느타리버섯은 가장 중요한 식용버섯 중 하나이다. 느타리버섯은 Pseudomonas tolaasii에 의한 세균성 갈변병에 매우 감수성이므로, 저항성 품종을 만들기 위한 노력의 하나로 누에에서 분리된 항 세균성 단백질인 누에신을 느타리버섯에서 과발현시키고자 하였다. 누에신 cDNA는 여름 느타리버섯의 β-tubulin 프로모터에 결합되어 pTRura3-2 vector와 함께 우라실 영양요구성 돌연변이 균주에 형질전환되었다. 누에신 cDNA가 형질전환된 느타리버섯을 genomic PCR과 Southern blot을 통하여 분리할 수가 있었으며, 이들 중 3개의 형질전환체가 누에신 유전자를 발현시킴을 확인하였다. 그러나 이들 형질전환체들에서 누에신 단백질을 검출할 수 없었으며, 또한 항 세균 효과도 확인할 수 없었다. 이들 결과는 형질전환기술을 이용한 병 저항성 개발 가능성을 보여주고 있다.

Peptidoglycan recognition proteins (PGRPs) are pattern recognition molecules of the innate immune system that recognize peptidoglycan, a unique cell wall component of bacteria. Here we cloned and characterized PGRP-S from the bumblebee Bombus ignitus (BiPGRP-S). The BiPGRP-S gene consists of four exons encoding 194 amino acid residues. Comparative analysis indicates that the predicted amino acid sequence of BiPGRP-S shares high identity with enzymatically active PGRP-S proteins and contains the amino acids required for amidase activity. BiPGRP-S in B. ignitus worker bees is constitutively expressed in boththe fat body and epidermis, and it is secreted into the hemolymph. Quantitative real-time PCR assays revealed that in both the fat body and epidermis, the BiPGRP-S gene is highly induced by an injection of Bacillus thuringiensis. In addition, recombinant BiPGRP-S expressed as a 19-kDa protein in baculovirus-infected insect cells can bind to B. megaterium and B. thuringiensis but not to Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli or Beauveria bassiana. Consistent with these data, BiPGRP-S shows antibacterial activity against B. megaterium and B. thuringiensis. These results indicate that BiPGRP-S is an inducible protein that may be involved in the immune response against bacterial infection of the genus Bacillus as an amidase-type PGRP-S.

Attacin is a well-studied glycine-rich antibacterial protein in insect immune response, which has limitary antibacterial effect to some Gram-negative bacteria. A cDNA encoding the attacin gene was screened and isolated from the immunized larvae of the swallowtail butterfly, Papilio xuthus. The complete P. xuthus attacin cDNA is 949 nucleotides encoding a 250 amino acid precursor that contains a putative 18-residue signal peptide, a common 42-residue propeptide sequence and a presumed 190-residue mature protein with a theoretical mass of 19904.01 and a pI of 9.13. The putative mature protein of P. xuthus attacin showed 48%~52% and 24%~30% identity in amino acid sequences with that of lepidopteran and dipteran insects, respectively. The attacin transcript was induced at significant level after injection with bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Recombinant attacin was highly expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) cells by fusing with an N-terminal S-tag/thrombin cleavage site configuration protein to avoid the cell death during induction. The expressed fusion protein was purified by Ni-NTA immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC). After desalting and cleavage with thrombin, the recombinant attacin was released and showed considerably antibacterial activity against Gram-negative bacteria, E. coli ML 35. Our results proved that this protein family with a potent antibacterial activity may play a role in the immune response of butterflies.

