• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.237-243
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• 2001

Substantial progress has been made towards understanding the folding mechanisms of proteins in virto and in vivo even though the general rules governing such folding events remain unknown. This paper reviews current folding models along with experimental approaches used to elucidate the folding pathways. Protein misfolding is discussed in relation to disease states, such as amyloidosis, and the recent findings on the mechanism of converting normally soluble proteins into amyloid fibrils through the formation of intermediates provide an insight into understanding the pathogenesis of amyloid formation and possible cules for the development of therapeutic treatments. Finally, some commonly adopted refolding strategies developed over the part decade are summarized.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.17 no.8 s.88
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• pp.1129-1134
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• 2007

In the previous our study, a cDNA that encodes protein disulfide isomerase from Bombyx mori (bPDI)was isolated and characterized. bPDI has an open reading frame of 494 amino acids contained two PDI-typical thioredoxin active site of WCGHCK and ER (endoplasmic reticulum) retention signal of the KDEL motif at its C-terminal. Recent studies have demonstrated that misfolded proteins are accumulated in many diseases including Alzheimer’s, goiter, emphysema, and prion infections. bPDI was over-expressed or knock-downed in Sf9 cells to study the relationship between bPDI expression and protections against protein misfolding. bPDI gene was cloned in insect expression vector pIZT/V5-His for over-expression and bPDI double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) was generated for knock-down. Over-expression of bPDI significantly improved survival rate, but bPDI dsRNA transfection significantly reduced survival rate after 48 hours exposure. In mock-transfected or wild-type cells had no significant effect. The results support the view that bPDI is one of the important intracellular components for cell protect mechanism, especially, against ER stress such as protein misfolding.

• BMB Reports
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.55-60
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• 2006

We describe a phage display strategy, based on the differential resistance of proteins to denaturant-induced unfolding, that can be used to select protein variants with improved conformational stability. To test the efficiency of this strategy, wild-type and two stable variants of ${\alpha}_1$-antitrypsin (${\alpha}_1AT$) were fused to the gene III protein of M13 phage. These phages were incubated in unfolding solution containing denaturant (urea or guanidinium chloride), and then subjected to an unfavorable refolding procedure (dialysis at $37^{\circ}C$). Once the ${\alpha}_1AT$ moiety of the fusion protein had unfolded in the unfolding solution, in which the denaturant concentration was higher than the unfolding transition midpoint ($C_m$) of the ${\alpha}_1AT$ variant, around 20% of the phage retained binding affinity to anti-${\alpha}_1AT$ antibody due to a low refolding efficiency. Moreover, this affinity reduced to less than 5% when 10 mg/mL skimmed milk (a misfolding-promoting additive) was included during the unfolding/refolding procedure. In contrast, most binding affinity (>95%) remained if the ${\alpha}_1AT$ variant was stable enough to resist unfolding. Because this selection procedure does not affect the infectivity of M13, the method is expected to be generally applicable to the high-throughput screening of stable protein variants, when activity-based screening is not possible.

• BMB Reports
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.37-42
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• 2017

The tubby protein (Tub), a putative transcription factor, plays important roles in the maintenance and function of neuronal cells. A splicing defect-causing mutation in the 3'-end of the tubby gene, which is predicted to disrupt the carboxy-terminal region of the Tub protein, causes maturity-onset obesity, blindness, and deafness in mice. Although this pathological Tub mutation leads to a loss of function, the precise mechanism has not yet been investigated. Here, we found that the mutant Tub proteins were mostly localized to puncta found in the perinuclear region and that the C-terminus was important for its solubility. Immunocytochemical analysis revealed that puncta of mutant Tub co-localized with the aggresome. Moreover, whereas wild-type Tub was translocated to the nucleus by extracellular signaling, the mutant forms failed to undergo such translocation. Taken together, our results suggest that the malfunctions of the Tub mutant are caused by its misfolding and subsequent localization to aggresomes.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.65-67
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• 2010

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a multifunctional intercellular organelle in which several posttranslational modification steps occurred such as protein folding, lipid biosynthesis, calcium storage and release. Perturbations that disrupt ER homeostasis lead to the misfolding of proteins in the ER lumen and up-regulation of ER signaling pathway called the unfolded protein response (UPR). Here, we have demonstrated that ageing changes the expression of ER chaperone and associated ER membrane kinases of IRE1, ATF6 and PERK.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2012

