• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.9
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• pp.2671-2674
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• 2013

To elucidate the role of the evolutionarily conserved Tyr8 residue in rice Phi-class GSTF3, this amino acid was replaced with alanine and phenylalanine by site-directed mutagenesis, respectively. The replacement of Tyr8 with Ala significantly affected the catalytic activity and the kinetic parameters, whereas the substitutions of Tyr8 with Phe had almost no effect. The Y8A mutant resulted in approximately 90-100% decrease of the specific activity. Moreover, the Y8A mutant resulted approximately in 2-fold increase of $K_m$, approximately 60-80% decrease of $k_{cat}$, and approximately 6.5-fold decrease in $k_{cat}/K_m$. From the pH/log $k_{cat}/K_m$ plot, $pK_a$ values of the GSH in the wild-type enzyme-GSH complex, Y8A-GSH complex and Y8F-GSH complex were estimated to be approximately 6.8, 8.5 and 6.9, respectively. From these results, we suggest that the evolutionarily conserved Tyr8 residue in OsGSTF3 seems to influence the structural stability of the active site of OsGSTF3 rather than directly its catalytic activity.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.219-227
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• 2008

The free-living photoheterotrophic Gram-negative bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides possesses a quorum-sensing (QS) regulatory system mediated by CerR-CerI, a member of the LuxR-LuxI family. To identify the genes affected by the regulatory system, random lacZ fusions were generated in the genome of R. sphaeroides strain 2.4.1 using a promoter-trapping vector, pSG2. About 20,000 clones were screened and 23 showed a significantly different level of ${\beta}$-gal activities upon the addition of synthetic 7,8-cis-N-tetradecenoyl-homoserine lactone (RAI). Among these 23 clones, the clone showing the highest level of induction was selected for further study, where about a ten-fold increase of ${\beta}$-gal activity was exhibited in the presence of RAI and induction was shown to be required for cerR. In this clone, the lacZ reporter was inserted in a putative gene that exhibited a low homology with catD. A genetic analysis showed that the expression of the catD homolog was initiated from a promoter of another gene present upstream of the catD. This upstream gene showed a strong homology with luxR and hence was named qsrR (quorum-sensing regulation regulator). A comparison of the total protein expression profiles for the wild-type cells and qsrR-null mutant cells using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and a MALDI-TOF analysis allowed the identification of sets of genes modulated by the luxR homolog.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.275-279
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• 2009

Toxoplasma gondii is one of the most common protozoa parasites of human and other warm-blooded animals. Cats and wild felidae play crucial roles in the epidemiology of toxoplasmosis. This study was performed to survey the prevalence of T. gondii infection among stray cats in the Seoul. A total of 422 stray cat blood samples were collected from Seoul area. Positive sera for T. gondii were identified in 56 samples (13.3%) exclusively via the latex agglutination test and the detection no antigen particles among seropositive samples by PCR. The overall infection rate of male stray cats (14.4%) presented as higher than that of female cats (10.7%). This study suggested that T. gondii is widespread in stray cats of Seoul area. It is needed to control urban stray cat population and to reduced the risk of zoonotic transmission of toxolasmosis to other animals and humans.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.221-229
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• 2001

Background: Inactivation of tumor suppressor genes is believed to be important in the development of many human malignancies. Recently, several lines of evidence have indicated that the wild type p53 gene located at 17p13.3, may function as a tumor suppressor gene and that a mutant p53 gene could promote transformation by inactivating normal p53 function in a dominant negative fashion. These broad spectrum of p53 mutation in human cancers provide that mutant p53 and their protein may be potential targets of tumor diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. Method: Colony formation was performed to investigate growth suppressional ability. p53 expression pattern was examined by western blot and p53-mediated transactivation ability was assessed by CAT activity. SNU C2A cells were observed in apoptotic aspects induced by etoposide and $H_2O_2$ treatment, detecting sensitivity on agent, DNA fragmentation through agarose gel, chromatin condensation by fluorescence microscope, and cell cycle distribution by FACS. Result: 1) p53 mutant his179arg ($histidine{\rightarrow}arginine$) detected in SNU C2A cells lost transcriptional activity and growth suppression ability, showing dominant negative effect on its wild type p53. 2) Etoposide-treated SNU C2A cells induced apoptosis, exhibiting dramatic reduction of cell growth, DNA fragmentation, nuclear condensation formation of apoptotic body and increment of sub-G1 cell fraction. 3) Etoposide and $H_2O_2$-treated SNU C2A cells have no high increase of p53 expression and overexpressed p53 protein changed localization, from cytoplasm to nucleus. Also, p53-mediated transcriptional activity was increased by agents-treatment. Conclusion: SNU C2A cells coexpress wild-type and mutant p53 protein induced apoptosis in the condition on DNA damage, through localizational shift from cytoplasm to nucleus of p53 protein rather than the induction of p53 protein. SNU C2A cells derived mutant p53 his179arg abrogated both the growth supression ability and transactivational activity, showing inhibition effect on transcriptional activity of wild type p53, but did not repress the activity of wild type p53 in SNU C2A cells owing to dominant activity of wild type. These cell condition may provide new gene therapeutic implications leading effective antiproliferation of cell when mutant and wild-type p53 protein were co-expressed in cell.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.218-224
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• 2013

