Grb2, which is composed of a Src homology 2 (SH2) domain and two Src homology 3 (SH3) domains, is known to serve as an adaptor protein in signaling for Ras activation. Thus, a blocker of the Grb2 interactions with other proteins can be a potential candidate for an anticancer drug. In this study, we have developed a high throughput screening method for SH3 domain binding ligands and blockers. Firstly, we made and purified the glutathione S-transferase (GST)-fusion proteins with the Grb2 SH2 and SH3 domains, and the entire Grb2. This method measures the binding of a biotin-labeled oligopeptide, derived from a Grb2/SH3 binding motif in the hSos, to the GST-fusion proteins, which are precoated as glutathione S-transferase fusion protein on a solid phase. When $1\;{\mu}g$ of each fusion protein was used to coat the wells, both N- and C- terminal SH3 the domains as well as the whole of Grb2 were able to interact with the biotin-conjugated ligand peptide, while the SH2 domain and GST alone showed no binding affinity. Although N- and C- terminal SH3 domains showed an increase of binding to the ligand peptide in proportion to the amount of peptide, the GST fusion protein with Grb2 demonstrated much higher binding affinity. GST-Grb2 coating on the solid phase showed a saturation curve; 66 and 84% of the maximal binding was observed at 100 and 300 ng/$100\;{\mu}l$, respectively. This binding assay system was peptide sequence-specific, showing a dose-dependent inhibition with the unlabeled peptide of SH3 binding motif. Several other peptides, such as SH2 domain binding motifs and PTB domain binding motif, were ineffective to inhibit the binding to the biotin-conjugated ligand peptide. These results suggest that our method may be useful to screen for new anticancer drug candidates which can block the signaling pathways mediated by SH3 domain binding.

We investigated biotinylation of nitrocellulose membrane for immuno-filtration capture assay. In order to enhance the efficiency of biotinylation, nitrocellulose membranes were pretreated with several chemicals for the purpose of suitable protein absorption through surface modification. As a signal generating enzyme, urease was used and the concentration of avidin was optimized for the efficient binding kinetics between urease-biotin in liquid phase and biotinylated membrane in solid phase. For effective biotinylation, bovine serum albumin-biotin complexes could be immobilized at a concentration of $370\;{\mu}g$/stick ($4.4\;cm^2$). Among tested chemicals, polylysine (0.25%) showed a significant effect in biotinylation. Polylysine is thought to enhance surface area by extending unbound residues into solution. Time of treatment over 30 min and higher molecular weight of polylysines (58,100 dalton) showed positive effect on the enhancement of biotinylation. The result from this study may be useful for developing a new biosensor and other biofunctional membranes for examining molecular recognition.

It was discovered that monoclonal anti-erythropoietin (EPO) antibody CFC-6 can neutralize EPO-induced cell activation. To know the binding site of CFC-6, recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) was digested with Glu-C, followed by a separation using high performance liquid chromato graphy (HPLC). Each HPLC fraction was blotted on the nitrocellulose membrane and the membrane was treated with anti-EPO antibody CFC-6 and anti-mouse antibody which is modified with peroxidase. Only one spot showed the color and the fraction was sequenced by Edman degradation. The results suggest that CFC-6 recognizes amino acid sequence V63-W-Q-G-L-A-L-L-S-E72 which is a part of helix II of the EPO molecule. Binding of CFC-6 to EPO may inhibit EPO binding to its receptor, which implies that the antibody binding site and the receptor binding site are close or overlapping.

Thioredoxin is a multi-functional protein which is ubiquitous in microorganisms, animals and plants. Previously, expression of the E. coli thioredoxin gene was found to be negatively regulated by cAMP. In the present study, the effect of cAMP on two separate promoters of the E. coli thioredoxin gene was investigated. Cyclic AMP had a repressible effect on P1 and P1P2 promoter activity of the constructs. This effect was also observed in the cya strain. The P2 promoter construct gave very high -galactosidase activity, and its expression was not affected by exogenous cAMP. It was assumed that a cis-acting negative element, probably the cAMP-CRP binding site, might have been deleted in the P1 promoter construct. Repression of the thioredoxin gene expression by cAMP appeared to be independent of ppGpp.

To construct a competitive ELISA standard curve for the detection of glucose-6-phosphate debydrogenase (G6PD), we used highly purified native G6PD (nG6PD) as both immobilized and soluble antigens and anti-G6PD serum raised against nG6PD as antibody. The polystyrene cuvettes coated with nG6PD were challenged with a mixture of a limiting amount of anti-G6PD serum and various doses of nG6PD as competitors followed by incubation with alkaline phosphatase-anti-IgG conjugate. The competitive ELISA did not exhibit the typical sigmoidal dose-response curve characteristic of competition immunoassays under the optimal concentrations of antigen and antibody. The soluble nG6PD used as competitor failed to effectively inhibit the binding of antibodies to the immobilized nG6PD. The addition of NADP, a cofactor of G6PD enzyme, to coating buffer used for immobilizing nG6PD to the cuvettes and PBS-Tween-BSA buffer for diluting competitors did not improve the inhibition of antibody binding to immobilized nG6PD by soluble n/G6PD. The addition of BSA to coating buffer did not increase inhibition, either. Surprisingly, when partially active G6PD (paG6PD), obtained by repeated freeze-thawing, was used as competitor, the antibody binding to either immobilized nG6PD or immobilized paG6PD was inhibited 49-58%. We conclude that an effective competitive ELISA system with nG6PD enzyme and anti-G6PD serum for the detection of G6PD may not be established due to the poor inhibition of antibody binding to immobilized nG6PD by soluble nG6PD under the present assay conditions and that the inhibition may be improved by using an inactivated enzyme as competitor regardless of the type of immobilized antigen used. These results imply that the immobilized nG6PD may undergo denaturation upon binding to the polystyrene cuvettes and that our anti-G6PD serum may recognize denatured enzyme better than active enzyme.

