• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.22 no.8
• /
• pp.1018-1023
• /
• 2012

Snail is a zinc finger transcription factor that induces epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), which promotes tumor invasion and metastasis by repressing E-cadherin expression. In addition, Snail restricts the cellular apoptotic response to apoptotic stimuli or survival factor withdrawal; however, its molecular mechanism remains largely unknown. In this study, we have investigated the mechanism underlying Snail-mediated chemoresistance to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), one of the most widely used anti-cancer drugs. When Snail was overexpressed by doxycycline (DOX) in MCF-7 #5 cells, it inhibited 5-FU-induced apoptotic cell death and switched the cell death mode to necrosis. Snail expression, either by DOX treatment in MCF-7 #5 cells or by the transfection of Snail expression vectors pCR3.1-Snail-Flg, phosphorylation-resistant pCR3.1-S104, and 107A Snail-Flg in MCF-7 cells specifically induced PTEN down-regulation/inactivation and Akt/PKB activation, without affecting ERK1/2 activity. In addition, Snail prominently suppressed 5-FU-induced increases in p53 levels. These findings demonstrate that Snail switches 5-FU-induced apoptosis to necrosis through the activation of Akt/PKB and the down-regulation of p53 levels.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.123-132
• /
• 2010

Six populations of the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella, were collected from the different national areas for resistance and reared in laboratory for two sensitive population. These populations of P. xylostella were examined the developed resistance against commercial products of Bacillus thuringiensis. There were 3 products with B. thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki including Tyuneup$^{(R)}$, Thuricide$^{(R)}$ and Geumulmang$^{(R)}$ and 2 products with B. thuringiensis subsp. aizawai including Tobagi$^{(R)}$ and Scorpion$^{(R)}$. The sensitive population of diamondback moths were provided from National Academy of Agricultural Science (NP) and Highland Agriculture Research Center (GR population) and field populations were caught from 6 different national areas. Resistance against Tyuneup$^{(R)}$ was developed 4.8 and 2.5 times in SP and HS compared with GR population of diamondback moth, respectively. In case of Geumulmang$^{(R)}$, it was developed 9.9 and 6.8 times in SP and NM population compared with NP population, respectively. Otherwise, Tobagi$^{(R)}$ was showed higher resistance in HS than any other population compared with GR population, however, Scorpion$^{(R)}$ that is a same strain with Tobagi$^{(R)}$, was showed only double resistance to SP population. It was supposed that the development of resistance to B. thuringiensis might be caused by the continuous application of the specific commercial product at the specific area. So, we need to use the commercial products of B. thuringiensis in rotation with different B. thuringiensis strains. In the other hand, when HS population with highest resistance were reared in laboratory, their resistance ratio was rapidly dropped to 1.1 times at second generation. We have to examined the resistance mechanism of the diamondback moth to B. thuringiensis strains.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.25 no.6
• /
• pp.715-723
• /
• 2015

Insects represent the largest class within the animal kingdom in terms of species number. Humans had been utilized insect in the broad area, including food, agriculture, industry, pharmaceuticals and so on. At present, insects are emerging as a leading group for identifying and extracting novel bioactive substances due to enormous number and a high nutritional value. Insects rely on a suite of systemic response to resist infection such as immune cells, hemocytes, activation of enzymes cascades, and antimicrobial peptide/protein. Among the substances, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are main components of potent antimircrobial innate defense system into the insect hemolymph. AMPs raise influential candidate as avenue to resolve the development of antibiotic-resistant microbial organism. Insect AMPs are classified into four main classes: cecropins, insect defensins, glycine/proline-rich peptides. Insect AMPs have been purified, over 150. In this review, AMPs derived from several insects were summarized including honey bee, dung beetle, butterfly and longicorn beetle. These peptides almost exhibited potent antimicrobial activities against human microbial pathogens without causing remarkable hemolysis to erythrocytes excluding melittin, and their mode of action(s) are based on disruption of the plasma membrane or fungal apoptosis. Therefore, study of insect AMPs is expected to be useful for designing novel therapeutic antimicrobial applications.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.60-65
• /
• 1982

