• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.1647-1652
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• 2010

Autophagy refers to the bulk degradation of cellular proteins and organelles through an autophagosome and plays a pivotal role in the development, cellular differentiation, aging, and elimination of aberrant structures. A failure of autophagy has been implicated in a growing list of mammalian disease states, including cancer and cardiomyopathy. Two ubiquitin-like systems are highly involved in autophagy, especially in the formation of autophagosomes. Here, we purified and characterized Atg7 (an E1-like enzyme), and Atg3 and Atg10 (E2-like enzymes) in order to gain an insight into the role played by ubiquitin-like systems in the formation of autophagosomes. Interestingly, we observed that Atg7 forms a homodimer to construct an active conformation, unlike other E1-like enzymes. Although Atg3 was detected as a monomer under physiological conditions, Atg10 existed in an oligomeric form, indicating that the mechanism by which Atg10 functions may differ from that of Atg3.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.113-118
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• 2003

Follicular fluid(FF) of mammalian Graafian follicles contains various kinds of proteins and proteinases that are believed to play important roles during follicular growth oocyte maturation and ovulation of mature oocytes. Previous studies of human FF(hFF) demonstrated the presence of many serine/threonine proteinases and matrix metalloproteinases such as gelatinases, however, little is known about the caseinases. Present study was aimed to examine the presence and the property of caseinolytic enzyme in hFF. Using casein zymographic method, it was found that hFF, human adult serum and cord serum exhibited one intense 80 kDa and another weak 78 kDa bands having caseinolytic activity. When inhibitors were added to the zymographic substrate buffer, caseinolytic activity of both 80 kDa and 78 kDa proteins were inhibited by othylenediarnine tetraacetic acid(EDTA) or soybean trypsin inhibitor(SBTI), but not by E-64, phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride(PMSF) or 1,10-phenanthroline. Thus both enzymes appear to belong to a family of trypsin-like enzyme. Addition of EDTA to the zymographic substrate buffer almost abolished the caseinolytic activity of both enzymes. However, further addition of a divalent metal ion such as CaC $l_2$, MgC $l_2$, MnC $l_2$ or ZnC $l_2$ to the same buffer fully restored the enzyme activity at 5 mM concentration despite the presence of EDTA. Based upon these observations, 80 kDa and 78 kDa caseinolytic enzymes are present in human follicular fluid and they appear to be trypsin-like enzymes of which caseinolytic activity needs the presence of $Ca^{++}$, aM $g^{++}$, M $n^{++}$ or Z $n^{++}$././././.

• BMB Reports
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.72-78
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• 1995

Time-dependent inactivation of E. coli GTP cyclohydrolase I with a 2',3'-dialdehyde derivative of GTP (oGTP) was directed to the active site of the enzyme, and was dependent on the concentration of oGTP. The kinetics of inactivation were biphasic with a rapid reaction occurring immediately upon exposure of the enzyme to oGTP followed by a slow rate of inactivation. The $K_i$ value of oGTP for the enzyme was 0.25 mM. Inactivation was prevented by preincubation of the enzyme with GTP, the substrate of the enzyme. At 100% inactivation, 2.3 mol of [8.5'-$^3H$]oGTP were bound per each enzyme subunit, which consists of two identical polypeptides. The active site residue which reacted with the affinity label was lysine. oGTP interacted selectively with the ${\varepsilon}$-amino group of lysine in the GTP-binding site to form a morpholine-like structure which was stable without sodium borohydride treatment. However, triphosphate group was eliminated during the hydrolysis step. To identify the active site of the enzyme, [8.5'-$^3H$]oGTP-labeled enzyme was cleaved by endoproteinase Lys-C, and the $^3H$-labeled peptide was purified by HPLC. The amino acid sequence of the active site peptide was Pro-Ser-Leu-Ser-Lys, which corresponds to the aminoterminal sequence of the enzyme.

