• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.797-804
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• 2000

The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) Tat is one of the viral gene products essential for HIV replication. The exogenous Tat protein is transduced through the plasma membrane and then accumulated in a cell. The basic domain of the Tat protein, which is rich in arginine and lysine residues and called the protein transduction domain (PTD), has been identified to be responsible for this transduction activity. To better understand the nature of the transduction mediated by this highly basic domain of HIV-1 Tat, the Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) was expressed and purified as a fusion protein with a peptide derived from the HIV-1 Tat basic domain in Escherichia coli. The transduction of Tat-GFP into mammalian cells was then determined by a Western blot analysis and fluorescence microscopy. The cells treated with Tat-GFP exhibited dose- and time-dependent increases in their intracellular level of the protein. the effective transduction of denatured Tat-GFP into both the nucleus and the cytoplasm of mammalian cells was also demonstrated, thereby indicating that the unfolding of the transduced protein is required for efficient transduction. Accordingly, the availability of recombinant Tat-GFP can facilitate the simple and specific identification of the protein transduction mediated by the HIV-1 Tat basic domain in living cells either by fluorescence microscopy or by a fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis.

• BMB Reports
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.177-181
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• 1997

We constructed a single-chain immunoglobulin in which the carboxyl end of the heavy chain variable domain is covalently joined to the amino terminus of the light chain variable domain via peptide linker and the carboxyl end of the light chain variable domain is linked to human ${\gamma}1$ Fc region through the hinge region. The molecule was expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells, assembled into a dimeric molecule and secreted into the culture medium. The dimeric molecule (2E11) was purified from the culture supernatant by affinity chromatography on Protein G-Sepharose column. The size of the unreduced or reduced protein was the expected molecular weight of approximately 120 or 60 kDa, respectively, as assessed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The antigen-binding affinity of 2E11 was almost the same as that of a native antibody counterpart (CS131A), suggesting that the single-chain immunoglobulin may function like a native antibody.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.591-597
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• 2003

Human urokinase kringle domain, sharing homology with angiostatin kringles, has been shown to be an inhibitor of angiogenesis, which can be used for the treatment of cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and retinopathy. Here, the expression of the kringle domain of urokinase (UK1) as a secreted protein in high levels is reported. UK1 was expressed in the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris GS115 by fusion of the cDNA spanning from Ser47 to Lys135 to the secretion signal sequence of ${\alpha}-factor$ prepro-peptide. In a flask culture, the secreted UK1 reached about 1 g/l level after 120h of methanol induction and was purified to homogeneity by ion-exchange chromatography. Amino-terminal sequencing of the purified UK1 revealed that it was cleaved at the Ste13 signal cleavage site. The molecular mass of UK1 was determined to be 10,297.01 Da. It was also confirmed that the purified UK1 inhibited endothelial cell proliferation stimulated by basic fibroblast growth factor, vascular endothelial growth factor, or epidermal growth factor, in a dose-dependent manner. These results suggest that a P. pastoris sytem can be employed to obtain large amounts of soluble and active UK1.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.56-65
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• 1992

The complete nucleotide sequence of the Bacillus circulans F-2 RSDA gene, coding for raw starch digesting a-amylase (RSDA), has been determined. The RSDA structure gene consists of an open reading frame of 2508 bp. Six bp upstream of the translational start codon of the RSDA is a typical gram-positive Shine-Dalgarno sequence and the RSDA encodes a preprotein of 836 amino acids with an Mr of 96, 727. The gene was expressed from its own regulatory region in E. coli and two putative consensus promoter sequences were identified upstream of a ribosome binding site and an ATG start codon. Confirmation of the nucleotide sequence was obtained and the signal peptide cleavage site was identified by comparing the predicted amino acid sequence with that derived by N-terminal analysis of the purified RSDA. The deduced N-terminal region of the RSDA conforms to the general pattern for the signal peptides of secreted prokaryotic proteins. The complete amino acid sequence was deduced and homology with other enzymes was compared. The results suggested that the Thr-Ser-rich hinge region and the non-catalytic domain are necessary for efficient adsorption onto raw substrates, and the catalytic domain (60 kDa) is necessary for the hydrolysis of substrates, as suggested in previous studies (8, 9).

