• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.84-87
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• 2001

Multimeric angiotensin-converting-enzyme-inhibitor (ACE}) containing a trypsin cleavable linker peptide between ACEI was constructed. We made synthetic DNA coding for the ACEI peptide with asymmetric and complementary cohesive ends of linker nucleotides. A tandemly repeated DNA cassette for the expression of concatameric short peptide multimers was constructed by ligating the basic units. The resultant multimeric peptide expressed as soluble and trypsin treated peptide was shown at the same retention time with chemically synthetic ACEI by HPLC. The present results showed that the technique developed for the production of the ACEI multimers with trypsin cleavable linker peptides can be generally applicable to the production of short peptide.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.303-310
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• 1999

A cost-effective mass production method for a strong antimicrobial peptide, buforin II, which was isolated from the stomach of Bufo bufo gargarizans, has been developed. This method is based on the neutralization of the positive charge of buforin II by fusion with a cysteine-rich acidic peptide (CAP) to avoid any lethal effect on the host. The neutralized fusion peptide was multimerized and expressed in Escherichia coli as tandem repeats to increase the production yield. Multimers of the CAP-buforin II fusion peptide were successfully expressed at high levels in E. coli as inclusion bodies. More than 100mg of pure buforin II was obtained per 11 of E. coli culture after cleaving the multimeric polypeptide with CNBr. The buforin II obtained from the recombinant E. coli had antimicrobial activity identical to that of natural buforin II. The proposed expression system can provide a cost-effective mass production method for both antimicrobial peptides and other host-lethal basic proteins.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.34-41
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• 1998

A method was developed for the controlled expression of an antimicrobial peptide magainin in Escherichia coli. A series of concatemeric magainin genes was constructed with a gene amplification vector, and fused to the 3'end of malE gene encoding the affinity ligand, E. coli maltose-binding protein (MBP). The construct directed the synthesis of the fusion protein with the magainin polypeptide fused to the C-terminus of MBP. The fusion protein was expressed in a tightly regulatable expression system which was under the control of an invertible promoter. The MBP-fused magainin monomer was expressed efficiently. However, the expression level of the MBP-fused magainin in E. coli decreased with the increasing size of multimers possibly because of the transcription and translation inhibition by the multimeric peptides. After purification using an amylose affinity column, the fusion protein was digested by factor Xa at a specific cleavage site between the monomers. The recombinant magainin had an antimicrobial activity identical to that of synthetic magainin. This experiment shows that a biologically active, antimicrobial peptide magainin can be produced by fusing to MBP, along with a promoter inversion vector system.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.80-88
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• 2009

Human prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP), with comprehensive homology to glandular kallikrein, are representative serum biomarkers of prostate cancer. Dendritic cell (DC), which is the potent antigen-presenting cells(APC) in the immune system, can induce strong T cell responses against viruses, microbial pathogens, and tumors. Therefore, the immunization using DC loaded with tumor-associated antigens is a powerful method for inducing anti-tumor immunity. The CTP (Cytoplasmic Transduction Peptide) technology developed by Creagene which can transport attached bio-polymers like nucleic acids or proteins into the cell with high permeation efficiency. As the active forms of PAP can mediate apoptotic processing, we used multimer forms of PAP as an inactive form for antigen pulsing of DCs. In this study, multimeric forms of CTP-rhPAP was obtained according to the advanced purification process and subsequently confirmed by gel filtration chromatography, western blot and Dynamic Light Scattering. Therefore, CTP-conjugated PA multimers transduced into the cytoplasm were efficiently presented on the cell surface without any harm effect on cells via MHC class I molecules and result in induction of a large number of effector cell.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.132-137
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• 1997

A novel protein (HEAAE, High Essential Amino Acid Encoding Protein), rich in essential amino acids ($75{\%}$ of total), was designed and constructed in our laboratory. The designed peptides were analyzed by SYBLE and stable secondary and tertiary structures were predicted. The monomeric form (HEAAE-1) of the protein consists of 20 amino acid residues with four additional amino acids comprising a potential ${\beta}$-turn (HEAAE-4). Size exclusion analysis demonstrated that the monomer is self-aggregates in aqueous solution to form higher ordered multimeric structures, which are very reminiscent of natural plant storage proteins. The DNA encoding this amino acid sequence was synthesized, and from this monomeric gene fragment (heaae-1), the stable tetrameric form of the gene (heaae-4) was generated by subcloning into the E. coli expression vector pKK223-3. A clear 6 kDa polypeptide band corresponding to the molecular weight of the dimeric form (HEAAE-2) was detected. The smeared band which appeared around the molecular weight corresponding to HEAAE-4 of 11 kDa suggested that the tetramer form of this protein might be processed into smaller size products.