In order to observe the degree and response of drought-resistance and its physiological mechanism in barley and wheat seedling stage, 5 species (16 cultivars) were tested for the changes of nitrate reductase and protease activity and the accumulation of free proline, by being subjected to water stress by withholding watering for 8 days at 10 days (at the 3rd leaf stage) after emergence and by imposing water stress to the excised first leaf by polyethyleneglycol solution (osmotic potential, -20 bars) for 48 hours. The average rate of decrease of all cultivars was 42% in nitrate reductase activity and 73% in protease activity. But proline content in water stress was increased 10 folds more than that of control. The decrease4 rate of nitrate reductase activity in 5 species was in the order of wheat < rye < covered barley < naked barley < two-row barley: wheat being the lowest. The decreased rate of protease activity in 5 species was in the order of wheat > rye > two-row barley > covered barley > naked barley: wheat being the" heighest. The accumulated amount of free proline in 5 species by water stress was in the order of wheat > covered barley > rye > naked barley > two-row barley. And the increased ratio (folds) of free proline of water stress to control was in the order of rye(13) > wheat. covered barley(11) > naked barley(99) > two-row barley(7): rye being the highest. In terms of the enzymatic activity and the physiotically adaptive metabolism during the processing leading to drought-resistance, the degree of drought-resistance of 5 species to water stress at seedling stage was shown to be in the order of wheat > rye > covered barley > naked barley > two-row barley.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
• /
• v.63 no.3
• /
• pp.257-264
• /
• 2018

The recent global climate change induced the drought, flooding, and insect pest outbreaks. These caused the severe damage to crop yield in the domesticated field and occurrence change of insect pest species. The sap-sucking insect pest, aphids are common in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] and cause serious yield losses. Thus, developing resistance cultivars is promising and efficient strategy to prevent the significant yield losses by aphid and screening germplasm is the essential procedure to achieve this goal. We tried to establish a resistance test indicator for foxglove aphid, Aulacorthum solani (Kaltenbach), in soybean and found that plant damage degree or infested plant damage is most suitable one. Also we screened around 1,200 of soybean germplasm including wild and cultivated species for its resistance to foxglove aphid from the various origins, and 67 soybeans, including PI 366121, showed antixenosis resistance, 31 germplasms among 67 antixenosis germplasms were showed antibiosis to foxglove aphid with non-choice test. The identified foxglove aphid resistant soybean resources showed significantly low rate in survival test. Furthermore, resistance type, (i.e., antibiosis or antixenosis) of each candidate were varied. In this research, we established the screening index for foxglove aphid resistance in soybean, and identified the resistance varieties. This result could be useful resources in breeding for new foxglove aphid resistance soybean cultivars, and provide fundamental information to investigate the resistance mechanism in soybean.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.19 no.8
• /
• pp.1047-1054
• /
• 2009

Oral squamous carcinoma (OSC) cells present resistance to chemotherapeutic agents-mediated apoptosis in the late stages of malignancy. Advances in the understanding of bacterial toxins have produced new strategies for the treatment of cancers. It was demonstrated here that Pseudomonas aeruginosa exotoxin A (PEA) significantly decreased the viability of chemoresistant YD-9 cells in the apoptosis mechanism. Apoptotic manifestations were evident through changes in nuclear morphology and generation of DNA fragmentation. PEA treatment induced caspase-3, -6 and -9 cleavage, and activation. These events preceded proteolysis of the caspase substrates poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), DNA fragmentation factor 45 (DFF45), and lamin A in YD-9 cells. The reduction of mitochondrial membrane potential, release of cytochrome c and SmacjDlABLO from mitochondria to cytosol, andtranslocation of AlF into nucleus were shown. While p53, p21 and $14-3-3{\gamma}$ were upregulated, cyclin Band cdc2 were downregulated by PEA treatment. Taken together, PEA induces apoptosis in chemoresistant YD-9 cells via activation of caspases, mitochondrial events and regulation of cell cycle genes.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.15 no.1 s.68
• /
• pp.112-117
• /
• 2005

Plants living riverside show diverse resistance responses to submergence. The promoted petiole elongation of semi-aquaitc plants, e.g., such as Ranunculus sceleratus and Rumex palustris, is one of the adaptive responses mediated by the plant hormone ethylene. The gaseous hormone is trapped in submerged plant tissues and enhances the petiole growth by increasing sensitivity of the tissues to some plant hormones including auxin. Due to the stimulated growth of petioles, the leaves finally reach the water surface and can respirate again. At the water surface, the accumulated ethylene diffuses out from the tissues to the air. As a result, the increased hormone sensitivity decreases again, and thus the growth rate reduces to the basal level as before. The increased auxin sensitivities by ethylene observed in Ranunculus sceleratus, revealed by the changes in the auxin dose-response curves, indicate the increase of affinities of the receptors to auxin. However, the molecular mechanism of the affinity regulation remains still largely unknown, because the identity of the auxin receptor is still unclear.

