• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.4-11
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• 2017

Heterotrimeric G proteins are key intracellular coordinators that receive signals from cells through activation of cognate G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). The details of their atomic interactions and structural mechanisms have been described by many biochemical and biophysical studies. Specifically, a framework for understanding conformational changes in the receptor upon ligand binding and associated G protein activation was provided by description of the crystal structure of the ${\beta}2$-adrenoceptor-Gs complex in 2011. This review focused on recent findings in the conformational dynamics of G proteins and GPCRs during activation processes.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.142-146
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• 2017

More effective production of human insulin is important, because insulin is the main medication that is used to treat multiple types of diabetes and because many people are suffering from diabetes. The current system of insulin production is based on recombinant DNA technology, and the expression vector is composed of a preproinsulin sequence that is a fused form of an artificial leader peptide and the native proinsulin. It has been reported that the sequence of the leader peptide affects the production of insulin. To analyze how the leader peptide affects the maturation of insulin structurally, we adapted several in silico simulations using 13 artificial proinsulin sequences. Three-dimensional structures of models were predicted and compared. Although their sequences had few differences, the predicted structures were somewhat different. The structures were refined by molecular dynamics simulation, and the energy of each model was estimated. Then, protein-protein docking between the models and trypsin was carried out to compare how efficiently the protease could access the cleavage sites of the proinsulin models. The results showed some concordance with experimental results that have been reported; so, we expect our analysis will be used to predict the optimized sequence of artificial proinsulin for more effective production.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.347-351
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• 2008

Acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) is an excellent candidate for antibiotics drug target, which mediates malonyl-CoA synthesis from acetyl-CoA through acetylation process. It is also involved in the committed step of fatty acid synthesis which is essential for living organisms. We have determined the three dimensional structure of C terminal domain of HP0371, biotin-carboxyl carrier protein of H. pyroli, in solution state using heteronuclear multi-dimensional NMR spectroscopy. The structure of HP0371 shows a flatten b-sheet fold which is similar with that of E. coli. However, the sequence and structure of protruding thumb are different with that of E. coli and the thumb shows different basis of structural rigidity based on backbone dynamics data.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.26-32
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• 2019

${\alpha}B$-crystallin (${\alpha}BC$) is a member of a small heat-shock protein (sHSP) superfamily and plays a predominant role in cellular protein homeostasis network by rescuing misfolded proteins from irreversible aggregation. ${\alpha}BC$ assembles into dynamic and polydisperse high molecular weight complexes containing 12 to 48 monomers; this variable stereochemistry of ${\alpha}BC$ has been linked to quaternary subunit exchange and its chaperone activity. The chaperone activity of ${\alpha}BC$ poses great potential as therapeutic agents for various neurodegenerative diseases. In this mini-review, we briefly outline the recent advancement in structural characterization of ${\alpha}BCs$ and its potential role to inhibit protein misfolding and aggregation in various human diseases. In particular, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and its complimentary techniques have contributed much to elucidate highly-dynamic nature of ${\alpha}BCs$, among which notable advancements are discussed in detail. We highlight the importance of resolving the structural details of various ${\alpha}BC$ oligomers, their quaternary dynamics, and structural heterogeneity.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.103-110
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• 2012

Membrane proteins play a essential role in the biological systems and it is not easy to handle a membrane protein for its structural study. Solid-state NMR (ssNMR) can be a good tool to investigate the structures and dynamics of membrane proteins. In ssNMR, Magic Angle Spinning (MAS) and Cross Polarization (CP) can be utilized to reduce the line-broadening, leading to high resolution and sensitivity in the spectrum. ssNMR, if combined with other spectroscopic methods, can provide us a enough knowledge on structures and dynamics of membrane proteins in biological condition.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.56-60
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• 2019

Study on the structure and dynamics of molecules at the atomic level is of great significance for understanding their function and stability as well as roles for various chemico-physical and biological processes. $^{17}O$ NMR spectroscopy has appeared as an elegant technique for investigating of the physicochemical and structural properties of oxygen-containing compounds such as metal organic frameworks and nanosized oxides. This method has drawn much attention as it provides unique insights into the properties of targets based on atomistic information of local oxygen environments which is otherwise difficult to obtain using other methods. In this mini review, we introduce and discuss the recent study and developments of $^{17}O$ NMR techniques which are tailored for the investigation on the structure and dynamics of water and inorganic materials.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.17-20
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• 2022

