• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.112-117
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• 1973

The very low density apolipoproteins were separated by a newly developed method of isoelectric focusing in a narrow pH gradient. Four polypeptides were isolated that differed from the major proteins of the high density or low density lipoproteins. Three of these proteins had indistinguishable amino acid compositions, but different isoelectric points, COOH-terminal alanine, no isoleucine, cysteine or cystine. Two of these polypeptides had $NH_2-terminal$ serine. The polymorphism of apolipoprotein-Ala, so designated from the COOH-terminal residue, was related to sialic acid content; one form contained 2 moles of sialic acid per mole of protein, the second, 1 mole of protein, and the third, no sialic acid. The fourth polypeptide had an amino acid composition different from the first three polypeptides and from other polypetides obtained from very low density lipoprotein. This polypeptide had $NH_2-terminal$ threonine, COOH-terminal resistant to carboxypeptidase A, no histidine, cysteine, cystine or sialic acid. These four polypeptides constituted approx. 40% of the total protein in very low density lipoprotein.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.87-92
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• 2005

Pronase, a protease produced for commercial purpose by Streptomyces griseus, was composed of serine protease, alkaline protease, aminopeptidase and carboxypeptidase complex, and it has been widely used as anti-inflammatory drugs for human therapy. In this study, we developed a new integration vector, pHJ101 derived from pSET152, containing strong promoter, ermE, to overexpress a certain protease gene. Specific PCR primers for cloning of sprA (a gene for S. griseus protease A) and sprB (a gene for S. griseus protease B) genes were designed from the basis of nucleotide sequence in databases and amplified by PCR. Plasmid pHJ201 and pHJ202 were constructed by inserting of amplified each gene in a vector pHJ101. S. griseus HA and S. griseus HB were respectively obtained by conjugal process of a parent strain, S. griseus IFO 13350 with the recombinant Escherichia coli harboring plasmid pHJ201 or pHJ202. When protease activity was measured in flask cultivation, produced protease levels of S. griseus HA and S. griseus HB increased about 5.3 times and 5 times, respectively, more than that of parent strain. And, the constructed integrating plasmid pHJ101 was applicable for overexpression of a certain gene in Streptomyces sp.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.198-205
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• 2011

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of feed types on Ochratoxin A (OTA) degradation by Korean native goats. Rumen fluid from canulated goats fed whole roughage or 50% roughage served as a source of micro-organisms. Experiments were undertaken i) to investigate OTA degradation ability in a $2{\times}4$ factorial arrangement with different feed types (100% roughage vs. 50% roughage) and rumen fluid fractions (whole rumen fluid, cells, autoclaved rumen fluid and supernatant) supplemented with OTA ii) to evaluate OTA degradation by the rumen fluid of goats fed two different diets at different time points (0, 3, 6, 9 and 12 h) of feeding iii) to isolate potential rumen microorganisms and iv) to identify elements responsible for OTA degradation. Rumen fluid from goats fed 100% roughage had higher (p<0.05) OTA degradability than 50% roughage diets. OTA degradation based on rumen fluid collection times showed that rumen fluid at 0 h showed significantly higher (p<0.05) degradability. Carboxypeptidase A (CPA) enzyme has been reported to be responsible for OTA degradation. Thus, using real time PCR, primers designed to target the CPA gene from Bacillus licheniformis could be amplified using genomic DNA from rumen fluid of goats and sequenced, thus enabling evaluation of the Bacillus population under different feeding condition and times. Our findings showed that the Bacillus population was significantly higher (p<0.05) before feeding (0 h) in animals which were fed a whole roughage diet, giving indirect evidence of OTA degradation being influenced by Bacillus sps. Thus, it can be concluded that OTA degradability is influenced by feed, feeding time and Bacillus licheniformis population.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 1996

