• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제26권6호
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• pp.1132-1139
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• 2016

Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease caused by Brucella, a genus of gram-negative bacteria. Cytokines have key roles in the activation of innate and acquired immunities. Despite several research attempts to reveal the immune responses, the mechanism of Brucella infection remains unclear. Therefore, immune responses were analyzed in mice immunized with nine recombinant proteins. Cytokine production profiles were analyzed in the RAW 264.7 cells and naive splenocytes after stimulation with three recombinant proteins, metal-dependent hydrolase (r0628), bacterioferritin (rBfr), and thiamine transporter substrate-binding protein (rTbpA). Immune responses were analyzed by ELISA and ELISpot assay after immunization with proteins in mice. The production levels of NO, TNF-α, and IL-6 were time-dependently increased after having been stimulated with proteins in the RAW 264.7 cells. In naive splenocytes, the production of IFN-γ and IL-2 was increased after stimulation with the proteins. It was concluded that two recombinant proteins, r0628 and rTbpA, showed strong immunogenicity that was induced with Th1-related cytokines IFN-γ, IL-2, and TNF-α more than Th2-related cytokines IL-6, IL-4, and IL-5 in vitro. Conversely, a humoral immune response was activated by increasing the number of antigen-secreting cells specifically. Furthermore, these could be candidate diagnosis antigens for better understanding of brucellosis.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• 제49권4호
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• pp.293-297
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• 2006

포유류의 조직에 널리 분포되어 있으며 혈압 조절에 중요한 역할을 하는 Angiotensin-converting enzyme(ACE)은 아연을 함유하는 dipeptidase로서 angiotensin I을 가수분해하여 강력한 혈압상승제인 angiotensin II를 생성하는 효소이다. 최근에 돼지의 난소에서 ACE 활성이 측정되었으며, 돼지의 신장에서 ACE 단백질이 분리되어 그 특성이 알려졌다. 그러나 돼지의 어떠한 ACE DNA 염기서열도 아직까지 보고 된 바는 없다. 그러므로 본 연구에서 reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR)을 이용하여 돼지의 신장 ACE cDNA를 클로닝하고 그 염기서열을 분석하였다. ACE cDNA는 1309개의 아미노산으로 구성되어 있으며 그 분자량은 150kDa이다. 염기서열로부터 유추한 아미노산의 서열을 분석한 결과, N 말단의 33개 아미노산이 signal peptide 역할을 하는 것으로 보이며, C 말단 근처의 짧은 transmembrane 영역은 세포막에 anchor역할을 하는 것으로 보인다. 돼지 신장의 ACE에서 두 개의 매우 유사한 amino acid peptidase domain은 tandem duplication 되어 있으며, 각각의 domain은 다른 포유류의 체세포 ACE들과 마찬가지로 putative metal-binding site(His-Glu-Met-Gly-His)를 하나씩 가지고 있는 것으로 나타났다. 돼지 신장 ACE 서열과 인간, 토끼, 쥐 등과 같은 포유류의 ACE 아미노산 서열들과의 상동성 비교는 진화과정 중 두 domain이 매우 잘 보전되어 왔음을 보여주고 있다.

• KSBB Journal
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• 제17권2호
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• pp.153-157
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• 2002

Poly-Iysine이 tagging된 hEGF와 angiogenin(6L10ESA)의 융합단백질의 고체상 재접힘이 heparin-Sepharose colullln에서 수행되었을 때, untagging 단백질(E5h)의 기존의 액상 재접힘 방법과 비교하여 재접힘 수율은 약 13배 정도 증가하였다. 게다가 poly-Iysine tagging된angiogenin은 heparin에 친화도를 높여주므로 2.5배에서 3배 정도의 흡탁 수율이 증가한다. 재접힘 수율은 고체상 반응으로 인해 높은 재현성을 보였다. 재접힘 공정시간은 대략 8배 단축되었다. 고체상 재전힘된 단백질은 자신의 생물학적 역가를 유지하였다. 따라서 이 연구는 고체상 재접힘 방법이 분자간의 상호작용을 억제하여 응집현상을 현저히 줄였기 때문에 기인한 결과로 생각된다. 따라서 응집으로 인한 재접힘 수율이 낮은 단백질의 재접힘 긍정에 고체상 재접힘 공정을 사용하면 높은 재접힘 수율을 얻을 수 있다.

