• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.1051-1054
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• 2013

Closo-carborane has been considered as an efficient boron-carrier for boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) and an attractive surrogate of lipophilic phenyl or cyclohexyl ring in drug design. Despite a great number of carborane-containing ligands have been synthesized and evaluated, molecular modeling studies of carborane ligands with macromolecules have been rarely reported. We herein describe a facile docking and scoring-function strategy of 16 carborane ligands with an estrogen receptor by using the commercial Gaussian, Chem3D Pro and Discovery Studio (DS) computational programs. Docked poses of the carborane ligands in silico exhibited similar binding modes to that of the crystal ligand in the active site of estrogen receptor. Score analysis of the best docked pose for each ligand indicated that the Ligscore1 and the Dockscore have a moderate correlation with in vitro biological activity. This is the first report on the scoring-correlation studies of carborane ligands with macromolecules. The integrated Gaussian-DS approach has a potential application for virtual screening, De novo design, and optimization of carborane ligands in medicinal chemistry.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.525-533
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• 1998

The covalent interactions of toluenediisocyanate (TDI) with macromolecules were investigated both in vitro and in vivo. In vitro incubations of 2,4- and 2,6-TDI with DNA or proteins resulted in dose-dependent formation of TDI-protein and TDI-DNA adducts. TDI-treated DNA was highly resistant to enzymatic digestion and thermal hydrolysis, but was readily hydrolyzed under acidic conditions by releasing its corresponding toluenediamine (TDA), suggesting that TDI caused the crosslinking of DNA. Reaction of TDI with albumin and globin resulted in the formation of several adducts, and some adducts were formed in blood of TDI-treated rats in a dose-dependent fashion. Administration of TDI to rats resulted also in a dose-dependent binding of TDI to hepatic tissue. Levels of TDI-albumin adducts were 10 times higher than those of TDI-globin adducts; the biological half lives of TDI-albumin and TDI-globin adducts were 1.2 and 12.5 days, respectively. Globin adducts were detected up to 28 days after the treatment. Hepatic TDI protein adducts were persistent for a substantial period whereas the levels of hepatic TDI-DNA adduct were decreased rapidly. These results indicate that the isocyanato group of TDI is not readily hydrolyzed under physiological conditions, is transported to other organs, and is bound to DNA and/or proteins without further metabolic activation. As the adducted products degrade in the body, TDA is released and introduced to the liver. TDA may additionally bind to hepatic tissue after metabolic activation. Thus, the toxic effect of TDI exposure is considered to persist during the lifetime of the adducted biological macromolecules.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.40 no.9
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• pp.607-612
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• 2017

When mammalian cells and animals face a variety of internal or external stresses, they need to make homeostatic changes so as to cope with various stresses. To this end, mammalian cells are equipped with two critical stress responses, autophagy and cellular senescence. Autophagy and cellular senescence share a number of stimuli including telomere shortening, DNA damage, oncogenic stress and oxidative stress, suggesting their intimate relationship. Autophagy is originally thought to suppress cellular senescence by removing damaged macromolecules or organelles, yet recent studies also indicated that autophagy promotes cellular senescence by facilitating the synthesis of senescence-associated secretory proteins. These seemingly opposite roles of autophagy may reflect a complex picture of autophagic regulation on cellular senescence, including different types of autophagy or a unique spatiotemporal activation of autophagy. Thus, a better understanding of autophagy process will lead us to not only elucidate the conundrum how autophagy plays dual roles in the regulation of cellular senescence but also helps the development of new therapeutic strategies for many human diseases associated with cellular senescence. We address the pro-senescence and anti-senescence roles of autophagy while focusing on the potential mechanistic aspects of this complex relationship between autophagy and cellular senescence.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.160-164
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• 2017

Electron crystallography has been used as the one of powerful tool for studying the structure of biological macromolecules at high resolution which is sufficient to provide details of intramolecular and intermolecular interactions at near-atomic level. Previously it commonly uses two-dimensional crystals that are periodic arrangement of biological molecules, however recent studies reported a novel technical approach to electron crystallography of three-dimensional crystals, called micro electron-diffraction (MicroED) which involves placing the irregular and small sized protein crystals in a transmission electron microscope to determine the atomic structure. In here, we review the advances in electron crystallography techniques with several recent studies. Furthermore, we discuss the future direction of this structural approach.

• BMB Reports
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.452-456
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• 2001

Surface plasmon resonance has been used for a biospecific interaction analysis between two macromolecules in real time. Determination of an antibody that is capable of specifically interacting with the native form of antigen is very useful for many biological and medical applications. Twenty monoclonal antibodies against the $\alpha$ subunit of E. coli DNA polymerase III were screened for specifically recognizing the native form of protein using surface plasmon resonance. Only four monoclonal antibodies among them specifically recognized the native $\alpha$ protein, although all of the antibodies were able to specifically interact with the denatured $\alpha$ subunit. These antibodies failed to interfere with the interaction between the $\tau$ and $\alpha$ subunits that were required for dimerization of the two polymerases at the DNA replication fork. This real-time analysis using surface plasmon resonance provides an easy method to screen antibodies that are capable of binding to the native form of the antigen molecule and determine the biological interaction between the two molecules.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 1998.06a
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• pp.463-465
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• 1998