High-pressure (HP) NMR is a versatile tool to investigate diverse features of proteins. This technique has been particularly powerful to elucidate structural dynamics that only populates sufficiently in a pressurized condition. Amyloidogenic proteins, which are prone to aggregate and form amyloid fibrils, often maintains highly dynamic states in its native or aggregation-prone states, and HP NMR contributed much to advance our understandings of the dynamic behaviors of amyloidogenic proteins and the molecular mechanisms of their aggregation. In this mini review, we therefore summarize recent HP NMR studies on amyloid-beta (Aβ), the representative amyloidogenic intrinsically disordered protein (IDP).

• International Journal of Control, Automation, and Systems
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.382-393
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• 2006

Mechanical system dynamics plays an important role in the area of computational structural biology. Elastic network models (ENMs) for macromolecules (e.g., polymers, proteins, and nucleic acids such as DNA and RNA) have been developed to understand the relationship between their structure and biological function. For example. a protein, which is basically a folded polypeptide chain, can be simply modeled as a mass-spring system from the mechanical viewpoint. Since the conformational flexibility of a protein is dominantly subject to its chemical bond interactions (e.g., covalent bonds, salt bridges, and hydrogen bonds), these constraints can be modeled as linear spring connections between spatially proximal representatives in a variety of coarse-grained ENMs. Coarse-graining approaches enable one to simulate harmonic and anharmonic motions of large macromolecules in a PC, while all-atom based molecular dynamics (MD) simulation has been conventionally performed with an aid of supercomputer. A harmonic analysis of a macroscopic mechanical system, called normal mode analysis, has been adopted to analyze thermal fluctuations of a microscopic biological system around its equilibrium state. Furthermore, a structure-based system optimization, called elastic network interpolation, has been developed to predict nonlinear transition (or folding) pathways between two different functional states of a same macromolecule. The good agreement of simulation and experiment allows the employment of coarse-grained ENMs as a versatile tool for the study of macromolecular dynamics.

• Proceeding of EDISON Challenge
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• 2014.03a
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• pp.237-249
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• 2014

Deposition of amyloid-${\beta}$ ($A{\beta}$) proteins is the conventional pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The $A{\beta}$ protein formed from the amyloid precursor protein is predominated by the 40 residue protein ($A{\beta}40$) and by the 42 residue protein ($A{\beta}42$). While $A{\beta}40$ and $A{\beta}42$ differ in only two amino acid residues at the C-terminal end, $A{\beta}42$ is much more prone to aggregate and exhibits more neurotoxicity than $A{\beta}40$. Here, we investigate the molecular origin of the difference in the aggregation propensity of these two proteins by performing fully atomistic, explicit-water molecular dynamics simulations. Then, it is followed by the solvation thermodynamic analysis based on the integral-equation theory of liquids. We find that $A{\beta}42$ displays higher tendency to adopt ${\beta}$-sheet conformations than $A{\beta}40$, which would consequently facilitate the conversion to the ${\beta}$-sheet rich fibril structure. Furthermore, the solvation thermodynamic analysis on the simulated protein conformations indicates that $A{\beta}42$ is more hydrophobic than $A{\beta}40$, implying that the surrounding water imparts a larger thermodynamic driving force for the self-assembly of $A{\beta}42$. Taken together, our results provide structural and thermodynamic grounds on why $A{\beta}42$ is more aggregation-prone than $A{\beta}40$ in aqueous environments.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.76-81
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• 2018

Investigation of the protein-protein interaction mode at atomic resolution is essential for understanding on the underlying functional mechanisms of proteins as well as for discovering druggable compounds blocking deleteriou interprotein interactions. Solution NMR spectroscopy provides accurate and precise information on intermolecular interactions even for weak and transient interactions, and it is also markedly useful for examining the change in the conformation and dynamics of target proteins upon binding events. In this mini-review, we comprehensively describe three unique and powerful methods of solution NMR spectroscopy, paramagnetic relaxation enhancement (PRE), pseudo-contact shift (PCS), and residual dipolar coupling (RDC), for the study on protein-protein interactions.