• BMB Reports
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.17-21
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• 1996

Ile91 of restriction endonuclease EcoRV, which has not been known to take part directly in catalytic activity, was substituted with Leu by site-directed mutagenesis. The Ile91Leu mutant shows over 1000-fold less activity than the wild type EcoRV under standard reaction condition. The metal ion dependency of the reaction was altered. In contrast to the wild type EcoRV, the mutant prefers $Mn^{2+}$ to $Mn^{2+}$ as the cofactor. In $Mn^{2+}$ buffer the mutant is as active as the wild type enzyme in $Mn^{2+}$ buffer. Like the wild type enzyme, the mutant shows an unspecific binding of DNA in gel shift experiments. In contrast to the wild type enzyme, the mutant did not cleave at noncognate sites of DNA under star condition.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.298.2-298.2
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• 2003

The insulinotropic hormone, glucagons-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), which has been proposed as a new potential therapeutics for type-II diabetes, but this is metabolized extremely rapidly by the ubiquitous enzyme, dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP IV), forming a metabolite, which acts as an antagonist at the GLP-1 receptor. (omitted)

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.7
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• pp.1235-1244
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• 2008

Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) is produced commonly by plants and many bacteria, however, little is known about the genetic basis involving the key enzymes of IAA biosynthetic pathways from Bacillus spp. IAA intermediates from the Gram-positive spore-forming bacterium Paenibacillus polymyxa E681 were investigated, which showed the existence of only an indole-3-pyruvic acid (IPA) pathway for IAA biosynthesis from the bacterium. Four open reading frames (ORFs) encoding indole-3-pyruvate decarboxylase-like proteins and putative indole-3-pyruvate decarboxylase (IPDC), a key enzyme in the IPA synthetic pathway, were found on the genome sequence database of P. polymyxa and cloned in Escherichia coli DH5$\alpha$. One of the ORFs, PP2_01257, was assigned as probable indole-3-pyruvate decarboxylase. The ORF consisted of 1,743 nucleotides encoding 581 amino acids with a deduced molecular mass of 63,380 Da. Alignment studies of the deduced amino acid sequence of the ORF with known IPDC sequences revealed conservation of several amino acids in PP2_01257, essential for substrate and cofactor binding. Recombinant protein, gene product of the ORF PP2_01257 from P. polymyxa E681, was expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) as a glutathione S-transferase (GST)-fusion protein and purified to homogeneity using affinity chromatography. The molecular mass of the purified enzyme showed about 63 kDa, corresponding closely to the expected molecular mass of IPDC. The indole-3-pyruvate decarboxylase activity of the recombinant protein, detected by HPLC, using IPA substrate in the enzyme reaction confirmed the identity and functionality of the enzyme IPDC from the E681 strain.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.268-272
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• 1990

The structural gene (zadhII) encoding an alcohol dehydrogenase II from Zyrnornonas mobilis was cloned into Escherichia coli in our laboratory (Yoon et al., 1989. Kor. J. Microbiol. Biotechnol.). From E. coli (pADS93) carrying the zadhII gene, the Z mobilis alcochol dehydrogenase II (ZADH-II) was purified by sonication, $(NH_4)_2SO_4$, fractionation, and chromatography. The ZADH-I1 enzyme produced by Z. mobilis cell was also purified to compare to the enzyme produced by E. coli (pADS93). The purified enzyme from cell extract of E. coli (pADS93) was identified to be a tetramer being composed of four identical subunits having molecular weight of 40, 000 dalton like that of Z. mobilis. The pH optimum for the reaction oxidizing ethanol to acetaldehyde was 10.0 while the optimum for the reverse reaction was 7.5-8.5. The apparent $K_m$ values for ethanol and NAD + were $1.2 \times 10^{-1}M$and $5.1\times 10^{-5}M$, respectively. In addition, it was found that the $K_m$ value for acetaldehyde was very lower than that for ethanol.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.317-322
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• 2009

