• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.88-93
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• 2010

Superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), and catalase (CAT) play crucial roles in balancing the production and decomposition of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in living organisms. These enzymes act cooperatively and synergistically to scavenge ROS. In order to imitate the synergism of these enzymes, we designed and synthesized a novel 32-mer peptide (32P) on the basis of the previous 15-mer peptide with GPX activity and a 17-mer peptide with SOD activity. Upon the selenation and chelation of copper, the 32-mer peptide was converted to a new Se- and Cu-containing 32-mer peptide (Se-Cu-32P) that displayed both SOD and GPX activities, and its kinetics was studied. Moreover, the novel peptide was demonstrated to be able to better protect vero cells from the injury induced by the xanthine oxidase (XOD)/xanthine/$Fe^{2+}$ damage system than its parents. Thus, this bifunctional enzyme imitated the synergism of SOD and GPX and could be a better candidate of therapeutic medicine.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.634-640
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• 2005

The reaction of cis-[Cr([14]-decane)(OH$_2)_2]^+$ ([14]-decane = rac-5,5,7,12,12,14-hexamethyl-1,4,8,11-teraazacyclotetradecane) with auxiliary ligands {$L_a$ = citrate(cit)} leads to a new dimeric complex cis-[{Cr([14]-decane)($\mu$-cit)}$_2](ClO_4)_2$. This binuclear complex has been structurally characterized by a combination of elemental analysis, conductivity, IR and Vis spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and X-ray crystallography. Analysis of the crystal structure of cis-[{Cr([14]-decane)($\mu$-cit)})($_2]^+$ reveals that each chromium has a distorted octahedral coordination environment and citrato ligands are monodentate to the two chromium atoms via the carboxyl groups. For dimeric complex the bridging geometry is as follows: Cr$\ldots$Cr = 7.361 $\AA$; Cr-O(average) = 1.958 (8) $\AA$; Cr-N range = 2.108 (9)-2.147(9) $\AA$; N(1)-Cr-N(3) (equatorial position) = 98.0(4)$^{\circ}$; N(2)-Cr-N(4) (axial position) = 166.4(4)$^{\circ}$; O(1)-Cr-N(2) = 98.1(4)$^{\circ}$; O(3)-Cr-N(4) = 96.6(3)$^{\circ}$; O(1)-Cr-O(3) = 90.4$^{\circ}$. The FAB mass spectrum of the dimeric complex displays peak due to the molecular ions cis-[{Cr([14]-decane)($\mu$-cit)})($_2]^+$ at m/z 1053.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.777-782
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• 2008

Using ultrasonic-induced polymerization of pyrrole, mesoporous $TiO_2$ thin film with polypyrrole nanoparticles was prepared. Polypyrrole nanoparticles were ultrasonically synthesized in the mother solution of mesoporous $TiO_2$ before spin-coating. The polypyrrole particles were well dispersed in the solution. After spin-coating and calcinations process, the nanocomposite films have well-organized pore channels without pore-collapse, and polypyrrole nanoparticles are well dispersed in mesoporous $TiO_2$ matrix. The pore size and light absorbance of the mesoporous nanocomposite thin films were controlled by using different template materials, and by using different amount of pyrrole monomer, respectively.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.63-68
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• 2004

Sugar-based gelator p-dodecanoyl-aminophenyl- ${\beta}$-D-aldopyranosides (1-3) have been shown to self-assemble in the presence of p-aminophenyl aldopyranosides. The hydrogel 1+4 showed the double-helical structure with 3-25 nm outer diameters, which is quite different from that of 1. The gel 2+5 revealed twisted ribbon structure with 30-50 nm in widths and a few micrometers of length whereas the gel 3+4 revealed the single and the bundled fiber structures. The difference in these gel supramolecular structures has successfully been transcribed into silica structures by sol-gel polymerization of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS), resulting in the doublehelical, the twisted-ribbon, the single and the multiple (lotus-shaped) hollow fiber structures. These results indicate that novel silica structures can be created by transcription of various superstructures formed in binary gels through the hydrogen-bonding interaction, and the amino group of the p-aminophenyl aldopyranosides acts as an efficient driving force to create novel silica nanotubes. Furthermore, electron energy-loss spectroscopy (ELLS) provided strong evidence for the inner hollow structure of the double-helical silica nanotube. This is a novel and successful example that a variety of new silica structures can be created using a library of carbohydrate gel fibers as their templates.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.452-459
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• 2019

Background: Ginsenoside compound K(C-K), a major metabolite of ginsenoside, exhibits anticancer activity in various cancer cells and animal models. A cell signaling study has shown that C-K inhibited nuclear factor-kappa B ($NF-{\kappa}B$) pathway in human astroglial cells and liver cancer cells. However, the molecular targets of C-K and the initiating events were not elucidated. Methods: Interaction between C-K and Annexin A2 was determined by molecular docking and thermal shift assay. HepG2 cells were treated with C-K, followed by a luciferase reporter assay for $NF-{\kappa}B$, immunofluorescence imaging for the subcellular localization of Annexin A2 and $NF-{\kappa}B$ p50 subunit, coimmunoprecipitation of Annexin A2 and $NF-{\kappa}B$ p50 subunit, and both cell viability assay and plate clone formation assay to determine the cell viability. Results: Both molecular docking and thermal shift assay positively confirmed the interaction between Annexin A2 and C-K. This interaction prevented the interaction between Annexin A2 and $NF-{\kappa}B$ p50 subunit and their nuclear colocalization, which attenuated the activation of $NF-{\kappa}B$ and the expression of its downstream genes, followed by the activation of caspase 9 and 3. In addition, the overexpression of Annexin A2-K320A, a C-K binding-deficient mutant of Annexin A2, rendered cells to resist C-K treatment, indicating that C-K exerts its cytotoxic activity mainly by targeting Annexin A2. Conclusion: This study for the first time revealed a cellular target of C-K and the molecular mechanism for its anticancer activity.

• BMB Reports
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• v.57 no.5
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• pp.232-237
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• 2024

This study investigated how adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AT-MSCs) respond to chondrogenic induction using droplet-based single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). We analyzed 37,219 high-quality transcripts from control cells and cells induced for 1 week (1W) and 2 weeks (2W). Four distinct cell clusters (0-3), undetectable by bulk analysis, exhibited varying proportions. Cluster 1 dominated in control and 1W cells, whereas clusters (3, 2, and 0) exclusively dominated in control, 1W, and 2W cells, respectively. Furthermore, heterogeneous chondrogenic markers expression within clusters emerged. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis of differentially expressed genes unveiled cluster-specific variations in key biological processes (BP): (1) Cluster 1 exhibited up-regulation of GO-BP terms related to ribosome biogenesis and translational control, crucial for maintaining stem cell properties and homeostasis; (2) Additionally, cluster 1 showed up-regulation of GO-BP terms associated with mitochondrial oxidative metabolism; (3) Cluster 3 displayed up-regulation of GO-BP terms related to cell proliferation; (4) Clusters 0 and 2 demonstrated similar up-regulation of GO-BP terms linked to collagen fibril organization and supramolecular fiber organization. However, only cluster 0 showed a significant decrease in GO-BP terms related to ribosome production, implying a potential correlation between ribosome regulation and the differentiation stages of AT-MSCs. Overall, our findings highlight heterogeneous cell clusters with varying balances between proliferation and differentiation before, and after, chondrogenic stimulation. This provides enhanced insights into the single-cell dynamics of AT-MSCs during chondrogenic differentiation.