• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.27-27
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• 2011

For the design of real applicable molecular devices, current-voltage properties through molecular nanostructures such as metal-molecule-metal junctions (molecular junctions) have been studied extensively. In thiolate monolayers on the gold electrode, the chemical bonding of sulfur to gold and the van der Waals interactions between the alkyl chains of neighboring molecules are important factors in the formation of well-defined monolayers and in the control of the electron transport rate. Charge transport through the molecular junctions depends significantly on the energy levels of molecules relative to the Fermi levels of the contacts and the electronic structure of the molecule. It is important to understand the interfacial electron transport in accordance with the increased film thickness of alkyl chains that are known as an insulating layer, but are required for molecular device fabrication. Thiol-tethered RuII terpyridine complexes were synthesized for a voltage-driven molecular switch and used to understand the switch-on mechanism of the molecular switches of single metal complexes in the solid-state molecular junction in a vacuum. Electrochemical voltammetry and current-voltage (I-V) characteristics are measured to elucidate electron transport processes in the bistable conducting states of single molecular junctions of a molecular switch, Ru(II) terpyridine complexes. (1) On the basis of the Ru-centered electrochemical reaction data, the electron transport rate increases in the mixed self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of Ru(II) terpyridine complexes, indicating strong electronic coupling between the redox center and the substrate, along the molecules. (2) In a low-conducting state before switch-on, I-V characteristics are fitted to a direct tunneling model, and the estimated tunneling decay constant across the Ru(II) terpyridine complex is found to be smaller than that of alkanethiol. (3) The threshold voltages for the switch-on from low- to high-conducting states are identical, corresponding to the electron affinity of the molecules. (4) A high-conducting state after switch-on remains in the reverse voltage sweep, and a linear relationship of the current to the voltage is obtained. These results reveal electron transport paths via the redox centers of the Ru(II) terpyridine complexes, a molecular switch.

• Proceedings of the Korea Crystallographic Association Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.18-18
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• 2003

Thioredoxin (Trx) is a small redox protein that is ubiquitously distributed from achaes to human. In diverse organisms, the protein is involved in various physiological roles by acting as electron donor and regulators of transcription and apoptosis as well as antioxidants. Sequences of Trx within various species are 27～69% identical to that of E. coli and all Trx proteins have the same overall fold, which consists of central five β strands surrounded by four α helices. The N-terminal cysteine in WCGPC motif of Trx is redox sensitive and the motif is highly conserved. Compared with general cysteine, the N-terminal cysteine has low pKa value. The result leads to increased reduction activity of protein. Recently, novel thio.edoxin-related protein (TRP14) was found from rat brain. TRP14 acts as disulfide reductase like Trx1, and its redox potential and pKa are similar to those of Trx1. However, TRP14 takes up electrons from cytosolic thioredoxin reductase (TrxR1), not from the mitochondrial thioredoxin reductase (TrxR2). Biological roles of TES14 were reported to be involved in regulating TNF-α induced signaling pathways in different manner with Trx1. In depletion experiments, depletion of TRP14 increased TNF-α induced phosphorylation and degradation of IκBα more than the depletion Trx1 did. It also facilitated activation of JNK and p38 MAP kinase induced by TNF-α. Unlike Trx1, TRP14 shows neither interaction nor interference with ASK1. Here, we determined three-dimensional crystal structure of TRP14 by MAD method at 1.8Å. The structure reveals that the conserved cis-Pro (Pro90) and active site-W-C-X-X-C motif, which may be involved in substrate recognition similar to Trx1 , are located at the beginning position of strand β4 and helix α2, respectively. The TRP14 structure also shows that surface of TRP14 in the vicinity of the active site, which is surrounded by an extended flexible loop and an additional short a helix, is different from that of Trx1. In addition, the structure exhibits that TRP14 interact with a distinct target proteins compared with Trx1 and the binding may depend mainly on hydrophobic and charge interactions. Consequently, the structure supports biological data that the TRP14 is involved in regulating TNF-α induced signaling pathways in different manner with Trx1.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.353-358
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• 2016

