• BMB Reports
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.247-260
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• 2007

Cinnamate 4-hydroxylase (C4H) is a key enzyme of phenylpropanoid pathway, which synthesizes numerous secondary metabolites to participate in development and adaption. Two C4H isoforms, the 2192-bp BnC4H-1 and 2108-bp BnC4H-2, were cloned from oilseed rape (Brassica napus). They both have two introns and a 1518-bp open reading frame encoding a 505-amino-acid polypeptide. BnC4H-1 is 57.73 kDa with an isoelectric point of 9.11, while 57.75 kDa and 9.13 for BnC4H-2. They share only 80.6% identities on nucleotide level but 96.6% identities and 98.4% positives on protein level. Showing highest homologies to Arabidopsis thaliana C4H, they possess a conserved p450 domain and all P450-featured motifs, and are identical to typical C4Hs at substrate-recognition sites and active site residues. They are most probably associated with endoplasmic reticulum by one or both of the N- and C-terminal transmembrane helices. Phosphorylation may be a necessary post-translational modification. Their secondary structures are dominated by alpha helices and random coils. Most helices locate in the central region, while extended strands mainly distribute before and after this region. Southern blot indicated about 9 or more C4H paralogs in B. napus. In hypocotyl, cotyledon, stem, flower, bud, young- and middle-stage seed, they are co-dominantly expressed. In root and old seed, BnC4H-2 is dominant over BnC4H-1, with a reverse trend in leaf and pericarp. Paralogous C4H numbers in Brassicaceae genomes and possible roles of conserved motifs in 5' UTR and the 2nd intron are discussed.

• BMB Reports
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• v.42 no.7
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• pp.444-449
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• 2009

Different neurodegenerative disorders like prion disease, is caused by protein misfolding conformers. Reverse-transfected cytosolic prion protein (PrP) and PrP expressed in the cytosol have been shown to be neurotoxic. To investigate the possible mechanism of neurotoxicity due to accumulation of PrP in cytosol, a PrP mutant lacking the signal and GPI (CytoPrP) was introduced into the SH-SY5Y cell. MTT and trypan blue assays indicated that the viability of cells expressing CytoPrP was remarkably reduced after treatment of MG-132. Obvious apoptosis phenomena were detected in the cells accumulated with CytoPrP, including loss of mitochondrial transmembrane potential, increase of caspase-3 activity, more annexin V/PI-double positive-stained cells and reduced Bcl-2 level. Moreover, DNA fragmentation and TUNEL assays also revealed clear evidences of late apoptosis in the cells accumulated CytoPrP. These data suggest that the accumulation of CytoPrP in cytoplasm may trigger cell apoptosis, in which mitochondrial relative apoptosis pathway seems to play critical role.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.57-64
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• 2001

The cDNA encoding human NeuAc ${\alpha}$2,3Gal$\beta$ 1,3GalNAc GalNac ${\alpha}$2,6-Sialyltransferase (hST6GalNac IV) was isolated by screening of human fetal liver cDNA library with a DNA probe generated from the cDNA sequence of mouse ST6Gal NAc IV (mkST6GalNAc IV). The cDNA sequence included an open reading frame coding for 302 amino acids, and comparative analysis of this cDNA with mST6GalNAc IV showed that each sequence of the predicted coding region contains 88% and 85% identifies in nucleotide and amino acid levels, respecively. The primary structure of this enzyme suggested a putative domain structure, like that in other glycosyltransferases, consisting of a short N-terminal cytoplamic domain, a transmembrane domain and a large C-terminal active domain. This enzyme expressed in COS-7 cells echibited transferase activity toward NeuAc ${\alpha}$2,3Gal$\beta$ 1,3GalNAc, fetuin and GM1b, although the activity toward the later is very low, no significant activity being detected toward Gal${\beta}$ 1,3Gal NAc or asialofetuin, the other glycoprotein substrates tested. The $^{14}$ C-sialylated residue of fetuin sialylated by this enzyem with CMP-[$^{14}$C]NeuAc was sensitive to treatment with ${\alpha}$2,8-specific sialidase of Vibrio cholerae but resistant to treatment with ${\alpha}$2,3-specific sialidase (NaNase I), and ${\alpha}$2,3- and ${\alpha}$2,8-specific sialidase of Newcastle disease virus. These results clearly indicated that the expressed enzyme is a type of GalNAc ${\alpha}$2,6-sialyltransferase like mST6GalNAc IV, which requires sialic acid residues linked to Gal${\beta}$1,3GalNAc-residues for its activity.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.733-737
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• 2018

