• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.161-166
• /
• 2001

The storage proteins of the mulberry longicorn beetle, Apriona germari Hope, were purified and characterized. Three kinds of storage protein (SP1, SP2 and Sp3) were purified from the last instar larval hemolymph of A. germari by the FPLC techniques, anion exchange chromatography and gel permeation chromatography. The SP1, SP2 and SP3 have a native molecular weight of 480, 440 and 420 kDa, respectively. In the SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis, these storage proteins are composed of a single protein subunit with molecular weight of 90, 85 and 80 kDa, respectively. This result showed that the storage proteins are hexameric protein. The SP1 and SP2 were stained with Schiffs reagent, but SP3 was not stained. It can be assumed that SP1 and SP2 are glycoprotein. Western blot analyses using the each of polyclonal antiserum against purified SP1, SP2 and SP3 showed that the three antibodies reacted with the each of SP bands, respectively. Also, antibodies against SP1 and SP3 cross-reacted with the SP3 and SP1, respectively. However, SP2 was not cross-reacted with these two antibodies. Also, antiserum against SP2 did not cross-reacted with the SP1 and SP3.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.86-90
• /
• 1986

The DNA methylated by Hpa II methylase was not cleaved by Sma, I, Ava I and Nae I endonucleases. This experimental data could be interpreted as strong evidences that Sma I, Ava I and Nae I methylases which yet to be isolated would methylate on the inmost cytosine nucleotide within their hexameric recognition sequences. The facts that Sma I, Ava I and Nae I endonucleases can not cleave the DNA methylated by Hpa II methylase are the valuable informations for protecting DNAs upon cleavage reactions by Sma I, Ava I and NAe I endonucleases especially for cDNA insertion experiments into vector DNAs using Sma I, Ava I and Nae I oligonucleotide linkers. In the case of Xma I endonuclease, partially cleaved DNA fragments were observed although the reaction rate was greatly decreased. This result implies that the methylation site of Xma I methylase which yet to be isolated would not be the same as that of Hpa II methylase in Xma I sequence.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Entomolohy Conference
• /
• 2002.11a
• /
• pp.141-141
• /
• 2002

• Proceedings of the Korea Crystallographic Association Conference
• /
• 2002.11a
• /
• pp.25-25
• /
• 2002

CodWX, encoded by the cod operon in Bacillus subtilis, is a member of the ATP-dependent protease complex family, and is homologous to the eukaryotic 26S proteasome. It consists of two multimeric complexes: two hexameric ATPase caps of CodX and a protease chamber consisting of CodW dodecamer. Prior structural studies have shown that the N-terminal threonine residue is solely functional as a proteolytic nucleophile in ATP-dependent proteases such as HslV and certain β-type subunits of 20S proteasome, which have a primary sequence similarity of -50% and -20% with CodW respectively. Here we present a 3.0 Å resolution crystal structure of CodW, which is the first N-terminal serine protease among the known proteolytic enzymes. In spite of the same fold and the conserved contacts between subunits with HslV in E. coli and H. influenza, this structure shows the five additional residues extending from conserved Thr1 among the other ATP-dependent pretense and extraordinary basic proteolytic chamber.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.49 no.5
• /
• pp.282-287
• /
• 2016

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is a homo-trimeric cytotoxic ligand. Several studies have demonstrated that incorporation of artificial trimerization motifs into the TRAIL protein leads to the enhancement of biological activity. Here, we show that linkage of the isoleucine zipper hexamerization motif to the N-terminus of TRAIL, referred as ILz(6):TRAIL, leads to multimerization of its trimeric form, which has higher cytotoxic activity compared to its native state. Size exclusion chromatography of ILz(6):TRAIL revealed possible existence of various forms such as trimeric, hexameric, and multimeric (possibly containing one-, two-, and multi-units of trimeric TRAIL, respectively). Increased number of multimerized ILz(6):TRAIL units corresponded with enhanced cytotoxic activity. Further, a high degree of ILz(6):TRAIL multimerization triggered rapid signaling events such as activation of caspases, tBid generation, and chromatin condensation. Taken together, these results indicate that multimerization of TRAIL significantly enhances its cytotoxic activity.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.41 no.8
• /
• pp.581-586
• /
• 2008

