• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.12
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• pp.1744-1754
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• 2014

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA genome is replicated by an RNA replicase complex (RC) consisting of cellular proteins and viral nonstructural (NS) proteins, including NS5B, an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) and key enzyme for viral RNA genome replication. The HCV RC is known to be associated with an intracellular membrane structure, but the cellular components of the RC and their roles in the formation of the HCV RC have not been well characterized. In this study, we took a proteomic approach to identify stomatin, a member of the integral proteins of lipid rafts, as a cellular protein interacting with HCV NS5B. Co-immunoprecipitation and co-localization studies confirmed the interaction between stomatin and NS5B. We demonstrated that the subcellular fraction containing viral NS proteins and stomatin displays RdRp activity. Membrane flotation assays with the HCV genome replication-competent subcellular fraction revealed that the HCV RdRp and stomatin are associated with the lipid raft-like domain of membranous structures. Stomatin silencing by RNA interference led to the release of NS5B from the detergent-resistant membrane, thereby inhibiting HCV replication in both HCV subgenomic replicon-harboring cells and HCV-infected cells. Our results identify stomatin as a cellular protein that plays a role in the formation of an enzymatically active HCV RC on a detergent-resistant membrane structure.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.637-647
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• 2016

Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) is a critical eukaryotic replication accessory factor that supports DNA binding in DNA processing, such as DNA replication, repair, and recombination. PCNA consists of three toroidal-shaped monomers that encircle double-stranded DNA. The diverse functions of PCNA may be regulated by its interactions with partner proteins. Many of the PCNA partner proteins generally have a conserved PCNA-interacting peptide (PIP) motif, located at the N- or C- terminal region. The PIP motif forms a 3₁₀ helix that enters into the hydrophobic groove produced by an interdomain-connecting loop, a central loop, and a C-terminal tail in the PCNA. Post-translational modification of PCNA also plays a critical role in regulation of its function and binding partner proteins. Structural and biochemical studies of PCNA-protein will be useful in designing therapeutic agents, as well as estimating the outcome of anticancer drug development. This review summarizes the characterization of eukaryotic PCNA in relation to the protein structures, functions, and modifications, and interaction with proteins.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.72.1-72.10
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• 2020

Background: Fenbendazole, a dewormer drug, is used widely in the clinical treatment of parasite infections in animals. Recent studies have shown that fenbendazole has substantial effects on tumor growth, immune responses, and inflammatory responses, suggesting that fenbendazole is a pluripotent drug. Nevertheless, the antiviral effects have not been reported. Fenbendazole can disrupt microtubules, which are essential for multiple viruses infections, suggesting that fenbendazole might have antiviral effects. Objectives: This study examined whether fenbendazole could inhibit bovine herpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1) productive infection in cell cultures. Methods: The effects of fenbendazole on viral production, transcription of the immediate early (IE) genes, viron-associated protein expression, and the cellular signaling PLC-γ1/Akt pathway were assessed using distinct methods. Results: Fenbendazole could inhibit BoHV-1 productive infections significantly in MDBK cells in a dose-dependent manner. A time-of-addition assay indicated that fenbendazole affected both the early and late stages in the virus replication cycles. The transcription of IE genes, including BoHV-1 infected cell protein 0 (bICP0), bICP4, and bICP22, as well as the synthesis of viron-associated proteins, were disrupted differentially by the fenbendazole treatment. The treatment did not affect the cellular signaling pathway of PLC-γ1/Akt, a known cascade playing important roles in virus infection. Conclusions: Overall, fenbendazole has antiviral effects on BoHV-1 replication.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.137-142
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• 2016

Enterovirus is a common cause of several severe diseases such as myocarditis, hand-foot-mouth disease, and meningitis in children and adult. There are many try to develop new antiviral drug for direct treatment in virus infection. However, synthetic chemical antiviral drug is not working. To overcome this limitation, we examined plant extracts. The antiviral effect of plant extracts was screened by HeLa cell survival assay in coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) infection. We observed a strong antiviral effect of Poria cocos extract in a dose-dependent manner (1 mg/ml~0.01 mg/ml). P. cocos extract (1 mg/ml) treatment was dramatically decreased virus protease 2A induced eIF4G-I cleavage and virus capsid protein VP1 production. CVB3 positive and negative strand RNA amplification were significantly reduced in P. cocos extract treatment. P. cocos extract completely blocked early time activation of ERK and AKT activity in CVB3 infection. Taken together these data indicate that the treatment of P. cocos extract strongly inhibit CVB3 replication. Poria cocos extract may possible to developed as a therapeutic agent for enterovirus.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.81-87
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• 2003

While screening proteins that interact with DnaA protein, the initiator protein for Escherichia coil chromosomal DNA replication, we found a 52-kD sized protein which bound to DnaA protein in a salt-dependent manner. This protein was identified as trigger factor, a ribosome-associated peptidyl-prolyl- cisltrans isomerase with chaperone activity. Trigger factor was overproduced and purified to near homogeneity, and its effect on the function of DnaA protein was examined, Enhanced binding of DnaA protein to DnaA box with no apparent supershift in the gel-shift experiments suggested that trigger factor, by virtue of its chaperone activity, exerts a change on DnaA protein thus increasing its binding affinity for DnaA box.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.86-95
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• 2002

