• BMB Reports
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.68-71
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• 1995

Bovine gastricsin catalyzes peptide synthesis over an optimum range of pH 4~5, resulting in satisfactory yields of methyl esters and p-nitroanilides of benzyloxycarbonyl tetra- to hexa-peptides, provided that hydrophobic amino acid residues form new peptide bonds. The effectiveness of the enzyme also depends on the nature of adjacent amino acid residues. An aspartic proteinase with a characteristic gastricsin specificity pattern would be useful for the synthesis of middle-length peptides.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.139-143
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• 2018

Short antimicrobial peptide, A4W, have been studied by molecular dynamics (MD) simulation in an explicit dodecylphosphocholine (DPC) micelle. Peptide was aligned with DPC micelle and transferred new peptide-micelle coordinates within the same solvent box using specific micelle topology parameters. After initial energy minimization and equilibration, the conformation and orientation of the peptide were analyzed from trajectories obtained from the RMD (restrained molecular dynamics) or the subsequent free MD. Also, the information of solvation in the backbone and the side chain of the peptide, hydrogen bonding, and the properties of the dynamics were obtained. The results showed that the backbone residues of peptide are either solvated using water or in other case, they relate to hydrogen bonding. These properties could be a critical factor against the insertion mode of interaction. Most of the peptide-micelle interactions come from the hydrophobic interaction between the side chains of peptide and the structural interior of micelle system. The interaction of peptide-micelle, electrostatic potential and hydrogen bonding, between the terminal residues of peptide and the headgroups in micelle were observed. These interactions could be effect on the structure and flexibility of the peptide terminus.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.743-748
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• 2013

The temperature dependence of the partition coefficients of a neuropeptide, substance P (SP), in isotropic acidic bicelles was investigated by using a pulsed field gradient nuclear magnetic resonance diffusion technique. The addition of negatively charged dimyristoylphosphatidylserine to the neutral bicelle changed the SP partitioning a little, which implies that the hydrophobic interaction between the hydrophobic residues of SP and the acyl chains of lipid molecules is the major interaction while the electrostatic interaction is minor in SP binding in a lipid membrane. From the temperature dependence of the partition coefficients, thermodynamic functions were calculated. The partitioning of SP into the acidic bicelles is enthalpy-driven, as it is for small unilamellar vesicles and dodecylphosphocholine micelles, while peptide partitioning into a large unilamellar vesicle is entropy-driven. This may mean that the size of lipid membranes is a more important factor for peptide binding than the surface curvature and surface charge density.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.195-201
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• 2000

Glucoamylase of Saccharomyces diastaticus is produced as a large precursor composed of signal peptide (21 amino acid residues), Thr and Ser-rich region and functional glucoamylase. To evaluate the utility of the glucoamylase signal peptide (GSP) for the secretion of foreign proteins, four types of GSP mutants (ml : Pro-18 longrightarrowLeu-18, m2 : Tyr-13 longrightarrowLeu, m3 : Ser-9longrightarrowLeu-9, m4 : Asn-5 longrightarrowPro-5) were constructed and secretion efficiency of each mutant was compared with that of native GSP by the expression and secretion of Bacillus subtilis CMCase under the control of GAP in N-terminal domain and hydrophobic domain. n mutant 4, a polar amino acid was replaced by a helix - breaking Pro residue. CMCase activity assay and Western blot analysis revealed that CMCase secretion by GSP mutants replaced by Leu were increased compared with native GSP. In the case of m2 and m3, the substitution of Leu for Tyr-13 and Ser-9 in the hydrophobic region resulted in a twofold increase in the extracellular CMCase activity.

• BMB Reports
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• v.44 no.10
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• pp.669-673
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• 2011

Human methionine sulfoxide reductase B3A (hMsrB3A) is an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) reductase that catalyzes the stereospecific reduction of methionine-R-sulfoxide to methionine in proteins. In this work, we identified an antimicrobial peptide from hMsrB3A protein. The N-terminal ER-targeting signal peptide (amino acids 1-31) conferred an antimicrobial effect in Escherichia coli cells. Sequence and structural analyses showed that the overall positively charged ER signal peptide had an Argand Pro-rich region and a potential hydrophobic ${\alpha}$-helical segment that contains 4 cysteine residues. The potential ${\alpha}$-helical region was essential for the antimicrobial activity within E. coli cells. A synthetic peptide, comprised of 2-26 amino acids of the signal peptide, was effective at killing Gram-negative E. coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Salmonella paratyphi, but had no bactericidal activity against Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.10
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• pp.3030-3034
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• 2014

Bis-chloroethylnitrosourea (BCNU) is currently used as an anti-cancer drug for glioblastoma therapy. In this study, BCNU was loaded into the hydrophobic cores of R3V6 amphiphilic peptide micelles for efficient delivery into brain tumors. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) study showed that the BCNU-loaded R3V6 peptide micelles (R3V6-BCNU) formed spherical micelles. MTT assay showed that R3V6-BCNU more efficiently induced cell death in C6 glioblastoma cells than did BCNU. In the Annexin V assay, R3V6-BCNU more efficiently induced apoptosis than did BCNU alone. Furthermore, the results showed that R3V6 was not toxic to cells. The positive charges of the R3V6 peptide micelles may facilitate the interaction between R3V6-BCNU and the cellular membrane, resulting in an increase in cellular uptake of BCNU. In vivo evaluation with an intracranial glioblastoma rat model showed that R3V6-BCNU more effectively reduced tumor size than BCNU alone. The results suggest that R3V6 peptide micelles may be an efficient carrier of BCNU for glioblastoma therapy.

