• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.28-32
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• 2020

Recently, many studies have been undertaken on the wet spinning and electrospinning of silk because wet-spun fibers and electrospun webs of silk can be applied in the biomedical and cosmetic fields owing to the good biocompatibility of silk. The rheological properties of silk solution are important because they strongly affect the spinning performance of the silk solution and the structures of resultant fibrous materials. Therefore, as a preliminary study on the effect of solvent composition on the rheological properties of silk fibroin (SF) solution and structure of the resultant film, in the reported work, methanol was added to the SF formic acid solution. A small amount of methanol (i.e. 2%) added to the SF formic acid solution significantly altered the rheological properties of the solution: its shear viscosity increased by 10 folds at low shear and decreased on increasing the shear rate, demonstrating shear thinning behavior of the SF solution. Dynamic tests for the SF solution indicated that the addition of 2% methanol altered the viscous state of the SF formic acid solution to elastic. However, the molecular conformation (i.e. β-sheet conformation) of the regenerated SF film cast from formic acid remained unchanged on the addition of 2% methanol.

• BMB Reports
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.131-138
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• 2015

Cardiac hypertrophy is a form of global remodeling, although the initial step seems to be an adaptation to increased hemodynamic demands. The characteristics of cardiac hypertrophy include the functional reactivation of the arrested fetal gene program, where histone deacetylases (HDACs) are closely linked in the development of the process. To date, mammalian HDACs are divided into four classes: I, II, III, and IV. By structural similarities, class II HDACs are then subdivided into IIa and IIb. Among class I and II HDACs, HDAC2, 4, 5, and 9 have been reported to be involved in hypertrophic responses; HDAC4, 5, and 9 are negative regulators, whereas HDAC2 is a pro-hypertrophic mediator. The molecular function and regulation of class IIa HDACs depend largely on the phosphorylation-mediated cytosolic redistribution, whereas those of HDAC2 take place primarily in the nucleus. In response to stresses, posttranslational modification (PTM) processes, dynamic modifications after the translation of proteins, are involved in the regulation of the activities of those hypertrophy-related HDACs. In this article, we briefly review 1) the activation of HDAC2 in the development of cardiac hypertrophy and 2) the PTM of HDAC2 and its implications in the regulation of HDAC2 activity.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.253-266
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• 2006

Bone is a dynamic tissue that is constantly being remodelled. Resolution of bone and formation of new bone are closely linked, so that bone mass remains constant. With age, this process becomes unlinked with an imbalance in bore resorption and formation that results in a net loss of bone. Especially, osteoporosis is a disease characterized by low bone mass with age. One form of aging-related primary osteoporosis is postulated with the reduction of circulating estrogen, rapid bone loss occurs as a result of enhanced bore remodelling with an excess of resorption over bore formation. The oxidative stress is also involved in the pathogenesis of osteoporosis. Oxidative stress by cytokines, such as IL-a and TNF-${\alpha}$, inhibits osteoblast function in vitro and stimulates osteoblast apoptosis resulting in an imbalance in bore remodelling. The present article reviews the current perspectives on the interaction between bone remodelling and factors such as estrogen and oxidative stress, providing an interpretation of bone diseases in a view of molecular mechanisms.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.41-52
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• 2014

Embryonic genome activation (EGA) is a highly complex phenomenon that is controlled at various levels. New studies have ascertained some molecular mechanisms that control EGA in several species; it is apparent that these same mechanisms regulate EGA in all species. Protein phosphorylation, DNA methylation and histone modification regulate transcriptional activities, and mechanisms such as ubiquitination, SUMOylation and microRNAs post-transcriptionally regulate development. Each of these regulations is highly dynamic in the early embryo. A better understanding of these regulatory strategies can provide the possibility to improve the reproductive properties in mammals such as pigs, to develop methods of generating high-quality embryos in vitro, and to find markers for selecting developmentally competent embryos.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.85-105
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• 1998

Prions cause neurodegenerative diseases in animals and humans. The scrapie prion protein (PrPSc) is the major-possibly only-component of the infectious prion and is generated from the cellular isoform (PrPC) by a conformational change. Limited proteolysis of PrPSc produces an polypeptide comprised primarily of residues 90 to 231, which retains infectivity. The three-dimensional structure of rPrP(90-231), a recombinant protein resembling PrPC with the Syrian hamster (SHa) sequence, was solved using multidimensional NMR. Low-resolution structures of rPrP(90-231), synthetic peptides up to 56 residues, a longer (29-231, full-length) protein with SHa sequence, and a short here further structure refinement of rPrP(90-231) and dynamic features of the protein. Consideration of these features in the context of published data suggests regions of conformational heterogeneity, structural elements involved in the PrPC\longrightarrowPrPSc transformation, and possible structural features related to a species barrier to transmission of prion diseases.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.117-126
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• 2010