The peculiarities of the polyvinylpyrrolydone (PVP) interaction with transition metal ions of the first row in solution were studied. It was shown that PVP macromolecules due to their swelling conformation in organic solvents form the stable metal complexes. Metal ions were bond with oxygen and nitrogen atoms of PVP lactam rings. In water solution every metal ion interacts with one or two oxygen atoms out of 10-12 monomer units of the polymer. The additional contraction of PVP macromolecule coils in water have been found out by dissolving of the polymer metal complexes (PMC) synthesized in organic media. Toxicity, blood forming and immune stimulating activity and pharmaco-kinetic too of obtained polymers and their metal completes have been investigated. The factors and effects that responsible fur changing of PMC physical-chemical and biological properties have been estimated.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.1044-1051
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• 2016

The present study compared the differential functions of two groups of adjuvants, Montanide incomplete Seppic adjuvant (ISA) series and Quil A, cholesterol, dimethyl dioctadecyl ammonium bromide, and Carbopol (QCDC) formulations, in chicken by analyzing published microarray data associated with each type of vaccine adjuvants. In the biological function analysis for differentially expressed genes altered by two different adjuvant groups, ISA series and QCDC formulations showed differential effects when chickens were immunized with a recombinant immunogenic protein of Eimeria. Among the biological functions, six categories were modified in both adjuvant types. However, with respect to "Response to stimulus", no biological process was modified by the two adjuvant groups at the same time. The QCDC adjuvants showed effects on the biological processes (BPs) including the innate immune response and the immune response to the external stimulus such as toxin and bacterium, while the ISA adjuvants modified the BPs to regulate cell movement and the response to stress. In pathway analysis, ISA adjuvants altered the genes involved in the functions related with cell junctions and the elimination of exogenous and endogenous macromolecules. The analysis in the present study could contribute to the development of precise adjuvants based on molecular signatures related with their immunological functions.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.221-227
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• 2000

A 6-sulfooxymethylbenzo[a]pyrene (SMBP), the ultimate metabolite of methyl-substituted benzo[a]pyrene (BP), has been found to be carcinogenic in mice. These properties may be attributable to its strong reactivity with cellular macromolecules such as DNA. However, serum and its major constituent albumin attenuated significantly the cytotoxicity and mutagenicity of 5MBP in bacterial and mammalian cell systems. This inhibitory activity of serum against 5MBP-induced cytotoxicity and mutagenicity in Chinese hamster V79 cells appears to be caused by the reduced macromolecular adducts such as DNA and proteins, but serum failed to reduce 5MBP binding to naked calf thymus DNA. A number of proteins in the serum could act as nucleophiles that are able to intercept reactive chemicals through covalent binding. Albumin present in the plasma seems to be one of major components responsible for direct binding with 5MBp, thereby reducing its reactivity to genetic materials. We here determined which fraction is preferential for 5MBP binding through fractionation of 5MBP-treated serum with ammonium sulfate. The albumin-containing fraction had slightly more affinity for 5MBP than the immunoglobulin-containing fraction. Our results indicate that the covalent modification of plasma proteins may reduce 5MBP-induced damage.

• Current Optics and Photonics
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.119-126
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• 2023

The vibratory and rotational levels of many biological macromolecules lie in the terahertz (THz) band, which means that THz techniques can be used to identify and detect them. Moreover, since the biological activity of most biomolecules only becomes apparent in aqueous solution, we use microfluidic technology to study the biological properties of these biomolecules. THz time-domain spectroscopy was used to study the THz absorption characteristics of graphene oxide (GO) aqueous solution at different concentrations and different exposure times in fixed electric or magnetic fields. The results show that the spectral characteristics of the GO solution varied with the concentration: as the concentration increased, the THz absorption decreased. The results also show that after placing the solution in an external electric field, the absorption of THz first increased and then decreased. When the solution was placed in a magnetic field, the THz absorption increased with the increase in standing time. In this paper, these results are explained based on considerations of what is occurring at the molecular scale. The results of this study provide technical support for the further study of GO and will assist with its improved application in various fields.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.1728-1733
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• 2006

A Gram-negative, strictly aerobic, nonmotile, and nonspore-forming bacterial strain, designated $T5-12^T$, was isolated from compost and characterized using a polyphasic taxonomical approach. The isolate was positive for catalase and oxidase tests. It could degrade DNA, but was negative for degradation of macromolecules such as casein, collagen, starch, chitin, cellulose, and xylan. The DNA G+C content was 36.0 mol%. The predominant isoprenoid quinone was menaquinone 7 (MK-7). The major fatty acids were $iso-C_{15:0}$ (45.6%), $iso-C_{17:0}$ 3OH (17.2%), and summed feature 4 ($C_{16:0}\;{\omega}7c$ and/or $iso-C_{15:0}$ 2OH, 14.9%). Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that strain $T5-12^T$ fell within the radiation of the cluster comprising members of the genus Sphingobacterium. Strain $T5-12^T$ exhibited lower than 94% of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with respect to the type strains of recognized Sphingobacterium species. On the basis of its phenotypic properties and phylogenetic distinctiveness, strain $T5-12^T$ ($=KCTC\;12578^T=LMG\;23401^T=CCUG\;52467^T$) should be classified in the genus Sphingobacterium as the type strain of a novel species, for which the name Sphingobacterium composti sp. novo is proposed.