Recent advances in the structural and molecular biology uncovered that a set of translation factors resembles a tRNA shape and, in one case, even mimics a tRNA function for deciphering the genetic ：ode. Nature must have evolved this 'art' of molecular mimicry between protein and ribonucleic acid using different protein architectures to fulfill the requirement of a ribosome 'machine'. Termination of protein synthesis takes place on the ribosomes as a response to a stop, rather than a sense, codon in the 'decoding' site (A site). Translation termination requires two classes of polypeptide release factors (RFs)： a class-I factor, codon-specific RFs (RFI and RF2 in prokaryotes; eRFI in eukaryotes), and a class-IT factor, non-specific RFs (RF3 in prokaryotes; eRF3 in eukaryotes) that bind guanine nucleotides and stimulate class-I RF activity. The underlying mechanism for translation termination represents a long-standing coding problem of considerable interest since it entails protein-RNA recognition instead of the well-understood codon-anticodon pairing during the mRNA-tRNA interaction. Molecular mimicry between protein and nucleic acid is a novel concept in biology, proposed in 1995 from three crystallographic discoveries, one, on protein-RNA mimicry, and the other two, on protein-DNA mimicry. Nyborg, Clark and colleagues have first described this concept when they solved the crystal structure of elongation factor EF- Tu：GTP：aminoacyl-tRNA ternary complex and found its overall structural similarity with another elongation factor EF-G including the resemblance of part of EF-G to the anticodon stem of tRNA (Nissen et al. 1995). Protein mimicry of DNA has been shown in the crystal structure of the uracil-DNA glycosylase-uracil glycosylase inhibitor protein complex (Mol et al. 1995; Savva and Pear 1995) as well as in the NMR structure of transcription factor TBP-TA $F_{II}$ 230 complex (Liu et al. 1998). Consistent with this discovery, functional mimicry of a major autoantigenic epitope of the human insulin receptor by RNA has been suggested (Doudna et al. 1995) but its nature of mimic is. still largely unknown. The milestone of functional mimicry between protein and nucleic acid has been achieved by the discovery of 'peptide anticodon' that deciphers stop codons in mRNA (Ito et al. 2000). It is surprising that it took 4 decades since the discovery of the genetic code to figure out the basic mechanisms behind the deciphering of its 64 codons.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.1226-1233
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• 2011

In neurons, kinesin is the molecular motor that transport cargos along microtubules. KIF5s (alias kinesin-I), are heterotetrameric motor conveying cargos, but the mechanism as to how they recognize and bind to a specific cargos has not yet been completely elucidated. To identify the interaction proteins for KIF5C, yeast two-hybrid screening was performed, and specific interaction with the $\underline{S}$am68-$\underline{l}$ike $\underline{m}$ammalian protein $\underline{2}$ (SLM-2), a member of the $\underline{s}$ignal $\underline{t}$ransducers and $\underline{a}$ctivators of $\underline{R}$NA (STAR) family of RNA processing proteins, was found. SLM-2 bound to the carboxyl (C)-terminal region of KIF5C and to other KIF5 members. The C-terminal domain of Sam68, SLM-1, SLM-2 was essential for interaction with KIF5C in the yeast two-hybrid assay. In addition, glutathione S-transferase (GST) pull-downs showed that SAM68, SLM-1, and SLM-2 specifically interacted to Kinesin-I complex. An antibody to SAM68 specifically co-immunoprecipitated SAM68 associated with KIF5s and coprecipitated with a specific set of mRNA. These results suggest that Kinesin-I motor protein transports RNA-associated protein complex in cells.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.37 no.9
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• pp.691-698
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• 2014

SCYL1-BP1 is thought to function in the p53 pathway through Mdm2 and hPirh2, and mutations in SCYL1-BP1 are associated with premature aging syndromes such as Geroderma Osteodysplasticum; however, these mechanisms are unclear. Here, we report significant alterations in miRNA expression levels when SCYL1-BP1 expression was inhibited by RNA interference in HEK293T cells. We functionally characterized the effects of potential kernel miRNA-target genes by miRNA-target network and protein-protein interaction network analysis. Importantly, we showed the diminished SCYL1-BP1 dramatically reduced the expression levels of EEA1, BMPR2 and BRCA2 in HEK293T cells. Thus, we infer that SCYL1-BP1 plays a critical function in HEK293T cell development and directly regulates miRNA-target genes, including, but not limited to, EEA1, BMPR2, and BRCA2, suggesting a new strategy for investigating the molecular mechanism of SCYL1-BP1.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.8
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• pp.1439-1445
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• 2016

