• 한국진공학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 한국진공학회 2011년도 제40회 동계학술대회 초록집
• /
• pp.27-27
• /
• 2011

For the design of real applicable molecular devices, current-voltage properties through molecular nanostructures such as metal-molecule-metal junctions (molecular junctions) have been studied extensively. In thiolate monolayers on the gold electrode, the chemical bonding of sulfur to gold and the van der Waals interactions between the alkyl chains of neighboring molecules are important factors in the formation of well-defined monolayers and in the control of the electron transport rate. Charge transport through the molecular junctions depends significantly on the energy levels of molecules relative to the Fermi levels of the contacts and the electronic structure of the molecule. It is important to understand the interfacial electron transport in accordance with the increased film thickness of alkyl chains that are known as an insulating layer, but are required for molecular device fabrication. Thiol-tethered RuII terpyridine complexes were synthesized for a voltage-driven molecular switch and used to understand the switch-on mechanism of the molecular switches of single metal complexes in the solid-state molecular junction in a vacuum. Electrochemical voltammetry and current-voltage (I-V) characteristics are measured to elucidate electron transport processes in the bistable conducting states of single molecular junctions of a molecular switch, Ru(II) terpyridine complexes. (1) On the basis of the Ru-centered electrochemical reaction data, the electron transport rate increases in the mixed self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of Ru(II) terpyridine complexes, indicating strong electronic coupling between the redox center and the substrate, along the molecules. (2) In a low-conducting state before switch-on, I-V characteristics are fitted to a direct tunneling model, and the estimated tunneling decay constant across the Ru(II) terpyridine complex is found to be smaller than that of alkanethiol. (3) The threshold voltages for the switch-on from low- to high-conducting states are identical, corresponding to the electron affinity of the molecules. (4) A high-conducting state after switch-on remains in the reverse voltage sweep, and a linear relationship of the current to the voltage is obtained. These results reveal electron transport paths via the redox centers of the Ru(II) terpyridine complexes, a molecular switch.

• 한국식물학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 한국식물학회 1998년도 The 12th Symposium on Plant Biotechnology Vol.12
• /
• pp.83-96
• /
• 1998

The plant pigment proteins phytochromes are a molecular light sensor or switch for photomorphogenesis involving a variety of growth and developmental responses of plants to red and far-red wavelength light. Underscoring the photomorphogenesis mediated by phytochromes is the light signal transduction at molecular and cellular levels. For example, a number of genes activated by the phytochrome-mediated signal transduction cascade have been identified and characterized, especially in Arabidopsis thaliana. The light sensor/switch function of phytochromes are based on photochromism of the covalently linked tetrapyrrole chromophore between the two photoreversible forms, Pr and Pfr. The photochromism of phytochromes involves photoisomerization of the tetrapyrrole chromophore. The "photosensor" Pr-form ("switch off" conformation) of phytochromes strongly absorbs 660 nm red light, whereas the "switch on" Pfr-conformation preferentially absorbs 730 nm far-red light. The latter is generally considered to be responsible for eliciting transduction cascades of the red light signal for various responses of plants to red light including positive or negative expression of light-responsive genes in plant nuclei and chloroplasts. In this paper, we discuss the structure-function of phytochromes in plant growth and development, with a few examples of biotechnological implications.

• 생명과학회지
• /
• 제29권11호
• /
• pp.1179-1191
• /
• 2019

암세포는 epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT)를 통해 tumor invasion과 metastasis가 일어나며, 또한 정상세포와 다른 oncogenic metabolic phenotypes 획득 즉, glycolytic switch 등이 암 발생과 진행에 깊이 연관되어 있음이 잘 알려져 있다. High-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1)은 chromatin-associated nuclear protein으로 알려져 있으나, dying cells 또는 immune cells로부터 방출되기도 한다. 방출된 HMGB1은 damage-associated molecular pattern (DAMP)로서 작용하여 EMT 및 invasion, metastasis를 유도함으로서 tumor progression에 기여한다고 알려졌다. 본 연구에서 HMGB1에 의해 EMT와 glycolytic switch 유도되며, 이 과정은 Snail 의존적임을 확인하였다. 또한 HMGB1/Snail cascade는 COX subunits인 COXVIIa와 COXVIIc의 발현 억제를 통해 mitochondrial repression과 cytochrome c oxidase (COX) inhibition을 유도하였다. HMGB1은 Snail를 통해 glycolytic switch의 주요 효소인 hexokinase 2 (HK2), phosphofructokinase-2/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase 2 (PFKFB2), phosphoglycerate mutase 1 (PGAM1)의 발현을 증가시켰다. 이들 효소는 glycolytic switch에 중요하게 관여하는 것으로 알려져 있다. 이들 해당과정의 효소들을 knockdown한 결과 HMGB1에 의한 EMT를 억제함으로써 glycolysis와 HMGB1-induced EMT가 밀접하게 연관되어 있을 제시하였다. 이상의 연구 결과들은 HMGB1/Snail cascade가 EMT 및 glycolytic switch, mitochondrial repression에 중요하게 작용할 것임을 시사한다.

• Natural Product Sciences
• /
• 제10권5호
• /
• pp.248-251
• /
• 2004

Resveratrol has been reported to possess a variety of biological and pharmaceutical activities. Regardless of its beneficial effects on health, the amount of resveratrol in grapes is very low. In order to induce the resveratrol biosynthesis, the promoter region of a genomic fragment encoding the resveratrol synthase was isolated and a molecular switch was identified which provides us with defining biotic or abiotic inducers that transcriptionally up-regulate the gene expression involved in the resveratrol biosynthesis. We could successfully increase the amount of resveratrol in grapes up to 3-fold by using these environmental factors.