The aldo-keto reductases catalyze reduction reactions using various aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes/ketones. Most reductases require NADPH exclusively as their cofactors. However, NADPH is much more expensive and unstable than NADH. In this study, we attempted to change the five amino acid residues that interact with the 2'-phosphate group of the adenosine ribose of NADPH. These residues were selected based on a docking model of the YOL151W reductase and were substituted with other amino acids to develop NADH-utilizing enzymes. Ten mutants were constructed by site-directed mutagenesis and expressed in Escherichia coli. Among them, four mutants showed higher reductase activities than wild-type when using the NADH cofactor. Analysis of the kinetic parameters for the wild type and mutants indicated that the $k_{cat}/K_{m}$ value of the Asn9Glu mutant toward NADH increased 3-fold. A docking model was used to show that the carboxyl group of Glu 9 of the mutant formed an additional hydrogen bond with the 2'-hydroxyl group of adenosine ribose. The Asn9Glu mutant was able to produce (R)-ethyl-4-chloro-3-hydroxyl butanoate rapidly when using the NADH regeneration system.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.1308-1315
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• 2007

Lipase B from Candida antarctica (CalB) displayed on the cell surface of H. polymorpha has been functionally improved for catalytic activity by molecular evolution. CalB was displayed on the cell surface by fusing to a cell-wall anchor motif (CwpF). A library of CalB mutants was constructed by in vivo recombination in H. polymorpha. Several mutants with increased whole-cell CalB activity were acquired from screening seven thousand transformants. The two independent mutants CalB 10 and CalB 14 showed an approximately 5 times greater whole-cell activity than the wild-type. When these mutants were made as a soluble form, CalB 10 showed 6 times greater activity and CalB 14 showed an 11 times greater activity compared with the wild-type. Sequence analyses of mutant CALB genes revealed amino acid substitutions of $Leu^{278}Pro$ in CalB10 and $Leu^{278}Pro/Leu^{219}Gln$ in CalB14. The substituted $Pro^{278}$ in both mutants was located near the proline site of the ${\alpha}$10 helix. This mutation was assumed to induce a conformational change in the ${\alpha}$10 helix and increased the $k_{cat}$ value of mutant CalB approximately 6 times. Site-directed mutagenized CalB, LQ ($Leu^{219}Gln$) was secreted into the culture supernatant at an amount of approximately 3 times more without an increase in the CalB transcript level, compared with the wild-type.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.189-192
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• 2001

We have investigated the effects of abiotic and biotic stresses on leaf senescence using transgenic tobacco plants, in which cellular contents of polyamines were increased by introducing the genes of polyamine and ethylene biosynthesis in sense or antisense orientation. These transgenic plants showed accumulations of polyamines at higher levels than were found in wild-type. Stress-induced senescence was attenuated in transgenic plants cpmpared with wild-type plants, in terms of total chlorphyll loss and phenotypic changes after oxidative stress of hydrogen peroxide($H_2O_2$), high salinity, acid stress (pH3.0), ABA and fungal pathogen(phytophothora parasitica pv.Nicotianae). Transcripts for antioxidant enzyme, glutathionine-S-transferase and catalase, were also more abundant in transgenic plants than wild-type plants. These result suggested that higher expression of those genes caused a broad-spectrum resistance to abiotic stress/biotic stress. These phenomena indicate that polyamines may play an important role in contributing to the antioxidant defense function in plants. Our findings suggest that facilitate the improvement of stress tolerance of crop plants.

