• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Bioinformatics Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.32-34
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• 2000

Computational chemistry is a discipline using computational methods for the calculation of molecular structure, properties, and reaction or for the simulation of molecular behavior. Relating and turning the complexity of data from genomics, high-throughput screening, combinatorial chemical synthesis, gene-expression investigations, pharmacogenomics, and proteomics into useful information and knowledge is the primary goal of bioinformatics. In particular, the structure-based molecular design is one of essential fields in bioinformatics and it can be called as structural bioinformatics. Therefore, the conformational analysis for proteins and peptides using the techniques of computational chemistry is expected to play a role in structural bioinformatics. There are two major computational methods for conformational analysis of proteins and peptides; one is the molecular orbital (MO) method and the other is the force field (or empirical potential function) method. The MO method can be classified into ab initio and semiempirical methods, which have been applied to relatively small and large molecules, respectively. However, the improvement in computer hardwares and softwares enables us to use the ab initio MO method for relatively larger biomolecules with up to v100 atoms or ∼800 basis functions. In order to show how computational chemistry can be used in structural bioinformatics, 1 will present on (1) cis-trans isomerization of proline dipeptide and its derivatives, (2) positional preference of proline in ${\alpha}$-helices, and (3) conformations and activities of Arg-Gly-Asp-containing tetrapeptides.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.149-157
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• 2008

Many proteins consist of distinctive domains that can act independently or cooperatively to achieve a unique function. As these domains evolve from a naturally existing repertoire of functional domains, this implies that domain organization is an intrinsic element involved in building the complex structure and function of proteins. Thus, identifying functional domains would appear to be critical to the elucidation of questions related to protein evolution, folding, and the engineering of hybrid proteins for tai- lored applications. However, the simple application of "Lego-like assembly" to the engineering of hybrid proteins is an oversimplification, as many hybrid constructs lack structural stability, usually due to unfavorable domain contacts. Thus, directed evolution, along with computational studies, may help to engineer hybrid proteins with improved physico-chemical properties. Accordingly, this paper introduces several approaches to functional hybrid protein engineering that potentially can be used to create modulators of gene transcription and cell signaling, and novel biosensors to analyze biological functions in vivo.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.381-386
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• 2002

The objective of this study was to link conformational changes of proteins at a water/methylene chloride interface to their destabilization upon emulsification. When 4 aqueous protein solutions (bovine serum albumin, $\beta$-lactoglobulin, ovalbumin, or ribonuclease) were emulsified in methylene chloride, considerable proportions of all the proteins became water insoluble aggregates. There were also noticeable changes in the compositions of their water-soluble species. A series of water/methylene chloride interfacial reactions upon the proteins was considered a major cause of the phenomena observed. Based on this supposition, the interfacial tension was determined by a Kruss DVT-10 drop volume tensiometer under various experimental conditions. It substantiated that the interfacial tension was high enough to cause the adsorption of all the proteins. Under our experimental conditions, their presence in the aqueous phase resulted in reductions of the interfacial tension by the degrees of 8.5 - 17.1 mN $m^{-1}$. In addition, dynamic changes in the interfacial tension were monitored to compare relative rates at which the adsorbed proteins underwent conformational, structural rearrangements at the interface. Such information helped make a prediction about how easily proteins would denature and aggregate during emulsification. Our study indicated that emulsifying aqueous protein solutions in organic solvents should be handled with care, due to adverse interfacial effects.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.74-78
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• 2011

Numerous restraints and simplifications have been developed for methods that anticipate protein structure to reduce the colossal magnitude of possible conformational states. In this study, we investigated if globularity is a general characteristic of proteins and whether they can be applied as a valid constraint in protein structure simulations with approximated measurements (Gb-index). Unexpectedly, most of the proteins showed strong structural globularity (i.e., mode of approximately 76% similarity to the perfect globe) with only a few percent of proteins being outliers. Small proteins tended to be significantly non-globular ($R^2$=0.79) and the minimum Gb-index showed a logarithmic increase with the increase in protein size ($R^2$=0.62), strongly implying that the non-globular characteristics might be more acceptable for smaller proteins than larger ones. The strong perfect globe-like character and the relationship between small size and the loss of globular structure of a protein may imply that living organisms have mechanisms to aid folding into the globular structure to reduce irreversible aggregation. This also implies the possible mechanisms of diseases caused by protein aggregation, including some forms of trinucleotide repeat expansion-mediated diseases.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.264-269
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• 2014

