• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.8
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• pp.2419-2424
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• 2013

Guanosine-5'-diphosphate 3'-diphosphate (ppGpp) serves as alarmone in bacterial stringent responses. In this study, an affinity column was constructed by immobilizing ppGpp to NHS-Sepharose for isolating ppGpp-binding proteins. A novel ppGpp-binding protein, YjgA, was isolated and characterized by MALDI-TOF MS (matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry) coupled with two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. YjgA and truncated forms of YjgA were cloned and over-expressed in BL21 (DE3). The binding affinity of YjgA to ppGpp was determined by equilibrium dialysis. The interaction of YjgA with ppGpp was very specific, considering that the dissociation constant of YjgA with ppGpp was measured as $5.2{\pm}2.0{\mu}M$, while the affinities to GTP and GDP were about 60 and 30 times weaker than ppGpp. Expression of yjgA gene in Escherichia coli K-12 MG1655 was examined by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RT-PCR results revealed that yjgA was expressed from early to late stationary phase. The yjgA deletion mutant exhibited decreased cell number at stationary phase compared to parent strain and the over-expression of YjgA increased the cell number. These results suggested that YjgA might stimulate cell division under stationary phase. In most prokaryotic genome, about half of the protein candidates are hypothetical, that are expected to be expressed but there is no experimental report on their functions. The approach utilized in this study may serve as an effective mean to probe the functions of hypothetical proteins.

• Environmental Sciences Bulletin of The Korean Environmental Sciences Society
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.149-158
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• 1998

Biomass of non-living brown seaweed Sargassun fluitans pretreated with NaOH is capable of taking up more than $10\%$ $(q_{max}$ : 3.85 mmol/g for Al and 1.48 mmol/g for Cu) of its dry weight in the Al and Cu at pH of 4.5. However, the maximum Al and Cu uptakes calculated from Langmuir isotherm were 1.58 mmol/g for Al and 1.35 mmol/g for Cu at pH 3.5. Equilibrium batch sorption study was performed using two-metal system containing Al and Cu. The mathematical model of the two-metal sorption system enabled quantitative estimation of one-metal biosorption inhibition due to the influence of a second metal. NaOH-treated S. fluitans contained 2.19 mmol $(43\;wt.\%)$ carboxyl groups per gram of biomass. A modified form of Langmuir, which assumes binding of Cu as $Cu^{2+}$ and Al as $Al(OH)_2^+,$ was used to model the experimental data. This result agrees with the one of mono-valent sorption for Al in single-metal system. The modified Langmuir model gives the following affinity correlated coefficients: 0.196 for Cu and 6.820 for Ah at pH 4.5, and 2.904 for Cu and 3.131 for Al at pH 3.5. The interference of Al in Cu biosorptive uptake was assessed by `cutting' the three dimensional uptake isotherm surfaces at constant second-metal final concentrations. Equimolar final equilibrium concentrations of Cu and Al of 1 mM at pH 4.5 give Cu and hi uptakes reduced by $82.5\%\;and\;5.4\%,$ respectively. However, these values at pH 3.5 were $55\%\;(Cu)\;and\;31\%$ (Al).

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.105-105
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• 2012

We have developed a photoemission-assisted plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PAPE-CVD) [1,2], in which photoelectrons emitting from the substrate surface irradiated with UV light ($h{\nu}$=7.2 eV) from a Xe excimer lamp are utilized as a trigger for generating DC discharge plasma as depicted in Fig. 1. As a result, photoemission-assisted plasma can appear just above the substrate surface with a limited interval between the substrate and the electrode (~10 mm), enabling us to suppress effectively the unintended deposition of soot on the chamber walls, to increase the deposition rate, and to decrease drastically the electric power consumption. In case of the deposition of DLC gate insulator films for the top-gate graphene channel FET, plasma discharge power is reduced down to as low as 0.01W, giving rise to decrease significantly the plasma-induced damage on the graphene channel [3]. In addition, DLC thickness can be precisely controlled in an atomic scale and dielectric constant is also changed from low ${\kappa}$ for the passivation layer to high ${\kappa}$ for the gate insulator. On the other hand, negative electron affinity (NEA) of a hydrogen-terminated diamond surface is attractive and of practical importance for PAPECVD, because the diamond surface under PAPE-CVD with H2-diluted (about 1%) CH4 gas is exposed to a lot of hydrogen radicals and therefore can perform as a high-efficiency electron emitter due to NEA. In fact, we observed a large change of discharge current between with and without hydrogen termination. It is noted that photoelectrons are emitted from the SiO2 (350 nm)/Si interface with 7.2-eV UV light, making it possible to grow few-layer graphene on the thick SiO2 surface with no transition layer of amorphous carbon by means of PAPE-CVD without any metal catalyst.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.218-224
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• 1996

