• Molecules and Cells
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.210-218
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• 2005

The rice genome contains at least 28 EXPA (${\alpha}$-expansin) genes. We have obtained near full-length cDNAs from the previously uncharacterized genes. Analysis of these newly identified clones together with the 12 identified earlier showed that the EXPA genes contain up to two introns and encode proteins of 240 to 291 amino acid residues. The EXPA proteins contain three conserved motifs: eight cysteine residues at the N-terminus, four tryptophan residues at the C-terminus, and a histidine-phenylalanine-aspartate motif in the central region. EXPA proteins could be divided into six groups based on their sequence similarity. Most were strongly induced in two-day-old seedlings and in the roots of one-week-old plants. However, only 14 genes were expressed in the aboveground organs, and their patterns were quite diverse. Transcript levels of EXPA7, 14, 15, 18, 21, and 29 were greater in stems, while EXPA2, 4, 5, 6, and 16 were highly expressed in both stem and sheath but not in leaf blade. EXPA1 is leaf blade-preferential, and EXP9 is leaf sheath-preferential. Most of the root-expressed genes were more strongly expressed in the dividing zone. However, the Group 2 EXPA genes were also strongly expressed in both mature and dividing zones, while EXPA9 was preferentially expressed in the elongation zone. Fourteen EXPA genes were expressed in developing panicles, with some being expressed during most developmental stages, others only as the panicles matured. These diverse expression patterns of EXPA genes suggest that in general they have distinct roles in plant growth and development.

• BMB Reports
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.356-361
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• 1997

We cloned a cDNA (pPRC-1) which was comprised of 841 nucleotides from the cDNA library of a male ICR mouse submandibular gland ($SMG^+$). The nucleotide sequences of pPRC-1 were identical to those of exons 2 and 3 of the mGK-21 gene, a potentially functional glandular kallikrein identified in a Balb/c mouse, except for one nucleotide residue. Although this substitution changes Ile (ATT) in pPRC-1 to Val (GTT) in mGK-21, this difference has been explained by strain polymorphism. From the amino acid sequences predicted from its cDNA, we speculated that mGK-21 gene products/pGK21 consist of 261 amino acids including the $NH_2$-terminal signal peptide (residues 1~17), the short propeptide (residues 17~24), and the active peptide (residues 25~261). Although we did not demonstrate the enzyme activity of pGK21, it was assumed that pGK 21 was involved in the maturation of certain bioactive polypeptide(s) in mouse SMG for the following reasons : (a) mGK-21 gene was apparently expressed in a male ICR mouse SMG: (b) the proposed active site $His^{65}$, $Asp^{120}$, and $Ser^{213}$ residues were completely conserved in pGK21 just like other glandular kallikreins; (c) the cloned cDNA was translated to a predicted 27 kDa polypeptide chain in vitro: (d) the 27 kDa polypeptide chain produced by CHO cells was produced to a putative active form by trypsin.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.969-975
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• 2003

Two conserved amino acid residues in the extra sugar-binding space near the catalytic site of Thermus maltogenic amylase (ThMA) were analyzed for their role in the hydrolysis and transglycosylation activity of the enzyme. Site-directed mutagenesis was carried out by replacing N33l with a lysine (N331K), E332 with a histidine (E332H), or by replacing both residues at the same time (N331K/E332H). The measured $K_m$ values indicated that affinities toward all substrates tested, including starch, pullulan, ${\beta}-cyclomaltodextrin$, and acarbose, were lower in all the mutants compared to that of wild-type ThMA, leading to reduced hydrolysis activity. In addition, the lower ratio of transglycosylation to hydrolysis in the mutants compared to that in the wild-type ThMA indicated that these mutants preferred hydrolysis to the transglycosylation reaction. These results demonstrated that the conserved dipeptide at 331 and 332 of ThMA is directly involved in the formation and accumulation of transfer products by accommodating acceptor sugar molecules.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Bioinformatics Conference
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• 2005.09a
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• pp.221-227
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• 2005

THEMATICS is a simple computational method for predicting functional sites in proteins. The method computes the theoretical titration curves of the ionizable residues of a protein using its 3D structure, determines the residues with perturbed, non-Henderson-Hasselbalch titration behavior, and identifies clusters of these perturbed residues in physical proximity. We have shown previously that this method is highly successful in predicting catalytic sites in enzymes. In the present study, we apply the method to non-catalytic ligand-binding proteins. It is shown that THEMATICS can predict non-catalytic binding sites. The success rate is better than 80 % for a set of 30 non-catalytic, ligand-binding proteins. The application of the method to Glutamine-binding protein from E. coli is discussed in detail.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.8-11
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• 2021

Transthyretin (TTR) is an important transporter protein for thyroxine (T4) and a holo-retinol protein in human. In its native state, TTR forms a tetrameric complex to construct the hydrophobic binding pocket for T4. On the other hand, this protein is also infamous for its amyloidogenic propensity, which causes various human diseases, such as senile systemic amyloidosis and familial amyloid polyneuropathy/cardiomyopathy. In this work, to investigate various structural features of TTR with solution-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, we conducted backbone NMR signal assignments. Except the N-terminal two residues and prolines, backbone 1H-15N signals of all residues were successfully assigned with additional chemical shift information of 13CO, 13Cα, and 13Cβ for most residues. The chemical shift information reported here will become an important basis for subsequent structural and functional studies of TTR.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.1075-1080
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• 2004

