• BMB Reports
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.26-31
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• 2012

TRIM72 is known to play a critical role in skeletal muscle membrane repair. To better understand the molecular mechanisms of this protein, we carried out an in vitro binding study with TRIM72. Our study proved that TRIM72 binds various lipids with dissociation constants ($K_d$) ranging from 88.2 ${\pm}$ 9.9 nM to 550.5 ${\pm}$ 134.5 nM. In addition, the intrinsic fluorescence of TRIM72 exponentially decreased when the protein was diluted with stirring. The time-resolved fluorescence decay occurred in a concentration-independent manner. The fluorescence-decayed TRIM72 remained in its secondary structure, but its binding properties were significantly reduced. The dissociation constants ($K_d$) of fluorescence-decayed TRIM72 for palmitate and stearate were 159.1 ${\pm}$ 39.9 nM and 355.4 ${\pm}$ 106.0 nM, respectively. This study suggests that TRIM72 can be dynamically converted by various stimuli. The results of this study also provide insight into the role of TRIM72 in the repair of sarcolemma damage.

• BMB Reports
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.25-30
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• 1998

Kinetic studies of L-Alanine dehydrogenase from Bacillus subtilis-catalyzed reactions in the presence of $Zn^{2+}$ were carried out. The substrate (L-alanine) saturation curve is hyperbolic in the absence of the metal ion but it becomes sigmoidal when $Zn^{2+}$ is added to the reaction mixture indicating the positive cooperative binding of the substrate in the presence of zinc ion. The cooperativity of substrate binding depends on the xinc ion concentration: the Hill coefficients ($n_H$) varied from 1.0 to 1.95 when the zinc ion concentration varied from 0 to $60\;{\mu}m$. The inhibition of AlaDH by $Zn^{2+}$ is reversible and noncompetitive with respect to $NAD^+$ ($K_i\;=\;5.28{\times}10^{-5}\;M$). $Zn^{2+}$ itself binds to AlaDH with positive cooperativity and the cooperativity is independent of substrate concentration. The Hill coefficients of substrate biding in the presence of $Zn^{2+}$ are not affected by the enzyme concentration indicating that $Zn^{2+}$ binding does not change the polymerization-depolymerization equilibria of the enzyme. Among other metal ions, $Zn^{2+}$ appears to be a specific reversible inhibitor inducing conformational change through the intersubunit interaction. These results indicate that $Zn^{2+}$ is an allosteric competitive inhibitor and substrate being a non-cooperative per se, excludes the $Zn^{2+}$ from its binding site and thus exhibits positive cooperativity. The allosteric mechanism of AlaDh from Bacillus subtilis is consistent with both MWC and Koshland's allosteric model.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.549-555
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• 2006

Acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS, EC 2.2.1.6 also referred to as acetolactate synthase) catalyzes the first common step in the metabolic pathway leading to biosynthesis of the branched-chain amino acids in plants and microorganisms. Due to its presence in plants, AHAS is a target for the herbicides (sulfonylurea and imidazolinone), which act as potent inhibitors of the enzyme. Recently, we have shown [J. Kim, D.G. Baek, Y.T. Kim, J.D. Choi, M.Y. Yoon, Biochem. J. (2004) 384, 59-68] that the residues in the “mobile loop” 567-582 on the C-termini are involved in the binding/stabilization of the active dimer and ThDP (thiamin diphosphate) binding. In this study, we have demonstrated the role of the W573 in the mobile loop of the C-termini of tobacco AHAS. The substitution of this W573 residue caused significant perturbations in the activation process and in the binding site of ThDP. Position W573 plays a structurally important role in the binding of FAD, maintaining the enzyme active site in the required geometry for catalysis to occur. In here we propose that the tryptophan at position 573 is important for the catalytic process.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.442-446
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• 2010

Adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) is a second messenger responsible for a multitude of cellular responses. In this study, we utilized $\beta$-cyclodextrin ($\beta$-CD) as an artificial receptor with a hydrophobic cavity to elucidate the inclusion kinetics of cAMP in a hydrophobic environment using the ultrasonic relaxation method. The results revealed that the interaction of cAMP with $\beta$-CD followed a single relaxation curve as a result of host-guest interactions. The inclusion of cAMP into the $\beta$-CD cavity was found to be a diffusion-controlled reaction. The dissociation of cAMP from the $\beta$-CD cavity was slower than that of adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP). The syn and anti glycosyl conformations of adenine nucleotides are considered to play an important role in formation of the inclusion complex. Taken together, our findings indicate that hydrophobic interactions are involved in the inclusion complex formation of cAMP with $\beta$-CD and provide insight into the interactions of cAMP with cAMP-binding proteins.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.600-603
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• 2007

The effect of a water-miscible ionic liquid, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate $([BMIM][BF_4])$, on the horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-catalyzed oxidation of 2-methoxyphenol (guaiacol) with hydrogen peroxide $(H_2O_2)$ was investigated. HRP maintains its high activity in the aqueous mixtures containing various concentrations of the ionic liquid and even in 90% (v/v) ionic liquid. In order to minimize the effect of solution viscosity on the kinetic constants of HRP catalysis, the enzymatic reactions in the subsequent kinetic study were performed in water-ionic liquid mixtures containing 25% (v/v) ionic liquid at maximum. As the concentration of $[BMIM][BF_4]$ increased for the oxidation of guaiacol by HRP, the $K_m$ value increased with a slight decrease in the $K_{cat}$ value: The $K_m$ value increased from 2.8 mM in 100% (v/v) water to 22.5mM in 25% (v/v) ionic liquid, indicating that ionic liquid significantly weakens the binding affinity of guaiacol to HRP.

