• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.103-120
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• 2010

Surface modification of microfiltration and ultrafiltration membranes has been widely used to improve the protein adsorption resistance and permeation properties of hydrophobic membranes. Several surface modification methods for converting conventional membranes into low-protein-binding membranes are reviewed. They are categorized as either physical modification or chemical modification of the membrane surface. Physical modification of the membrane surface can be achieved by coating it with hydrophilic polymers, hydrophilic-hydrophobic copolymers, surfactants or proteins. Another method of physical modification is plasma treatment with gases. A hydrophilic membrane surface can be also generated during phase-inverted micro-separation during membrane formation, by blending hydrophilic or hydrophilic-hydrophobic polymers with a hydrophobic base membrane polymer. The most widely used method of chemical modification is surface grafting of a hydrophilic polymer by UV polymerization because it is the easiest method; the membranes are dipped into monomers with and without photo-initiators, then irradiated with UV. Plasma-induced polymerization of hydrophilic monomers on the surface is another popular method, and surface chemical reactions have also been developed by several researchers. Several important examples of physical and chemical modifications of membrane surfaces for low-protein-binding are summarized in this article.

• BMB Reports
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.427-431
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• 1998

In the previous report (Choi et al., 1997), the angiogenin binding peptides identified from a phage-peptide library were analyzed by using the fusion proteins composed of the Escherichia coli maltose binding protein and its corresponding peptides. However, it was difficult to obtain a sufficient amount of the fusion proteins required for further analysis because of the low expression level. We now report a high level expression of the fusion protein and analysis of its anti-angiogenin activity. The use of strong T7 promoter and removal of signal sequence allowed about a 20-fold increase in the expression efficiency of the fusion protein. We were able to obtain about 10 mg of purified fusion protein from one liter of culture. The purified fusion protein showed angiogenin-specific affinity and inhibited the binding of biotinylated actin to human angiogenin at $IC_{50}$ of 0.6 mM. Its anti-angiogenin activity was also revealed by the chorioallantoic membrane assay.

• BMB Reports
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.391-395
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• 2000

Calexcitin, a calcium-binding protein, was previously cloned and functionally characterized in the squid Loligo pealei. We now report the cloning of a second form of Calexcitin, Calexcitin-2, found in the squid Todarodes pacificus optic lobe. Calexcitin-2 has a significantly different carboxyl terminal region than Calexcitin-1. It lacks the CAAX motif, which is a farnesylation site. The amino acid sequence of Calexcitin-2 shows an 84% identity with Calexcitin-1 and also displays a strong cross immunoreactivity. Western blotting shows that Calexcitin-2 was expressed exclusively in the optic lobe region of squid, but not in other body organs. Regardless of its lack of conserved regions for GTP-binding, Calexcitin-2 shows moderately low affinity GTP-binding and also shows dramatic conformational change induced by GTP-binding. Three possible GTP-binding region mutations, K142A, D144A, and K157A, did not change the G TP binding affinity. This raises the possibility that Calexcitin-2 may have a novel GTP-binding motif.

• BMB Reports
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.307-327
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• 1998

Cytochrome c peroxidase (CcP) is a yeast mitochondrial enzyme which catalyzes the reduction of hydrogen peroxide to water using two equivalents of ferrocytochrome c. The CcP/cytochrome c system has many features which make it a very useful model for detailed investigation of heme protein structure/function relationships including activation of hydrogen peroxide, protein-protein interactions, and long-range electron transfer. Both CcP and cytochrome c are single heme, single subunit proteins of modest size. High-resolution crystallographic structures of both proteins, of one-to-one complexes of the two proteins, and a number of active-site mutants are available. Site-directed mutagenesis studies indicate that the distal histidine in CcP is primarily responsible for rapid utilization of hydrogen peroxide implying significantly different properties of the distal histidine in the peroxidases compared to the globins. CcP and cytochrome c bind to form a dynamic one-to-one complex. The binding is largely electrostatic in nature with a small, unfavorable enthalpy of binding and a large positive entropy change upon complex formation. The cytochrome c-binding site on CcP has been mapped in solution by measuring the binding affinities between cytochrome c and a number of CcP surface mutations. The binding site for cytochrome c in solution is consistent with the crystallographic structure of the one-to-one complex. Evidence for the involvement of a second, low-affinity cytochrome c-binding site on CcP in long-range electron transfer between the two proteins is reviewed.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.337-345
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• 2001

A Cd-binding protein was identified in the renal cytosol of the Antarctic clam Laternula elliptica which naturally contains high concentrations of Cd. The Cd-binding protein showed similar characteristics of metallothionein (MT) in molecular weight (about 10-12 kDa) and low spectral absorbance at 280 nm with relatively high absorbance at 254nm. Results of immuno-histochemical staining suggested that the MT-like Cd-binding protein was mainly located in the epithelial cells of the kidney. The MT-like protein was a major ligand of cytosolic Cd as shown in the elution profiles of chromatography and may play an important role in Cd sequestration and accumulation in L. elliptica kidney. A considerable amount of Cd was also found to be associated with particulate fraction, indicating the sequestration to particulate fraction is as important as binding to the cytosolic MT-like protein in Cd accumulation in the kidney.