Dextransucrase (DSRB742) from Leuconostoc mesenteroides NRRL B-742CB is a glucosyltransferase that catalyzes the synthesis of dextran using sucrose, or the synthesis of oligosaccharides when acceptor molecules, like maltose, are present. The DSRB742 gene (dsrB742) was cloned and the properties were characterized. In order to identify critical amino acid residues, the DSRB742 amino acid sequence was aligned with glucosyltransferase sequences, and three amino acid residues reported as sucrose binding amino acids in Streptococcus glucosyltransferases were selected for site-directed mutagenesis experiments. Asp-533, Asp-536, and His-643 were independently replaced with Ala or Asn. D533A and D536A dextransucrases showed reduced dextran synthesis activities, 2.3% and 40.8% of DSRB742 dextransucrase, respectively, and D533N, D536N, H643A, end H643N dextransucrases showed complete suppression of dextran synthesis activities altogether. Additionally, D536N dextransucrase showed complete suppression of oligosaccharide synthesis activities. However, modifications at Asp-533 or at His-643 retained acceptor reaction activities in the range of 8.4% to 21.3% of DSRB742 acceptor reaction activity. Thus at least two carboxyl groups of Asp-533 and Asp-536, and His-643 as a proton donor, are essential for the catalysis process.

• BMB Reports
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.468-473
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• 1999

Nuclear Factor 1 (NF1) proteins are a family of transcriptional factors consisting of four different types: NF1-A, -B, -C, and -X. Some NF1 transcription factors contain a heptasequence motif, SPTSPSY, which is found as a repeat sequence in the carboxy terminal domain (CTD) of the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II. A similar heptasequence, SPTSPTY, is contained in rat liver NF1-A at a position between residues 469 and 475. In order to investigate the roles of the individual amino acids of the heptasequence of rat liver NF1-A in transcriptional activation, we systematically substituted single and multiple amino acid residues with alanine residue(s) and evaluated the transcriptional activities of the mutated NF1-A. Substitution of a single amino acid reduced transcriptional activity by 10 to 30%, except for the proline residue at position 473, whose substitution with alanine did not affect transcriptional activity. However, changes of all four serine and threonine residues to alanine or of the tyrosine residue along with the serine residue at position 469 to alanine reduced the activity to almost background levels. Our results indicate that multiple serine and threonine residues, rather than a single residue, may be involved in the modulation of the transcriptional activities of the factor. Involvement of the tyrosine residue is also implicated.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.162-168
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• 2011

Many ligands have been experimentally designed and tested for their activities as inhibitors against bacterial enoyl-ACP reductase (FabI), ENR. Here the binding energies of the reported ligands with the E. coli ENR-$NAD^+$ were calculated, analyzed and compared, and their molecular dynamics (MD) simulation study was performed. IDN, ZAM and AYM ligands were calculated to have larger binding energies than TCL and IDN has the largest binding energy among the considered ligands (TCL, S54, E26, ZAM, AYM and IDN). The contribution of residues to the ligand binding energy is larger in E. coli ENR-NAD+-IDN than in E. coli ENR-$NAD^+$-TCL, while the contribution of $NAD^+$ is smaller for IDN than for TCL. The large-size ligands having considerable interactions with residues and $NAD^+$ have many effective functional groups such as aromatic $\pi$ rings, acidic hydroxyl groups, and polarizable amide carbonyl groups in common. The cation-$\pi$ interactions have large binding energies, positively charged residues strongly interact with polarisable amide carbonyl group, and the acidic phenoxyl group has strong H-bond interactions. The residues which have strong interactions with the ligands in common are Y146, Y156, M159 and K163. This study of the reported inhibitor candidates is expected to assist the design of feasible ENR inhibitors.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.1204-1207
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• 2007

Structural analyses have shown that nucleotides at the positions 770 and 771 of Escherichia coli 16S rRNA are implicated in forming one of highly conserved intersubunit bridges of the ribosome, B2c. To examine a functional role of these residues, base substitutions were introduced at these positions and mutant ribosomes were analyzed for their protein synthesis ability using a specialized ribosome system. The results showed requirement of a pyrimidine at the position 770 for ribosome function regardless of the nucleotide identity at the position 771. Sucrose gradient profiles of ribosomes revealed that the loss of protein-synthesis ability of mutant ribosome bearing a base substitution from C to G at the position 770 stems from its inability to form 70S ribosomes. These findings indicate involvement of nucleotide at the position 770, not 771, in ribosomal subunit association and provide a useful rRNA mutation that can be used as a target to investigate the physical interaction between 16S and 23S rRNA.

• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.66-68
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• 2006

SUF machinery in Echerichia coli, responsible for the biosynthesis of iron-sulfur clusters, is composed of six protein components (SufABCDSE), among which SufB, SufC, and SufD associate in a complex. We have determined the structures of SufA, SufC, and SufD by X-ray crystallography. SufA is a dimer, in which C-terminal segments containing essential cysteine residues (Cys-Gly-Cys) are positioned to allow coordination of an Fe-S cluster and/or an Fe atom. SufC has the overall structure similar to that of ABC-ATPase but takes an inactive form. SufD has a ${\beta}-helix$ flanked with a-helical domains. We also studied the functional roles of the residues in SufD by mutagenesis and determined the crystal structure of SufCD complex. Molecular mechanism of Fe-S cluster biosynthesis is discussed on the basis of the structural and functional evidence.