Bacillus thuringiensis (B. t.) strains are important microorganism because they produced a large amount of δ-endotoxin protein per bacterial cell and their toxins are highly toxic to Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, and Diptera depending on B. t. To date, more than a hundred Cry proteins have been identified and classified into 195 holotypes, based on the amino acid sequence identity. The Cry proteins or cry genes from the Korean native B. t. isolates in this study were not identified yet. The electrospray ionization of quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (ESI Q-TOF MS) was used to get the internal amino acid sequences of the endotoxin-spore culture mixtures of B. t. isolates, for which polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques were unable to detect the cognate genes. Most of Cry proteins seperated, excized, and extracted from the one dimensional - polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (1D-PAGE), instead of 2D-PAGE, were matched with protein databases using MS-MASCOT search program. The internal amino acid sequences which were submitted to protein BLAST (basic local alignment search tool) had partially homology with the Cry protein databases. Hence, present data strongly suggest that the de novo amino acid sequencing and ESI Q-TOF/MS analysis along with MASCOT search could be used as a simple and rapid method for detection of novel Cry toxins from B. t. isolates and identification of B. t. isolates.

The binding affinity constants (p(Od)50) and molecular docking scores (DS) between porcine odorant binding proteins pOBP (1HQP) and pPBP (1GM6) as receptor and a series of tetrahydrofuran-2-yl (A & B) analogues as substrate, and their interactions were discussed quantitatively using three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship (3D-QSAR) models. The statistical qualities of the optimized CoMFA models for pOBP were better than those of the CoMSIA models. The binding affinity constants and DS between substrate and receptor molecules were dependent upon steric and hydrophobic interaction. The DS constants of the substrates into the binding site of OBP (1HQP) were bigger than those of PBP (1GM6). The resulting contour maps produced by the optimized CoMFA model were used to identify the structural features relevant to the binding affinity in binding site of pOBP.

A patient complaining of severe pain in the right submandibular area showed a huge sialolith in radiogram. During the operation, the submandibular gland was much indurated, and large amount of pus was discharged out at an incision of the salivary gland. The removed salivary gland contained a huge sialolith in the major excretory duct of submandibular gland, which had an intact grayish-white surface in ovoid shape. In the histological examination its excretory ducts were extensively dilated without extravasation of saliva, and the involved salivary gland was almost destroyed by the granulomatous r eaction. Most of a cinar cells were d isappeared and r eplaced by ductal cells filled with exudative materials. The microsections of sialolith showed typical laminar structures of calcification containing amorphous basophilic material in the center, in which a lot of Gram positive and Gram negative microorganisms were found. In the center of sialolith numerous microorganisms were admixed with mucinous materials which were strongly positive for the antibody of mucin-1, and formed multiple colonies. In the periphery of the bacterial colonies proline rich proteins (PRPs) were condensely localized, and followed by the consistent positive reaction of transglutaminase 4 (TGase-4). These data suggest that the sialolith of this study is formed from the primary nidus of bacterial colony aggregated with salivary mucin-1 and PRPs by the crosslinking reaction of TGase-4.

Effects of Vegemil® containing soybean proteins and isoflavones on the growth and bone density of broiler chickens were investigated. One-week-old male and female Arbor Acres broiler chickens were fed on Vegemil® A containing 3% soybean proteins and 162 ppm isoflavones, instead of water, for 30 days and their growth indices (body weight, leg weight and femur length) and bone density were analyzed. The body weight gains in male and female chickens were increased by 15.6% and 31.7%, respectively, following feeding Vegemil® A compared to normal water. Vegemil® A increased leg weight as well as femur length of females by 22.9% and 15.0%, respectively. In addition, Vegemil® A feeding enhanced femoral bone density by 21.3% in comparison with water feeding. Therefore, it is suggested that Vegemil® A not only facilitates body growth, but also strengthens bone density of normal chickens, and that it could be a promising candidate for the improvement of infant growth and for the prevention of menopausal osteoporosis.

