Biomedical subjects

Sung Yun Kim

Publications and source records attributed to Sung Yun Kim.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Drosophila DJ-1 mutants show oxidative stress-sensitive locomotive dysfunction.

DJ-1 is linked to an early-onset autosomal recessive Parkinson's disease (PD) characterized primarily by selective loss of dopaminergic (DA) neurons, which results in motor disturbances. However, our understanding on how mutations in DJ-1 are related to PD is unclear. Here, we isolated the DJ-1 orthologue, DJ-1beta, in Drosophila and characterized its expression and loss-of-function mutants. We observed its strongest expression in the adult stage of development and ubiquitous expression in the larval brain. Our homozygous mutants showed severe defects in locomotor ability without loss of DA neurons, consistent with the previous mice DJ-1 mutant studies ([Goldberg, M.S., Pisani, A., Haburcak, M., Vortherms, T.A., Kitada, T., Costa, C., Tong, Y., Martella, G., Tscherter, A., Martins, A., et al., 2005. Nigrostriatal dopaminergic deficits and hypokinesia caused by inactivation of the familial Parkinsonism-linked gene DJ-1. Neuron 45, 489-496.]; [Kim, R.H., Smith, P.D., Aleyasin, H., Hayley, S., Mount, M.P., Pownall, S., Wakeham, A., You-Ten, A.J., Kalia, S.K., Horne, P., Westaway, D., Lozano, A.M., Anisman, H., Park, D.S., Mak, T.W., 2005. Hypersensitivity of DJ-1-deficient mice to 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) and oxidative stress. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102, 5215-5220.]; [Chen, L., Cagniard, B., Mathews, T., Jones, S., Koh, H.C., Ding, Y., Carvey, P.M., Ling, Z., Kang, U.J., Zhuang, X., 2005. Age-dependent motor deficits and dopaminergic dysfunction in DJ-1 null mice. J. Biol. Chem. 280, 21418-21426.]). The locomotor activity of DJ-1beta mutants was further decreased by paraquat-induced oxidative stress. Moreover, we found that Drosophila DJ-1 is prominently localized in mitochondria, suggesting that DJ-1 functions as a protector against oxidative stress in mitochondria.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2004

Identification of CED-3 substrates by a yeast-based screening method.

Identifying cellular substrates repertoire of individual proteases will facilitate our understanding of their physiological and pathological roles. In this article, we employed a yeast-based screening method to isolate CED-3 substrates. This method uses a transcription factor anchored to the plasma membrane by fusion to a library of cellular protein sequences. When a fusion protein is cleaved by CED-3, the transcription factor is released from the plasma membrane and enters the nucleus where it turns on the expression of reporter genes. We identified seven candidate clones by screening a genomic library using this method. Of these seven clones, two were cleaved by purified CED-3 in vitro. Therefore, the method described here may be generally used for genomewide screening to isolate potential substrates of specific proteases.

Bacterial Proteins↗

PubMed2003

Cell-based assay for beta-secretase activity.

The cerebral deposition of amyloid beta-peptide (Abeta) is a major factor in the etiology of Alzheimer's disease. beta-Secretase (BACE) initiates the generation of Abeta by cleaving the amyloid precursor protein at the beta-site and is therefore a prime target for therapeutic intervention. Here we report a cell-based method suitable for monitoring BACE activity and the efficacy of protease inhibitors. A fusion protein containing the amino-terminal transmembrane domain of Golgi alpha-mannosidase II, a Drosophila Golgi integral membrane protein, linked to human alkaline phosphatase (AP) by a short beta-site sequence, was expressed in Drosophila S2 cells. While the uncleaved fusion protein was retained in the Golgi apparatus, cleavage of the beta-site by BACE resulted in the release of AP to the culture medium, where it was easily detected and quantified. Three peptidomimetic inhibitors (LB83190, LB83192, LB83202) were tested for their efficacy with this cell-based assay. While LB83190 and LB83192 effectively blocked BACE activity, LB83202, a carboxylated derivative of LB83192, did not. This is consistent with the inability of LB83202 to permeate the cell membrane. The present cell-based assay could provide a convenient tool for high-throughput screening of substances that can interfere with BACE in living cells.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗

PubMed2002

Detection of site-specific proteolysis in secretory pathways.

We report here a genetic assay suitable for detecting site-specific proteolysis in secretory pathways. The yeast enzyme invertase is linked to the truncated lumenal region of the yeast Golgi membrane protein STE13 via a protease substrate domain in a Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain lacking invertase. When the substrate is cleaved by a specific protease, the invertase moiety is released into the periplasmic space where it degrades sucrose to glucose and fructose. Therefore, site-specific proteolysis can be detected by monitoring the growth of yeast cells on selective media containing sucrose as the sole carbon source. We confirmed the validity of this assay with yeast Kex2 and human TMPRSS2 proteases. Our data suggest that this in vivo assay is an efficient method for the determination of substrate specificity and mutational analysis of secreted or membrane proteases.

Biological Assay↗