• BMB Reports
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.166-171
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• 2009

Hsp70s assist in the process of protein folding through nucleotide-controlled cycles of substrate binding and release by alternating from an ATP-bound state in which the affinity for substrate is low to an ADP-bound state in which the affinity for substrate is high. It has been long recognized that the two-domain structure of Hsp70 is critical for these regulated interactions. Therefore, it is important to obtain information about conformational changes in the relative positions of Hsp70 domains caused by nucleotide binding. In this study, analytical ultracentrifugation and dynamic light scattering were used to evaluate the effect of ADP and ATP binding on the conformation of the human stress-induced Hsp70.1 protein. The results of these experiments showed that ATP had a larger effect on the conformation of Hsp70 than ADP. In agreement with previous biochemical experiments, our results suggest that conformational changes caused by nucleotide binding are a consequence of the movement in position of both nucleotide- and substrate-binding domains.

• Plant Biotechnology Reports
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.293-299
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• 2009

Auxin-binding protein 57 ($ABP_{57}$), a soluble auxin-binding protein, acts as a receptor to activate plasma membrane (PM) $H^+-ATPase$. Here, we report the cloning of abp57 and the biochemical characterization of its protein expressed in E. coli. The analysis of internal amino acid sequences of $ABP_{57}$ purified from rice shoots enabled us to search for the corresponding gene in protein DB of NCBI. Further BLAST analysis showed that rice has four abp57-like genes and maize has at least one homolog. Interestingly, Arabidopsis seems to have no homolog. Recombinant $ABP_{57}$ expressed in E. coli caused the activation of PM $H^+-ATPase$ regardless of the existence of IAA. Scatchard analysis showed that the recombinant protein has relatively low affinity to IAA as compared to natural $ABP_{57}$. These results collectively support the notion that the cloned gene is responsible for $ABP_{57}$.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.76-89
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• 1985

The effects of ginseng saponin on the activity, phosphorylation, [$^{3}$H] ouabain binding and light scattering (disruption) of purified $Na^{+}$ ,$K^{+}$ -ATPase isolated from the outer medulla of sheep kidney were compared to those of gypsophila saponin, sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS), and Triton X-100 on the same parameters. $Na^{+}$ , $K^{+}$ -ATPase activity, phosphorylation, and [$^{3}H$] ouabain binding were inhibited by ginseng saponin (triol>total>diol), SDS, or Triton X-100, but increased by gypsophila saponin. Low doses of ginseng saponin (3.mu.g saponin/.mu.g protein) decreased phosphorylation sites and ouabain binding site concentration (Bmax) without any change of turnover number and affinity for ouabain binding which were decreased by high dose of ginseng saponin (over 10.mu.g saponin/.mu.g protein), SDS or Triton X-100. On the other hand, gypsophila saponin increased the affinity without any change of Bmax for ouabain binding. Inhibition of $Na^{+}$ ,$K^{+}$ -ATPase activity by ginseng saponin and SDS or Triton X-100 appeared before and after decrease in light scattering, respectively. These data suggest that ginseng saponins (total, diol, triol saponin) inhibit $Na^{+}$ , $K^{+}$ -ATPase activity by specific direct and general detergent action at low and high concentrations, respectively, and this inhibitory action of ginseng sapornin to $Na^{+}$ , $K^{+}$ -ATPase is not general action of all saponins.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.10-15
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• 1986

A polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis technique was applied to cytokinin-protein binding assay. Binding of soybean leaf proteins to cytokinin and relative affinities of protein fractions to cytokinin were studied. The electrophoresis technique appeared to be very useful for determination of cytokinin-protein binding, for identification of protein species binding to cytokinin and for comparison of relative affinities of the proteins to cytokinin. The presence of cytokinin-binding proteins in soybean leaves was confirmed from assays with ammonium sulfate precipitation, Sephadex G-25 chromatography, paper chromatography, and electrophoresis. Three groups of cytokinin-binding proteins were identified in the soybean leaf protein extract and two of the three showed low affinity to cytokinin, however, the third one with mobility between $0.0{\sim}0.2$, probably high molecular weight protein (s), showed high affinity in the electrophoretic analysis.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.1392-1396
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• 2005

Proteolytic digestion and CD measurement of wild-type and mutant cyclic AMP receptor proteins (CRPs) were performed either in the presence or absence of cyclic nucleotide. Results indicated that transition of a structural change to the hinge region by the binding of cAMP to the anti site was required for the binding of cAMP to the syn site near the hinge region and, although the occupancy of cAMP in the anti site increased the protein stability, CRP adopted more a stable conformation by the binding of cAMP to the syn site.