The proteins from 15 types of cultivar of hot peppers cultivated in Korea were extracted and its allergenicity was investigated by immunoblotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The immunoblotting of hot pepper proteins extracts (HPEs) against serum of hot pepper sensitized patients revealed dominant IgE binding to 14, 37, and 40 kDa molecules. The specific levels of IgE to HPEs sample No. 1, 3, and 7 were much higher than the other samples in patients. Also, IgE binding capacity of HPEs were not reduced by thermal processing and digestion in ELISA using human IgE antibody acquired from hot pepper sensitized patients. By means of Western blotting using anti-thaumatin IgY, thaumatin-like protein (TLP) acting as allergen in several plants and fruits was detected in tested hot peppers. This study demonstrates that the antigenic protein in hot peppers are present but are differently contained according to cultivars.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.178-183
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• 1986

It was our working hypothesis that introduction of 11-keto groups to 12-oleanene/ursene series of triterpenoids should endow them with corticoid-like activities, since pharmacological actions of glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) are known to be caused by inhibition on $corticoid-{\delta}^4-reductase$. 11-Keto-triterpenoids derived artificially in these studies, such as 11, 19-diketo-18, 19-secoursolic acid methyl ester(I), $11-keto-{\beta}-boswellic$ acid derivatives (IIa-IIc), 11-Keto-presenegenin dimethyl ester (III), II-keto-oleanolic acid derivatives (IVa-IVd) and 11-keto-hederagenin (V) possess the fundamental functions of ${\alpha},\;{\beta}-unsaturated$ ketone on C-11 and hydroxyl group on C-3, as like GA (VI). Additionally, they involve the carboxyl groups on rings A (II, III), D (I, III, IV, V) and E (VI), and the hydroxyl groups on rings A (III, V) and C (III). All the compounds competitively inhibited $corticoid-5{\beta}-reductase$, and the highest inhibitory potency appeared in I. All of them except $3,\;11-diketo-{\beta}-boswellic$ acid methyl ester (IIc) were more effective about five times to twice than GA. On carrageenin-induced edema test, compounds I and IVa-IVd showed anti-inflammatory activities, but III enhanced rather edema. Structure-activity relations were found in the aspects of hydrophilicity of ring A and hydrophobicity of rings C/D. The more they were hydrophilic in ring A and hydrophobic in rings C/D, the more they inhibited the enzyme. And the more they were hydrophobic in rings C/D, the more they exhibited antiiflammatory activities. However, the increased hydrophilicity in ring A resulted in increasing edema, probably due to a nonspecific inhibition on $aldosterone-5{\beta}-reductase$.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.338-343
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• 2013

Serum levels of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) are widely used in the clinical diagnosis of hepatic diseases and the assessment of liver status. They also have epidemiological significance to be prospective risk factors for bone diseases, such as osteitis deformans, rickets, osteomalacia, hyperparathyroidism, healing fractures, and osteoblastic bone tumors. In the previous study, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in several genes have been reported to be associated with serum levels of liver enzyme in American population. We aimed to confirm whether the genetic variation of RETNLB (resistin like beta) gene also influence the serum levels of liver enzyme in Korean population. We genotyped variants in or near RETNLB in a population-based sample including 994 Korean adults. Here, we performed association analysis to elucidate the possible relations of genetic polymorphisms in RETNLB gene with serum levels of liver enzyme. By examining genotype data of a total of 944 subjects in 5 hospital health promotion centers, we discovered the RETNLB gene polymorphisms are associated with serum levels of ALP. The common and highest significant polymorphism was rs736327 (${\beta}$=8.66, P=2.37E-05), rs7639070 (${\beta}$=8.56, P=3.24E-05) with ALP in all groups. Furthermore, the ALP was consistently associated with rs736327 (${\beta}$=10.40, P=5.23E-05), rs7639070 (${\beta}$=10.32, P=6.74E-05) in the male population. Consequently, we found statistically significant SNPs in RETNLB gene that are associated with serum levels of ALP. In addition, these results suggest that the individuals with the minor alleles of the SNP in the RETNLB gene may have elevated serum levels of ALP in the Korean population.