• BMB Reports
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.39-44
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• 1999

Pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC) catalyzes the conversion of pyruvate to acetaldehyde as the penultimate step in alcohol fermentation. The enzyme requires two cofactors, thiamin diphosphate (ThDP) and $Mg^{2+}$, for activity. Zymomonas mobilis PDC shows a strong preference for pyruvate although it will use the higher homologues 2-ketobutyrate and 2-ketovalerate to some extent. We have investigated the effect of mutagenesis of valine 111 and leucine 112 on the substrate specificity. V111 was replaced by glycine, alanine, leucine, and isoleucine while L112 was replaced by alanine, valine, and isoleucine. With the exception of L112I, all mutants retain activity towards pyruvate with $k_{cat}$ values ranging from 40% to 139% of wild-type. All mutants show changes from wild-type in the affinity for ThDP, and several (V111A, L112A, and L112V) show decreases in the affinity for $Mg^{2+}$. Two of the mutants, V111G and V111A, show an increase in the $K_m$ for pyruvate. The activity of each mutant towards 2-ketobutyrate and 2-ketovalerate was investigated and some changes from wild-type were found. For the V111 mutants, the most notable of these is a 3.7-fold increase in the ability to use 2-ketovalerate. However, the largest effect is observed for the L112V mutation which increases the ability to use both 2-ketobutyrate (4.3-fold) and 2-ketovalerate (5.7-fold). The results suggest that L112 and, to a lesser extent, V111 are close to the active site and may interact with the alkyl side-chain of the substrate.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.89-97
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• 2015

Bacillus subtilis HK176 with high fibrinolytic activity was isolated from cheonggukjang, a Korean fermented soyfood. A gene, aprE176, encoding the major fibrinolytic enzyme was cloned from B. subtilis HK176 and overexpressed in E. coli BL21(DE3) using plasmid pET26b(+). The specific activity of purified AprE176 was 216.8 ± 5.4 plasmin unit/mg protein and the optimum pH and temperature were pH 8.0 and 40℃, respectively. Error-prone PCR was performed for aprE176, and the PCR products were introduced into E. coli BL21(DE3) after ligation with pET26b(+). Mutants showing enhanced fibrinolytic activities were screened first using skim-milk plates and then fibrin plates. Among the mutants, M179 showed the highest activity on a fibrin plate and it had one amino acid substitution (A176T). The specific activity of M179 was 2.2-fold higher than that of the wild-type enzyme, but the catalytic efficiency (k_cat/K_m) of M179 was not different from the wild-type enzyme owing to reduced substrate affinity. Interestingly, M179 showed increased thermostability. M179 retained 36% of activity after 5 h at 45℃, whereas AprE176 retained only 11%. Molecular modeling analysis suggested that the 176^th residue of M179, threonine, was located near the cation-binding site compared with the wild type. This probably caused tight binding of M179 with Ca²⁺, whichincreased the thermostability of M179.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.493-503
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• 2005

This survey was performed to investigate the distribution of specialities which cultivated importantly in Jeollabukdo area in order to understand food culture of this area. Foods in speciality were divided into 4 groups, agricultural, aquatic, animal and the others products. Total number of 93 species of specialities, including 40 species of agricultural products, 29 species of aquatic products, 8 species of animal products and 16 species of the miscellaneous products, were identified from Jeollabukdo area. Especially, there were various fruits and vegetables among agricultural products and fishes among aquatic products in this region. Rice, pepper, pear, Mandarin fish, beef, pine mushroom, lentinus edodes and honey were determined as specialities in Jeollabukdo area. Various aquatic products were specialities in Gochang, Gunsan, Buan and Gimje region. Fruits, mushrooms, wild edible greens and animal products were specialities in Muju, Jangsu, Jeongeup and Jinan. Sweet fish, cat fish and freshwater crab were caught off in Sumjin river region only such as Namwon, Sunchang and Imsil, Recently, pumpkin(Cucurbita maxima) and paprika were determined as specialities in Jeollabukdo. In case of aquatic products, mushrooms and wild edible greens, their wild type products decreased, while cultivated type increased Commercialization by brand naming of agricultural and animal products were rapidly increasing. The kinds of specialities in Jeollabukdo area were changing by the influence of geographical, religious and social factors.