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.6-9
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• 2024

HscA is a Hsp70-type chaperone protein that plays an essential role to mediate the iron-sulfur (Fe-S) cluster biogenesis mechanism in Escherichia coli. Like other Hsp70 chaperones, HscA is composed of two domains: the nucleotide binding domain (NBD), which can hydrolyze ATP and use its chemical energy to facilitate the Fe-S cluster transfer process, and the substrate binding domain (SBD), which directly interacts with the substrate, IscU, the scaffold protein of an Fe-S cluster. In the present work, we prepared the isolated SBD construct of HscA (HscA(SBD)) and conducted the solution-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments to have its backbone chemical shift assignment information. Due to low spectral quality of HscA(SBD), we obtained all the NMR data from the sample containing the peptide LPPVKIHC, the HscA-interaction motif of IscU, from which the chemical shift assignment could be done successfully. We expect that this information provides an important basis to execute detailed structural characterization of HscA and appreciate its interaction with IscU.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.776-783
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• 2018

The agarase gene gaa16a was identified from a draft genome sequence of Gilvimarinus agarilyticus JEA5, an agar-utilizing marine bacterium. Recently, three agarase-producing bacteria, G. chinensis, G. polysaccharolyticus, and G. agarilyticus, in the genus Gilvimarinus were reported. However, there have been no reports of the molecular characteristics and biochemical properties of these agarases. In this study, we analyzed the molecular characteristics and biochemical properties of agarases in Gilvimarinus. Gaa16A comprised a 1,323-bp open reading frame encoding 441 amino acids. The predicted molecular mass and isoelectric point were 49 kDa and 4.9, respectively. The amino acid sequence of Gaa16A showed features typical of glycosyl hydrolase family 16 (GH16) ${\beta}$-agarases, including a GH16 domain, carbohydrate-binding region (RICIN domain), and signal peptide. Recombinant Gaa16A (excluding the signal peptide and carbohydrate-binding region, rGaa16A) was expressed as a fused protein with maltose-binding protein at its N-terminus in Escherichia coli. rGaa16A had maximum activity at $55^{\circ}C$ and pH 7.0 and 103 U/mg of specific activity in the presence of 2.5 mM $CaCl_2$. The enzyme hydrolyzed agarose to yield neoagarotetraose as the main product. This enzyme may be useful for industrial production of functional neoagaro-oligosaccharides.

• BMB Reports
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.686-695
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• 2006

Interleukin-2 enhancer binding factor 2 (ILF2) was reported to regulate transcription of interleukin-2 (IL-2), a central cytokine in the regulation of T-cell responses. This property of ILF2 was well characterized in human and mammals, but little is known in bony fish. In this paper, an ILF2 homologue was cloned and well characterized from Tetraodon nigrovirid is for the further investigation of the function of ILF2 in bony fish. The full-length Tetraodon ILF2 cDNA was 1380 bp in size and contained an open reading frame (ORF) of 1164 bp that translates into a 387 amino-acid peptide with a molecular weight of 42.9 kDa, a 5' untranslated region (UTR) of 57 bp, and a 3' UTR of 159 bp containing a poly A tail. The deduced peptide of Tetraodon ILF2 shared an overall identity of 58%~93% with other known ILF2 sequences, and contained two N-glycosylation sites, two N-myristoylation sites, one RGD cell attachment sequence, six protein kinase C phosphorylation sites, one amino-terminal RGG-rich single-stranded RNA-binding domain, and a DZF zinc-finger nucleic acid binding domain, most of which were highly conserved through species compared. Constitutive expression of Tetraodon ILF2 was observed in all tissues examined, including gill, gut, head kidney, spleen, liver, brain and heart. The highest expression was detected in heart, followed by liver, head kidney and brain. Stimulation with LPS did not significantly alter the expression of Tetraodon ILF2. Gene organization analysis showed that the Tetraodon ILF2 gene have fifteen exons, one more than other known ILF2 genes in human and mouse. Genes up- and down-stream from the Tetraodon ILF2 were Rpa12, Peroxin-11b, Smad4, Snapap and Txnip homologue, which were different from that in human and mouse.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.362-365
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• 2007

