• Journal of Life Science
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.14-18
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• 2002

Subpopulations of nucleotides that bind specifically to a variety of proteins have been isolated from a population of random sequence RNA/DNA molecules. Roughly one in $10^{13}$ random sequence RNA/DNA molecules folds in such a way as to create a specific binding site for small ligands. Since the development of in vitro selection procedure, more than 50 nucleic acid ligands (aptamers) have been isolated. These molecules are very useful for the study of molecular recognition between nucleic acid and protein/organic compound. In addition to these basic studies this method gives us a dream to produce new drugs against several diseases. We focused on several aptamers which specifically binds to trypsin-like serine proteases (thrombin, human neutrophil elastase, activated protein C and NS3 protease of human hepatitis C virus) and want to introduce their structural characteristics and some functions.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.410-416
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• 2008

The gene SfXyn10, which encodes a protease-resistant xylanase, was isolated using colony PCR screening from a genomic library of a feather-degrading bacterial strain Streptomyces fradiae var. k11. The full-length gene consists of 1,437bp and encodes 479 amino acids, which includes 41 residues of a putative signal peptide at its N terminus. The amino acid sequence shares the highest similarity (80%) to the endo-1,4-${\beta}$-xylanase from Streptomyces coelicolor A3, which belongs to the glycoside hydrolase family 10. The gene fragment encoding the mature xylanase was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). The recombinant protein was purified to homogeneity by acetone precipitation and anion-exchange chromatography, and subsequently characterized. The optimal pH and temperature for the purified recombinant enzyme were 7.8 and $60^{\circ}C$, respectively. The enzyme showed stability over a pH range of 4.0-10.0. The kinetic values on oat spelt xylan and birchwood xylan substrates were also determined. The enzyme activity was enhanced by $Fe^{2+}$ and strongly inhibited by $Hg^{2+}$ and SDS. The enzyme also showed resistance to neutral and alkaline proteases. Therefore, these characteristics suggest that SfXyn10 could be an important candidate for protease-resistant mechanistic research and has potential applications in the food industry, cotton scouring, and improving animal nutrition.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.33 no.9
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• pp.2883-2889
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• 2012

LL-37 is the only antimicrobial peptide (AMP) of the human cathelicidin family. In addition to potent antimicrobial activity, LL-37 is known to have the potential to inhibit lipolysaccharide (LPS)-induced endotoxic effects. To provide the stability to proteolytic digestion and increase prokaryotic selectivity and/or anti-endotoxic activity of two Lys/Trp-substituted 19-meric antimicrobial peptides (a4-W1 and a4-W2) designed from IG-19 (residues 13-31 of LL-37), we synthesized the diastereomeric peptides (a4-W1-D and a4-W2-D) with D-amino acid substitution at positions 3, 7, 10, 13 and 17 of a4-W1 and a4-W2, respectively and the enantiomeric peptides (a4-W1-E and a4-W2-E) composed D-amino acids. The diastereomeric peptides exhibited the best prokaryotic selectivity and effective protease stability, but no or less anti-endotoxic activity. In contrast, the enantiomeric peptides had not only prokaryotic selectivity and anti-endotoxic activity but also protease stability. Our results suggest that the hydrophobicity and ${\alpha}$-helicity of the peptide is important for anti-endotoxic activity. In particular, the enantiomeric peptides showed potent anti-endotoxic and LPS-neutralizing activities comparable to that of LL-37. Taken together, both a4-W1-E and a4-W2-E holds promise as a template for the development of peptide antibiotics for the treatment of endotoxic shock and sepsis.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.113-118
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• 1994

A bacterial strain NS-83 isolated from soil was able to produce an extracellular thermostable protease. The strain was identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa based on its morphological and physiological characteristics. A thermostable protease from this strain has been purified to homogeneity as judged by SDS-PAGE and isoelectric focusing. The purification procedures included hydrophobic interaction, ion exchange, and gel filtration chromatography. The $M_r$ and the pl of the enzyme were 32,000 and 5.9, respectively. The optimal pH at 55$^{\circ}C$ and the optimal temperature at pH 7.0 were 8.0 and 60$^{\circ}C$, respectively. The D-values of the enzyme at 60, 65, and 70$^{\circ}C$ were 22, 2.1, and 0.75 hrs, respectively. The enzyme activity was significantly inhibited in the presence of 1 mM o-phenanthroline or EDTA, suggesting that the enzyme is metalloprotease. The $K_m$, and $V_{max}$ for Hammarsten casein were found to be 3.2 mg/ml and 0.918 unit/ml, respectively. These enzymatic properties were similar to those of elastase produced from P. aeruginosa IFO 3455, but the enzyme was clearly different from the reported elastase, in respect to $Ca^{++}$ effects on enzyme-thermostability. This property, together with amino acid composition analysis, confirmed that the enzyme differs from the known P. aeruginosa elastase.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.9
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• pp.1449-1459
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• 2015

