• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.307-312
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• 2010

Poly (ether sulfone)s with Bisphenol-TP and Bisphenol-AF were prepared with Bisphenol-TP <4,4-dihydroxy tetraphenyl methane>, 4-Fluorophenyl sulfone, and Bisphenol-AF <4,4-(hexafluoroisopropylidene) diphenol> using Potassium carbonate in Sulfolane at $210^{\circ}C$. Sulfonated PBTP-AF were obtained by reaction of Chlorosulfuric acid with copolymers. A series of copolymers were studied by $^1H$-NMR spectroscopy, Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC), and Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (TGA). Sorption experiments were conducted to observe the interaction of polymers with water and methanol.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.288-292
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• 2006

Through statistically designed experiments, lysis agents were optimized to effectively disrupt bacterial cells in a microfluidic device. Most surfactants caused the efficient lysis of Gram-positive microbes, but not of Gram-negative bacteria. A Plackett-Burman design was used to select the components that increase the efficiency of the lysis of the Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli. Using this experimental design, both lysozyme and benzalkonium chloride were shown to significantly increase the cell lysis efficiency, and ATP was extracted in proportion to the lysis efficiency. Benzalkonium chloride affected the cell membrane physically, while lysozyme destroyed the cell wall, and the amount of ATP extracted increased through the synergistic interaction of these two components. The two-factor response-surface design method was used to determine the optimum concentrations of lysozyme and benzalkonium chloride, which were found to be 202 and 99 ppm, respectively. The lysis effect was further verified by microscopic observations in the microchannels. These results indicate that Gram-negative cells can be lysed efficiently in a microfluidic device, thereby allowing the rapid detection of bacterial cells using a bioluminescence-based assay of the released ATP.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.58-62
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• 2014

Human transmembrane proteins (hTMPs) are closely related to transport, channel formation, signaling, cell to cell interaction, so they are the crucial target of modern medicinal drugs. In order to study the structure and function of these hTMPs, it is important to prepare reasonable amounts of proteins. However, their preparation is seriously difficult and time-consuming due to insufficient yields and low solubility of hTMPs. We tried to produce large amounts of Syndecan-4 transmembrane domain (Syd4-TM) that is related to the healing wounds and tumor for a long time. In this study, we performed the structure determination of Syd4-TM combining the Polarity Index at Slanted Angle (PISA) wheel pattern analysis based on $^{15}N-^1H$ 2D SAMPI-4 solid-state NMR of expressed Syd4-TM and Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulation using Discovery Studio 3.1.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.36-42
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• 2017

In this work, we isolated a surface layer protein (SLP) from a Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) strain to evaluate it cytotoxic effects against MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells. AP11 was selected from a g roup of Bt strains using SLP olig onucleotides developed from Bacillus conserved regions. The AP11 strain was grown in Luria Bertani medium until the late exponential phase; an 86 kDa protein was extracted using 5 M LiCl and identified by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. It corresponded to a multispecies SLP highly similar to previously described SLPs in Bt. The MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells $LC_{50}$ was obtained using $0.25{\mu}g/ml$ of the isolated SLP. HaCat non-cancerous cells presented 90% survival using the same protein concentration. Our data suggest that SLP cytotoxicity against MDA-MB-231 could be induced by an interaction with the CDH11 cell membrane receptor.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.129-137
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• 2016

Transmembrane(TM) proteins are closely related to transport, channel formation, signaling, cell to cell interaction, so they are the crucial target of modern medicinal drugs. In order to study the structure and function of these TM proteins, it is important to prepare reasonable amounts of proteins. However, their preparation is seriously difficult and time-consuming due to insufficient yields and low solubility of TM proteins. We tried to produce large amounts of Syndecan-4 containing TM domain(SDC4-TM) that is related to the wound healing and tumor. Also, mutated SDC4-TM was studied to investigate structural change by modification of dimerization motif. We performed the structure determination by the Polarity Index at Slanted Angle (PISA) wheel pattern analysis based on $^{15}N-^1H$ 2D SAMPI-4 solid-state NMR of SDC4-TM and computational modeling using Discovery Studio 2016.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.343-347
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• 2007

Novel composite membranes, which delivered high separation performance for propylene/propane mixtures, were developed by coating inert poly(ethylene-co-propylene) rubber (EPR) onto a porous polyester substrate, followed by the physical distribution of $AgBF_4$. Scanning electron microscopy-wavelength dispersive spectrometer (SEM-WDS) revealed that silver salts were uniformly distributed in the EPR layer. The physical dispersion of the silver salts in the inert polymer matrix, without specific interaction, was characterized by FT-IR and FT-Raman spectroscopy. The high separation performance was presumed to stem from the in-situ dissolution of crystalline silver ionic aggregates into free silver ions, which acted as an active propylene carrier within a propylene environment, leading to facilitated propylene transport through the membranes. The membranes were functional at all silver loading levels, exhibiting an unusually low threshold carrier concentration (less than 0.06 of silver weight fraction). The separation properties of these membranes, i.e. the mixed gas selectivity of propylene/propane ${\sim}55$ and mixed gas permeance ${\sim}7$ GPU, were stable for several days.

