Kyungmin Kim

Solution structure of the Zβ domain of human DNA-dependent activator of IFN-regulatory factors and its binding modes to B- and Z-DNAs

The DNA-dependent activator of IFN-regulatory factors (DAI), also known as DLM-1/ZBP1, initiates an innate immune response by binding to foreign DNAs in the cytosol. For full activation of the immune response, three DNA binding domains at the N terminus are required: two Z-DNA binding domains (ZBDs), Zα and Zβ, and an adjacent putative B-DNA binding domain. The crystal structure of the Zβ domain of human DAI (hZβDAI) in complex with Z-DNA revealed structural features distinct from other known Z-DNA binding proteins, and it was classified as a group II ZBD. To gain structural insights into the DNA binding mechanism of hZβDAI, the solution structure of the free hZβDAI was solved, and its bindings to B- and Z-DNAs were analyzed by NMR spectroscopy. Compared to the Z-DNA–bound structure, the conformation of free hZβDAI has notable alterations in the α3 recognition helix, the “wing,” and Y145, which are critical in Z-DNA recognition. Unlike some other Zα domains, hZβDAI appears to have conformational flexibility, and structural adaptation is required for Z-DNA binding. Chemical-shift perturbation experiments revealed that hZβDAI also binds weakly to B-DNA via a different binding mode. The C-terminal domain of DAI is reported to undergo a conformational change on B-DNA binding; thus, it is possible that these changes are correlated. During the innate immune response, hZβDAI is likely to play an active role in binding to DNAs in both B and Z conformations in the recognition of foreign DNAs.

Sequence discrimination of the Zα domain of human ADAR1 during B–Z transition of DNA duplexes

The Zα domain of human ADAR1 (ZαADAR1) preferentially binds Z‐DNA rather than B‐DNA with high binding affinity. ZαADAR1 binds to the Z‐conformation of both non‐CG‐repeat DNA duplexes and a d(CGCGCG)2 duplex similarly. We performed NMR experiments on complexes between the ZαADAR1 and non‐CG‐repeat DNA duplexes, d(CACGTG)2 or d(CGTACG)2, with a variety of protein‐DNA molar ratios. Comparison of these results with those from the analysis of d(CGCGCG)2 in the previous study suggests that ZαADAR1 exhibits the sequence preference of d(CGCGCG)2 ≫ d(CACGTG)2 > d(CGTACG)2 through multiple sequence discrimination steps during the B–Z transition.

Novel Interaction of the Z-DNA Binding Domain of Human ADAR1 with the Oncogenic c-Myc Promoter G-Quadruplex

Both G-quadruplex and Z-DNA can be formed in G-rich and repetitive sequences on genome, and their formation and biological functions are controlled by specific proteins. Z-DNA binding proteins, such as human ADAR1, have a highly conserved Z-DNA binding domain having selective affinity to Z-DNA. Here, our study identifies the Z-DNA binding domain of human ADAR1 (hZαADAR1) as a novel G-quadruplex binding protein that recognizes c-myc promoter G-quadruplex formed in NHEIII1 region and represses the gene expression. An electrophoretic migration shift assay shows the binding of hZαADAR1 to the intramolecular c-myc promoter G-quadruplex-forming DNA oligomer. To corroborate the binding of hZαADAR1 to the G-quadruplex, we conducted CD and NMR chemical shift perturbation analyses. CD results indicate that hZαADAR1 stabilizes the parallel-stranded conformation of the c-myc G-quadruplex. The NMR chemical shift perturbation data reveal that the G-quadruplex binding region in hZαADAR1 was almost identical with the Z-DNA binding region. Finally, promoter assay and Western blot analysis show that hZαADAR1 suppresses the c-myc expression promoted by NHEIII1 region containing the G-quadruplex-forming sequence. This finding suggests a novel function of Z-DNA binding protein as a regulator of G-quadruplex-mediated gene expression.

Structural and biochemical characterization of a carbohydrate acetylesterase from Sinorhizobium meliloti 1021

In many microorganisms, carbohydrate acetylesterases remove the acetyl groups from various types of carbohydrates. Sm23 from Sinorhizobium meliloti is a putative member of carbohydrate esterase family 3 (CE3) in the CAZy classification system. Here, we determined the crystal structure of Sm23 at 1.75 Å resolution and investigated functional properties using biochemical methods. Furthermore, immobilized Sm23 exhibited improved stability compared with soluble Sm23, which can be used for the design of plant cell wall degrading‐systems.