As a result of genome projects, the research to elucidate the function of a protein of interest has recently been well-recognized. In order to facilitate functional genomics, a useful mammalian gene expression vector is required. Using an infectious CDNA clone of BVDV pNADLclns-, we have developed a mammalian gene expression vector. In this study, a replication-competent full-length infectious CDNA clone containing puremycin acetyltransferase (pac) gene (pNADLclns-/pac) was successfully generated. The viral RNA replication and viral protein NS3 synthesis were examined by detecting metabollically $^{32}P$-labelled genomic viral RNA and immunoblotting with a mouse anti-NS3 antibody. To generate viral replicon as an expression vector, we examine if the viral structural genes (C, E0, El, E2) are required for viral replication by deletion analysis. As a result, all of the structural proteins are dispensable for viral replication per se, but essential for infectious viral particle formation. Based on our deletion analysis, we have generated a replication-competent BVDV viral replicon (pNADLclns-/pac/${\Delta}S$), whose structural genes are all deleted. In addition to NADLclns- /pac/${\Delta}S$, NADLclns-/ luc/${\Delta}S$ viral replicon containing luciferase gene as a reporter was constructed and fecund to be replication-compotent in HeLa and BHK cells as well as MDBK cells. Therefore, BVDV viral replicon developed in our study will be a useful tool to express a protein of interest in various mammalian cells.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.10
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• pp.1768-1771
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• 2015

Human Fen1 protein (hFen1) plays an important role in Okazaki fragment processing by cleaving the flap structure at the junction between single-stranded (ss) DNA and doublestranded (ds) DNA, an intermediate formed during Okazaki fragment processing, resulting in ligatable nicked dsDNA. It was reported that hChlR1, a member of the cohesion establishment factor family, stimulates hFen1 nuclease activity regardless of its ATPase activity. In this study, we found that cohesion establishment factors cooperatively stimulate endonuclease activity of hFen1 in in vivo mimic condition, including replication protein-A-coated DNA and high salt. Our findings are helpful to explain how a DNA replication machinery larger than the cohesion complex goes through the cohesin ring structure on DNA during S phase in the cell cycle.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.103-108
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• 2000

We have cloned and analyzed cDNA coding for non-virion (NV) protein of the m V - P R T The NV gene contained 336 bp open readmg frame and encoded a protein of 11 1 amino acids with a molecular weight of 13.2 kDa. The deduced amino acid sequence of NV of IHNVPRT was found to be 90-95% identical to those of foreign isolates of IHNV. These results indicate that NV gene of the MNV is highly conserved among &ifferent strains of THNV Northern blot analyses revealed that the levels of NV gene expression were strongly elevated after 20 h post-infection. In order to identify the role of NV in the replication of MNV in fish cells, IHNVinfected cells were treated with antisense oligonucleotides. While IHNV-PRT exposed to glycoprotein (G) antisense oligonucleotide showed severely reduced growth, the growth of virus exposed to NV antisense oligonucleotide was not affected by NV antisense oligonucleotide, which suggests that NV is not essential for replication of IHNV in fish cells.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.22-26
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• 2016

FANCJ is a DNA helicase which contributes genome stability by resolving G-quadruplex DNA from 5' to 3' direction. In addition to main ATPase helicase core, FANCJ has the protein binding region at its C-terminal part. BRCA1 and BLM are the binding partner of FANCJ and these protein-protein interactions contribute genomic stability and the proper response to replication stress. As the first attempt for studying FANCJ-BLM interaction, we prepared BLM binding region of FANCJ and characterized with CD and NMR spectroscopy. FANCJ (881-941) with N-ter 6xHis was purified as the oligomer. Secondary structure prediction based on CD data revealed that FANCJ (881-941) composed with ${\beta}$ sheet, turn and coils.$^1H-^{15}N$ HSQC spectra showed nonhomogeneous peak intensities with less number of peaks comparing than the number of amino acids in the construct. It indicated that optimization should be necessary for detailed further structural studies.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.300-305
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• 2003

Intracellular expression of RNA decoys, such as TAR or RRE decoy, has been previously shown to protect immune cells from human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) replication by inhibiting the binding of the HIV-1 regulatory protein to the authentic HIV RNA sequence. However, HIV-1 challenge experiments of primary human T cells, which express the RNA decoy, demonstrated that the cells were only transiently protected, and hence, more improved protocols for HIV-1 inhibition with the RNA decoys need to be developed. In this report, in order to develop a more effective RNA decoy, we analyzed and compared the ability of a series of RNA decoy derivatives in inhibiting HIV-1 replication in CEM cells. Using an improved tRNA cassette to express high levels of RNA decoy transcripts in cells, we found that co-expression of both TAR and RRE decoys, in the form of an aligned sequence in a single transcription cassette, much more potently blocked cells from HIV-1 than the expression of only one kind of RNA decoy. This observation will have an important implication for experiments involving optimization of clinical applications in RNA decoy-based gene therapy against HIV-1.