• BMB Reports
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.265-273
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• 2018

Tau protein is encoded in the microtubule-associated protein tau (MAPT) gene and contributes to the stability of microtubules in axons. Despite of its basic isoelectric point and high solubility, tau is often found in intraneuronal filamentous inclusions such as paired helical filaments (PHFs), which are the primary constituent of neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs). This pathological feature is the nosological entity termed "tauopathies" which notably include Alzheimer's disease (AD). A proteinaceous signature of all tauopathies is hyperphosphorylation of the accumulated tau, which has been extensively studied as a major pharmacological target for AD therapy. However, in addition to phosphorylation events, tau undergoes a number of diverse posttranslational modifications (PTMs) which appear to be controlled by complex crosstalk. It remains to be elucidated which of the PTMs or their combinations have pro-aggregation or anti-aggregation properties. In this review, we outline the consequences of and communications between several key PTMs of tau, such as acetylation, phosphorylation, and ubiquitination, focusing on their roles in aggregation and degradation. We place emphasis on the structure of tau protofilaments from the human AD brain, which may be good targets to modulate etiological PTMs which cause tau aggregation.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.13-19
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• 2008

A Wire-woven Bulk Kagome (WBK) is the new truss type cellular metal fabricated by assembling the helical wires in six directions. The WBK seems to be promising with respect to morphology, fabrication cost, and raw materials. In this paper, first, the geometric and material properties are defined as the main design parameters of the WBK considering the fact that the failure of WBK is caused by buckling of truss elements. Taguchi approach was used as statistical design of experiment(DOE) technique for optimizing the design parameters in terms of maximizing the compressive strength. Normalized specific strength is constant regardless of slenderness ratio even if material properties changed, while it increases gradually as the strainhardening coefficient decreases. Compressive strength of WBK dominantly depends on the slenderness ratio rather than one of the wire diameter, the strut length. Specifically the failure of WBK under compression by elastic buckling of struts mainly depended on the slenderness ratio and elastic modulus. However the failure of WBK by plastic failed marginally depended on the slenderness ratio, yield stress, hardening and filler metal area.

• BMB Reports
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• v.43 no.11
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• pp.766-771
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• 2010

The biological evaluation of a new synthesized Pt(II)-complex, 2,2'-bipyridin Butylglycinato Pt(II) nitrate, an anti-tumor component, was studied at different temperatures by fluorescence and far UV circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopic methods. Human serum albumin (HSA) and human tumor cell line K562 were as targets. The Pt(II)-complex has a strong ability to quench the intrinsic fluorescence of HSA. Binding and thermodynamic parameters of the interaction were calculated by fluorescence quenching method. Far-UV-CD results showed that Pt(II)-complex induced increasing in content of $\alpha$ helical structure of the protein and stabilized it. The 50% cytotoxic concentration ($Cc_{50}$) of complex was determined using MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) assay at different incubation times. Also, fluorescence staining with DAPI (4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) revealed some typical nuclear changes, which are characteristic of apoptosis. Above results suggest that Pt (II) complex is a promising anti-proliferative agent and should execute its biological effects by inducing apoptosis.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.276-281
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• 1999

In order to determine the functional region of the antifungal protein (AFP) isolated from Aspergillus giganteus responsible for growth inhibitory activity and the promotion of phospholipid vesicle aggregation, overlapping peptides covering the complete sequence of AFP were synthesized. The antibiotic activity against bacterial, fungal, and tumor cells, and the vesicle-aggregation activity of the synthetic peptides were investigated. The AFP functional sequence responsible for antibiotic and vesicle-aggregation activity was determined to be located within the region between AFP residues 19 to 32. AFP (19-32) exhibited an a-helical conformation in a cell membrane-like environment. AFP (19-32) displayed potent antibiotic activity against bacterial, fungal, and tumor cells without peptide toxicity as indicated by hemolysis. Accordingly, AFP (19-32) could be used as a good model for the design of effective antibiotic agents with powerful antibiotic activity yet without any cytotoxic effects against the host organism.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.422-425
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• 2006

Due to their periodic helical structure, cholesteric liquid crystals (CLC) have a unique ability to selectively reflect visible light. CLC films reflecting a broad wavelength band were prepared by inducing a pitch gradient in CLC layers through a diffusion of small molecules and through a thermal mixing of cyclic siloxane CLC molecules with different pitch lengths. Various pitch gradients in the CLC cell were observed using UV/Vis spectrometer and SEM technique.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.182-186
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• 2006