• BMB Reports
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• v.47 no.10
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• pp.531-539
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• 2014

All living cells release extracellular vesicles having pleiotropic functions in intercellular communication. Mammalian extracellular vesicles, also known as exosomes and microvesicles, are spherical bilayered proteolipids composed of various bioactive molecules, including RNAs, DNAs, proteins, and lipids. Extracellular vesicles directly and indirectly control a diverse range of biological processes by transferring membrane proteins, signaling molecules, mRNAs, and miRNAs, and activating receptors of recipient cells. The active interaction of extracellular vesicles with other cells regulates various physiological and pathological conditions, including cancer, infectious diseases, and neurodegenerative disorders. Recent developments in high-throughput proteomics, transcriptomics, and lipidomics tools have provided ample data on the common and specific components of various types of extracellular vesicles. These studies may contribute to the understanding of the molecular mechanism involved in vesicular cargo sorting and the biogenesis of extracellular vesicles, and, further, to the identification of disease-specific biomarkers. This review focuses on the components, functions, and therapeutic and diagnostic potential of extracellular vesicles under various pathophysiological conditions.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.60 no.1
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• pp.111-130
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• 2016

Two new elements with six degrees of freedom are proposed by applying the equilibrium conditions and strain-displacement equations. The first element is formulated for the infinite ratio of beam radius to thickness. In the second one, theory of the thick beam is used. Advantage of these elements is that by utilizing only one element, the exact solution will be obtained. Due to incorporating equilibrium conditions in the presented formulations, both proposed elements gave the precise internal forces. By solving some numerical tests, the high performance of the recommended formulations and also, interaction effects of the bending and axial forces will be demonstrated. While the second element has less error than the first one in thick regimes, the first element can be used for all regimes due to simplicity and good convergence. Based on static responses, it can be deduced that the first element is efficient for all the range of structural characteristics. The free vibration analysis will be performed using the first element. The results of static and dynamic tests show no deficiency, such as, shear and membrane locking and excessive stiff structural behavior.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.73-88
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• 2017

Adsorption kinetics of aqueous ferric ion ($Fe^{3+}$) onto bio-natural rice grains (BRG) have been studied in a batch system. The influence of contact time (0-180 minutes), the dosage of BRG adsorbent (10, 20, 40, and $60gL^{-1}$), and ambient temperature (27, 37, 47, and $57^{\circ}C$) for the adsorption system have been reported. The equilibrium time achieved after 20 minutes of adsorption contact time. The maximum removal of ferric ion is 99% by using $60gL^{-1}$ of BRG, $T=37^{\circ}C$, and $50mgL^{-1}$ ferric ion solution. Adsorption kinetic and diffusion models, such as pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order, and Weber-Morris intra-particle diffusion model, have been used to describe the adsorption rate and mechanism of the ferric ion onto BRG surface. The sorption data results are fitted by Lagergren pseudo-second order model ($R^2=1.0$). The kinetic parameters, rate constant, and sorption capacities have been calculated. The new information in this study suggests that BRG could adsorb ferric ion from water physiosorption during the first 5 minutes. Afterward, the electrostatic interaction between ferric ion and BGR-surface could take place as a very weak chemisorptions process. Thus, there is no significant change could be noticed in the FTIR spectra after adsorption. I recommend producing BGR as a bio-natural filtering material for removing the ferric ion from water.

• BMB Reports
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.23-28
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• 2010

Binary toxin consisting of BinA and BinB from Bacillus sphaericus is toxic to mosquito larvae. BinB is responsible for specific binding to the larval gut cell membrane while BinA is crucial for toxicity. To investigate functional role of cysteine in BinB, three cysteine residues at positions 67, 161, and 241 were replaced by alanine or serine. Mutations at these positions did not affect protein production and overall structure of BinB. These cysteine residues are not involved in disulfide bond formation between BinB molecules. Mosquito-larvicidal assays revealed that C67 and C161 are essential for toxicity, whereas C241 is not. Mutations at C67 and C161 resulted in weaker BinA-BinB interaction. The loss of toxicity may be due to the reduction of interactions between BinA and BinB or BinB and its receptor. C67 and C161 could also play a part during conformational changes or internalization of the binary toxin into the target cell.