• 한국약용작물학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.04a
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• pp.75-90
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• 2006

Both synthetic and endogenous $A{\beta}$ are degraded by peptidase G. Both $A{\beta}40$ and 42 are cleaved by peptidase G. Peptidase G cleaves $A{\beta}40$ into small fragments ($A{\beta}18$) which lacks aggregation property and are not toxic to neuron. Peptidase G seems to degrade multimeric $A{\beta}$ more efficiently than monomeric $A{\beta}$. Peptidase G protects neurons from toxicity induced by $A{\beta}$ by cleaving it into smaller fragments. Thus, dis-regulation of peptidase G could contribute amyloid deposit found in AD brain.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.179-190
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• 2019

Bacillus subtilis spore surface display (BSSD) technology is considered to be one of the most promising approaches for expressing heterologous proteins with high activity and stability. Currently, this technology is used for various purposes, such as the production of enzymes, oral vaccines, drugs and multimeric proteins, and the control of environmental pollution. This paper presents an overview of the latest developments in BSSD technology and its application in protein engineering. Finally, the major limitations of this technology and future directions for its research are discussed.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.1120-1126
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• 2013

The syndecan family consists of four transmembrane heparan sulfate proteoglycans present in most cell types and each syndecan shares a common structure containing a heparan sulfate modified extracellular domain, a single transmembrane domain and a C-terminal cytoplasmic domain. To get a better understanding of the mechanism and function of syndecan-4 which is one of the syndecan family, it is crucial to investigate its three-dimensional structure. Unfortunately, it is difficult to prepare the peptide because it is membrane-bound protein that transverses the lipid bilayer of the cell membrane. Here, we optimize the expression, purification, and characterization of transmembrane, cytoplasmic and short extracellular domains of syndecan4 (syndecan-4 eTC). Syndecan-4 eTC was successfully obtained with high purity and yield from the M9 medium. The structural information of syndecan-4 eTC was investigated by MALDI-TOF mass (MS) spectrometry, circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. It was confirmed that syndecan-4 eTC had an ${\alpha}$-helical multimeric structure like transmembrane domain of syndecan-4 (syndecan-4 TM) in membrane environments.

• Clinical and Experimental Vaccine Research
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.146-154
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• 2024

Purpose: Infection by the intracellular apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii has serious clinical consequences in humans and veterinarians around the world. Although about a third of the world's population is infected with T. gondii, there is still no effective vaccine against this disease. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a multimeric vaccine against T. gondii using the proteins calcium-dependent protein kinase (CDPK)1, CDPK2, CDPK3, and CDPK5. Materials and Methods: Top-ranked major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-I and MHC-II binding as well as shared, immunodominant linear B-cell epitopes were predicted and linked using appropriate linkers. Moreover, the 50S ribosomal protein L7/L12 (adjuvant) was mixed with the construct's N-terminal to increase the immunogenicity. Then, the vaccine's physicochemical characteristics, antigenicity, allergenicity, secondary and tertiary structure were predicted. Results: The finally-engineered chimeric vaccine had a length of 680 amino acids with a molecular weight of 74.66 kDa. Analyses of immunogenicity, allergenicity, and multiple physiochemical parameters indicated that the constructed vaccine candidate was soluble, non-allergenic, and immunogenic, making it compatible with humans and hence, a potentially viable and safe vaccine candidate against T. gondii parasite. Conclusion: In silico, the vaccine construct was able to trigger primary immune responses. However, further laboratory studies are needed to confirm its effectiveness and safety.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.9-14
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• 2003

Recent studies indicated that cancer cells become resistant to ionizing radiation (IR) and chemotherapy drugs by enhanced DNA repair of the lesions. Therefore, it is expected to increase the killing of cancer cells and reduce drug resistance by inhibiting DNA repair pathways that tumor cells rely on to escape chemotherapy. There are a number of key human DNA repair pathways which depend on multimeric polypeptide activities. For example, Ku heterodimer regulatory DNA binding subunits (Ku70/Ku80) on binding to double strand DNA breaks (DSBs) are able to interact with 470-kDa DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs), and are essential for DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) activity. It has been known that DNA-PK is an important factor for DNA repair and also is a sensor-transmitting damage signal to downstream targets, leading to cell cycles arrest. Our ultimate goal is to develop a treatment of breast tumors by targeting proteins involved in damage-signaling pathway and/or DNA repair. This would greatly facilitate tumor cell cytotoxic activity and programmed cell death through DNA damaging drug treatment. Therefore, we designed a domain of Ku80 mutants that binds to Ku70 but not DNA end binding activity and used the peptide in co-therapy strategy to see whether the targeted inhibition of DNA-PK activity sensitized breast cancer cells to irradiation or chemotherapy drug. We observed that the synthesized peptide (HNI-38) prevented DNA-PKcs from binding to Ku70/Ku80, thus resulting in inactivation of DNA-PK activity. Consequently, the peptide treated cells exhibited poor to no DNA repair, and became highly sensitive to IR or chemotherapy drugs, and the growth of breast cancer cells was inhibited. Additionally, the results obtained in the present study also support the physiological role of resistance of cancer cells to IR or chemotherapy.