• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
• /
• v.31 no.6
• /
• pp.328-333
• /
• 2017

Desomodii Herba (DH) has been shown to exhibit pharmacologyical activities, such as increase myocaridal contraction and secretion of hepatic bile. DH is used to reduce pain caused by rheumatoid arthritis(RA) in Korean medicine. However, the DH exact(DHE) effect and mechanism on rheumatoid arthritis are unknown. In this study, we aimed at the inhibitory effect of DHE on rheumatoid arthritis, and investigated the effect in collagen-induced mice arthritis model and TNF-${\alpha}$ induced MMP-1 and MMP-3 expression including the molecular basis in rheumatoid arthritis synovial fibroblasts (RASFs).The effect of DHE on RA was measured by clinical scoring system. In RASFs, expression of MMP-1 and MMP-3 was assessed by Western blotting and real-time PCR. Also, Western blotting used to evaluate the phosphorylation levels of p38, ERK and JNK and activation of NF-${\kappa}B$ and AP-1. Our results showed that DHE reduced collagen-induced arthritis in mice. DHE inhibits TNF-${\alpha}$ induced MMP-1 and MMP-3 expression and mRNA levels in RASFs. The inhibitory effect of DHE was mediated by the inhibition of the AP-1/JNK signaling pathway. Taken together, our results suggest that the DHE may have preventive potential for rheumatoid arthritis.

• Journal of Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.292-299
• /
• 2019

Interferon tau (IFNT) regulation, an anti-luteolytic factor produced by conceptuses of the ruminant ungulates, is essential for the maintenance of early pregnancy, but a definitive mechanism for its temporal transcription has not been elucidated. We and others have observed the T-box protein eomesodermin (EOMES) exhibited high mRNA expression in the ovine embryonic trophectoderm; thus, both caudal-relatedhomeobox-2 (CDX2) and EOMES coexist during the early stages of conceptus development. Objective of this study was to examine the effect of EOMES on ovine IFNT gene transcription when evaluated with CDX2, ETS2 and AP1 transcription factors implicated in the control of cell differentiation in the trophectoderm. In this study, quantitatively via reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis between ovine trophoblast cells was initially performed, finding that transcription factors CDX2 and 'EOMES transcription factor mRNAs' were specific to trophectoderm cells. These mRNAs were also found in days 15, 17, and 21 ovine conceptuses. Furthermore, human choriocarcinoma JEG3 cells (trophoblast cell line) were cotransfected with an ovine IFNT (-654bp)-luciferase reporter (-654-oIFNT-Luc) construct and several transcription factor expression plasmids. Cotransfection of the reporter construct with CDX2, ETS2 and AP1 increased transcription of -654-oIFNT-Luc by about 11-fold compared with transfection of the construct alone. When cells were initially transfected with EOMES followed by transfection with CDX2, ETS2 and/or AP1, the expression of -654-oIFNT-Luc was decreased. Also, EOMES factor inhibited the stimulatory activity of CDX2 alone. These results suggest that when conceptuses attach to the uterine epithelium, ovine IFNT gene transcription is down-regulated by an increase of EOMES factor expression in the attached ovine trophoblast cells.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 2018.04a
• /
• pp.52-52
• /
• 2018

Apple (Malus domestica) is one of the most economically important fruits in Korea. But virus infection has decreased sustainable production of apple and caused the serious problems such as yield loss and poor fruit quality. Virus or viroid infection including Apple chlorotic leaf spot virus (ACLSV), Apple stem pitting virus (ASPV), Apple stem grooving virus (ASGV), Apple mosaic virus (ApMV) and Apple scar skin viroid (ASSVd) has been also reported in Korea, furthermore, its damages and economic losses have increased constantly. In our research, we tried to survey virus infection for commercial nursery trees of major apple cultivars, especially dwarfing rootstocks 'M.9' and 'M.26' as well as scions. Trees were collected from 11 locations which have produced a great amount of apple nursery stocks in Korea. Infection degree was investigated in apple cultivars, 'Hongro' and 'Fuji' using RT-PCR method. In the scion of cultivar 'Hongro', infection ratio of ACLSV, ASPV and ASGV were 100%, 81.8% and 100% respectively. In the rootstock of cultivar 'Hongro', infection ratio of ACLSV, ASPV, ASGV and ApMV were 90.9%, 81.8%, 100% and 9.1% respectively. In the scion of cultivar 'Fuji', infection ratio of ACLSV, ASPV and ASGV were 81.8%, 90.9% and 100% respectively. In the rootstock of cultivar 'Fuji', infection ratio of ACLSV, ASPV, ASGV and ApMV were 81.8%, 90.9%, 100% and 9.1% respectively. Infection of ASSVd was not detected in both cultivars. From our results, it was found that most of apple rootstocks and scions had multiple infections by apple viruses which have caused economic damage in fruit production.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.49 no.3
• /
• pp.313-316
• /
• 2011

