• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.93-98
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• 2022

To assess the feasibility of silk sericin for non-textile application, the storage stability and biological safety of sericin were examined. It was extracted at 37℃, 70℃, 100℃, and 121℃ for 1, 3, and 5 h to elucidate the effect of extraction condition on the stability and safety of silk sericin. The solubility was increased till approximately 26% with extraction temperature of 121℃ for 1 h. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) showed that the molecular weight distribution depended on the extraction conditions. Extracted sericin displayed typical UV absorption bands upon spectrometric analysis. To examine the reproducibility of its obtained conformation, sericin was extracted thrice and its circular dichroism (CD) spectra was measured each time. Most CD spectra showed reproducibility regardless of temperature and time except under 100℃ extraction condition. The diversity of CD spectrum showed gradual reduction and was finally coincident with extraction time from 1 to 5 h. Notably, sericin has a negative peak of approximately 200 nm attributed to random coil conformation, regardless of extraction condition. However, at the 100℃ extraction condition, sericin showed both bands to be negative bands of approximately 200 and 220 nm, respectively. Sericin was centrifuged to determine the stability of storage conditions. The sericin extracted at 100℃ and 121℃ for 1 h was found to form gel rapidly within 1 h, but at 121℃ condition, the gel fraction was approximately 20% within 1 h which retained its phase regardless of storage time. The gel fraction of sericin extracted at 100℃ for 5 h increased with time, however at the 121℃ for 5 h condition, the gel fraction was measured to be less than 10% regardless of increase in storage time. Petriflim^TM AC plates test showed that sericin was safe from aerobic bacteria activity by extraction under high temperature.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.26-33
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• 2000

A series of pH/temperature sensitive polymers were synthesized by copolymerizing N-isopro-pyl acrylamide(NIPAAm) and acrylic acid(AAc) . The influence of polyelectrolyte between poly(allyl amine) (PAA) and poly(L-lysine)(PLL) on the lower critical solution temperature(LCST) of pH/temperature sensitive polymer was compared in the range of pH 2∼12. The LCST of PNIPAAm/water in aqueous poly(NIPAAm-co-AAc) solution was determined by cloud point measurements. A polyelectrolyte complex was prepared by mixing poly(NIPAAm-co-AAc) with poly(allyl amine) (PAA) or poly(L-lysine) (PLL) solutions as anionic and cationic polyelectrolytes, respectively. The effect of polyelectrolyte complex formation on the conformation of PLL was studied as a function of temperature by means of circular dichroism(CD). The cloud points of PNIPAAm in the aqueous copolymers solutions were stongly affected by pH, the presence of polyelectrolyte solute, AAc content, and charge density. The polyelectrolyte complex was formed at neutral condition. The influence of more hydrophobic PLL as a polyelectrolyte on the cloud point of PNIPAAm in the aqueous copolymer solution was stronger than that of poly(allyl amine)(PAA). Although polymer-polymer complex was formed between poly(NIPAAm-co-AAc) and PLL, the conformational change of PLL did not occur due to steric hinderance of bulky N-isopropyl groups of PNIPAAm.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.1500-1506
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• 2011

Tyrosinase is a widespread enzyme with great promising capabilities. The Lineweaver-Burk plots of the catecholase reactions showed that the kinetics of mushroom tyrosinase (MT), activated by $Co^{2+}$ and $Zn^{2+}$ at different pHs (6, 7, 8 and 9) obeyed the non-essential activation mode. The binding of metal ions to the enzyme increases the maximum velocity of the enzyme due to an increase in the enzyme catalytic constant ($k_{cat}$). From the kinetic analysis, dissociation constants of the activator from the enzyme-metal ion complex ($K_a$) were obtained as $5{\times}10^4M^{-1}$ and $8.33{\times}10^3M^{-1}$ for $Co^{2+}$ and $Zn^{2+}$ at pH 9 and 6 respectively. The structural analysis of MT through circular dichroism (CD) and intensive fluorescence spectra revealed that the conformational stability of the enzyme in these pHs reaches its maximum value in the presence of each of the two metal ions.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.29 no.8
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• pp.1510-1518
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• 2008

Results of intrinsic and extrinsic fluorescence studies on choline oxidase revealed that the enzyme at high alkaline pH values has more accessible hydrophobic patches relative to acidic pH. Fluorescence quenching studies with acrylamide confirm these changes. The quenching constants were also determined at different pH(s) by using the Stern-Volmer equation. CD studies showed that at higher pH a transition from $\alpha$-helix to $\beta$- structure was appeared while at lower pH the content of $\alpha$-helix structure was increased. Furthermore, analysis of the spectral data using chemometric method gave evidence for existence of intermediate components at very high pH(s). Results of thermal denaturation evaluated that the enzyme has the most instability at higher pH(s). Altogether low and high pH values caused significant alteration on secondary and tertiary structures of choline oxidase via inducing of an intermediate.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.414-421
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• 1999

