• Journal of Life Science
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.37-43
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• 2006

Gap junction is an ion channel forming between adjacent cells. It also acts as a membrane channel like sodium or potassium channels in a single cell. The amino acid residues up to the $10^{th}$ position in the amino (N)-terminus of gap junction hemichannel affect gating polarity as well as current-voltage (I-V) relation. While wild-type Cx32 channel shows negative gating polarity and inwardly rectifying I-V relation, T8D channel in which threonine residue at $8^{th}$ position is replaced with negatively charged aspartate residue shows reverse gating polarity and linear I-V relation. It is still unclear whether these changes are resulted from the charge effect or the conformational change of the N-terminus. To clarify this issue, we made a mutant channel harboring cysteine residue at the $8^{th}$ position (T8C) and characterized its biophysical properties using substituted-cysteine accessibility method (SCAM). T8C channel shows negative gating polarity and inwardly rectifying I-V relation as wild-type channel does. This result indicates that the substitution of cysteine residue dose not perturb the original conformation of wild-type channel. To elucidate the charge effect two types of methaenthiosulfonate (MTS) reagents (negatively charged $MTSES^-$ and positively charged $MTSET^+$) were used. When $MTSES^-$ was applied, T8C channel behaved as T8D channel, showing positive gating polarity and linear I-V relation. This result indicates that the addition of a negative charge changes the biophysical properties of T8C channel. However, positively charged $MTSET^+$ maintained the main features of T8C channel as expected. It is likely that the addition of a charge by small MTS reagents does not distort the conformation of the N-terminus. Therefore, the opposite effects of $MTSES^-$ and $MTSETT^+$ on T8C channel suggest that the addition of a charge itself rather than the conformational change of the N-terminus changes gating polarity and I-V relation. Furthermore, the accessibility of MTS reagents to amino acid residues at the $8^{th}$ position supports the idea that the N-terminus of gap junction channel forms or lies in the aqueous pore.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.822-827
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• 2000

Gamma irradiation was applied to reduce shrimp allergy. Shrimp heat-stable protein(HSP) and shrimp protein extract were gamma-irradiated at 1, 3, 5, 7 or 10 kGy in an aqueous state (1.0 mg/mL). The changes in allergenic and antigenic properties of protein extract and HSP resulted from gamma irradiation were monitored by ELISA with mouse mAb or human patients sera and immunoblotting. Conformational changes in irradiated HSP were measured by both GPC-HPLC and SDS-PAGE. The binding ability of shrimp allergic patients IgE to irradiated protein extract or irradiated heat-stable protein was dose-dependently reduced. When measured by gel permeation chromatography and sandwich ELISA, the amount of intact heat-stable protein in the irradiated solution was reduced by gamma irradiation depending upon the applied dose. SDS-PAGE showed that the main band disappeared and new bands appeared in a higher molecular weight zone. The results provide a new possibility to use irradiation process for reducing the allergenicity of shrimp.

• Journal of Photoscience
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.281-283
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• 2002

S-modulin in frog or its bovine homologue, recoverin, is a 26 kDa EF-hand $Ca^{2+}$-binding protein found in rod photoreceptors. The $Ca^{2+}$ -bound form of S-modulin binds to rhodopsin kinase (Rk) and inhibits its activity. Through this regulation, S-modulin is believed to modulate the light-sensitivity of a rod. In the present study, we tried to identify the interaction site of the $Ca^{2+}$ -bound form of S-modulin to Rk. First, we mapped roughly the interaction regions by using partial peptides of S-modulin. The result suggested that a specific region near the amino terminus is the interaction site of S- modulin. We then identified the essential amino acid residues in this region by using S-modulin mutant proteins: four amino acid residues were suggested to interact with Rk. These residues are located in a small closed pocket in the $Ca^{2+}$-free, inactive form of S-modulin, but exposed to the surface of the molecules in the $Ca^{2+}$ -bound, active form of S-modulin. Two additional amino acid residues were found to be crucial for the $Ca^{2+}$ -dependent conformational changes of S-modulin. The present study firstly identified the functional site of S-modulin, a member of a neuronal calcium sensor protein family.in family..