• Food Science and Preservation
• /
• v.24 no.7
• /
• pp.1007-1016
• /
• 2017

Melania snail (Semisulcospira libertina) was traditionally used as the healthy food in Korea. It was generally known to improve liver function and heal a diabetes. The aim of this study was to elucidate the anti-diabetic mechanism of melanian snail hydrolysates treated with protamex (MPH) by investigating the inhibitory action on protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B), the improving effect on the insulin resistance in C2C12 myoblast and the protective effect for pancreatic beta-cell (INS-1) under the glucose toxicity. The melania snail hydrolysates treated with protamex (MPH), which showed the highest degree of hydrolysis (43%), and inhibited effectively PTP1B activity ($IC_{50}=15.42{\pm}1.1{\mu}g/mL$), of which inhibitory effect was higher than usolic acid, positive control ($IC_{50}=16.65{\mu}g/mL$). MPH increased the glucose uptake in C2C12 myoblast treated with palmitic acid. In addition, MPH increased insulin mRNA expression level by over 160% with enhanced cell viability in INS-1 cell under the high glucose concentration (30 mM). These results suggest that MHP may improve the diabetic symptom by the inhibiting the PTP1B activity, increasing the glucose uptake in muscle cell and protecting the pancreatic beta-cell from glucose toxicity.

• Korean Journal of Weed Science
• /
• v.6 no.2
• /
• pp.191-200
• /
• 1986

The study was conducted to screen paraquat-tolerant plant species among crops and weeds, using the response of plant like leaf disc discoloration, visual injury and dry weight in the presence of paraquat. Mechanism of paraquat-tolerance was investigated in strains of soybean through evaluating activities of superoxide dismutase and peroxidase and the multiplication of callus derived from soybean cotyledon. In crops, Kwanggyo has been selected as a paraquat-tolerant variety among soybean cultivars tested, and Hood as a susceptible one. In weeds, Polygonum aviculare, Chenopodium album and Pinellia ternata were evaluated as the paraquat resistant species, providing the possibility for the donor plant species for paraquat resistance. Activity of superoxide dismutase known to detoxify paraquat was markedly greater in Kwanggyo, a paraquat-tolerant cultivar than in Hood, a susceptible one. In addition, the similar response like superoxide dismutase was observed in peroxidese activity. The greater inhibition of callus multiplication was determined in Hood, a susceptible one than a tolerant one, Kwnggyo. Based on all the informations, it is strongly proposed that paraquat tolerance in soybean is due to destruction of $O_2^-$ by elevated concentration of superoxide dismutase in the tolerant cultivar.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
• /
• v.35 no.4
• /
• pp.526-532
• /
• 2017

Development, survival, and reproduction of brown planthopper (BPH) Nilaparvata lugens $St{\aa}l$ (Hemiptera: Delphacidae), were studied in laboratory at $25{\pm}2^{\circ}C$, $65{\pm}5%$ RH and a 16L : 8D hours photoperiodism on five rice cultivars of: Dongjin 1ho, Chungchungbyeo, Jangseongbyeo, Chinnongbyeo and Jungmo 1045. BPH nymphs successfully survived on all rice cultivars, although survival rate was lowest on Jangseongbyeo (36.0%). Developmental time of immature stages ranged from $11.7{\pm}0.59d$ on Jungmo 1045 to $12.8{\pm}0.59d$ on Chinnongbyeo. Reproductive period and female longevity were longest on Dongjin 1ho, Chinnongbyeo and Jungmo 1045 while highest fecundity of N. lugens being observed on these three rice cultivars. Highest and lowest net reproductive rates were calculated on rice cultivars, Jungmo 1045 and Jangseongbyeo, respectively. Mean generation time was the longest on rice cultivar Dongjin 1ho. Respective descending order of intrinsic rates of population increase were on Jungmo 1045, Chinnongbyeo, Dongjin 1ho, Chungchungbyeo and Jangseongbyeo. These population parameters showed that N. lugens can successfully survive and reproduce on Chinnongbyeo and Jungmo 1045.