The adsorption of cellulase on celluloses with different crystallinities was carried out In nonionic surfactant(Tween 20) solution. Highly crystallized celluloses were prepared by enzymatic prehydrolyzation. From the experiments, the Langmuir isotherm parameters, maximum adsorption amount (Amax) and adsorption equilibrium constant(Kad) for the adsorption, were obtained in the presence and absence of nonionic surfactant. It was found that the Kad values were decreased by adding Tween 20. This indicates that the adsorption affinity is reduced by nonionic surfactant, and Amax decreased with increasing crystallinity under conditions accompanying in both the presence and absence of surfactant. The thermodynamic parameters such as $\Delta$Ha, $\Delta$Ga, and $\Delta$Sa for the adsorption were calculated by using the experimental data. From these results, it was found that the adsorption processes are exothermic reactions in both the presence and absence of surfactant. The heats of adsorption in surfactant solution(-4.68∼-3.62KJmol-1) are smaller than that of the adsorption in the absence of surfactant(-15.60∼-12.10KJmol-1). These results indicated that the tightness of adsorption was reduced by the addition of surfactant. The $\Delta$Sa values were estimated to be positive. This may suggest that the water and solute are released from cellulose on adsorption. The $\Delta$Sa values in surfactant solution are larger than that of the adsorption in the absence of surfactant. This may suggest that the binding of surfactant on hydrophobic region of cellulase cause dispersion of water and solute molecule orienting around the enzyme molecule. The surfactant played an important role in the desorption of enzyme from cellulose functional groups, and enhance the saccharification of the cellulose.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.1349-1354
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• 2011

In this work, we fabricated the CdZnS/CdTe heterojunction and investigated the C-V characteristics to determine the depletion width and the charge density distribution. A parallel experiment on CdS/CdTe heterojunction was also carried out for comparison. The depletion region width, for CdZnS/CdTe heterojunction, was nearly constant, regardless of bias voltage. However, the depletion region was wider than that of CdS/CdTe heterojunction due to high resistivity of CdZnS film. The interface charge density of CdZnS/CdTe heterojunction was increased linearly with the bias voltage and showed lower values than those for CdS/CdTe junction. The open circuit voltage of CdZnS/CdTe heterojunction solar cells increased with zinc mole ratio due to reducing of the electron affinity difference between CdZnS and CdTe films. However, the increase of series resistance due to the high resistivity of Cd1-xZnxS films results in reducing conversion efficiency.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.278-284
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• 1987

As a basic research for inhibition of enzymatic browning of apples during dehydration or processing, polyphenol oxidase was extracted from Fuji apples to investigate heat inactivation, chemical inhibition and other properties. Polyphenol oxidase showed the highest activity at $20^{\circ}C$ and pH 5.5 with catechol as substrate, and the Michaelis constant of 0.14 M under the same condition of substrate and pH. The thermal inactivation followed pseudo first-order kinetics to have activation energy of 23.0 kcal/mol and z value of $19.7^{\circ}C$. As for substrate specificity the polyphenol oxidase showed high affinity toward the o-diphenolic compounds, particularly chlorogenic acid. Neither the m- and p-dihydroxy phenols nor monophenols were attacked. Browning by polyphenol oxidase was completely inhibited at the concentrations of 10mM for potassiummetasulfite and thiourea and 1mM for L-cysteine, ascorbic acid and sodium diethyldithiocarbamate.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.331-338
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• 1988

Acetone powder was prepared from raw arrowroots and the polyphenol oxidases of crude enzyme prepared from acetone powder were identified 5 isoenzymes by staining with catechol containing 0.05% phenylene diamine. The crude enzyme was passed through the columns of ion exchangers and gel permeation to fractionate the polyphenol oxidases. The main fraction of polyphenol oxidase appeared to be purified by 94-fold, with the activity yield of 45.4%, and its molecular weight was determined as 38,500 by poly acrylamide gel electrophoresis. The optimal pH and temperature for the enzyme activity were pH 7.5 and $50^{\circ}C$, respectively. The purified enzyme showed a high affinity for catechol and pyrogallol. The Michaelis constant for catechol was calculated to be 16.67mM according to the Lineweaver-Burk method. The enzyme activity was strongly inhibited by L-ascorbic acid, sodium bisulfite, EDTA and KCN, and totally inhibited, by $Fe^{3+}$ at a concentration of 1mM. However the enzyme was activated by $Zn^{2+}$ approximately 1.7 times at the same concentration.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.447-453
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• 1986