The stimulatory effects of leucine on the activities of two soluble forms of brain glutamate dehydrogenase isoproteins (GDH I and GDH II) have been studied at various conditions. There were significant differences between GDH I and GDH II in their sensitivities to the action of leucine. When the effects of varied leucine concentrations on GDH activities were studied in the direction of reductive amination of 2-oxoglutarate with NADPH as a coenzyme, a marked activation was observed for both isoproteins at leucine concentrations up to 10 mM, whereas both isoproteins showed activation to a lesser extent with NADH as a coenzyme. The stimulatory effects of leucine on GDH activities in the direction of the oxidative deamination of glutamate were also observed, but to a much lesser extent. Leucine relieved the inhibition of GDH I by GTP and this resulted in an increase in the apparent activation by leucine in the presence of GTP. 2-Oxoglutarate was found to give rise to high substrate inhibition and leucine significantly reduced the substrate inhibition in the presence of $200\;{\mu}M$ NADH. Thus, the effects of leucine might be composed of a direct effect on the enzyme together with a relief of high substrate inhibition.

In order to investigate the role of a small GTP-binding protein RhoA in lysophosphatidic acid (LPA)-induced stress fiber formation, C3 ADP-ribosyltransferase was prepared by expressing in E. coli and then applied to Rat-2 fibroblasts. C3 transferase isolated from E. coli was as effective as the toxin from Clostridium botulinum in ADP-ribosylation of RhoA. Incubation of the cells with C3 transferase for 2 days induced ADP-ribosylation of RhoA by a dose-dependent manner, with a sub-maximal induction at $25\;{\mu}g/ml$. As expected, LPA-induced stress fiber formation was completely blocked by pre-incubation with C3 transferase for 2 days. However, exogenously added C3 transferase had no significant effect on the formation of phosphatidylethanol by LPA. These results suggested that phospholipase D was not activated by RhoA in the LPA-induced stress fiber formation.

Catechol 1,2-dioxygenase $I_1$ (CD $I_1$) gene of Acinetobacter Iwoffii K24, $catA_1$ was expressed in Escherichia coli and was partially purified by using a MonoQ column. Expressed CD $I_1$ had the same molecular weight as purified CD $I_1$ from A. Iwoffii K24 on SDS-PAGE. Expressed CD $I_1$ was also identified by Western blotting and peptide sequencing of N-terminal and internal regions. When compared with purified CD $I_1$ of A. Iwoffii K24, expressed CD $I_1$ had similar substrate specificities and the effects of compounds on enzyme activity. N-terminal amino acid sequence of CD I expressed in E. coli was the same as that of purified CD $I_1$, suggesting that CD $I_1$ may be under the same posttranslational processing in E. coli and A. Iwoffii K24.

The maximum adsorption/desorption conditions and the adsorption mechanism of globular proteins to vaccine adjuvants were determined. The maximum adsorption ratio of protein to the $Al^{3+}$ content of aluminum oxyhydroxide and the optimal adsorption pH are 2:1 (${\mu}g:{\mu}g$) for bovine serum albumin (BSA) at pH 6.0 and 2.5:1 (${\mu}g:{\mu}g$) for immunoglobulin G (IgG) at pH 7.0, respectively. The maximum adsorption ratio onto aluminum phosphate gel was 1.5:1 (${\mu}g$ Protein:${\mu}g$ $Al^{3+}$) at pH 5.0 for both BSA and IgG. Adsorption of the native globular proteins, BSA and IgG, to aluminum oxyhydroxide and aluminum phosphate gel was reversible as a function of pH. Complete desorption of these proteins from aluminum phosphate gel was observed at alkaline pH, whereas only 80~90% removal from aluminum oxyhydroxide was achieved with alkaline pH and 50 mM phosphate buffer. We conclude that electrostatic and hydrogen bonding interactions between the native proteins and adjuvants are important binding mechanisms for adsorption, and that the surface charge of the protein and the colloid components control the maximum adsorption conditions.

The surface adsorbed protein conformations onto the vaccine adjuvants were observed with a Raman spectroscopy by using the maximum adsorption conditions described previously. The adsorbed state Raman vibrational spectra and subsequent spectral analysis display no conformational changes for BSA or IgG relative to their native species in solution.