Helicobacter pylori were found to be resistant to azide but sensitive to vanadate, suggesting that defect in the P-type ATPase activity rather than F-type ATPase would be lethal to cell survival or growth. To elucidate the relationship between this enzyme inhibition and H. pylori death, we determined the effect of omeprazole (OMP) plus vanadate on enzyme activity and cell growth. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC; ca. 0.8$\mu$mol/disk) of vanadate for H. pylori growth was lowered over l0-fold with the aid of OMP, whereby its inhibitory potential toward the P-type ATPase activity was diametrically increased. Alternatively, we found that this enzyme activity was essential for active transport in H. pylori. From these observations, we strongly suggest that the immediate cause of the growth inhibition of H. pylori cells with OMP and/or vanadate might be defective in the cell's active transport due to the lack of P-type ATPase activity. From the spectral data with circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, we found that activated OMP (OAS) at concentration below MIC did not disrupt helical structures of membrane proteins. Separately, we determined the cytopathic effect of OAS by SDS-PAGE, indicating the change in the production of cytoplasmic protein but not cell membrane.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.8
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• pp.1192-1195
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• 2010

To investigate the influence of the N- or C-terminal regions of pleurocidin (Ple) peptide on antifungal activity, four analogs partially truncated in the N- or C-terminal regions were designed and synthesized. Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy demonstrated that all the analogs maintained an alpha-helical structure. The antifungal susceptibility testing also showed that the analogs exhibited antifungal activities against human fungal pathogens, without hemolytic effects against human erythrocytes. The result further indicated that the analogs had discrepant antifungal activities [Ple>Ple (1-22)>Ple (4-25)>Ple (1- 19)>Ple (7-25)] and that N-terminal deletion affected the activities much more than C-terminal deletion. Hydrophobicity [Ple>Ple (1-22)>Ple (4-25)>Ple (1-19)> Ple (7-25)] was thought to have been one of the consistent factors that influenced these activity patterns, rather than the other primary factors like the helicity [Ple>Ple (4-25) >Ple (1-22)>Ple (1-19)>Ple (7-25)] or the net charge [Ple=Ple (4-25)=Ple (7-25)>Ple (1-22)=Ple (1-19)] of the peptides. In conclusion, the hydrophobic amino acids in the N-terminal region of Ple is more crucial for antifungal activity than those in the C-terminal region.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.12
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• pp.3577-3585
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• 2013

Syndecan-4 (heparan sulfate proteoglycan), biologically important in cell-to-cell interactions and tumor suppression, was studied through mutation of the GXXXG motif of its transmembrane domain (Syd4-TM), a motif which governs dimerization. The expression and purification of the mutant (mSyd4-TM) were optimized here to assess the function of the GXXXG motif in the dimerization of Syd4-TM. mSyd4-TM was obtained in M9 minimal media and its oligomerization was identified by SDS PAGE, Circular Dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy. The mutant, unlike Syd4-TM, did not form dimers and was observed as monomers. The GXXXG motif of Syd-4TM was shown to be an important structural determinant of its dimerization.

• BMB Reports
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.636-641
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• 2006

Our previous studies indicated that native carbonic anhydrase does not interact with hydrophobic adsorbents and that it acquires this ability upon denaturation. In the present study, an apo form of the enzyme was prepared by removal of zinc and a comparative study was performed on some characteristic features of the apo and native forms by far- and near-UV circular dichroism (CD), intrinsic fluorescent spectroscopy, 1-anilino naphthalene-8-sulfonate (ANS) binding, fluorescence quenching by acrylamide, and Tm measurement. Results indicate that protein flexibility is enhanced and the hydrophobic sites become more exposed upon conversion to the apo form. Accordingly, the apo structure showed a greater affinity for interaction with hydrophobic adsorbents as compared with the native structure. As observed for the native enzyme, heat denaturation of the apo form promoted interaction with alkyl residues present on the adsorbents and, by cooling followed by addition of zinc, catalytically-active immobilized preparations were obtained.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.766-771
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• 2004

Julong 601, a Gram-positive anaerobic bacterium strain capable of cleaving the C-ring of isoflavones daidzein and genistein, was isolated from human feces. BLAST search revealed that its complete 16S rDNA gene sequence has 99% similarity to Eubacterium ramulus. Metabolites of daidzein and genistein were determined as O-desmethylangolensin (O-Dma) and 2-(4-hydroxyphenyl) propionic acid (2-HPPA), respectively, based on UV, EI-MS, and $^1H$ and ^{13}C$ NMR spectral analyses. Enantiomers of O-Dma and 2-HPPA were isolated by chiral stationary-phase HPLC (CSP HPLC). Cleavage of the C-ring of daidzein and genistein by strain Julong 601 was highly enantioselective. Specific rotation ([$\alpha]_D$) and circular dichroism (CD) spectra of the enantiomers are reported here for the first time. Biotransformation kinetics of daidzein and genistein indicated that the C-ring of genistein has a higher susceptibility to bacterial degradation than that of daidzein.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.30 no.10
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• pp.2345-2350
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• 2009

As part of an effort to discover bioactive natural products from marine sources, we investigated the bioactive secondary metabolites from two marine isolates of the fungi, Trichoderma viride and Rhizopus stolonifer. Three cyclopentenones, myrothenones A (1) and B (2) and trichodenone A (3), were isolated from T. viride and two cyclopentenones, 2-bromomyrothenone B (4) and botrytinone (5), were isolated from R. stolonifer. The molecular structures and absolute stereochemistries of the cyclopentenones were determined from chemical and physicochemical evidence, including quantum chemistry calculations, X-ray analysis, and the circular dichroism (CD) exciton chirality method. Myrothenone A (1) displays tyrosinase inhibitory activity, with an I$C_{50}$ value of 6.6 ${\mu}M$, and is therefore more active than the positive control, kojic acid.