Vivax malaria is a significant military and civilian health threat in the north of the Republic of Korea (ROK). The island of Baengnyeong-do is the westernmost point of the ROK and is located close to the southwestern coast of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). Mosquitoes were collected using a black light trap on Baengnyeong-do, and Anopheles spp. were assayed by PCR, to identify the species, and screened for sporozoites of Plasmodium vivax. Of a subsample of 257 mosquitoes, Anopheles lesteri was the most frequently collected (49.8%), followed by Anopheles sinensis (22.6%), Anopheles pullus (18.7%), Anopheles kleini (7.8%), and Anopheles belenrae (1.2%). The overall sporozoite rate was 3.1%, with the highest rates observed in An. kleini (15.0%), An. sinensis (5.2%), and An. lesteri (1.6%). No sporozoite positive An. pullus or An. belenrae were observed. The results extend our knowledge of the distribution and potential role in malaria transmission of An. kleini, An. lesteri, and An. sinensis, for an area previously considered to be at a low risk for contracting vivax malaria.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.23 no.3
• /
• pp.316-322
• /
• 2007

Zinc finger transcription factor genes are a significant fraction of the genes in the vertebrate genome. Here we report the isolation and characterization of a human zinc finger-containing gene, ZNF435, from a fetal brain cDNA library. ZNF435 cDNA is 1290 base pairs in length and contains an open reading frame encoding 349 amino acids with four C2H2-type zinc fingers at its carboxyl terminus and a SCAN motif at its amino terminus. RT-PCR results showed that ZNF435 was expressed in all tested tissues. A ZNF435-GFP fusion protein was located in the nucleus and the four zinc fingers acted as nuclear localization signals (NLSs). ZNF435 was found to be capable of homo-association, and this effect was independent of its zinc fingers. Furthermore, ZNF435 proved to be a transcription repressor as its overexpression in AD293 cells inhibited the transcriptional activities of AP-1.

• Genes and Genomics
• /
• v.40 no.12
• /
• pp.1287-1300
• /
• 2018

Hydrogen sulfide ($H_2S$), a small bioactive gas, has been proved functioning in plant growth and development as well as alleviation of abiotic stresses, which including promoting seed germination, accelerating embryonic root growth, regulating flower senescence, inducing stomatal closure, and defending drought, heat, heavy metals and osmotic stresses etc. However, the molecular functioning mechanism of $H_2S$ was still unclear. The primary objective of this research was to analyze the transcriptional differences and functional genes involved in the $H_2S$ responses. In details, 4-week-old plantlets in tissue culture of grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) cultivar 'Zuoyouhong' were sprayed with 0.1 mM NaHS for 12 h, and then transcriptome sequencing and qRT-PCR analysis were used to study the transcriptional differences and functional genes involved in the $H_2S$ responses. Our results indicated that 650 genes were differentially expressed after $H_2S$ treatment, in which 224 genes were up-regulated and 426 genes were down-regulated. The GO enrichment analysis and KEGG enrichment analysis results indicated that the up-regulated genes after $H_2S$ treatment focused on carbon metabolism, biosynthesis of amino acids, and glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, and the down-regulated genes were mainly in metabolic pathways, biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, and plant hormone signal transduction. Analyzing the transcription factor coding genes in details, it was indicated that 10 AP2/EREBPs, 5 NACs, 3 WRKYs, 3 MYBs, and 2 bHLHs etc. transcription factor coding genes were up-regulated, while 4 MYBs, 3 OFPs, 3 bHLHs, 2 AP2/EREBPs, 2 HBs etc. transcription factor coding genes were down-regulated. Taken together, $H_2S$ increased the productions in secondary metabolites and a variety of defensive compounds to improve plant development and abiotic resistance, and extend fruits postharvest shelf life by regulating the expression of AP2/EREBPs, WRKYs, MYBs, CABs, GRIP22, FERRITINs, TPSs, UGTs, and GHs etc.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.31-35
• /
• 2006