Optimal washing time control algorithm for the drum washing machine using an inertia estimator

Generally, operating efficiency of drum washing machine is mostly affected by the washing time. The washing time is determined by the quantity and the type of the laundry. Although the type of the laundry is easily inputted by the user, however the quantity of the laundry can net be easily. Therefore, this paper suggests that the washing time is adjusted by the inertia estimator which can estimate the quantity of the laundry. The proposed algorithm is implemented on the PMSM drive using the low cost position sensor for practical washing machine application. And the experiment is performed by the motor of drum washing machine for the practical load condition.

Cutaneous NK/T-cell lymphoma preceded by persistent facial angioedema.

© 2010 The Authors. doi: 10.2340/00015555-0861 Journal Compilation

High-Contrast Imaging of Cholesterol Crystals in Rabbit Arteries Ex Vivo Using LED-Based Polarization Microscopy

Detection of cholesterol crystals (Chcs) in atherosclerosis disease is important for understanding the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis. Polarization microscopy (PM) has been in use traditionally for detecting Chcs, but they have difficulty in distinguishing Chcs with other crystalline materials in tissue, such as collagens. Thus, most studies using PM have been limited to studying cell-level samples. Although various methods have been proposed to detect Chcs with high specificity, most of them have low signal-to-noise ratios, a high system construction cost, and are difficult to operate due to a complex protocol. To address these problems, we have developed a simple and inexpensive universal serial bus (USB) PM system equipped with a 5700 K cool-white light-emitting diode (LED). In this system, Chcs are shown in a light blue color while collagen is shown in a yellow color. More importantly, the contrast between Chcs and collagens is improved by a factor of 2.3 under an aqueous condition in these PM images. These imaging results are well-matched with the ones acquired with two-photon microscopy (TPM). The system can visualize the features of atherosclerosis that cannot be visualized by the conventional hematoxylin and eosin and oil-red-o staining methods. Thus, we believe that this simple USB PM system can be widely used to identify Chcs in atherosclerosis.

Low-cost polarization microscopy for cholesterol crystals

Because cholesterol crystals (Chcs) are a major cause of atherosclerosis, imaging Chcs in tissues with high sensitivity and specificity is important in diagnosing and predicting atherosclerosis. Polarizing microscopy (PM) has been widely used to image crystalline materials in tissues, but it has been difficult to distinguish Chcs from other crystalline materials in tissues. Thus, various methods such as fluorescent dye staining, Raman spectroscopy, and two-photon microscopy (TPM) have been developed to image Chcs with high sensitivity and specificity. However, these methods require expensive equipment or complex processes. Therefore, we have developed a low-cost, easy-to-use PM system using an LED light source that can distinguish Chcs from other crystalline materials with high sensitivity and specificity. Due to the nature of the LED spectrum in our system, collagen is displayed in yellow and Chcs in blue. In addition, we have improved the sensitivity and specificity by creating an aqueous condition on the sample. In the aqueous state, signals of yellowish collagen fibers were reduced and signals of Chcs were highlighted. The Chcs detection capability of our system was verified compared with the TPM image. In addition, clinical feasibility was shown by comparison with existing histological methods.

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of a novel type of lipolytic hydrolase from Bacillus licheniformis.

With increasing demand in biotechnological applications, the identification and characterization of novel lipolytic enzymes are of great importance. The crystallization and preliminary X-ray crystallographic study of a novel type of hydrolase from Bacillus licheniformis (BL28) are described here. Recombinant BL28 protein containing a C-terminal His tag was overproduced in Escherichia coli and purified to homogeneity. BL28 was crystallized using 0.2 M ammonium acetate, 0.1 M sodium citrate tribasic dihydrate pH 5.6, 30%(w/v) PEG 4000 as a crystallizing solution. X-ray diffraction data were collected to a resolution of 1.67 Å with an Rmerge of 5.8%. The BL28 crystals belonged to the tetragonal space group P41212, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 57.89, c = 167.25 Å. A molecular-replacement solution was obtained and structure refinement of BL28 is in progress.

A Composition Check of Composite Refactorings Not Having a Specification of Precondition

Refactoring has been actively used in recent software developments. Many studies on the processing of more large scaled composite refactorings have been conducted through the composition of elementary refactorings. It is important to verify the possibility of composition before the refactoring is performed, because the composite refactorings are processed to the sequence of composed elementary refactorings. In conventional studies, they verify the possibility of composition using the precondition of composite refactorings which are computed from the precondition and postcondition of elementary refactorings. They can not verify the possibility of composition in case which composite refactorings do not have a specification of precondition. Thus, we plan to verify the possibility of composition by using the elementary refactorings only without any additional definitions of the preconditions of composite refactorings. To achieve this goal, we proposes a specification method of elementary refactorings and a method for the composition check of refactorings. Then, we develop a prototype tool based on these methods. In addition, we verify the efficiency of our methods through case studies.