Cucurbitacin-I, a natural triterpenoid derived from Cucurbitaceae family plants, exhibits a number of potentially useful pharmacological and biological activities. Indeed, the previous study demonstrated that cucurbitacin-I reduced the proliferation of colon cancer cells by enhancing apoptosis and causing cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase. CD44, a type I transmembrane protein with the function of adhering to cells, mediates between the extracellular matrix and other cells through hyaluronic acid. Recent studies have demonstrated that an overexpression of the CD44 membrane receptor results in tumor initiation and growth, specific behaviors of cancer stem cells, the development of drug resistance, and metastasis. The aim was to examine the effect of cucurbitacin-I on CD44 expression human ovarian cancer cells because the effect of cucurbitacin-I on CD44 expression has not been reported. The expressions of CD44 mRNA and protein were detected using a quantitative real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction and a Western blot analysis, respectively. Treatment with cucurbitacin-I inhibited the expression of CD44 mRNA and protein. A subsequent analysis revealed that cucurbitacin-I blocked the phosphorylation of activator protein-1 (AP-1) and nuclear factor kappa-B ($NF-{\kappa}B$), which are key regulators of CD44 expression. Taken together, the data demonstrate that cucurbitacin-I regulates the AP-1 and $NF-{\kappa}B$ signaling pathways, leading to decreased CD44 expression.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.267-272
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• 2015

'Tight junctions (TJ)' have recently been identified in the granular cell layer of the human epidermis, where they contribute to the normal adhesion between keratinocytes and to the physiologic barrier function of the epidermis. Among the TJ proteins in the epidermis, occludin is an important transmembrane protein, which is considered as a major component. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether regional variation exists in the expression of the tight junction protein occludin in normal human epidermis. Indirect immunofluorescence staining for occludin was performed with specimens taken from different areas of normal skin (4 from each of 7 different anatomical sites, including the scalp, face, posterior neck, upper arm, abdomen, lower back, and inner thigh). The degrees of the expression-intensity in each specimen were estimated with the reciprocals of positive end-point titer of occludin in an indirect immunofluorescence study. The highest degree expression-intensity of the TJ protein occludin among the different areas of normal epidermis was observed on the face and abdomen with a titer of 600 (p=0.001). The lowest intensity of expression of occludin was seen in the epidermis from the upper arm. Skin specimens from the scalp, neck, back, and leg demonstrated intermediate degrees of the expression in intensity. The expression of occludin in the skin samples obtained from different locations of the body showed a statistically significant variation. This suggests that there is a certain degree of regional variation in the expression-intensity of TJ protein 'occludin' in the human epidermis.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.302-308
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• 1997

${\beta}-Cyclodextrin\;({\beta}-CD)$ polymers were prepared using epichlorohydrin as a cross linking agent. The polymers were separated into ${\beta}-CD$ soluble polymer $({\beta}-CD\;SP)$ and ${\beta}-CD$ insoluble polymer $({\beta}-CD\;ISP)$ on a 10,000 molecular weight cut-off membrane (YM 10). Optimum separation conditions in the YM 10 were: transmembrane pressure 51.7 kPa, separation temperature $35^{\circ}C$, and volume concentration ratio 10. The flux was $0.025\;mL/cm^{2}/min$ under the optimum conditions. Gel permeation chromatography indicated that ${\beta}-CD\;SP\;and\;{\beta}-CD\;ISP$ had a degree of polymerization of $2{\sim}8$ and over 10, respectively. The formation of an inclusion complex with hydrophobic compounds such as 4-dimethylaminoazobenzene, methyl red, and naringin was compared among ${\beta}-CD,\;{\beta}-CD\;SP\;and\;{\beta}-CD\;ISP$. The molar absorptivity for the two chromatic compounds was increased and the absorption peak was shifted in the presence of ${\beta}-CD$ polymers. Naringin, the principal flavonoid bitter tasting component of citrus fruit, had a low water solubility. The solubility of naringin was increased through the formation of an inclusion complex with ${\beta}-CD$ polymers. There was no significant difference in the formation of an inclusion complex between ${\beta}-CD\;SP\;and\;{\beta}-CD\;ISP$. Reduction of the bitter components from citrus products was shown to be possible when employing ${\beta}-CD\;SP$, while the usage of ${\beta}-CD$ monomer has been limited due to the low water solubility.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.124-133
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• 2007