The pre-replication complex (pre-RC), including the core hexameric MCM2-7 complex, ensures that the eukaryotic genome is replicated only once per cell division cycle. In this study, we identified a rice $\underline{m}ini\underline{c}hromosome$ $\underline{m}aintenance$ (MCM) homologue (OsMCM2) that functionally complemented fission yeast MCM2 (CDC19) mutants. We found OsMCM2 transcript expression in roots, leaves, and seeds, although expression levels differed slightly among the organs. Likewise, the OsMCM2 protein was ubiquitously expressed, but it was downregulated when nutritients were limiting, indicating that MCM2 expression (and therefore cell cycle progression) requires adequate nutrition. Yeast two-hybrid and GST pull-down assays demonstrated that OsMCM2 interacted with the COP9 signalosome 5 (CSN5). Taken as a whole, our results indicated that OsMCM2 functions as a subunit of the rice MCM complex and interacts with CSN5 during developmental regulation.

• Journal of Photoscience
• /
• v.11 no.3
• /
• pp.121-127
• /
• 2004

The${\beta}$-glucosidases occur widely in all living organisms and has in general a tendency to form oligomers of varying numbers of subunits or aggregates, although the functional implications of such diverse oligomerization schemes remain unclear. In particular, the assembly mode of the oat ${\beta}$-glucosidase is very unique in that it multimerizes by linear stacking of a hexameric building block to form long fibrillar multimers. Some structural proteins such as actin and tubulin assemble into long fibrils in a helical fashion and several enzymes such as GroEL and Pyrodictium ATPase functional complexes, 20S proteasome of the archaebacterium Thermoplasma acidophilum, and lutamine synthetase fromblue-green algae, assemble into discrete oligomers upto 4 stacked rings to maintain their enzymatic activities. In particular, oat ${\beta}$-glucosidase exists in vivo as a discrete long fibrillar multimer assembly that is a novel structure for enzyme protein. It is assembled by linear stacking of hollow trimeric units. The fibril has a long central tunnel connecting to the outer medium via regularly distributed side fenestrations. The enzyme active sites are located within the central tunnel and multimerization increases enzyme affinity to the substrates and catalytic efficiency of the enzyme. Although it is suggested that oligomerization may contribute to the enzyme stability and catalytic efficiency of ${\beta}$-glycosidases, the functional implications of such diverse oligomerization schemes remain unclear so far.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.129-134
• /
• 2006

Lon, also known as protease La, belongs to a class of ATP-dependent serine protease. It plays an essential role in degradation of abnormal proteins and of certain short-lived regulatory proteins, and is thought to possess a Ser-Lys catalytic dyad. To examine the structural organization of Lon, we performed an electron microscope analysis. The averaged images of Lon with end-on orientation revealed a six-membered, ring-shaped structure with a central cavity. The side-on view showed a two-layered structure with an equal distribution of mass across the equatorial plane of the complex. Since a Lon subunit possesses two large regions containing nucleotide binding and proteolytic domains, each layer of the Lon hexamer appears to consist of the side projections of one of the major domains arranged in a ring. Lon showed a strong tendency to form hexamers in the presence of $Mg^{2+}$, but dissociated into monomers and/or dimers in its absence. Moreover, $Mg^{2+}$-dependent hexamer formation was independent of ATP. These results indicate that Lon has a hexameric ring-shaped structure with a central cavity, and that the establishment of this configuration requires $Mg^{2+}$, but not ATP.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.27 no.8
• /
• pp.1461-1471
• /
• 2017

Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin (LT) and its non-toxic mutant (LTm) are well-known powerful mucosal adjuvants and immunogens. However, the yields of these adjuvants from genetically engineered strains remain at extremely low levels, thereby hindering their extensive application in fundamental and clinical research. Therefore, efficient production of these adjuvant proteins from genetically engineered microbes is a huge challenge in the field of molecular biology. In order to explore the expression bottlenecks of LTm in E. coli, we constructed a series of recombinant plasmids based on various considerations and gene expression strategies. After comparing the protein expression among strains containing different recombinant plasmids, the signal sequence was found to be critical for the expression of LTm and its subunits. When the signal sequence was present, the strong hydrophobicity and instability of this amino acid sequence greatly restricted the generation of subunits. However, when the signal sequence was removed, abundantly expressed subunits formed inactive inclusion bodies that could not be assembled into the hexameric native form, although the inclusion body subunits could be refolded and the biological activity recovered in vitro. Therefore, the dilemma choice of signal sequence formed bottlenecks in the expression of LTm. These results reveal the expression bottlenecks of LTm, provide guidance for the preparation of LTm and its subunits, and certainly help to promote efficient preparation of this mucosal adjuvant protein.