Cyanobacteria have been identified as one of the most promising group producing novel biochemically active natural products. Cyanobacteria are a very old group of prokaryotic organisms that produce very diverse secondary metabolites, especially non-ribosomal peptide and polyketide structures. Large multienzyme complexes which are responsible for the non-ribosomal biosynthesis of peptides are modular for the addition of a single amino acid. An activation of amino acid substrates results in an amino adenylate occuring via an adenylation domain (A-domain). A-domains are responsible for the recognition of amino acids as substrates within NP synthesis. The A-domain contains ten conserved motifs, A1 to A10. In this study, ten conserved motifs from A1 to A10 were checked regarding their amino acid sequence of the NRPS-module of Microcystis aeruginosa PCC 7806. The part of the amino acid sequence chosen was that which contained as many conserved motives as possible, and then these amino sequence were compared between other cyanobacteria to design a new degenerate primer. A new degenerate primer (A3/A7 primer) was designed to detect any putative NP synthetase region in unkwon cyanobacteria by a reverse translation of the conserved amino acid sequence and a search for cyanobacterial DNA bank.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.427-433
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• 2008

The cephabacins produced by Lysobacter lactamgenus are ${\beta}$-lactam antibiotics composed of a cephem nucleus, an acetate residue, and an oligopeptide side chain. In order to understand the precise implication of the polyketide synthase (PKS) module in the biosynthesis of cephabacin, the genes for its core domains, ${\beta}$-ketoacyl synthase (KS), acyltransferase (AT), and acyl carrier protein (ACP), were amplified and cloned into the pET-32b(+) expression vector. The sfp gene encoding a protein that can modify apo-ACP to its active holo-form was also amplified. The recombinant KS, AT, apo-ACP, and Sfp overproduced in the form of $His_6$-tagged fusion proteins in E. coli BL21(DE3) were purified by nickel-affinity chromatography. Formation of stable peptidyl-S-KS was observed by in vitro acylation of the KS domain with the substrate [L-Ala-L-Ala-L-Ala-L-$^3H$-Arg] tetrapeptide-S-N-acetylcysteamine, which is the evidence for the selective recognition of tetrapeptide produced by nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) in the NRPS/PKS hybrid. In order to confirm whether malonyl CoA is the extender unit for acetylation of the peptidyl moiety, the AT domain, ACP domain, and Sfp protein were treated with $^{14}C$-malonyl-CoA. The results clearly show that the AT domain is able to recognize the extender unit and decarboxylatively acetylated for the elongation of the tetrapeptide. However, the transfer of the activated acetyl group to the ACP domain was not observed, probably attributed to the improper capability of Sfp to activate apo-ACP to the holo-ACP form.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.735-738
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• 2006

We examined the neuroprotective and neurotrophic effects of genipin fractionated from gardenia (Gardenia jasminoides Ellis) originating from Korea. The neurotrophic effects of the genipin containing fraction was evaluated by microscopically monitoring its potency to induce neurite outgrowth in PC12h cells. The genipin containing fraction from Korean gardenia promoted neurite outgrowth in PC12h cells in this study, similar to previously reported effects by Wako Chemical, Japan. When cells were treated with the genipin containing fraction prior to ${\beta}$-amyloid peptide treatment (active domain of A peptide 25-35 treated), toxicity was significantly diminished (p<0.0l). These results suggest that genipin prepared from Korean gardenia might potentially be used as a precautionary agent in neurodegenerative disease, such as Alzheimer's disease, etc.