Thiolase is an enzyme that catalyzes condensation reactions between two acetyl-CoA molecules to produce acetoacetyl-CoA. As thiolase catalyzes is the first reaction in the production of n-butanol, knowledge of the molecular and regulatory mechanism of the enzyme is crucial for synthesizing high-value biofuel. Thiolase from Clostridium butyricum (CbTHL) was expressed, purified, and crystallized. X-ray diffraction data were collected from the crystals, and the 3-dimentional structure of the enzyme was determined at 2.0 Å. The overall structure of thiolase was similar to that of type II biosynthetic thiolases, such as thiolase from C. acetobutylicum (CaTHL). The superposition of this structure with that of CaTHL complexed with CoA revealed the residues that comprise the catalytic and substrate binding sites of CbTHL. The catalytic site of CbTHL contains three conserved residues, Cys88, His349, and Cys379, which may function as a covalent nucleophile, general base, and second nucleophile, respectively. For substrate binding, the way in which CbTHL stabilized the ADP moiety of CoA was unlike that of other thiolases, whereas the stabilization of β-mercaptoethyamine and pantothenic acid moieties of CoA was quite similar to that of other enzymes. The most interesting observation in the CbTHL structure was that the enzyme was regulated through redox-switch modulation, using a reversible disulfide bond.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.99-105
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• 2015

Hsp33 is a prokaryotic molecular chaperon that exerts a holdase activity upon response to an oxidative stress at raised temperature. In particular, intramolecular disulfide bond formation between the four conserved cysteines that bind a zinc ion in reduced state is known to be critically associated with the redox sensing. Here we report the backbone NMR assignment results of the half-oxidized Hsp33, where only two of the four cysteines form an intramolecular disulfide bond. Almost all of the resolved peaks could be unambiguously assigned, although the total assignments extent reached just about 50%. Majority of the missing assignments could be attributed to a significant spectral collapse, largely due to the oxidation-induced unfolding of the C-terminal redox-switch domain. These results support two previous suggestions: conformational change in the first oxidation step is localized mainly in the C-terminal zinc-binding domain, and the half-oxidized form would be still inactive. However, some additional regions appeared to be potentially changed from the reduced state, which suggest that the half-oxidized conformation would be an intermediate state that is more labile to heat and/or further oxidation.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.117-126
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• 2010

Hsp33 is a molecular chaperone achieving a holdase activity upon response to a dual stress by heat and oxidation. Despite several crystal structures available, the activation process is not clearly understood, because the structure inactive Hsp33 as its reduced, zinc-bound, monomeric form has not been solved yet. Thus, we initiated structural investigation of the reduced Hsp33 monomer by NMR. In this study, to overcome the high molecular weight (33 kDa), the protein was triply isotope-[$^{13}C$, $^{15}N$, $^2H$]-labeled and its inactive, monomeric state was ensured. 2D-[$^1H$, $^{15}N$]-TROSY and a series of triple resonance spectra could be successfully obtained on a high-field (900 MHz) NMR machine with a cryoprobe. However, under all of the different conditions tested, the number of resonances observed was significantly less than that expected from the amino acid sequence. Thus, a possible contribution of dynamic conformational exchange leading to a line broadening is suggested that might be important for activation process of Hsp33.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2004.07b
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• pp.882-885
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• 2004

Organic molecules have many properties that make them attractive for electronic applications. We have been examining the progress of memory cell by using molecular-scale switch to give an example of the application using both nanoscale components and Si-technology. In this study, molecular electronic devices were fabricated with amion style derivatives as redox-active component to compare to the devices using Zn-Porphyrin derivatives. This molecule is amphiphilic to allow monolayer formation by the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) method, and then this LB monolayer is inserted between two metal electrodes. According to current-voltage (I-V) characteristics, it was found that the devices show remarkable hysteresis behavior and can be used as memory devices at ambient conditions, when aluminum oxide layer was existed on bottom electrode. Diode-like characteristics were measured only, when Pt layer was existed as bottom electrode. It was also found that this metal layer interacts with the organic molecules and acts as a protecting layer, when thin Ti layer was inserted between the organic molecular layer and the top Al electrode. These electrical properties of the devices may be applicable to active components for the memory and/or logic gates in the future.