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.23-27
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• 1997

Radiation effects on carbohydrate moiety of chicken ovomucoid, a protease inhibitor as a typical allergenic glycoprotein of egg white, was observed. The trypsin inhibitory activity of chicken ovomucoid decreased exponentially and the inactivation was more significant irradiated in $N_2$ than in $O_2$. From the protein blotting, radiation caused protein degradation in $O_2$ and protein aggregation also in $N_2$. The patterns of carbohydrate blotting were also similar with that of protein blotting. Sugar chains in low molecular weight fraction (MW<5,000) were released by radiation and those in $O_2$ were higher than in $N_2$. From the HPLC patterns of the degradation of sugar chains, all peaks of oligosaccharides have the tendency to decrease with the increase of radiation dose and more remarkable in $O_2$ than in $N_2$. These results suggest that ionising radiation could cause the overall conformational changes of ovomucoid by the degradation and release of oligosaccharides.

• BMB Reports
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.233-239
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• 1998

A GABA synthesizing enzyme, glutamate decarboxylase, has been purified from bovine brain by several chromatographic procedures. The preparation appeared homogeneous on SDS-PAGE. The enzyme is a homodimeric protein with a molecular mass of 120 kDa. The activation of glutamate decarboxylase by ginesenosides from Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer has been studied. Preincubation of the enzyme with total ginsenoside, $Rb_2$ and Rc ginsenosides, increased glutamate decarboxylase activities in a dose-dependent manner. There was a reproducible decrease in $K_m$, in addition to a increase in $V_{max}$, in response to increasing concentrations of the Rc ginsenoside fraction. Upon addition of the ginsenoside to the enzyme, a decrease in flurorescence intensity was discernible, together with an increase in emission anisotropy. Judging from the anisotropy values, the ginsenoside is rapidly trapped by the protein matrix. Total ginsenoside was administered to rats and the rat brains were removed for the measurement of the changes of GABA shunt regulating enzyme activities. Among the GABA shunt regulating enzymes, only the glutamate decarboxylase activities were increased after ginsenoside treatment. Therefore, it is suggested that the ginsenosides may elevate the GABA level in brain by activation of glutamate decarboxylase and the enzymatic activation might be due to the conformational change induced by binding of ginsenoside to the enzyme.

• BMB Reports
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.230-235
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• 1996

The interaction of ${\alpha}-ketoglutarate$ dehydrogenase complex (${\alpha}-KGDC$) with a hydrophobic fluorescent probe [1,1'-bi(4-aniline)naphthalene-5,5'-disulfonic acid] (bis-ANS) was studied. The punfied ${\alpha}-KGDC$ was potently inhibited by bis-ANS with an apparent half maximal inhibitory concentration ($IC_{50}$) of 9.8 ${\mu}m$ at pH 8.0. The catalytic activities of both the E1o and E2o subunits were predominantly inhibited while that of the E3 component was hardly affected. The binding of bis-ANS to the enzyme caused a marked enhancement and blue shift from 523 nm to 482 nm in the fluorescence emission spectrum. The dissociation constant ($K_d$) and the number of binding sites (n) were calculated to be 0.87 mM and 158, respectively. Allosteric regulators such as purine nucleotides and divalent cations further increased the fluorescence intensity of the $bis-ANS-{\alpha}-KGDC$ binary complex. These data suggest that the binding of these allosteric regulators to ${\alpha}-KGDC$ may cause the conformational changes in the enzyme and that bis-ANS could be used as a valuable probe to study the interaction of the multi-enzyme complex and its allosteric regulators.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.67-73
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• 2015

The microcystin is a cyclic heptapeptide from metabolites of cyanobacteria in the genera mycrocystis, anabaeba as a result of eutrophication. It has been known that microcystin-LR is a potent inhibitor of the catalytic subunits of protein phosphatase-1 (PP-1) as well as powerful tumor promoter. The active site of microcystin actually has two metal ions $Fe^{2+}/Zn^{2+}$ close to the nucleophilic portion of PP-1-microcystin complex. We report the isolation and purification of this microcystin-LR from cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) obtained from Daechung Dam in Chung-cheong Do, Korea. Microcystin-LR was extracted from solid-phase extraction (SPE) sample preparation using a CN cartridge. The cyanobacteria extract was purified to obtain microcystin-LR by HPLC method and identified by LC/MS. The detail structural studies that can elucidate the possible role of monovalent and divalent metal ions in PP-1-microcystin complexation were carried out by utilizing molecular dynamics. Conformational changes in metal binding for ligands were monitored by molecular dynamic computation and potential of mean force (PMF) using the method of the free energy perturbation. The microcystin-metal binding PMF simulation results exhibit that microcystin can have very stable binding free energy of -10.95 kcal/mol by adopting the $Mg^{2+}$ ion at broad geometrical distribution of $0.5{\sim}4.5{\AA}$, and show that the $K^+$ ion can form a stable metal complex rather than other monovalent alkali metal ions.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.7
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• pp.2253-2259
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• 2011