• BMB Reports
• /
• 제50권9호
• /
• pp.435-436
• /
• 2017

Primed human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) are highly dependent on glycolysis rather than oxidative phosphorylation, which is similar to the metabolic switch that occurs in cancer cells. However, the molecular mechanisms that underlie this metabolic reprogramming in hPSCs and its relevance to pluripotency remain unclear. Cha et al. (2017) recently revealed that downregulation of SIRT2 by miR-200c enhances acetylation of glycolytic enzymes and glycolysis, which in turn facilitates cellular reprogramming, suggesting that SIRT2 is a key enzyme linking the metabolic switch and pluripotency in hPSCs.

• 생명과학회지
• /
• 제27권11호
• /
• pp.1245-1255
• /
• 2017

암세포는 정상세포와는 다른 metabolism 특히 glycolytic switch를 나타낸다. Glycolytic switch는 암세포가 정상세포와 달리 산소가 충분한 상태에서도 미토콘드리아에 의존하지 않고 glycolysis를 통해 대부분의 ATP 에너지를 생성하는 현상이다. 또한 암세포는 invasion 및 metastasis 능력을 획득하기 위해 epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)를 나타낸다. EMT와 glycolytic switch는 암세포의 생존 및 증식에 관여하는 중요한 현상이지만, 이들 상호작용 및 그 기작에 대한 연구는 아직 밝혀져 있지 않다. Snail은 EMT를 유도하는 주요한 전사인자이다. 본 연구진은 이전 연구에서 Snail이 발생 및 암성장에 관여하는 전사인자인 Dlx-2에 의해 조절됨을 밝혔다. 또한 Wnt가 Dlx-2/Snail cascade을 통하여 EMT 및 glycolytic switch을 유도함을 밝혔다. 본 연구에서는 glycolytic switch가 Wnt에 의한 EMT에 미치는 영향을 규명하고자 하였다. Dlx-2/Snail의 glycolytic switch target 유전자로 phosphofructokinase-2/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase 2 (PFKFB2)를 발굴하였다. PFKFB2는 fructose-2,6-bisphosphate (F2,6BP)의 합성 및 분해에 관여하는 효소로서 glycolysis에서 중요하게 작용한다. Wnt에 의해 PFKFB2 발현이 Dlx-2/Snail 의존적으로 증가함을 관찰하였다. 또한 PFKFB2를 knockdown한 결과 Wnt에 의한 EMT가 억제되므로 glycolytic switch가 Wnt에 의한 EMT에 관여할 가능성이 높을 것으로 보인다. 뿐만 아니라 PFKFB2 shRNA가 xenograft mouse model에서 tumor 성장 및 metastasis를 억제하는 것으로 나타났다. 또한 Human 암조직에서 정상조직에 비해 PFKFB2의 발현이 높음을 관찰하였다. 따라서 PFKFB2가 Wnt-Dlx-2/Snail-induced EMT 및 metastasis에서 중요한 역할을 할 것으로 예상된다.

• BMB Reports
• /
• 제33권5호
• /
• pp.379-384
• /
• 2000

The native conformation of serpins (serine protease inhibitors) is strained. Upon cleavage of the reactive center loop of serpins by a protease, the amino terminal portion of the cleaved loop is inserted into the central ${\beta}-sheet$, A sheet, as the fourth strand, with the concomitant release of the native strain. We questioned the role of protease in this conformational switch from the strained native form into a stable relaxed state. Chemical cleavage of the reactive center loop of ${\alpha}_1-antitrypsin$, a prototype serpin, using hydroxylamine dramatically increased the stability of the serpin. A circular dichroism spectrum and peptide binding study suggests that the amino terminal portion of the reactive center loop is inserted into the A sheet in the chemically-cleaved ${\alpha}_1-antitrypsin$, as in the enzymatically-cleaved molecule. These results indicate that the structural transformation of a serpin molecule does not require interaction with a protease. The results suggest that the serpin conformational switch that occurred during the complex formation with a target protease is induced by the cleavage of the reactive center loop per se.

• BMB Reports
• /
• 제36권6호
• /
• pp.529-532
• /
• 2003

The potential physiological role and technological application of the premature termination of DNA polymerization through the off-switch of exo+ polymerases were studied using 3' phosphorothioate-modified or unmodified primers with single base mismatch distal to the 3' terminus. With exonuclease-digestible unmodified primers, a gradient premature termination of DNA polymerization was observed when amplified with exo+ polymerases. With 3' allele specific phosphorothioate-modified primers, an efficient off-switch effect occurred in the discrimination of a single nucleotide polymorphism when directly using genomic DNA. Clearly, the off-switch of exo+ polymerases is useful in biomedical research.

• BMB Reports
• /
• 제38권1호
• /
• pp.24-27
• /
• 2005

The role of 3' exonuclease excision in DNA polymerization was evaluated for primer extension using inert allele specific primers with exonuclease-digestible ddNMP at their 3' termini. Efficient primer extension was observed in amplicons where the inert allele specific primers and their corresponding templates were mismatched. However, no primer-extended products were yielded by matched amplicons with inert primers. As a control, polymerase without proofreading activity failed to yield primer extended products from inert primers regardless of whether the primers and templates were matched or mismatched. These data indicated that activation was undertaken for the inert allele specific primers through mismatch proofreading. Complementary to our previously developed SNP-operated on/off switch, in which DNA polymerization only occurs in matched amplicon, this new mutation detection assay mediated by $exo^+$ DNA polymerases has immediate applications in SNP analysis independently or in combination of the two assays.

• BMB Reports
• /
• 제35권1호
• /
• pp.19-23
• /
• 2002