To improve the quality of Choungju. a kind of rice wine, two different types of koji were prepared and compared : one from wheat bran with Aspergillus usamii mut. shirousami Y-79 and the other from rice with A. oryzae, and yeast strains from cereal wine mashes were newly isolated and applied for the brewing method. Levels of the related enzymes such as glucoamylase, ${\alpha}-amylase$ and acid protease in the wheat bran koji were higher than those in the rice koji, whereas vice versa in the case of acid carboxypeptidase. An amount of $2{\sim}3%$ wheat bran koji to the weight of total rice was adequate for saccharification of the mash and resulted in improved duality of the fermented mash, accompanied by decrease in koji ordor and amino acidity. When the solution of wheat bran koji and the isolated yeast strains were employed, the better Choungju taste was obtained in comparison with those fermented with Japanese sake yeasts, the strain K-7 and 9, due to the lower content of organic acids especially succinic acid. The amino acidity of the fermented mash was able to be controlled to some extent, when the rico types of koji and the isolated strains were employed, by changing the ratio of the two koji types. However, the application of the rice koji with the isolated strains was not desirable for the brewing process because organic acids were produced in excess and ethanol fermentation was retarded.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.243-251
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• 2011

The gene bolA was discovered in the 80's, but unraveling its function in the cell has proven to be a complex task. The BolA protein has pleiotropic effects over cell physiology, altering growth and morphology, inducing biofilm formation, and regulating the balance of several membrane proteins. Recently, BolA was shown to be a transcription factor by repressing the expression of the mreB gene. The present report shows that BolA is a transcriptional regulator of the dacA and dacC genes, thus regulating both DD-carboxypeptidases PBP5 and PBP6 and thereby demonstrating the versatility of BolA as a cellular regulator. In this work, we also demonstrate that reduction of cell growth and survival can be connected to the overexpression of the bolA gene in different E. coli backgrounds, particularly in the exponential growth phase. The most interesting finding is that overproduction of BolA affects bacterial growth differently depending on whether the cells were inoculated directly from a plate culture or from an overnight batch culture. This strengthens the idea that BolA can be engaged in the coordination of genes that adapt the cell physiology in order to enhance cell adaptation and survival under stress conditions.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.245-255
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• 2012

Amyloid-${\beta}$ peptide ($A{\beta}$) is still best known as a molecule to cause Alzheimer's disease (AD) through accumulation and deposition within the frontal cortex and hippocampus in the brain. Thus, strategies on developing AD drugs have been focused on the reduction of $A{\beta}$ in the brain. Since accumulation of $A{\beta}$ depends on the rate of its synthesis and clearance, the metabolic pathway of $A{\beta}$ in the brain and the whole body should be carefully explored for AD research. Although the synthetic pathway of $A{\beta}$ is equally important, we summarize primarily the clearance pathway in this paper because the former has been extensively reviewed in previous studies. The clearance of $A{\beta}$ from the brain is accomplished by several mechanisms which include non-enzymatic and enzymatic pathways. Nonenzymatic pathway includes interstitial fluid drainage, uptake by microglial phagocytosis, and transport across the blood vessel walls into the circulation. Multiple $A{\beta}$-degrading enzymes (ADE) implicated in the clearance process have been identified, which include neprilysin, insulin-degrading enzyme, matrix metalloproteinase-9, glutamate carboxypeptidase II and others. A series of studies on $A{\beta}$ clearance mechanism provide new insight into the pathogenesis of AD at the molecular level and suggest a new target for the development of novel therapeutics.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.77-82
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• 2009

Thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) also known as plasma procarboxypeptidase B or U is a 60 kD glycoprotein, which is the major modulator of fibrinolysis in plasma. TAFI is a proenzyme, which is activated by proteolytic cleavage to an active carboxypeptidase B-like enzyme (TAFIa, 35.8 kD) by thrombin/thrombomodulin and plasmin. Modulation of fibrinolysis occurs when TAFIa enzymatically removes C-terminal lysine residues of partially degraded fibrin, thereby inhibiting the stimulation of tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) modulated plasminogen activation. TAFIa undergoes a rapid conformational change at $37{^{\circ}C}$ to an inactive isoform called TAFIai. Potato tuber carboxypetidase inhibitor (PTCI) was shown to specifically bind to TAFIa as well as TAFIai. In this study, a novel immunoassay TAFIa/ai ELISA was used for quantitation of the two TAFI activation isoforms TAFIa and TAFIai. The ELISA utilizes PTCI as the capture agent and a double antibody sandwich technique for the detection. Low levels of TAFIa/ai antigen levels were detected in normal plasma and elevated levels were found in hemophilia A plasmas. TAFIa/ai antigen represents a novel marker to monitor fibrinolysis and TAFIa/ai ELISA may be a valuable assay for studying the role of TAFI in normal hemostasis and in pathological conditions.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.648-657
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• 2008

In this study, we used functional genomic strategies, proteomics and quantitative real-time (qRT)-PCR, to advance our understanding of genes associated with fumonisin production in the fungus Fusarium verticillioides. Earlier studies have demonstrated that deletion of the FCC1 gene, which encodes a C-type cyclin, leads to a drastic reduction in fumonisin production and conidiation in the mutant strain (FT536). The premise of our research was that comparative analysis of F. verticillioides wild-type and FT536 proteomes will reveal putative proteins, and ultimately corresponding genes, that are important for fumonisin biosynthesis. We isolated proteins that were significantly upregulated in either the wild type or FT536 via two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and subsequently obtained sequences by mass spectrometry. Homologs of identified proteins, e.g., carboxypeptidase, laccase, and nitrogen metabolite repression protein, are known to have functions involved in fungal secondary metabolism and development. We also identified gene sequences corresponding to the selected proteins and investigated their transcriptional profiles via quantitative real-time (qRT)-PCR in order to identify genes that show concomitant expression patterns during fumonisin biosynthesis. These genes can be selected as targets for functional analysis to further verify their roles in $FB_1$ biosynthesis.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.42-48
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• 1997

the exocrine pancreatic secretion is an important factor in the maintenance of zinc homeostasis. The daily pancreatic secretion of zinc into the gastrointestinal tract may be two or more times the daily dietary zinc intake. The objective of this study was to examine the distribution of proteins and zinc in pancreatic/biliary fluid following intraperitoneal {TEX}${65}^Zn${/TEX} injection into dietary prepared Sprague-Dawly rats. Distribution of zinc-binding protein in Sephadex G-75 subfractions showed a peak corresponding to the high molecular weight protein standard(<66kDa) in the pancreatic/biliary fluid. Zinc also was associated with the 29~35kDa mole-cular weight proteins. These are similar in size with zinc-containing enzymes, carboxypeptidase A and car-boxypeptidase B. A more remarkable small molecular weight fraction eluted beyond the 6.5kDa standard pro-tein peak. These results show the presence of small molecular weight compound in pancreatic/biliary fluid associated with zinc . These small molecular weight compounds may serve as zinc-binding ligands for the secretion of enogenous zinc into the duodenum. These findings suggest that these lignads may dissociate zinc in the duodenum thus making it vulnerable to complexation with phytate in the upper gastrointestinal tract rendering the zinc unavailable for reabsorption.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.1791-1800
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• 2004

Angiotensin I, a model decapeptide, was glycosylated and partially hydrolyzed with HCl (6 N, 80 $^{\circ}C$, 4 h), aminopeptidase, and carboxypeptidase Y. A single peptide mass map obtained from truncated peptides in the partial acid hydrolysate of angiotensin and its glycosylation product mixture by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry enabled sequencing of angiotensin by a combinatorial procedure. MALDI-TOF and electrospray ionization (ESI) tandem mass spectrometric results indicate that both the N-terminal amino group of aspartic acid and the guanidinium group of the second residue arginine are glycosylated.