The self-assembly of one novel organic complex based on chlorogenic acid (HCA) and 2,2'-bipyridine (2,2'-bipy) has been synthesized and characterized. The complex achieved by hydrogen-bonding interactions, adopted a 1:1 stoichiometry in a solid state. The proton transfer occurred from the carboxyl oxygen to the aromatic nitrogen atom to form salts CA${\cdot}$(2,2'-Hbipy), the 2,2'-Hbipy molecule individually occupies the pseudo-tetragonum that is formed with CA. In this paper, the interactions of CA${\cdot}$(2,2'-Hbipy) with bovine serum albumin (BSA) were studied by fluorescence spectrometry. For CA${\cdot}$(2,2'-Hbipy), HCA and 2,2'-bipy, the average quenching constants for BSA were $2.4384{\times}10^4$, $4.653{\times}10^3$, and $3.059{\times}10^3\;L{\cdot}mol^{-1}$, respectively. The mechanism for protein fluorescence quenching is apparently governed by a static quenching process. The Stern-Volmer quenching constants and corresponding thermodynamic parameters ${\Delta}$H, ${\Delta}$G and ${\Delta}$S were calculated. The binding constants and the number of binding sites were also investigated. The conformational changes of BSA were observed from synchronous fluorescence spectra.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.155-161
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• 1983

The effects of ultraviolet light on bacteriophage f2 were investigated to determine the inactivation kinetics and its mechanism. The 260nm light showed a little higher inactivation rate than the one of 300 nm. In this work, our main concern was whether structural and/or conformational changes in the protein capsid could occur by UV irradiation. The inactivation for the first 20 minutes irradiation was rapid with a loss of about 4 logs and followed by a slower rate during the next 40 minutes with no survival noted in the samples irradiated for 90 minutes or longer. The structural change of the protein capsid was examined by optical spectroscopic techniques and electron microscopy. The absorption spectra of the UV irradiated phages showed no detectable differences in terms of the spectral shape and intensity from the control phage. However, the fluorescence emission spectroscopic data, i.e. 1) fluorescence quenching of tryptophan residues upon irradiation of 300 nm light, 2) enhancement of fluorescence emission of ANS (8-aniline-1-naphthalene sulfonate) bound to the intact phages compared to the one in the UV-treated phages, and 3) decrease of energy transfer efficiency from tryptophan to ANS in the UV-treated samples, presented remarkable differences between the intact and UV-treated phages. Such a structural alteration was also observed by electron microscopy The UV-treated phages appeared to be broken and empty capsids. Therefore, the inactivation of the bacteriophage f2 by UV irradiation is thought to be attributed to the structural change in the protein capsid as well as damage in the viral RNA by UV irradiation.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.56-60
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• 2016

Adenylate kinase (AK) enzyme which acts as the catalyst of reversible high energy phosphorylation reaction between ATP and AMP which associate with energetic metabolism and nucleic acid synthesis and signal transmission. This enzyme has three distinct domains: Core, AMP binding domain (AMPbd) and Lid domain (LID). The primary role of AMPbd and LID is associated with conformational changes due to flexibility of two domains. Three dimensional structure of human AK1 has not been confirmed and various mutation experiments have been done to determine the active sites. In this study, AK1R138A which is changed arginine[138] of LID domain with alanine[138] was made and conducted with NMR experiments, backbone dynamics analysis and mo-lecular docking dynamic simulation to find the cause of structural change and substrate binding site. Synthetic human muscle type adenylate kinase 1 (hAK1) and its mutant (AK1R138A) were re-combinded with E. coli and expressed in M9 cell. Expressed proteins were purified and finally gained at 0.520 mM hAK1 and 0.252 mM AK1R138A. Multinuclear multidimensional NMR experiments including HNCA, HN(CO)CA, were conducted for amino acid sequence analysis and signal assignments of $^1H-^{15}N$ HSQC spectrum. Our chemical shift perturbation data is shown LID domain residues and around alanine[138] and per-turbation value(0.22ppm) of valine[179] is consid-ered as inter-communication effect with LID domain and the structural change between hAK1 and AK1R138A.