The safety of human exposure to an ever-increasing number and diversity of electromagnetic field (EMF) sources both at work and at home has become a public health issue. To date, many in vivo and in vitro studies have revealed that EMF exposure can alter cellular homeostasis, endocrine function, reproductive function, and fetal development in animal systems. Reproductive parameters reported to be altered by EMF exposure include male germ cell death, the estrous cycle, reproductive endocrine hormones, reproductive organ weights, sperm motility, early embryonic development, and pregnancy success. At the cellular level, an increase in free radicals and $[Ca^{2+}]i$ may mediate the effect of EMFs and lead to cell growth inhibition, protein misfolding, and DNA breaks. The effect of EMF exposure on reproductive function differs according to frequency and wave, strength (energy), and duration of exposure. In the present review, the effects of EMFs on reproductive function are summarized according to the types of EMF, wave type, strength, and duration of exposure at cellular and organism levels.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.47-52
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• 2020

Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) of biomolecules, a newly-found phase behavior of molecules in the liquid phase, has shown to its relationship to various biological function and misfolding diseases. Extensive studies have increasingly revealed a general mechanism of LLPS and characterized the liquid droplet; ho wever, intermolecular interactions of proteins and structural states of LLPS-inducing proteins inside of the droplet remain largely unknown. Solution NMR spectroscopy has emerged as a powerful approach as it provides invaluable information on protein intermolecular interactions and structures at the atomic and residue level. We herein comprehensively address useful techniques of solution NMR including the effect of paramagnetic relaxation enhancement for the study on the LLPS and droplet based on recent studies.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.123-131
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• 2007

Extracellular stresses induce heat shock response and render cells resistant to lethal stresses. Heat shock response involves induction of heat shock proteins (Hsps). Recently the roles of Hsps in neurodegenerative diseases and cancer are attracting increasing attention and have accelerated the study of heat shock response mechanism. This review focuses on the stress sensing steps, molecules involved in Hsps production, diseases related to Hsp malfunctions, and the potential of proteomics as a tool for understanding the complex signaling pathways relevant to these events.

• BMB Reports
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.275-280
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• 2005

For most of proteins to be active, they need well-defined three-dimensional structures alone or in complex. Folding is a process through which newly synthesized proteins get to the native state. Protein folding inside cells is assisted by various chaperones and folding factors, and misfolded proteins are eliminated by the ubiquitin-proteasome degradation system to ensure high fidelity of protein expression. Under certain circumstances, misfolded proteins escape the degradation process, yielding to deposit of protein aggregates such as loop-sheet polymer and amyloid fibril. Diseases characterized by insoluble deposits of proteins have been recognized for long time and are grouped as conformational diseases. Study of protein folding mechanism is required for better understanding of the molecular pathway of such conformational diseases.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.688-693
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• 2002

Molecular chaperones prevent the misfolding of newly synthesized polypeptides in the cell. The coexpression of molecular chaperones could be expected to improve the production of soluble and active recombinant proteins. In this study, the effect of coexpression of E. coli GroEL/ES chaperone on the active production of Bacillus macerans cyclodextrin glucanotransferase (CGTase) in E. coli was investigated. Two plasmids, pTCGT1 and pGro7 in which the cgt and the groEL/ES genes are under the control of 77 promoter and araB promoter, respectively, were co-transformed into E. coli. With a series of cultures of recombinant E. coli cells, the optimal concentrations of IPTG and L-arabinose were found be 1 mM and 0.3 mg/$m\ell$, respectively. When IPTG and L-arabinose were added at 0.8~1.0 $OD_{600}$ and 0.4~0.5 $OD_{600}$, active CGTase production was increased significantly. This coexpression condition resulted in 1.5-fold increased level of soluble CGTase (0.7~0.73 unit/$m\ell$), compared to the level of CGTase in the single expression (0.36~0.56 unit/$m\ell$). An SDS-PACE analysis revealed that about 33.6% of CGTase in the total CGTase protein was found in the soluble fraction by coexpression of GroEL/ES chaperone.