Due to their periodic helical structure, cholesteric liquid crystals (CLC) have a unique ability to selectively reflect light. CLC films reflecting a broad wavelength band were prepared by inducing a pitch gradient in CLC layer through a phase separation. The reflection bandwidth of the CLC cell was broaden as irradiation light intensity decreased and as the amount of the UV absorbing dye increased. Initial reflection bandwidth of 50 nm was broaden to 300 nm Various pitch distributions in the CLC cell was observed using SEM and ATR-IR technique was used to prove that the pitch distributions are induced through the phase separation.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.55-62
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• 2000

In this paper, cellularphone antenna was designed to be capable of being mounted on the circuit-board with co-planar feeding method. The designed antenna is fabricated by the following procedure : make the multi-layered dielectric ceramic($\varepsilon_{\tau}$=23) hexahedron($7.5mm\times4.5mm\times0.4mm$) and then produce λ/4 monopole radiation element with helical structure on the surface of the hexahedron. The results are as followings : Returnloss 27.36 dB, -10 dB bandwidth 76 MHz(3.97 %), H-plane average gain -9.43 dBd.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.24 no.7
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• pp.961-966
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• 2003

A quantum-chemical study of conformations and electronic structures of polyheterocyclic derivatives with vinylenediheteroatom substituents at the 3- and 4-positions was performed to search for novel blue-lightemitting conjugated polymers. Conformational potential energy curves of the polymers were constructed as a function of the helical angle (a) through semiempirical Hartree-Fock band calculations at the Austin model 1 level. It is found that poly(3,4-vinylenedioxythiophene) possesses a quite flat curve in the range of α = 51.4°- 120°. Replacing S atoms for O atoms greatly increases repulsion between the neighboring units, and thereby the units become perpendicular to one another. Because of the hydrogen bonding between O and NH, poly(3,4- vinylenedioxypyrrole) is predicted to be anti-coplanar and poly(3,4-vinylenediaminofuran) to be nearly anticoplanar. According to the modified extended Huckel band calculations, the HOMO-LUMO gaps (HLGs) of the polymers, unless the polymer chains are twisted, are close to or slightly smaller than those of their respective mother polymers. Among the polymers, poly(3,4-vinylenedioxythiophene) is presumed to be the most probable candidate for a blue-light emitter because its HLG is within the range of the electronic requirement for blue-light emitters.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.10
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• pp.3702-3706
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• 2011

The conformation of a neuropeptide, substance P (SP), in isotropic (q = 0.5) acidic bicelles was investigated using two-dimensional NMR techniques. By the nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE) cross peaks between SP and long-chain lipid molecules SP was probed to bind on the flat surface of the disc-like bicelles. Structural analysis of NMR data indicated that the helical conformation of SP extended to the C-terminal region of Leu10 as well as in the mid-region from Pro4 to Phe8. As compared with the conformations of SP bound on the sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) or the dodecylphosphocholine (DPC) micelles with curved surfaces, the surface curvature of the membrane mimics was found to be one of the major factors inducing the biologically relevant conformation of SP. The negative surface charge of the membrane is also a key factor inducing both the binding of SP on the membrane and its biologically active structure.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.163-174
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• 2006

Luteinizing Hormone Releasing Hormone(LHRH) is a decapeptide neurotransmitter known to be regulated by metal ions in the hyperthalamus. Zn-binding LHRH complex was systhesized, and zinc-LHRH complex was studied to understand what kinds of structural modifications would be critical in the LHRH releasing mechanism. Both nonexchangeable and exchangeable $^1H-NMR$ signal assignments were accomplished by pH-dependent and COSY NMR experiments. In addition, $^1H-NMR$ chemical shift changes of a-proton and peptide NH NMR signals at different pH condition, and $^1H-NMR$ signal differences between metal free and metallo-LHRH complex was monitored. NMR signals exhibit that primary metal-binding sites are nitrogens donor of imidazole ring and Arg, and peptide oxygen of Pro-His in the sequence. Structure obtained in this study has a cyclic conformation which is similar to that of energy minimized, and exhibits a specific a-helical turn with residue numbers $(2{\sim}7)$ out of 10 amino acids.