• BMB Reports
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.545-548
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• 1996

CA(1-8)ME(1-12), the CA-ME hybrid peptide of the amino terminal segments of cecropin A (CA) and melittin (ME), has been reported to have a broad spectrum and improved potency without a hemolytic property. In order to obtain new synthetic peptides with powerful antibacterial activity without hemolytic activity, several hybrid peptides were designed from the sequences of CA, ME, magainin 2, bombinin and lactoferricin. All hybrid peptides were constructed to form an amphipathically basic-flexible-hydrophobic structure and synthesized by the solid phase method. Their hemolytic activities against human red blood cells and antibacterial activities against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria were detennined. CA(1-8)MA(1-12), CA(1-8)BO(1-12), MA(10-17)ME(1-12) and LF(20-29)ME(1-12) showed comparable activities with broad spectra against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria relative to CA(1-8)ME(1-12) but without hemolytic properties. These hybrid peptides, therefore, could be useful as model peptides to design a novel peptide with improved antibacterial activity and study on structure-activity relationships of antimicrobial peptides.

• Proceedings of the Korea Crystallographic Association Conference
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• 2002.11a
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• pp.4-4
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• 2002

PDZ domains bind to short segments within target proteins in a sequence-specific fashion. GRIP/ABP family proteins contain six to seven PDZ domains and interact via its sixth PDZ domain (class Ⅱ) with the C-termini of various proteins, including liprin-α. In addition the PDZ456 domain mediates the formation of homo- and heteromultimers of GRIP proteins. To better understand the structural basis of peptide recognition by a class Ⅱ PDZ domain and DZ-mediated multimerization, we determined the crystal structures of the GRIPI PDZ6 domain, alone and in complex with a synthetic C-terminal octapeptide of human liprin-α, at resolutions of 1.5 Å and 1.8 Å, respectively. Remarkably, unlike other class Ⅱ PDZ domains, Ile736 at αB5 rather than conserved Leu732 at αB1 makes a direct hydrophobic contact with the side chain of the Tyr at the -2 position of the ligand. Moreover, the peptide-bound structure of PDZ6 shows a slight reorientation of helix αB, indicating that the second hydrophobic pocket undergoes a conformational adaptation to accommodate the bulkiness of the Tyr's side chain, and forms an antiparallel dimer through an interface located at a site distal to the peptide-binding groove. This configuration may enable formation of GRIP multimers and efficient clustering of GRIP-binding proteins.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.33 no.11
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• pp.3601-3606
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• 2012

Structural properties of a small hexapeptide molecule modeled after metal-binding siderochrome immersed in a room-temperature ionic liquid (RTIL) are studied via molecular dynamics simulations. We consider two different RTILs, each of which is made up of the same cationic species, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium ($BMI^+$), but different anions, hexafluorophosphate ($PF_6{^-}$) and chloride ($Cl^-$). We investigate how anionic properties such as hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity or hydrogen bonding capability affect the stabilization of the peptide in RTILs. To examine the effect of peptide-RTIL electrostatic interactions on solvation, we also consider a hypothetical solvent $BMI^0Cl^0$, a non-ionic counter-part of $BMI^+Cl^-$. For reference, we investigate solvation structures in common polar solvents, water and dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO). Comparison of $BMI^+Cl^-$ and $BMI^0Cl^0$ shows that electrostatic interactions of the peptide and RTIL play a significant role in the conformational fluctuation of the peptide. For example, strong electrostatic interactions between the two favor an extended conformation of the peptide by reducing its structural fluctuations. The hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity of RTIL anions also exerts a notable influence; specifically, structural fluctuations of the peptide become reduced in more hydrophilic $BMI^+Cl^-$, compared with those in more hydrophobic $BMI^+PF_6{^-}$. This is ascribed to the good hydrogen-bond accepting power of chloride anions, which enables them to bind strongly to hydroxyl groups of the peptide and to stabilize its structure. Transport properties of the peptide are examined briefly. Translations of the peptide significantly slow down in highly viscous RTILs.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.145-151
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• 1999

Apolipoprotein B-100 (apo B-100) is an important component in plasma low density lipoproteins (LDL). It function as the ligand for the LDL receptor in peripheral cells. The LDLs are removed from the circulation by both high-affinity receptor-mediated and receptor-independant pathways. LDLs are heterogeneous in their lipid content, size and density and certain LDL subspecies increase risk of atherosclerosis due to differences in the conformation of apo B in the particle. In the present study , surface and core peptide fraction of Apo B-100 have been characterized by comparing peptide-mapping and fluorescence spectroscopy. Surface fragments of apo B-100 were generated by digestion of LDL with either trypsin , pronase, or pancreatin elastase. Surface fractions were fractionated on a Sephadex G-50 column. The remaining core fragments were delipidated and redigested with the above enzymes, and the resulting core peptides were compared with surface peptides. Results from peptide-mapping by HPLC showed pronase-digestion was more extensive than trypsin -digestion to remove surface peptide fraction from LDL. Fluorescence spectra showed that core fractions contained higher amount of tryptophan than surface fractions, and it indicated that core fraction wa smore hydrophobic than surface fractions. A comparison of the behavior of the core and surface provided informations about the regions of apo B-100 involved in LDL metabolism and also about the structural features concerning the formation of atherosclerosis.