• Journal of Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.102-111
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• 2020

Nitric oxide (NO)-induced protein S-nitrosylation triggers mitochondrial dysfunction and was related to cell senescence. However, the exact mechanism of these damages is not clear. In the present study, to investigate the relationship between in vitro aging and NO-induced protein S-nitrosylation, oocytes were treated with sodium nitroprusside dihydrate (SNP), and the resultant S-nitrosylated proteins were detected through biotin-switch assay. The results showed that levels of protein S-nitroso thiols (SNO)s and expression of S-nitrosoglutathione reductase (GSNOR) increased, while activity and function of mitochondria were impaired during oocyte aging. Addition of SNP, a NO donor, to the oocyte culture led to accelerated oocyte aging, increased mitochondrial dysfunction and damage, apoptosis, ATP deficiency, and enhanced ROS production. These results suggested that the increased NO signal during oocyte aging in vitro, accelerated oocyte degradation due to increased protein S-nitrosylation, and ROS-related redox signaling.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.752-760
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• 2004

The function of the [4Fe-4S] cluster containing iron (Fe-) protein in nitrogenase catalysis is to serve as the nucleotide-dependent electron donor to the MoFe protein which contains the sites for substrate binding and reduction. The ability of the Fe protein to function in this manner is dependent on its ability to adopt the appropriate conformation for productive interaction with the MoFe protein and on its ability to change redox potentials to provide the driving force required for electron transfer. The MgADP-bound (or off) conformational state of the nitrogenase Fe protein structure described reveals mechanisms for long-range communication from the nucleotide-binding sites to control affinity of association with the MoFe protein component. Two pathways, termed switches I and II, appear to be integral to this nucleotide signal transduction mechanism. In addition, the structure of the MgADP bound Fe protein provides the basis for the changes in the biophysical properties of the [4Fe-4S] observed when Fe protein binds nucleotides. The structures of the nitrogenase Fe protein with defined amino acid substitutions in the nucleotide dependent signal transduction pathways of the Switch I and Switch II have been determined by X-ray diffraction methods. These two pathways have been also implicated by site directed mutagenesis studies, structural analysis and analogies to other proteins that utilize similar nucleotide dependent signal transduction pathways. We have examined the validity of the assignment of these pathways in linking the signals generated by MgATP binding and hydrolysis to macromolecular complex formation and intermolecular electron transfer. The results provide a structural basis for the observed biophysical and biochemical properties of the Fe protein variants and interactions within the nitrogenase Fe protein-MoFe protein complex.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.154-158
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• 2005

Organic molecules have many properties that make them attractive for electronic applications. We have been examining the progress of memory cell by using molecular-scale switch to give an example of the application using both nano scale components and Si-technology. In this study, molecular electronic devices were fabricated with amino style derivatives as redox-active component. This molecule is amphiphilic to allow monolayer formation by the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) method and then this LB monolayer is inserted between two metal electrodes. According to the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics, it was found that the devices show remarkable hysteresis behavior and can be used as memory devices at ambient conditions, when aluminum oxide layer was existed on bottom electrode. The diode-like characteristics were measured only, when Pt layer was existed as bottom electrode. It was also found that this metal layer interacts with organic molecules and acts as a protecting layer, when thin Ti layer was inserted between the organic molecular layer and Al top electrode. These electrical properties of the devices may be applicable to active components for the memory and/or logic gates in the future.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.389-399
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• 2015

Zinc has been considered as a vital constituent of proteins, including enzymes. Mobile reactive zinc ($Zn^{2+}$) is the key form of zinc involved in signal transductions, which are mainly driven by its binding to proteins or the release of zinc from proteins, possibly via a redox switch. There has been growing evidence of zinc's critical role in cell signaling, due to its flexible coordination geometry and rapid shifts in protein conformation to perform biological reactions. The importance and complexity of $Zn^{2+}$ activity has been presumed to parallel the degree of calcium's participation in cellular processes. Whole body and cellular $Zn^{2+}$ levels are largely regulated by metallothioneins (MTs), $Zn^{2+}$ importers (ZIPs), and $Zn^{2+}$ transporters (ZnTs). Numerous proteins involved in signaling pathways, mitochondrial metabolism, and ion channels that play a pivotal role in controlling cardiac contractility are common targets of $Zn^{2+}$. However, these regulatory actions of $Zn^{2+}$ are not limited to the function of the heart, but also extend to numerous other organ systems, such as the central nervous system, immune system, cardiovascular tissue, and secretory glands, such as the pancreas, prostate, and mammary glands. In this review, the regulation of cellular $Zn^{2+}$ levels, $Zn^{2+}$-mediated signal transduction, impacts of $Zn^{2+}$ on ion channels and mitochondrial metabolism, and finally, the implications of $Zn^{2+}$ in health and disease development were outlined to help widen the current understanding of the versatile and complex roles of $Zn^{2+}$.