• 한국패류학회지
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• 제22권1호
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• pp.87-95
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• 2006

본 연구에서는 남극삿갓조개 (Nacella concinna) 의 장 (intestine)의 중금속 농축에 관하여 알아보고자 카드뮴 노출실험을 실시한 후 중금속에 노출 시 동물체내에서 유도되는 단백질 중의 하나인 metallothionein을 면역조직화학적 방법으로 추적하고 투과전자현미경 (transmission electron microscope) 을 이용하여 세포의 미세구조의 변화를 알아보았다. 더불어 SEM-EDS 장비를 이용한 원소분석을 통해 중금속의 분포를 알아보아 중금속의 축적 및 해독기작에 대한 기초자료를 얻고자 수행되었다. Metallothionein의 분포를 살펴보기 위하여 면역조직화학적 실험이 수행된 바, 중금속이 농축되고있는 삿갓조개의 장상피세포의 첨단부에 metallothionein이 많이 존재하고 있음을 알 수 있었으며, 미세구조 관찰결과 노출시간이 경과함에 따라 핵막의 팽창, whorl 구조의 출현, 핵 내 봉입체를 관찰할 수 있었다. SEM-EDS 관찰결과 카드뮴 노출결과, 황이 급격하게 줄어들었고, 칼슘과 아연이 상대적으로 증가하는 양상을 관찰 할 수 있었다. 이상에서와 같이 Cd 노출의 정도에 따라 비교적 빠른 세포반응을 보이는 남극삿갓조개의 특징은 자연 상태에서 Cd의 노출에 따른 효과적인 생물 지표종으로서 가치가 있는 것으로 사료된다.

• KSBB Journal
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• 제10권5호
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• pp.475-481
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• 1995

금속결합 단백질인 metallothionein (MT) 유전자 의 발현이 효모의 중금속 내성과 제거 특성에 미치는 영향을 살펴보았다 MT유전자로 형질전환된 재조합 효모는 숙주세포에 비해서 $Cu^{2+}$내성이 3배 이상 증가하였으나, $Cr^{2+}, Pb^{2+}, Znr^{2+}$에 대한 내성은 숙주세포와 별차이가 없었다. 재조합효모는 8mM $CuSP_4$를 함유하며 포도당을 탄소원으로 한 배지에서 18.9mg $Cu^{2+}$/g dry cell로 $Cu^{2+}$를 제거하였다. $Cu^{2+} 와 Zn^{2+}$의 훈합배지에서 $Cu^{2+}$가 존재함으로써 $Zn^{2+}$이 효모에 미치는 독성을 완하시켜 효모의 생육 속도와 최종균체농도를 증가시켰다. 재조합효모의 $Cu^{2+}$ 제거량은 배지중 $Cu^{2+}$농도에 비례하였다. $Cu^{2+}$ 농도가 2배, 3배 증가할 때 균체 g당 $Cu^{2+}$제거량은 각각 2.3배, 3.1배 증가하였다. 그러나 $Cu^{2+}$제거효 율은 $Cu^{2+}$농도와 무관하게 거의 얼정한 값인 57% 를 보였다. $Zn^{2+}$제거량은 $Zn^{2+}$농도에 비례하나 증가율은 $Cu^{2+}$간에 비하여 매우 낮았다.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 한국균학회 2015년도 춘계학술대회 및 임시총회
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• pp.13-13
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• 2015

Rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae, is the most destructive pathogen of rice in the world. This fungus has a biotrophic phase early in infection and switches to a necrotrophic lifestyle after host cell death. During the biotrophic phase, the fungus competes with host for nutrients and oxygen. Continuous uptake of oxygen is essential for successful establishment of blast disease of this pathogen. Here, we report transcriptional responses of the fungus to oxygen limitation. Transcriptome analysis using RNA-Seq identified 1,047 up-regulated genes in response to hypoxia. Those genes were involved in mycelial development, sterol biosynthesis, and metal ion transport based on hierarchical GO terms and well-conserved among three different fungal species. In addition, null mutants of three hypoxia-responsive genes were generated and tested for their roles on fungal development and pathogenicity. The mutants for a sterol regulatory element-binding protein gene, MoSRE1, and C4 methyl sterol oxidase gene, ERG25, exhibited increased sensitivity to hypoxia-mimetic agent, increased conidiation, and delayed invasive growth within host cells, suggesting important roles in fungal development. However, such defects did not cause any significant decrease in disease severity. The other null mutant for alcohol dehydrogenase gene, MoADH1, showed no defect in the hypoxia-mimic condition and fungal development. Taken together, this comprehensive transcriptional profiling in response to a hypoxia condition with experimental validations would provide new insights on fungal development and pathogenicity in plant pathogenic fungi.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 한국균학회 2015년도 춘계학술대회 및 임시총회
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• pp.61-61
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• 2015

Rice blast, caused by the fungal pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae, is one of the most destructive diseases of rice worldwide. The rice - M. oryzae pathosystem has become a model in the study of plant - fungal interactions due to its economic importance and accumulating knowledge. During the evolutionary arms race with M. oryzae, rice plants evolved a repertoire of Resistance (R) genes to protect themselves from diseases in a gene-for-gene fashion. M. oryzae secretes a battery of small effector proteins to manipulate host functions for its successful infection, and some of them are recognized by host R proteins as avirulence effectors (AVR), which turns on strong immunity. Therefore, the analysis of interactions between AVRs and their cognate R proteins provide crucial insights into the molecular basis of plant - fungal interactions. Rice blast resistance genes Pik, Pia, Pii comprise pairs of protein-coding ORFs, Pik-1 and Pik-2, RGA4 and RGA5, Pii-1 and Pii-2, respectively. In all three cases, the paired genes are tightly linked and oriented to the opposite directions. In the AVR-Pik/Pik interaction, it has been unraveled that AVR-Pik binds to the N-terminal coiled-coil domain of Pik-1. RGA4 and RGA5 are necessary and sufficient to mediate Pia resistance and recognize the M. oryzae effectors AVR-Pia and AVR1-CO39. A domain at the C-terminus of RGA5 characterized by a heavy metal associated domain was identified as the AVR-binding domain of RGA5. Similarly, physical interactions among Pii-1, Pii-2 and AVR-Pii are being analyzed.

• BMB Reports
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• 제33권2호
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• pp.172-178
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• 2000

The lipoxygenase was purified 35 fold to homogeneity from the Korean red potato by an ammonium sulfate precipitation and DEAE-cellulose column chromatography. The simple purification method is useful for the preparation of pure lipoxygenase. The molecular weight of the enzyme was estimated to be 38,000 by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoreses and Sepharose 6B column chromatography. The purified enzyme with 2 M $(NH_4)_2SO_4$ in a potassium phosphate buffer, pH 7.0, was very stable for 5 months at $-20^{\circ}C$. Because the purified lipoxygenase is very stable, it could be useful for the screening of a lipoxygenase inhibitor. The optimal pH and temperature for lipoxygenase purified from the red potato were found to be pH 9.0. and $30^{\circ}C$, respectively. The Km and Vmax values for linoleic acid of the lipoxygenase purified from the red potato were $48\;{\mu}M$ and $0.03\;{\mu}M$ per minute per milligram of protein, respectively. The enzyme was insensitive to the metal chelating agents tested (2 mM KCN, 1 and 10mM EDTA, and 1 mM $NaN_3$), but was inhibited by several divalent cations, such as $Cu^{++}$, $Co^{++}$ and $Ni^{++}$. The essential amino acids that were involved in the catalytic mechanism of the 5-lipoxygenase from the Korean red potato were determined by chemical modification studies. The catalytic activity of lipoxygenase from the red potato was seriously reduced after treatment with a diethylpyrocarbonate (DEPC) modifying histidine residue and Woodward's reagent (WRK) modifying aspartic/glutamic acid. The inactivation reaction of DEPC (WRK) processed in the form of pseudo-first-order kinetics. The double-logarithmic plot of the observed pseudo-first-order rate constant against the modifier concentration yielded a reaction order 2, indicating that two histidine residues (carboxylic acids) were essential for the lipoxygenase activity from the red potato. The linoleic acid protected the enzyme against inactivation by DEPC(WRK), revealing that histidine and carboxylic amino acids residues were present at the substrate binding site of the enzyme molecules.