In this study, we treated lake water by 2 kinds of multichannel ceramic micro filtration membranes. We could investigate effects of $N_2-back-flushing$ time (BT) and transmembrane pressure (TMP), and find optimal operating conditions. The BT were changed in $10{\sim}60$ sec, TMP in $0.6{\sim}2.0$ bar at fixed filtration time (FT) 8 min, flow rate 2.0 L/min and back-flushing pressure 2.0 bar. Also, the optimal conditions were discussed in the viewpoints of resistance of membrane fouling $(R_f)$, dimensionless permeate flux $(J/J_o)$, permeate flux (J) and total permeate volume $(V_T)$. As result, optimal back-flushing conditions for HC04 ($0.4{\mu}m$ pore size) and HC10 membrane $(1.0{\mu}m)$ were BT=10 sec and BT=20 sec, respectively. Then, higher TMP should increase the driving force, and could produce more VT. Average rejection rates of pollutants were higher than 95.4% for turbidity, $12.7{\sim}20.1%\;for\;COD_{Mn},\;0.0{\sim}6.4%\;for\;NH_3-N,\;1.9{\sim}4.6%$ for T-N and $34.9{\sim}88.4%$ for T-P.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.142-150
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• 2014

This paper is to develop the process suitable for the advanced treatment of liquid fertilizer from the livestock night soil treatment facility (biogas plant). Nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) process was used, respectively, for the advanced treatment of liquid fertilizer. And membrane bioreactor (MBR) with and without biomedia were tested, respectively, for the pretreatment. It was found that almost T-N of the liquid fertilizer was composed of ammoniacal nitrogen. Transmembrane pressure of MBR with biomedia increased slowly during the operation time, while that of MBR without biomedia increased rapidly at the initial time. But there was no difference observed in the removal efficiencies of COD, T-N, and T-P irrespective of the dosage of biomedia. When the liquid fertilizer was pretreated by MBR with biomedia, the removal efficiencies of COD, T-N, and T-P were 99.8, 86.5%, and 99.8% by NF, and 99.9, 86.8%, and 99.8% by RO, respectively. Compared with the effluent quality standards of the livestock night soil treatment facility, the water quality treated by MBR and NF/RO process met the standard for COD and T-P, but exceeded the permitted standard for T-N. In order to meet the effluent quality standard for T-N, it is necessary to change the MBR operation cycle or to add the secondary treatment by NF/RO.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.22-29
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• 2011

Rhodopsin is a membrane protein with seven transmembrane region which contains a retinal as its chromophore. Although there have been recently reports on various photo-biochemical features of rhodopsins by a wide range of purifying and measurement methods, there was no actual comparison related to the difference of biochemical characteristics according to their physical environment of rhodopsins. First, proteorhodopsin (PR) was found in marine proteobacteria whose function is known for pumping proton using light energy. Second one is Anabaena sensory rhodopsin (Nostoc sp.) PCC7120 (ASR) which belongs to eubacteria acts as sensory regulator since it is co-expressed with transducer 14 kDa in an operon. In this study, we applied two types of rhodopsins (PR and ASR) to various environmental conditions such as in Escherichia coli membranes, membrane in acrylamide gel, in DDM (n-dodecyl-${\beta}$-D-maltopyranoside), OG (octyl-${\beta}$-D-glucopyranoside), and reconstituted with DOPC (1,2-didecanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine). According to the light-induced difference spectroscopy, rhodopsins in 0.02% DDM clearly showed photointermediates like M, and O states which respond to the different wavelengths, respectively and showed the best signal/noise ratio. The laser-induced difference spectra showed the fast formation and decay rate of photointermediates in the DDM solubilized samples than gel encapsulated rhodopsin. Each of rhodopsins seemed to be adapted to its surrounding environment.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.397-406
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• 1998

Hen egg white lysozyme (HEWL) is very valuable as a natural preservative in food processing due to its selective bactericidal activity. HEWL which traditionally isolated by crystallization or freeze drying was simply separated from 13 different hen egg white (HEW) proteins by a single-step ultrafiltration. Freeze dried HEW (0.25%, w/v) dissolved in a citrate-phosphate buffer (pH 4.6) was ultrafiltered with a PM30 membrane under various operating conditions, by changing concentration, temperature, transmembrane pressure $({\triangle}P_T)$, and stirring speed. Optimum separation conditions were decided when maximal flux was obtained. Under the optimum separation conditions, the effect of membrane material and fouling on flux as time passed as well as lysozyme concentration, protein concentration, specific activity (SA) in the permeate were measured. Best separation conditions of HEWL with PM30 membrane were sample concentration 0.25%, temperature $35^{\circ}C$, ${\Delta}P_T\;30\;psi$, and stirring speed 300 rpm. During the first 12 min, the flux of YM30 was higher, but at the steady-state it was lower than that of PM30. The SA of the PM30 permeate was over 2 times higher in spite of the lysozyme and protein concentration being lower than that of YM30 permeate. The flux of 5 times used PM30 decreased 30% compared to a new PM30, but both had the same tendency in flux decrease when time passed. Both of them reached a steady-state after 35 min and remained at 70% of the initial flux. In the PM30 permeate, the lysozyme concentration and SA were 110 units/mL and 2,821 units/mg protein, respectively. Therefore, PM30 membrane separation was very effective for separation of antimicrobial lysozyme.