Hsp33 is a molecular chaperone achieving a holdase activity upon response to a dual stress by heat and oxidation. Despite several crystal structures available, the activation process is not clearly understood, because the structure inactive Hsp33 as its reduced, zinc-bound, monomeric form has not been solved yet. Thus, we initiated structural investigation of the reduced Hsp33 monomer by NMR. In this study, to overcome the high molecular weight (33 kDa), the protein was triply isotope-[$^{13}C$, $^{15}N$, $^2H$]-labeled and its inactive, monomeric state was ensured. 2D-[$^1H$, $^{15}N$]-TROSY and a series of triple resonance spectra could be successfully obtained on a high-field (900 MHz) NMR machine with a cryoprobe. However, under all of the different conditions tested, the number of resonances observed was significantly less than that expected from the amino acid sequence. Thus, a possible contribution of dynamic conformational exchange leading to a line broadening is suggested that might be important for activation process of Hsp33.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.55-64
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• 2018

Autophagy is an intracellular degradation pathway for large protein aggregates and damaged organelles. Recent studies have indicated that autophagy targets cargoes through a selective degradation pathway called selective autophagy. Peroxisomes are dynamic organelles that are crucial for health and development. Pexophagy is selective autophagy that targets peroxisomes and is essential for the maintenance of homeostasis of peroxisomes, which is necessary in the prevention of various peroxisome-related disorders. However, the mechanisms by which pexophagy is regulated and the key players that induce and modulate pexophagy are largely unknown. In this review, we focus on our current understanding of how pexophagy is induced and regulated, and the selective adaptors involved in mediating pexophagy. Furthermore, we discuss current findings on the roles of pexophagy in physiological and pathological responses, which provide insight into the clinical relevance of pexophagy regulation. Understanding how pexophagy interacts with various biological functions will provide fundamental insights into the function of pexophagy and facilitate the development of novel therapeutics against peroxisomal dysfunction-related diseases.

• BMB Reports
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• v.44 no.12
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• pp.765-771
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• 2011

Cancer treatment has been stratified by companion biomarker tests that serve to provide information on the genetic status of cancer patients and to identify patients who can be expected to respond to a given treatment. This stratification guarantees better efficiency and safety during treatment. Cancer patients, however, marginally benefit from the current companion biomarker-aided treatment regimens, presumably because companion biomarker tests are dependent solely on the mutation status of several genes status quo. In the true sense of the term, "personalized medicine", cancer patients are deemed to be identified individually by their molecular signatures, which are not necessarily confined to genetic mutations. Glycosylation is tremendously dynamic and shows alterations in cancer. Evidence is accumulating that aberrant glycosylation contributes to the development and progression of cancer, holding the promise for use of glycosylation status as a companion biomarker in cancer treatment. There are, however, several challenges derived from the lack of a reliable detection system for aberrant glycosylation, and a limited library of aberrant glycosylation. The challenges should be addressed if glycosylation status is to be used as a companion biomarker in cancer treatment and contribute to the fulfillment of personalized medicine.

• BMB Reports
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.166-171
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• 2009

Hsp70s assist in the process of protein folding through nucleotide-controlled cycles of substrate binding and release by alternating from an ATP-bound state in which the affinity for substrate is low to an ADP-bound state in which the affinity for substrate is high. It has been long recognized that the two-domain structure of Hsp70 is critical for these regulated interactions. Therefore, it is important to obtain information about conformational changes in the relative positions of Hsp70 domains caused by nucleotide binding. In this study, analytical ultracentrifugation and dynamic light scattering were used to evaluate the effect of ADP and ATP binding on the conformation of the human stress-induced Hsp70.1 protein. The results of these experiments showed that ATP had a larger effect on the conformation of Hsp70 than ADP. In agreement with previous biochemical experiments, our results suggest that conformational changes caused by nucleotide binding are a consequence of the movement in position of both nucleotide- and substrate-binding domains.

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2002.08a
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• pp.419-422
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• 2002

We have studied dielectric properties in the smectic phases of 4-(6-ethoxy-1-trifluoromethyl-hexyloxycarbonyl)-phenyl-4-Nonyloxybiphenyl-4-carboxylat ( TFMEOHPNBC ) having fluorine attached to one of its benzene rings. Homogeneous and homeotropic 1.5 and 5${\mu}m$ thick test cells were prepared to analyze molecular dynamic property. We measured capacitance as a function of temperature in the frequency range between 20 Hz and 100 kHz by using HP4284A LCR meter. We observed that the homogeneous cell has high dielectric constant causing dipole moment in smectic $C^{\ast}$ phase, but we can see the dipole moments are canceled out in antiferroelectric phase. It is found that there are two kind of the relaxation director fluctuation below 100 kHz. The first is ionic or space charge contribution below 10 Hz, and the second is Goldstone mode near 1-2 kHz. We will discuss molecular dynamics in smectic phase from extra information such as x-ray and electrooptic data.