• 한국환경독성학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국환경독성학회 2003년도 춘계학술대회
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• pp.107-107
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• 2003

The heavy metal cadmium is a xenobiotic toxicant of environmental and occupational concern and it has been classified as a human carcinogen. Inhalation of cadmium has been implicated in the development of emphysema and pulmonary fibrosis, but, the detailed mechanism by which cadmium induces adverse biological effects is not yet known. Therefore, we undertook the investigation of genes that are induced after cadmium exposure to illustrate the mechanism of cadmium toxicity For this purpose, we employed the polymerase chain reaction-based suppression subtractive hybridization technique. We identified 29 different cadmium-inducible genes in human peripheral mononuclear cells, such as macrophage migration inhibitory factor, lysophosphatidic acid acyltransferase-${\alpha}$, enolase-1${\alpha}$, VEGF, Bax, neuron-derived orphan receptor-1, and Nur77, which are known to be associated with inflammation, cell survival, and apoptosis. Induction of these genes by cadmium treatment was further confirmed by semi-quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. Further, we found that these genes were also induced after cadmium exposure in normal human lung fibroblast cell line, WI-38, suggesting potential use of this induction profile to monitor cadmium toxicity in the lung. Next, Nur77, one of cadmium-inducible genes, was further studied since the products of Nur77 are known to be involved in the apoptotic process of lung cells. Following cadmium treatment, Nur77 gene expression was increased at protein-level in A549 cells. Consistently, the reporter containing Nur77 binding sequence was activated by 2.5-fold after exposure to cadmium in reporter gene analysis by transient transfection experiments. When the plasmid encoding dominant negative Nur77 that represses the transcriptional function of wild-type Nur77 was transfected into A549 cells, the expression of Bax was significantly reduced, suggesting that induction of Nur77 was an important process in cadmium-induced apoptosis in the cells. Cadmium induced the expression of Nur77 in vivo, confirming the relevance of the data obtained in viro. Together our results suggest that Nur77 gene expression in exposure to cadmium leads apoptosis of lung cells which may cause pathological changes in lung.

• 대한치과교정학회지
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• 제32권6호
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• pp.443-453
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• 2002

본 연구의 목적은 다양한 교정용 브라켓의 표면에 형성되는 타액성 피막의 조성을 확인하고, 전타액, 악하선타액 및 이 하선타액에서 유래하는 타액성 피막의 성분을 비교하는 것이다. 네 가지 서로 다른 종류의 교정용 브라켓을 본 연구에 사용하였다. 이들은 $022{\times}028$ Roth Prescription의 상악 소구치 브라켓으로 조성은 다음과 같다: 스테인레스 스틸, 단결정 사파이어, 다결정 알루미나 및 플라스틱 브라켓. 교정용 브라켓을 각각 전타액, 이하선타액 및 악하선타액에 2시간 배양하여 타액성 피막을 형성시켰다 브라켓 피막의 타액성분은 sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, Western transfer method 및 면역검출법을 통해 확인하였다. 이 결과 low-molecular weight salivary mucin, ${\alpha}-amylase$, secretory IgA (sIgA), acidic proline-rich proteins, cystatins 등이 모든 브라켓의 타액성 피막에 존재하였으며, 치아우식증의 원인균인 Streptococcus mutans의 부착을 촉진시키는 타액단백질인 high-molecular weight mucin은 어떤 브라켓에도 부착하지 않았다. 그러나, 비록 동일한 타액단백질이 모든 브라켓에서 발견되었지만, 타액단백질 부착 양상은 타액의 종류 및 브라켓의 종류에 따라 양적 및 질적으로 다르게 나타났다. 특히 sIgA는 이하선타액에서 유래한 브라켓 피막에 더 많이 부착하였고, cystatins의 경우는 플라스틱 브라켓에서 유래한 브라켓 피막에 더 많이 존재하였다 본 연구는 다양한 타액단백질이 교정용 브라켓에 부착하며, 타액단백질이 타액의 출처 및 브라켓의 종류에 따라 교정용 브라켓의 표면에 선택적으로 부착함을 나타내었다.