The molecular interaction between tumor suppressor p53 and the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins plays an essential role in the transcription-independent apoptotic pathway of p53. In this study, we investigated the binding of p53 DNA-binding domain (p53DBD) with the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins, Bcl-w, Mcl-1, and Bcl-2, using GST pull-down assay and NMR spectroscopy. The GST pull-down assays and NMR experiments demonstrated the direct binding of the p53DBD with Bcl-w, Mcl-1, and Bcl-2. Further, NMR chemical shift perturbation data showed that Bcl-w and Mcl-1 bind to the positively charged DNA-binding surface of p53DBD. Noticeably, the refined structural models of the complexes between p53DBD and Bcl-w, Mcl-1, and Bcl-2 showed that the binding mode of p53DBD is highly conserved among the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins. Furthermore, the chemical shift perturbations on Bcl-w, Mcl-1, and Bcl-2 induced by p53DBD binding occurred not only at the p53DBD-binding acidic region but also at the BH3 peptide-binding pocket, which suggests an allosteric conformational change similar to that observed in Bcl-$X_L$. Taken altogether, our results revealed a structural basis for a conserved binding mechanism between p53DBD and the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins, which shed light on to the molecular understanding of the transcription-independent apoptosis pathway of p53.

• Rapid Communication in Photoscience
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.18-23
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• 2013

The photosystem II (PSII) light harvesting complex (LHC) consists of a variety of pigment protein complexes which are involved in structural organization and regulation of photosynthetic unit. These LHC proteins encoded by a group of Lhcb genes are essential for the structural integrity of PSII supercomplex, the channeling the excitation energy to the reaction center of PSII and its redistribution to photosystem I by state transitions. Numerous studies with the help of recent technological advancements have enabled a significant progress in our understanding on the structure of PSII-LHCII supercomplexes and their mobilization under various light conditions. Here, we present a mini-review on the latest concepts and models depicting the structure of PSII-LHCII supercomplexes and the role of Lhcb proteins in their supra-molecular organization. Also we will review on the current understandings and remaining problems involved in the mobilization of the supercomplexes during state transitions and during high light illumination for controlling light energy distribution between the two photosystems.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.43-50
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• 1998

In order to determine whether the tumor-inducing iridoviruses and the mortality-associated iridoviruses from cultured marine fish in Korea belong to same type, we compared the immunological characteristics of these viruses. The electrophoretical pattern of structural proteins of the tumor-inducing was different from that of the mortality-associated iridoviruses. The antigenicity of structural proteins of these viruses were identified by Western blotting using two monoclonal antibodies against tumor-inducing iridovirus. Two monoclonal antibodies recognized a 150 kDa structural protein of tumor-inducing iridoviruses showed. However, the structural proteins of the mortality-associated iridoviruses did not react with these monoclonal antibodies. These results demonstrate that the antigenicity of the structural proteins of tumor-inducing iridovirus is different from that of mortality-associated iridovirus, indicating that these two iridoviruses belong to different types.

• BMB Reports
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.319-324
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• 2010

Experimental bioinformatics data obtained from an E. coli cell-based eukaryotic protein purification experiment were analyzed in order to identify any bottleneck as well as the factors affecting the target purification. All targets were expressed as His-tagged maltose-binding protein (MBP) fusion constructs and were initially purified by immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC). The targets were subsequently separated from the His-tagged MBP through TEV protease cleavage followed by a second IMAC isolation. Of the 743 total purification trials, 342 yielded more than 3 mg of target proteins for structural studies. The major reason for failure of target purification was poor TEV proteolysis. The overall success rate for target purification decreased linearly as cysteine content or isoelectric point (pI) of the target increased. This pattern of pI versus overall success rate strongly suggests that pI should be incorporated into target scoring criteria with a threshold value.

• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.683-693
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• 2005

This paper presents a new transmembrane Protein topology prediction method which is an attempt to model the topological rules governing the topogenesis of transmembrane proteins. Context-dependent structural regions of the transmembrane protein are used as basic modeling units in order to effectively represent their topogenic roles during transmembrane protein assembly. These modeling units are modeled by means of a tied-state hidden Markov model, which can express the position-specific effect of amino acids during ransmembrane protein assembly. The performance of prediction improves with these modeling approaches. In particular, marked improvement of orientation prediction shows the validity of the proposed modeling. The proposed method is available at http://bioroutine.com/TRAPTOP.

• BMB Reports
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.167-172
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• 2014

Reactivating the p53 pathway in tumors is an important strategy for anticancer therapy. In response to diverse cellular stresses, the tumor suppressor p53 mediates apoptosis in a transcription-independent and transcription-dependent manner. Although extensive studies have focused on the transcription-dependent apoptotic pathway of p53, the transcription-independent apoptotic pathway of p53 has only recently been discovered. Molecular interactions between p53 and Bcl-2 family proteins in the mitochondria play an essential role in the transcription-independent apoptosis of p53. This review describes the structural basis for the transcription-independent apoptotic pathway of p53 and discusses its potential application to anticancer therapy.