Thrombin-induced platelet microbicidal protein (tPMP) is a small cationic peptide that exerts potent in vitro microbicidal activity against a broad spectrum of human pathogens, including Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus rattus BHT. Earlier evidence has suggested that tPMP targets and disrupts the bacterial membrane. However, it is not yet clear whether membrane disruption itself is sufficient to kill the bacteria or whether subsequent, presumably intracellular, events are also involved in this process. In this study, we investigated the microbicidal activity of rabbit tPMP toward S. rattus BHT cells in the presence or absence of a pretreatment with antibiotics that differ in their mechanisms of action. The streptocidal effects of tPMP on control cells (no antibiotic pretreatment) were rapid and concentration-dependent. Pretreatment of S. rattus BHT cells with either penicillin or amoxicillin (inhibitors of bacterial cell wall synthesis) significantly enhanced the anti-S. rattus BHT effects of tPMP compared with the effects against the respective control cells over most tPMP concentration ranges tested. On the other hand, pretreatment of S. rattus BHT cells with tetracycline or doxycycline (30S ribosomal subunit inhibitors) significantly decreased the streptocidal effects of tPMP over a wide peptide concentration range. Furthermore, pretreatment with rifampin (an inhibitor of DNA-dependent RNA polymerase) essentially blocked the killing of S. rattus BHT by tPMP at most concentrations compared with the respective control cells. These results suggest that tPMP exerts anti-S. rattus BHT activity through mechanisms involving both the cell membrane and intracellular targets.

To find some antibacterial peptides responsible for bacterial resistance, we performed differential hybridization with total cDNA probes which synthesized from normal and immunized larvae. Thirteen individual cDNA transcripts were expressed differentially in a total 1,862 random cDNA clones. One of upregulated genes is a novel member of the insect defensin-like peptide(Coprisin), a family of antibacterial peptide. Northern blot analysis showed that Coprisin was up-regulated at 4h and reached the highest point level at 16h after injection of E.coli. The deduced amino acid sequence of Coprisin was composed of 80 amino acids with predicted molecular weight of 8.6 kDa and PI of 8.72. Comparison of the deduced amino acid mature portion of Coprisin with defensin-like peptide of other insect indicated that it has 79.1% and 67.4% identity with Anomala cuprea and Allomyrina dichotoma, respectively. To find antibacterial active region of Coprisin, we synthesized four peptides corresponding to amino acid residues 1V-43N-NH2(CopN1), 5-16(CopN2), 19-30(CopN3) and 31-43(CopN4) of coprisin having amidated amino acid residues at their Cterminal. A 12-mer amidated at its C-terminus, ACALHCIALRKK-NH2 (Ala19-Lys30-NH2) was synthesized based on the deduced amino acid sequence, assumed to be an active site sequence. This peptides showed antibacterial activity against E.coli, Staphylococcus aureus, MRSA, Psedomonas syringae, and Pectobacterium carotovorium. Modified 9-mer peptide, LRCIALRKK-NH2, showed strong antibacterial activity than mellitin peptide used as a positive control against gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. This peptide showed no haemolytic activity and quite stable at 100℃ for several hours of incubation and in a wide pH range(pH2-12). Therefore, this peptide may be a good candidate for the development of new drug with potent antibacterial activity without cytotoxicity.

The insect baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS) is useful for the production of biologically active recombinant proteins. However, the overexpression of foreign proteins in this system often results in misfolded proteins and the formation of protein aggregates. To overcome this limitation, we have developed a versatile baculovirus expression and secretion system using the Bombyx mori protein disulfide isomerase (bPDI) as a fusion partner. bPDI gene fusion improved the secretion and antibacterial activity of recombinant nuecin proteins. Thus, bPDI gene fusion is a useful addition to the BEVS for the large-scale production of bioactive recombinant proteins.