Changing Proteins in Granulosa Cells during Follicular Development in Pig In-Soon Chae1, Dong-Min Jang3, Hee-Tae Cheong2, Boo-Keun Yang1 and Choon-Keun Park1,† 1College of Animal Life Sciences, 2School of Veterinary Medicine, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 200-701, Korea 3CHA Stem Cell Institute, CHA Hospital, Seoul 463-712, Korea ABSTRACT This study analyzed change of proteins in granulosa cells during the porcine follicuar development by proteomics techniques. Granulosa cells of the follicles, of which the diameter is 2～4 mm and 6～10 mm, were collected from ovary of slaughtered pig that each follicle of diameter 1～4 mm and 6～10 mm. We extracted glanulosa cell proteins by M-PER Mammalian Protein Extraction Reagent. Proteins were refined by clean-up kit and quantified by Bradford method until total protein was 200 μl. Immobilized pH gradient(IPG) strip used 18 cm, 3～10 NL. SDS-PAGE used 10% acrylamide gel. After silver staining, Melanie 7 and naked eye test were used for spot analyzation. Increasing proteins in glanulosa cell of 6～10 mm follicle were 7 spots. This spots were analyzed by MALDI-TOF MS and searched on NCBInr. In results, 7 spots were similar to zinc/ling finger protein 3 precursor (RING finger protein 203), angiomotin, heat shock 60 kDa protein 1 (chaperonin) isoform 1 (HSP60), similar to transducin-like enhancer protein 1 (TLE 1), SH3 and PX domains 2A (SH3PXD2A). Those proteins were related with transfer between cells. Increase of proteins has an effect on follicular development.

실리카 입자를 기공 형성제로 사용하여 물리적 강도와 단백질 결합용량이 높은 다공성 키토산 및 키틴 친화 막을 제조하였다. 키토산 친화 막의 BSA 단백질 결합용량은 최대 21.8mg/mL이었으며, 키틴 친화 막의 lysozyme 효소 결합용량은 최대 26.1mg/mL이었다. 제조된 다공성 키토산 및 키틴 친화 막을 사용하여 단백질 용액의 loading 유량, loading 양 및 농도 변화에 따른 BSA와 lysozyme의 친화 막 여과 크로마토그래피 분리 실험을 수행하였다. 친화 막 여과 크로마토그래피 분리 실험을 통해 얻어진 loading/washing/elution의 단계로 구성된 일련의 크로마토그램으로부터 단백질 용출량과 결합수율을 구하였다. 키토산 및 키틴 친화 막에의 BSA 및 lysozyme 단백질의 결합량과 결합수율은 loading용액의 유량이 작을수록, 주입량 및 농도가 클수록 증가하였다. 이 결과로부터 실리카 입자를 기공 형성제로 사용하여 제조된 다공성 키토산 및 키틴 막은 단백질의 대규모 여과 크로마토그래피 분리를 위한 친화 막으로서 효과적인 활용이 기대된다.

Cementum is a hard connective tissue, produced by cementoblasts during tooth root formation, which provides for the attachment of the periodontal ligament to the roots and surrounding alveolar bone. Establishment of this attachment is an important event in the regeneration of lost periodontal tissues. We examined whether or not odontoblast conditioned media(CM) have a regulatory influence on the differentiation and mineralization of cementoblasts(murine cementoblastic cell line, OCCM-30) in vitro. To identify the effect of odontoblast conditioned media and dentin non collagenous proteins (dNCPs) on cementoblast differentiation and mineralization, we treated CM and dNCPs to cementoblast then differentiated the cells for 14 days. To evaluate the formation of mineralized nodules alizarin-red S staining was performed at 0,4,7 and 14 days. Expression of cementum matrix genes was measured by RT-PCR. Mineralization of cementoblasts was accelerated with CM from odontoblastic MDPC-23 and OD-11. The expression of BSP, ALP, and OC mRNA in cementoblastic OCCM-30 cells was facilitated by the MDPC-23 and OD-11 cells. The extracted dNCPs had little influence on the proliferation, cell cycle modification, and chemotaxis of OCCM-30 cells. Although the dNCPs did not exhibit chemotactic activities for cementoblasts, the dNCPs promoted the differentiation and mineralization of cementoblasts. In conclusion, the dentin matrix protein, or the secreted products of odontoblast, facilitates cementoblast differentiation and mineralization. This represents a new approach and suggests another avenue for cementum regeneration.