• Journal of Plant Biology
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.11-18
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• 1995

Mercury-induced changes in Chl a fluorescence induction kinetics of scratched barley leaf segments were dependent on the presence of light. By the treatment of 50$\mu$M HgCl2 under light condition, Fm and Fp were decreased. However, they were not significantly reduced under dark condition even after 2 h of mercury treatment. Under dark condition the decrease in variable fluorescence (Fv) after P transient was blocked within 20 min of the treatment. The analysis of fast fluorescence rise curve suggests that the inhibitory site of mercury under both light and dark conditions is not at QB binding site and the inhibition does not involve the increase in inactive PSII centers. Under light condition the decrease in Fp was partially recovered by addition of 50 $\mu$M NH2OH. These results suggest that a major inhibitory site of mercury under dark condition is at the reducing side of PSII and the site under light condition is at the oxidizing side of PSII possibly in addition to the one under dark condition. Under both light and dark conditions, energy-dependent quenching(qE) was alomost completely repressed within 20 min of mercury treatment and noticible change in Fo was not observed. The qE repression is probably due to the blockage of transthylakoid ΔpH formation.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.118-131
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• 2007

Neurotransmitter imaging with radiopharmaceuticals plays major role for understanding of neurological and psychiatric disorders such as Parkinson's disease and depression. Radiopharmaceuticals for neurotransmitter imaging can be divided to dopamine transporter imaging radiopharmaceuticals and serotonin trnasporter imaging radiopharmaceuticals. Many kinds of new dopamine transporter imaging radiopharmcaeuticals has a tropane ring and they showed different biological properties according to the substituted functional group on tropane ring. After the first clinical trials with $[^{123}I]{\beta}-CIT$, alkyl chain substituent introduced to tropane ring amine to decrease time for imaging acquisition and to increase selectivity. From these results, $[^{123}I]PE2I$, [18F]FE-CNT, $[^{123}I]FP-CIT$ and $[^{18}F]FP-CIT$ were developed and they showed high uptake on the dopamine transporter rich regions and fast peak uptake equilibrium time within 4 hours after injection. $[^{11}C]McN$ 5652 was developed for serotonin trnasporter imaging but this compound showed slow kinetics and high background radioactivity. To overcome these problems, new diarylsulfide backbone derivatives such as ADAM, ODAM, AFM, and DASB were developed. In these candidates, $[^{11}C]AFM$ and $[^{11}C]DASB$ showed high binding affinity to serotonin transporter and fast in vivo kinetics. This paper gives an overview of current status on dopamine and serotonin transporter imaging radiopharmaceuitcals and the development of new lead compounds as potential radiopharmaceuticals by medicinal chemistry.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.295-307
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• 2021

Effects of ε-carbide (Fe_2.4C) on corrosion and hydrogen diffusion behaviors of ultra-strong steel sheets for automotive application were investigated using a number of experimental and analytical methods. Results of this study showed that the type of iron carbide precipitated during tempering treatments conducted at below A₁ temperatures had a significant influence on corrosion kinetics. Compared to a steel sample with cementite (Fe₃C), a steel sample with ε-carbide (Fe_2.4C) showed higher corrosion resistance during a long-term exposure to a neutral aqueous solution. In addition, the diffusion kinetics of hydrogen atoms formed by electrochemical corrosion reactions in the steel matrix with ε-carbide were slower than the steel matrix with cementite because of a comparatively higher binding energy of hydrogen with ε-carbide. These results suggest that designing steels with fine ε-carbide distributed uniformly throughout the matrix can be an effective technical strategy to ensure high resistance to hydrogen embrittlement induced by aqueous corrosion.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.126-130
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• 2021

The mass spectrometry (MS) provides the mass-to-charge ratios of atoms, molecules, stable/metastable complexes, and their fragments. I have taken a long journey with MS to address outstanding issues and problems by experiments and theory and gain insights into underlying principles in chemistry. By looking through the mass-to-charge ratio, I have studied thermochemical problems in silicon chemistry, the infrared multiphoton dissociation spectroscopy of organometallic intermediates, unimolecular dissociations of halotoluene radical cations, and the kinetics of association/dissociation of alkali halide triple ions with Lewis bases. Various MS platforms have been used to characterize non-covalent interactions between porphyrins and fullerenes and those between the group IIB ions and trioctylchalcogenides, and to examine the binding of the group IA, IIA and porphyrin ions to G-quadruplex DNA. Recently, I have focused on mass-balanced H/D isotope dipeptide tags for MS-based quantitative proteomics, a simple chemical modification method for MS-based lipase assay, and the kinetics and dynamics of energy-variable collision-induced dissociation of chemically modified peptides. Now, I see an important role of MS in global issues in the post-COVID era, as the society demands high standards for indoor air quality to contain the airborne-pathogen transmission as well as in-situ monitoring and tracking of carbon emissions to reduce global warming.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.121-128
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• 2006

The purified xylanase from Bacillus alcalophilus AX2000 was modified with various chemical modifiers to determine amino acid residues in the active site of the enzyme. Treatment of the enzyme with group-specific reagents such as carbodiimide or N-bromosuccinimide resulted in complete loss of enzyme activity. These results suggested that these reagents reacted with glutamic acid or aspartic acid and tryptophan residues located at or near the active site. In each case, inactivation was performed by pseudo first-order kinetics. Inhibition of enzyme activity by carbodiimide and N-bromosuccinimide showed non-competitive and competitive inhibition type, respectively. Addition of xylan to the enzyme solution containing N-bromosuccinimide prevented the inactivation, indicating the presence of tryptophan at the substrate binding site. Analysis of kinetics for inactivation showed that the loss of enzyme activity was due to modification of two glutamic acid or aspartic acid residues and single tryptophan residue.