곤충 유전자를 이용한 항세균성 펩타이드 생산 및 응용에 관한 기초 연구로서 비병원성 세균(Escherichia coli K12)으로 면역 반응을 유도한 누에로부터 발현량이 증가하는 유전자 중 Hyalophora cecropia의 attacin과 cDNA 상동성을 나타내는 BmInc6 클론을 분리하고 그 특성을 조사하였다. BmInc6 cDNA의 전체염기서열을 분석한 결과 그 크기는 852 bp이고, 35번째 염기에서 변역이 개시되어 679 bp 위치에서 종결되는 open reading frame을 가지며 812번째 위치에 잠정 전사 종결 신호의 존재가 확인되었다(GenBank, AF005384). BmInc6에 의해 coding되는 아미노산은 214개이며, hydropathy 분석 결과 친수성을 나타내는 단백질이었다. 그리고 BmInc6 유전자에 의해 연역되는 펩타이드를 nuecin으로 명명하였다. Nuecin 유전자를 baculovirus 발현 백터계를 이용하여 곤충세포주에서 발현시킨 결과 전사체의 크기는 약 950 bp였고, 세포내 벌현 펩타이드의 분자량은 약 23 kDa이었다. 세포내에서 발현된 nuecin 전구체로 추정되는 23 kDa 펩타이드는 세포외로 분비되는 과정에서 약 3 kDa의 signal 펩타이드가 제거됨으로서 약 20 kDa의 성숙 nuecin으로 된다는 사실을 단백질 전기영동상으로 확인하였다. Nuecin 단백질의 항세균 활성을 수종의 그람 음성 및 양성 세균에 대해 검정한 결과, 특히 E. coli와 Bacillus subtilis에 높은 활성을 나타내었으며, attacin이 한정된 그람 음성 세균에만 항세균 활성을 나타내는데 비해 nuecin은 그람 음성은 물론 그람 양성에도 항세균 활성을 나타내어, 보다 넓은 항세균 스펙트럼을 가지는 것을 알 수 있었다.있는 자격이 주어지므로 대부분의 보조적 보장소득 수혜 노인들은 단순히 금전적인 수입의 측면뿐 아니라 그 외의 사회보장 프로그램에 의존하고 있다. 이러한 면에서 보조적 보장소득의 수혜는 한국 영주권자 노인들의 독립적인 삶에 큰 역할을 하고 있다. 이러한 사회복지 프로그램을 영주권자들에게는 전면 금지하는 새로운 사회복지법은 재미 한국 영주권자 노인들뿐 아니라 그들의 가족들에게도 막대한 경제적 부담을 줄 것이다. 본 논문은 영주권자 노인들을 대상으로 분석한 것이지만, 주거형태를 비롯한 일반적인 특성을 비교해 보면 영주권자, 귀화 시민권자, 그리고 미국태생 노인들은 다른 성격의 집단들임을 보여주고 있다. 종래의 소수민족 노인들에 관한 연구들이 이민자 노인들을 영주권자와 귀화 시민권자의 구분없이 하나의 집단으로 간주하고 분석해 왔던 것을 볼 때, 앞으로의 연구는 이론적으로나 방법론적으로 시민권의 유무가 주거형태에 끼치는 영향도 함께 고려해야 할 것이다.에 나타난 인도의 영향은 여성복식과 남성복식에 있어서 서로 유사점과 차이점이 보이는데, 인도의 영향이 여성복식에 있어서 그 빈도가 더 높고, 종류가 더 다양함을 볼 수 있다. 여성복식에 있어서는 12가지의 다양한 인도복식스타일이 나타났으며, 그중 가장 많이 보이는 스타일은 Indian Shirt/Blouse/Smock/ Dress이며, 그 뒤를 이어 Madras, Indian lowery등을 볼 수 있다. 남성복식애 나타난 7가지의 스타일 중에는 Madras가 가장 빈도가 높으며 그외의 스타일들은 그 빈도가 매우 낮음을 볼 수 있다. 인도의 영향의 정도 (Attribution Categories) 있어서는 여성과 남성복식 모두에 있어서 인도에서 직접 수입된(originated) item이 각각 전체의 90%와 81%를 차지하여, 인도복식의 영향은 받았으나

Bovine mammalian gland has biopotential in therapeutic protein production and could be used as a model in further lactation researches. In this study, we have isolated bovine mammary gland-derived epithelial cells (BMECs) from Korean Holstein dairy cattle and themselves show differential dynamic ability in in-vitro culture. BMECs enables to form lobulo-alveolar structure, express milk production related gene. Functional studies indicated that BMECs secret exogeneous antibacterial fragment-Bovine Lactoferricin B (bLfcin-B), which is inserted in PiggyBac system, and this bioactive fragment inhibits the growths of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. These data demonstrated that BMECs open new scope in either bioactive fragment, heading to prevent the spread of mastitis or post-mastitis damage in dairy graze and could be an ideal bioreactor for antibacterial proteins.