• BMB Reports
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.201-208
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• 1998

Amino acid analogs, like other inducers of stress response, induce the synthesis of stress proteins in mammalian cells. In this study, Drosophila Kc cells, in which translation is tightly controlled during stress response, was treated with proline analogs, L-azetidine-2-carboxylic acid (AzC) and 3,4-dehydro-L-proline (dh-P). Kc cells exposed to AzC or dh-P induced the synthesis of several proteins which had the same molecular weights as known heat shock proteins. However, in Kc cells, normal protein synthesis still continued in the presence of amino acids analogs unlike in heat-shocked cells. For the induction of stress response, the incorporation of dh-P into the protein was not essential, but the incorporation of AzC was. The stress protein synthesis was regulated mainly at the transcriptional level by AzC, whereas it was regulated by dh-P at the transcription level and possibly posttranscription level. During recovery, the stress protein synthesis stopped sooner in analog-treated cells than in heat-shocked cells even though the accumulated amount of Hsp70 was much less in proline analogstreated cells. It could be concluded that the proline analogs, AzC and dh-P, induced stress response through a different mechanism from heat shock.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.307-312
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• 2004

Fast kinetics of transient pH changes and difference spectrum formation have been investigated following mixing of ADP/ATP with partially purified plasma membrane PM-ATPase of the pathogenic yeast Candida albicans in the presence of five nutrients: glucose, glutamic acid, proline, lysine, and arginine and two analogs of glucose: 2-deoxy D-glucose and xylose. Average $H^+$- absorption to release ratio, indicative of population of ATPase undergoing complete hydrolytic cycle, was found to be 0.27 for control. This ratio varied between 0.25 (proline) to 0.36 (arginine) for all other compounds tested, except for glucose. In the presence of glucose, $H^+$- absorption to release ratio was exceptionally high (0.92). While no UV difference spectrum was observed with ADP, mixing of ATP with ATPase led to a large conformational change. Exposure to different nutrients restricted the magnitude of the conformational change; the analogs of glucose were found to be ineffective. This suppression was maximal in the case of glucose (80%); with other nutrients, the magnitude of suppression ranged from 40-50%. Rate of $H^+$- absorption, which is indicative of E~P complex dissociation, showed positive correlation with suppression of conformational change only in the case of glucose and no other nutrient/analog. Mode of interaction of glucose with plasma membrane $H^+$-ATPase thus appears to be strikingly distinct compared to that of other nutrients/analogs tested. The results obtained lead us to propose a model for explaining glucose stimulation of plasma membrane $H^+$-ATPase activity.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.613-618
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• 1999

L-Proline-producing mutant strains were developed by exposing L-glutamic acid-producing bacteria to N-metyl-N-nitro-nitrosoguanidine and UV irradiation. A L-histidine auxotroph of Corynebacterium acetoacidophilum RYU3161(KCTC 0616BP), which was resistant to sulfaguanidine and proline analogs (DHP, AZC, TAC), was isolated. The activity of the mutant strain's $\gamma$-glutamyl kinase was 45% higher than that of the parent strain. The optimum level of L-histidine for production of L-proline was 0.16 g/l. In a 5-1 jar fermenter, the mutant strain produced L-proline at a high concentration (35 g/l) level within 48 h of cultivation.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.409-413
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• 2012

Indolicidin (ID) is a 13-residue Trp-rich antimicrobial peptide (AMP) isolated from bovine neutrophils. In addition to having a high antimicrobial potency, it is also toxic to mammalian cells. To develop novel ID-derived AMPs with shorter lengths and enhanced prokaryotic selectivities (meaning potent antimicrobial activity against bacterial cells without toxicity against mammalian cells) over the parental ID, several ID analogs were designed and synthesized. Finally, 10-residue ID analogs (SI, SI-PA, SI-WF and SI-WL) with much higher prokaryotic selectivity than the parental ID were developed. Our results suggest that the hydrophobic and aromatic amino acids at the central position of the analog SI with the highest prokaryotic selectivity are important for potent antimicrobial activity, but two Pro residues do not affect antimicrobial activity. The order of prokaryotic selectivity for ID and its designed analogs was SI > SI-PA > SI-WF > SI-WL > ID > SI-WA. Taken together, our designed short ID analogs could be developed as therapeutic agents for treating bacterial infections.