We cloned a cDNA (pPRC-1) which was comprised of 841 nucleotides from the cDNA library of a male ICR mouse submandibular gland ($SMG^+$). The nucleotide sequences of pPRC-1 were identical to those of exons 2 and 3 of the mGK-21 gene, a potentially functional glandular kallikrein identified in a Balb/c mouse, except for one nucleotide residue. Although this substitution changes Ile (ATT) in pPRC-1 to Val (GTT) in mGK-21, this difference has been explained by strain polymorphism. From the amino acid sequences predicted from its cDNA, we speculated that mGK-21 gene products/pGK21 consist of 261 amino acids including the $NH_2$-terminal signal peptide (residues 1~17), the short propeptide (residues 17~24), and the active peptide (residues 25~261). Although we did not demonstrate the enzyme activity of pGK21, it was assumed that pGK 21 was involved in the maturation of certain bioactive polypeptide(s) in mouse SMG for the following reasons : (a) mGK-21 gene was apparently expressed in a male ICR mouse SMG: (b) the proposed active site $His^{65}$, $Asp^{120}$, and $Ser^{213}$ residues were completely conserved in pGK21 just like other glandular kallikreins; (c) the cloned cDNA was translated to a predicted 27 kDa polypeptide chain in vitro: (d) the 27 kDa polypeptide chain produced by CHO cells was produced to a putative active form by trypsin.

Multiple phosphorylation of the carboxy-terminal domain (CTD) of the largest subunit in RNA polymerase II (RNAP II) is thought to play an important role in the transcription cycle. The preinitiation complex in a partially purified complete transcription system suggested that RNA polymerase IIA containing unphosphorylated CTD is involved in complex assembly, whereas RNA polymerase IIO containing Ser and Thr phosphorylated CTD is not involved in preinitiation complex assembly. Recently a minimal transcription system was developed which requires chemically defined minimal components for its transcription: TBP, TFIIB, TFIIF, RNAP II and a supercoiled adenovirus-2 major late promoter (Ad-2 MLP). It would be using interesting to determine the consequence of CTD phosphorylation on preinitiation complex formation using the minimal transcription system. Contrary to the results from the partially purified complete transcription system, both RNA polymerase IIA and IIO are equally recruited in the preinitiation complex formation. The discrepancy may result from the two different assays used to determine complex formation, the use of chemically undefined complete and defined minimal transcription systems. This implicates that some factors in the complete transcription system are involved in the distinction between RNAP IIA and IIO in complex assembly. In addition multiple tyrosine phosphorylation of the CTD of RNAP II was prepared with c-Abl kinase and its recruiting ability in the preinitiation complex was examined. Compare with Ser and Thr phosphorylated RNAP IIO, Tyr phosphorylated RNAP IlOy forms a stable preinitiation complex in both the minimal and complete transcription systems. Based on these results, it seems that tyrosine phosphorylation of the CTD is important in the transcription cycle on the special subset of class-II promoter or has a different role in the transcription process.

A novel assay method is described for rapid quantitation of reaction rate of sterol ${\Delta}^7$-reductase (${\Delta}^7$-SR) which catalyzes reduction of the ${\Delta}^7$-double bond of sterols. Of six different organ tissues-liver, small intestine, brain, lung, kidney, and testis-. ${\Delta}^7$-SR activity was detected only in liver (2.30 nmol/min/mg protein) and testis (0.11 nmol/min/mg protein). Using a newly developed method which employs diet-induced enzyme proteins and ergosterol as substrate, we assessed both kinetics ($K_m=210\;{\mu}M$, $V_{max}=1.93\;nmol/min/mg$) and inhibition of the rat hepatic ${\Delta}^7$-SR against well-studied cholesterol lowering agents such as triparanol ($IC_{50}=16\;{\mu}M$). 3-$\beta$-[2-(diethylamino)ethoxy]androst-5-en-17-one (U18666A) ($IC_{50}=5.2\;{\mu}M$), and trans-1.4-bis(2-chlorobenzylaminomethyl)cyclohexane dihydrochloride (AY-9944) ($IC_{50}=0.25\;{\mu}M$). Of the three well-known AY-9944-sensitive cholesterogenic enzymes (i.e., ${\Delta}^7$-SR, sterol ${\Delta}^8$-isomerase, and sterol ${\Delta}^14$-reductase). ${\Delta}^7$-SR was found to be the most sensitive enzyme with a noncompetitive inhibition of this compound ($K_i=0.109\;{\mu}M$). Substrate specificity studies of the microsomal ${\Delta}^7$-SR indicate that the relative reaction rate for 7-dehydrocholesterol and ergosterol are 5.6-fold and 1.6-fold higher than that for lathosterol. ${\Delta}^7$-SR activity was also modulated by feeding rats a diet supplemented with 0.5% ergosterol (>2.6-fold) in addition to 5.0% cholestyramine plus 0.1% lovastatin ($\simeq$5.0-fold). Finally, microsomal ${\Delta}^7$-SR was solubilized by 1.5% 3-[3-(cholamidopropyl)-dimethylammonio]-1-propanesulfonate (CHAPS) and enriched on PEG (0~10%) precipitation, which should be suitable for further purification of the enzyme.