A yellow, rod-shaped, non-motile, gram-negative, and strictly aerobic bacterial strain, designated LPB0005^T, was isolated from a marine gastropod, Reichia luteostoma. Here the genome sequence was determined, which comprised 3,395,737 bp with 2,962 protein-coding genes. The DNA G+C content was 36.3 mol%. The 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that the isolate represents a novel genus and species in the family Flavobacteriaceae, with relatively low sequence similarities to other closely related genera. The isolate showed chemotaxonomic properties within the range reported for the family Flavobacteriaceae, but possesses many physiological and biochemical characteristics that distinguished it from species in the closely related genera Ulvibacter, Jejudonia, and Aureitalea. Based on phylogenetic, phenotypic, and genomic analyses, strain LPB0005^T represents a novel genus and species, for which the name Cochleicola gelatinilyticus gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is LPB0005^T (= KACC 18693^T = JCM 31218^T).

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.299-305
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• 2009

Over-expression of phospholipase D (PLD) 1 or PLD2 down-regulated CKII activity in NIH3T3 cells. The same results were found with catalytically inactive mutants of PLD isozymes, indicating that the catalytic activity of PLD is not required for PLD-mediated CKII inhibition. Consistent with this, 1-butanol did not alter CKII activity. The reduction in CKII activity in PLD-over-expressing NIH3T3 cells was due to reduced protein level, but not mRNA level, of the $CKII{\beta}$ subunit. This PLD-induced $CKII{\beta}$ degradation was mediated by ubiquitin-proteasome machinery, but MAP kinase and mTOR were not involved in $CKII{\beta}$ degradation. PLD isozymes interacted with the $CKII{\beta}$ subunit. Immunocytochemical staining revealed that PLD and $CKII{\beta}$ colocalize in the cytoplasm of NIH3T3 cells, especially in the perinuclear region. PLD binding to $CKII{\beta}$ inhibited $CKII{\beta}$ autophosphorylation, which is known to be important for $CKII{\beta}$ stability. In summary, the current data indicate that PLD isozymes can down-regulate CKII activity through the acceleration of $CKII{\beta}$ degradation by ubiquitin-proteasome machinery.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.501-508
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• 2017

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are multifunctional cytokines that play important roles in a variety of cellular functions. Among BMP family members, BMP2 efficiently promotes osteoblast differentiation through Smad-mediated runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2) expression. Several recent studies suggest that BMPs are associated with clock genes, in particular Bmal1. Bmal1 protein heterodimerizes with Clock protein and then induces period 1 (Per1) expression. However, the role of Per1 on osteoblast differentiation remains unclear. In this study, we investigated whether Per1 is involved in osteoblast differentiation. MC3T3-E1 cells were treated with BMP2 for induction of osteoblastic differentiation. Osteogenic maker gene and Per1 mRNA expression were measured using real-time PCR. Interestingly, BMP2 treatment induced Per1 mRNA expression in MC3T3-E1 cells. To further investigate the function of Per1 on osteoblast differentiation, MC3T3-E1 cells were transiently transfected with pCMV-Per1. Per1 overexpression increased Runx2 mRNA and protein levels. Also, mRNA expression and promoter activity of osteocalcin were upregulated by Per1 overexpression. To investigate the effect of interaction between Per1 and osteogenic condition, MC3T3-E1 cells were cultured in osteogenic medium containing ascorbic acid and ${\beta}$-glycerophosphate. Osteogenic medium-induced ALP staining level and mineralization were synergistically increased by overexpression of Per1. Taken together, these results demonstrate that Per1 is a positive regulator of osteoblast differentiation.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.239-245
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• 2005

Factor for inversion stimulation (FIS), the Escherichia coli protein, is a positive regulator of the transcription of genes that encode stable RNA species, such as rRNA and tRNA. Transcription of the rnpB gene encoding M1 RNA, the catalytic subunit of E. coli RNase P, rapidly declines under stringent conditions, as does that of other stable RNAs. There are multiple putative FIS binding sites upstream of the rnpB promoter. We tested whether FIS binds to these sites, and if so, how it affects rnpB transcription. In vitro binding assays revealed specific binding of FIS to multiple sites in the rnpB promoter region. Interestingly, FIS bound not only to the upstream region of the promoter, but also to the region from +4 to +18. FIS activated rnpB transcription in vitro, but the level of activation was much lower than that of the rrnB promoter for rRNA. We also examined the effects of FIS on rnpB transcription in vivo using isogenic $fis^+$ and $fis^-$ strains. rnpB transcription was higher in the $fis^-$ than the $fis^+$ cells during the transitions from lag to exponential phase, and from exponential to stationary phase.