A novel proteolytic enzyme with fibrinolytic activity, FSP3, was purified from the recently isolated Streptomyces sp. P3, which is a novel bacterial strain isolated from soil. FSP3 was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity by ammonium sulfate precipitation, anion exchange, and gel filtration. FSP3 is considered to be a single peptide chain with a molecular mass of 44 kDa. The maximum activity of the enzyme was observed at 50℃ and pH 6.5, and the enzyme was stable between pH 6 and 8 and below 40℃. In a fibrin plate assay, FSP3 showed more potent fibrinolytic activity than urokinase, which is a clinical thrombolytic agent acting as a plasminogen activitor. The activity was strongly inhibited by the serine protease inhibitor PMSF, indicating that it is a serine protease. Additionally, metal ions showed different effects on the activity. It was significantly suppressed by Mg²⁺ and Ca²⁺ and completely inhibited by Cu²⁺, but slightly enhanced by Fe²⁺. According to LC-MS/MS results, its partial amino acid sequences are significantly dissimilar from those of previously reported fibrinolytic enzymes. The sequence of a DNA fragment encoding FSP3 contained an open reading frame of 1287 base pairs encoding 428 amino acids. FSP3 is a bifunctional enzyme in nature. It hydrolyzes the fibrin directly and activates plasminogen, which may reduce the occurrence of side effects. These results suggest that FSP3 is a novel serine protease with potential applications in thrombolytic therapy.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.117-126
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• 2010

A chitinase (CHT) and a protease (PRO) were purified from the culture supernatant of Serratia sp. TKU017, with shrimp shell as the sole carbon/nitrogen source. The molecular masses of CHT and PRO determined by SDS-PAGE were approximately 65 kDa and 53 kDa, respectively. CHT was inhibited by $Mn^{2+}$ and $Cu^{2+}$, and PRO was inhibited by most tested divalent metals and EDTA. The optimum pH, optimum temperature, pH stability, and thermal stability of CHT and PRO were pH 5, $50^{\circ}C$, pH 5-7, and <$50^{\circ}C$, and pH 9, $40^{\circ}C$, pH 5-11, and <$40^{\circ}C$, respectively. PRO retained 95% of its protease activity in the presence of 0.5 mM SDS. The result demonstrates that PRO is an SDS-resistant protease and probably has a rigid structure. The $4^{th}$-day supernatant showed the strongest antioxidant activity (70%, DPPH scavenging ability) and the highest total phenolic content ($196{\pm}6.2\;{\mu}g$ of gallic acid equiv./ml). Significant associations between the antioxidant potency and the total phenolic content, as well as between the antioxidant potency and free amino groups, were found for the supernatant. With this method, we have shown that shrimp shell wastes can be utilized and it is effective in the production of enzymes and antioxidants, facilitating its potential use in industrial applications and functional foods.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.145-149
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• 2002

The effects of pH, temperature and various inhibitors on the proteolytic activity of the cell lysate of Uronema marium were investigated using colorimetric and substrate gel electro­phoretic methods. The cell lysate of U. marinum showed proteolytic activity over a wide range of pH, and pH optima ranged from pH 5 to 7. The proteolytic activity was increased according to a rise of temperature but decreased at $40^{\circ}$. The proteolytic activity of the parasite lysate was significantly inhibited by protease inhibitors including trans-epoxysuccinyl -L-leucylamido-(4-guanidino) butane (E-64), pepstatin A, phenyl-methanesulfonyl fluoride(PMSF), and ethylenediamine-tetraacetic acid (EDTA). Preincubation of the lysate with E-64 showed the maximum inhibition of the caseionolytic activity. Four protease bands (152, 97, 67 and 40 kDa) were detected by gelatin SDS-PAGE. Significant inhibition of caseinolytic activity and complete abolition of a 152 kDa band in gelatin SDS-PAGE by EDTA indicated that the cell lysate of U. marinum had a metalloprotease Another three proteolytic bands were inhibited by E64, a cysteine protease inhibitor. Preincubation of the cell lysate with pepstatin or PMSF had no effects on the protease bands.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.393-399
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• 2001

In order to improve functionality of kochujang which is one of the traditional foods in Korea, sea tangle powder(2, 4, 6 and 8% sea tangle powder on the glutinous rice weight basis) was added to the raw material of kochujang and then investigated the bacterial counts and enzyme activities with control kochujang during the fermentation at 3$0^{\circ}C$ for 120 days. Bacterial count was about 10$^4$ cfu/g at initial stage of fermentation and then maintained 10$^{8}$ cfu/g after 60 days of fermentation. $\alpha$-amylase activity was gradually reduced during fermentation periods, so the activity was lost almost at late of fermentation $\beta$-amylase activity was rapid increased until 30 days of fermentation and the rapid decreased at 60 days of fermentation and after 90 days was slightly decreased. Activities of acidic protease and neutral protease were increased until 30 days of fermentation and then these were shown irregularities decreased.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.292-297
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• 1996

In this study, biochemical changes of muscle protein in squid Sikhae prepared at various temperatures and moisture content were investigated. The pH values in squid Sikhae decreased rapidly with increase in titratable acidity during fermentation at high temperature and moisture content. Growth rate of lactic acid bacteria increased rapidly during fermentation at high temperature and moisture content. Changes in muscle protein subunit were analyzed by SDS-PAGE; myosin heavy chain component disappeared completely during preparation of squid Sikhae and actin component decreased slowly during fermentation. Therefore, it was suggested that myosin heavy chain component in squid muscle protein was autolyzed at the incipient for-mentation time and actin component was degraded by acidic protease in muscle and protease produced from microorganisms during fermentation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.1142-1146
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• 2001

To facilitate fermentation of liquid anchovy sauce, 3% unripe figs, ripe figs, or fig leaves were added to the sauce and fermented at $25^{\circ}C$ for 60 days. The anchovy sauce prepared with ripe figs showed higher protease activity and better red-pupple color than others. Amino-nitrogen content in anchovy sauce treated with ripe figs was attained to 600 mg% within 10 days. Total free amino acid content in the product with fig addition showed about twice higher, 4543.21 mg%, than the control, 2255.29 mg%. Hypoxanthin was found as a major components of nucleotide and their related compounds in the fermented anchovy sauce. However, using the unripe figs and fig leaves impart greenish color and grass taste to the product.