The ubiquitin conjugating enzyme 2 (E2) is core component of ubiquitin proteasome pathway (UPP) which represents a selective mechanism for intracellular proteolysis in eukaryotic cells. The E2 has been implicated in the intracellular transfer of ubiquitin to target protein. We show here the involvement of E2 in antiviral immune of Bombyx mori to Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus (BmNPV). In this study, mRNA fluorescent differential display PCR (FDD-PCR) was performed with BmNPV highly resistant silkworm strain NB and susceptible silkworm strain 306. At 24 h post BmNPV infection, FDD-PCR with the arbitrary primer AP34 showed that one cDNA band was down-regulated in the midgut of resistant strain, but highly expressed in susceptible strain. The deduced amino acid sequence of this cDNA clone share 99% identity with the recently published B. mori ubiquitin conjugating enzyme E2 (Genbank NO: DQ311351). Fluorescent quantitative PCR corroborated down regulation of E2 in resistant strain. We there conclude that BmNPV infection evokes strong response of susceptible strain including activation of UPP. BmNPV may evolve escape mechanisms that manipulate the UPP in order to persist in the infected host. In addition, the identification of down-regulation of E2 in resistant strain, as well as structure data, are essential to understanding how UPP operates in silkworm antiviral immune to BmNPV disease.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
• /
• v.44 no.3
• /
• pp.199-209
• /
• 2017

Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways play a key role in innate immunity, inflammation, cell proliferation, cell differentiation, and cell death. The main objective of this study was to investigate the expression level of candidate MAPK pathway genes in the intestinal mucosal layer of two genetically disparate chicken lines (Marek's disease-resistant line 6.3 and Marek's disease-susceptible line 7.2) induced with necrotic enteritis (NE). Using high-throughput RNA sequencing, we investigated 178 MAPK signaling pathway related genes that were significantly and differentially expressed between the intestinal mucosal layers of the NE-afflicted and control chickens. In total, 15 MAPK pathway genes were further measured by quantitative real-time PCR(qRT-PCR) and the results were consistent with the RNA-sequencing data. All 178 identified genes were annotated through Gene Ontology and mapped onto the KEGG chicken MAPK signaling pathway. Several key genes of the MAPK pathway, ERK1/2, JNK1-3, p38 MAPK, MAP2K1-4, $NF-{\kappa}B1/2$, c-Fos, AP-1, Jun-D, and Jun, were differentially expressed in the two chicken lines. Therefore, we believe that RNA sequencing and qRT-PCR analysis provide resourceful information for future studies on MAPK signaling of genetically disparate chicken lines in response to pathogens.

• Research in Plant Disease
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.391-395
• /
• 2012

To investigate the occurrence of viruses in peach, leaf samples were collected from peach trees in commercial orchard of six areas in Korea. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to identify the presence of the following stone fruit viruses: Apple chlorotic leaf spot virus (ACLSV), Apple mosaic virus (ApMV), Prune dwarf virus (PDV), Prunus necrotic ringspot virus (PNRSV) and Plum pox virus (PPV). About 65.0% of the 515 samples were infected with ACLSV and PNRSV. Virus-like symptoms showing mosaic on leaves was observed in ACLSV infected peach trees. However, PNRSV infected peach trees showed no symptoms. These viral DNAs by sequence analysis were confirmed 4 ACLSV isolates and 3 PNRSV isolates. The Korean peach isolates of ACLSV and PNRSV showed 70-99% and 88-99% amino acid sequence identities, respectively, with those reported previously and their amino acid sequence identities with each other were approximately 95% and 88%, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the Korean ACLSV isolates belong to the A group of ACLSV. The Korean PNRSV isolates reported in this study were grouped into I (PV32), II (PV96) and III (PE5) groups.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.398-407
• /
• 2017

BTG 1 (B-cell translocation gene 1) gene was first identified as a translocation gene in a case of B-cell chronic lympocytic leukemia. BTG1 is a member of the BTG/TOB family with sharing a conserved N-terminal region, which shows anti-proliferation properties and is able to stimulate cell differentiation. In this study, we identified and characterized the pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas BTG1 (cg-BTG1) gene from the gill cDNA library by an Expressed Sequence Tag (EST) analysis and its nucleotide sequence was determined. The cg-BTG1 gene encodes a predicted protein of 182 amino acids with 57% 56% identities to its zebrafish and human counterparts, and is an intron-less gene, which was confirmed by PCR analysis of genomic DNA. Maximal homologies were shown in conserved Box A and B. The deduced amino acid sequence shares high identity with other BTG1 genes of human, rat, mouse and zebrafish. The phylogenic analysis and sequence comparison of cg-BTG1 with other BTG1 were found to be closely related to the BTG1 gene structure. In addition, the predicted promoter region and the different transcription-factor binding site like an activator protein-1 (AP-1) response element involved in negative regulation and serum response element (SRE) were able to be identified by the genomic DNA walking experiment. The quantitative real-time PCR analysis showed that the mRNA of cg-BTG1 gene was expressed in gill, heart, digestive gland, intestine, stomach and mantle. The cg-BTG1 gene was expressed mainly in heart and mantle.