The culture filtrate of thermophilic alkalophilic Bacillus K17 strain contained two types of xylanases were purified by ammonium sulfate fractionation, DEAD-Sephadex A-50 column chromatography, CM-Sephadex C-50 column chromatography and Sephadex G-100 gel filtration. The purified enzymes were found to be homogeneous by sodium dodecyl sulfate and disc polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Xylanase I and II were characterized with respect to molecular weight, optimal temperature and pH, thermal and pH stability, and Michaelis constant. Xylanase II was more active and stable, and showed greater substrate affinity and molecular weight than xylanase I. The activities of xylanases I and II were inhibited by Cu$^{++}$, Ag$^+$, Hg$^{++}$ and Fe$^{++}$. Xylanase I hydrolyzed xylan to yield xylobiose and higher amount of xylooligosaccharides, but xylanase II produced xylose other than xylobiose and xylooligosacchrides.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.150-157
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• 2001

Intestinal absorption of dietary taurine is one of the regulatory component maintaining taurine homeostasis along with renal reabsorption, bile acid conjugation and secretion, and de nobo synthesis of taurine in mammals. Recent observations of decreased enterocytic levels of taurine in response to trauma, infection and surgical insults, postulate the possibility that intestinal taurine absorption might be impaired in such stressed conditions. The aim of the present study was to evaluate changes in enterocytic taurine transporter activity using the human intestinal colon carcinoma cell line, HT-29, in various stress-induced conditions. Pretreatment of the HT-29 cells with dexamethasone, a stress hormone(0.1,1,10 or 100$\mu$M) for 3 hrs, or with E coli heat-stable enterotoxin(10, 100, or 200nM) for 30 minutes in order to induce the condition of enterotoxigenic infection did not influence taurine uptake as compared to the value found in control cells. In contrast, pretreatment of the cells with cholera toxin(10, 100, 500, or 1000ng/ml)for 3hr or 24hr significantly decreased taurine uptake by HT-29 cells to 40~50% of the value found in untreated control cells. Kinetic studies of the taurine transporter activity were conducted in control and cholera toxin treated HT-29 cells with varying taurine concentrations(2~60$\mu$M) in the uptake medium. Pretreatment of the cells with cholera toxin(100ng/ml) for 3hr did not influence the Vmax, but resulted in a 55% increase in the Michaelis-Menten constant(Km) of the taurine transporter compared to those in control cells. These results suggest that cholera toxin-induced reduction in taurine transporter activity in HT-29 cells is associated with decreased affinity of the taurine transporter without altering the amount of transporter protein. Intestinal taurine absorption appears to be reduced in the condition of water-borne diseases caused by bacteria such as V. cholerae. This might influence the taurine status of infants and young children more readily, an age group in which the prevalence of intestinal infection is high and the role of intestinal absorption is crucial for maintaining the body taurine pool. (Korean J Nutrition 34(2) : 150-157, 2001)

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.181-187
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• 1991

The muscarinic antagonist 1-[benzilic 4, 4'-$[^3H]$ QUINUCLIDINYL BENZILATE $([^3H]$ QNB) bound to a single class of muscarinic receptors with high affinity in rabbit ileal membranes. The $K_D\;and\;B_{ max}$ values for $([^3H]$ QNB calculated from analysis of saturation isotherms were 52.5 pM AND 154 fmol/mg, respectively. Chlopheniramine (CHP), histamine $H_1$ blocker, increased $K_D$ vlue for $([^3H]$QNB without affecting the binding site concentrations and Hill coefficient. The $K_i$ value of CHP for inhibition of $([^3H]$QNB binding in ileal membranes was 1.44\mu{M}$ and the pseudo-Hill coefficient for CHP was close to unit. In the functional assay carbachol, muscarinic agonist, increased the contractile force of ileum with $ED_{50}$ value of $0.11\mu{M}$. CHP caused the rightward shift of the dose-response curve to carbachol. The $pA_2$ value of CHP determined from Schild analysis of carbacholinduced contraction was 5.77 and the slope was unity indicating competitive antagonism with carbachol. The dissociation constant $(K_i)$ of CHP obtained in competitive experiments with $([^3H]$ QNB was similar to the $K_A$ value (1.69 \mu{M)}$ of CHP as inhibitor of carbachol induced contraction in rabbit ileum. This result suggest that the binding of $H_i$ blocker. CHP, vs $([^3H]$QNB to muscarinic receptors in ileal membranes represents an interaction with a receptor of physiological relevance.