The early diagnosis of bovine pregnancy is an essential component of successful reproductive planning on farms, because lack of bovine pregnancy over the long term results in reproductive failure and low milk yield‐the latter of which is a special concern on dairy farms. This study was designed to identify early pregnancy‐specific whey proteins in bovine, by comparing milk samples collected from cattle during pregnancy (Days 30 and 50) and from non‐pregnant cattle. In this study, differentially expressed proteins in five pregnant and five non‐pregnant Holstein dairy cattle were investigated and compared, using proteomics analysis. The first dimension was applied to a pH 3.0～10.0 strip, by loading a 2‐mg milk protein sample. After the second‐dimension separation was performed, the gels were stained with colloidal Coomassie brilliant blue. The stained gels were scanned and the images were analyzed, to detect variations in protein spots between non‐pregnant and pregnant cattle milk protein spots, using ImageMaster; this was followed by analysis with MALDI TOF‐MS. Analysis of the 2‐DE gel image resulted in a total of approximately 500～600 protein spots, of which 12 spots were differentially expressed, six spots were up‐regulated, and four spots were downregulated; two spots were identified as pregnancy‐specific proteins. These proteins were identified as lactoferrin, NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2, albumin, serum albumin precursor and transferrin. Our results via 2‐D PAGE analysis revealed composite profiles of several milk proteins related to early bovine pregnancy, implying the possible use of these milk proteins in the early detection of bovine pregnancy.

Recently, we constructed a novel recombinant baculovirus genome, bEasyBac, enabling easy and fast generation of pure recombinant baculovirus without any purification step. In the bEasyBac, bacteriophage lambda site-specific attachment (att) sites were introduced to facilitate the generation of recombinant viral genome by in vitro transposition. Moreover, extracellular RNase gene from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, barnase, was expressed under the control of Cotesia plutellae bracovirus (CpBV) ORF3005 early promoter to negatively select against non-recombinant background. The bEasyBac could replicate in host insect cells only when the barnase gene was replaced to gene of interest by in vitro transposition. When the bEasyBac was transposed with pDualBac-EGFP and the EGFP expression efficiency along passage was investigated, the resulting recombinant virus, EasyBac-EGFP, showed comparable level of EGFP expression efficiency with the plaque-purified recombinant virus, AcEGFP, which was constructed using bAcGOZA system, whereas, the non-purified AcEGFP showed quite reduced level of EGFP along passages. Moreover, no non-recombinant backgrounds were detected from unpurified EasyBac-EGFP stocks. Based on these results, high-throughput condition for generation of multiple recombinant viruses in a time was established. These results suggest that the bEasyBac has an effective benefit enabling for high-throughput baculovirus expression vector without purifying recombinant virus.

The porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) has six structural proteins which encoded by ORFs 2 to 7 are designated as GP2, 3, 4, 5, M and N, repectively. In this study, we determined the expression of each protein using novel transfer vector, pBmKSK4 which has the polyhedrin promoter of BmNPV and 6xHis tag. The recombinant transfer vector was co-transfected into Bm5 cells along with bBpGOZA DNA. Recombinant virus was purified by plaque assay and amplified in Bm5 cells. Expression of each protein was identified by SDS-PAGE and Western blot analysis using anti-6xHis monoclonal antibody. The expression levels of the structural proteins in Bm5 cells were stronger than the expression system using pBacPAK9 transfer vector in Sf21 cells. As expected, GP5 was expressed at low levels from its structural properties and its toxicity for cells. In addition, each recombinant protein was purified using Ni-NTA spin columns. The ability to produce each protein in the baculovirus system indicates that these could be major candidates for the development of a vaccine against PRRSV.

Transferrin and ferritin are iron-binding proteins involved in transport and storage of iron as part of iron metabolism. Here, we describe the cDNA cloning and characterization of transferrin (Bi-Tf) and the ferritin heavy chain subunit (Bi-FerHCH), from the bumblebee Bombus ignitus. Bi-Tf cDNA spans 2,340 bp and encodes a protein of 706 amino acids and Bi-FerHCH cDNA spans 1,393 bp and encodes a protein of 217 amino acids. Comparative analysis revealed that Bi-Tf appears to have residues comprising iron-binding sites in the N-terminal lobe, and Bi-FerHCH contains a 5’UTR iron-responsive element and seven conserved amino acid residues associated with a ferroxidase center. The Bi-Tf and Bi-FerHCH cDNAs were expressed as 79 kDa and 27 kDa polypeptides, respectively, in baculovirus-infected insect Sf9 cells. Northern blot analysis revealed that Bi-Tf exhibits fat body-specific expression and Bi-FerHCH shows ubiquitous expression. The expression profiles of the Bi-Tf and Bi-FerHCH in the fat body of B. ignitus worker bees revealed that Bi-Tf and Bi-FerHCH are differentially induced in a time-dependent manner in a single insect by wounding, bacterial challenge, and iron overload.