• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.61-80
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• 2006

The Cambridge Technopole has been recognised as one of the leading clusters in the world, and as such it has been benchmarked by other countries and other regions within the UK. This paper aims to analyse the governance of regional policies in the UK, with particular reference to the relationships between stakeholders operating within the Cambridge Technopole. Major findings of the research are as follows: The central government in the UK has been playing important roles as a customer, regulator and supporter of knowledge sources; Regional innovation policies across central departments have been co-ordinated by the DTI, so that overlapping of policies can be prevented; The policies of individual departments relating to regional innovation are co-ordinated by Government Offices for the Region(GOs) in each region, so that departmental sectionalism can be avoided. At the regional level, the EEDA established in the eastern region of England to which the Cambridge Technopole belongs is in charge of implementing all innovation policies within the region in a consolidated way. Networking organisations such as Cambridge Networks (CN) facilitate knowledge exchange between stakeholders, contributing to the building of mutual trust and creating a high level of social capital essential for regional innovation; The system for commercialising university technology and knowledge has been well institutionalised.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.283-288
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• 2012

Triacsin C, an inhibitor of acyl-CoA synthetase, is known to have antiatherosclerotic and vasodilatory activities. The aims of this study were to evaluate the effects of triacsin C on endotoxin-induced (lipopolysaccharide, LPS) inflammation in 3T3-L1 adipocytes and also to evaluate its synergistic effect with triacsin C and resveratrol, a potent antiinflammatory agent. Exposure to LPS for 18 hr increased secretion of IL-6 into the culture medium and mRNA expression of IL-6, MCP-1, TLR and iNOS. Pretreatment of triacsin C for 2 hr suppressed IL-6 accumulation in the medium and the induction of IL-6 expression by LPS, which was more effective than resveratrol treatment. The synergistic effect of triacsin C and resveratrol was found to reduce the expression of iNOS by LPS. However, neither triacsin C nor resveratrol affected the LPS-induced expression of MCP-1, TLR or iNOS. These findings indicate that triacsin C may be a local regulator of inflammation in the adipocyte, although detailed mechanisms are needed to elucidate this through further research.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.11
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• pp.1506-1513
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• 2009

RGS proteins have been identified as negative regulators of G protein signalling pathways and attenuate the activity of GPCR receptors. However, information on the regulatory effects of RGS proteins in the activity of cannabinoid receptors is limited. In this study, the role of RGS proteins on the signal transduction of the CB2 cannabinoid receptor was investigated in HEK293 cells co-transfected with CB2-receptors and plasmids encoding RGS2, RGS3, RGS4 and RGS5. Treatment of cells with WIN55, 212-2, a CB2 receptor agonist, inhibited forskolin-induced cAMP response element (CRE) activity in CB2-transfected HEK293 (CB2-HEK293) cells. This inhibitory effect of WIN 55, 212-2 on CRE activity was reversed by co-transfection of CB2-HEK293 cells with RGS3, but not with RGS2, RGS4 and RGS5. However, endogenous RGS3 protein knocked down by a small interfering siRNA targeting RGS3 gene enhanced inhibition of forskolin induced CRE activity via agonist induced CB2 receptor signal transduction. These results indicate the functional role of endogenous RGS protein in cannabinoid signaling pathways and define receptor-selective roles of endogenous RGS3 in modulating CRE transcriptional responses to agonist induced CB2 receptor activity.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.196-204
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• 2009

This study was carried out to investigate the in vivo and in vitro inhibitory effect of a traditional herbal complex (HC) extract prepared from a mixture of four oriental herbs (Dioscorea Rhizoma, Glycine soja Sieb. et Zucc, Bombycis corpus, Fermented Glycine soja) that have been widely used for the treatment and prevention of diabetes mellitus on hyperglycemia. The water extract of HC showed potent inhibitory effect on $\alpha$-glucosidase with $IC_{50}$ value of 1.24 mg/mL. Additionally, the ethanol extract of HC was also found to exhibit significant inhibitory effect against protein tyrosine phosphatase $1{\beta}$ ($PTP1{\beta}$), which is known as a major regulator of both insulin and leptin signaling. In the $PTP1{\beta}$ inhibitory assay, the most active n-hexane fraction obtained from the ethanol extract of HC, was identified as a mixture of fatty acid derivatives by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). In high-fat diet-low dose streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rat, the water extract of HC improved the oral glucose intolerance as compared with rosiglitazone. HC also caused a marked decrease of body weight and fasting blood glucose and a significant improvement on glucose tolerance in metabolic syndrome mice model. These findings support that this traditional HC may be useful in the control of blood glucose in diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.329-335
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• 2014

Sophora flavescens, Glycyrrhiza uralensis and Dictamnus dasycarpus have been widely used in folk medicine for several inflammatory disorders in Korea and China. In this study, we compared the anti-inflammatory effects of the ethanol extracts of S. flavescens (EESF), G. uralensis (EEGU) and D. dasycarpus (EEDS), and their mixtures (medicinal herber mixtures, MHMIXs) on production of inflammatory mediators and cytokines in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 murine macrophages. Our data indicated that treatment with EESF, EEGU and EEDD significantly inhibited the excessive production of pro-inflammatory mediators such as nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin $E_2$ ($PGE_2$) in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. The ethanol extracts and MHMIXs also attenuated the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin-$1{\beta}$ ($IL-1{\beta}$) and tumor necrosis $factor-{\alpha}$ ($TNF-{\alpha}$) by suppressing their protein expression, respectively. Interestingly, MHMIX-1, which basic ingredients are EESF, EEGU and EEDS in the proportion 3:1:1, more safely and effectively inhibits the LPS-induced inflammatory status in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages compared to ethanol extracts of each medicinal herb and other MHMIXs without causing any cytotoxic effects. Our study provides scientific evidence to support that a berbal mixture, MHMIX-1 may be useful in the treatment of inflammatory diseases by inhibiting inflammatory regulator responses in activated macrophages.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.215-222
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• 2015

The radish (Raphanus sativus L.) is an important Brassicaceae root vegetable crop worldwide. Several studies have been conducted concerning radish breeding. There are major challenges to prevent premature bolting in spring plantings. Here, we performed the characterization of two inbred radish lines which vary in bolting time. "Late bolting radish" (NH-JS1) and "early bolting radish" (NH-JS2) were generated by a conventional breeding approach. The two inbred lines showed different bolting phenotypes depending on vernalization time at $4^{\circ}C$. NH-JS1, the late bolting radish, was less sensitive to cold treatment and the less sensitivity was inversely proportional to the duration of the vernalization. We also measured gene expression levels of the major bolting time related genes in the NH-JS1 and NH-JS2 lines. RsFLC1 plays a central role in the timing of flowering initiation. It is a strong repressor and it's transcript is highly expressed in NH-JS1 compared to NH-JS2 under no treatment and vernalization conditions. RsFRI, a positive regulator of RsFLC, is also highly expressed in NH-JS1 compared to NH-JS2 regardless of vernalization. In contrast, RsSOC1, suppressed by FLC as a floral integrator gene, showed the most difference, a 5-fold increase, between NH-JS1 and NH-JS2 under vernalization conditions. From these results, we conclude that NH-JS1 showed a late flowering phenotype after cold treatment due to the expression differences of flowering time regulator genes rather than difference sensitivity to cold. These results may be useful to understand the control mechanisms of flowering time and may help identify molecular markers for selecting late bolting trait in radish.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.17 no.2 s.82
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• pp.167-173
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• 2007

To study the transcriptional mechanisms by which expression of the murine glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor inducible transcription factor (mGIF) gene is regulated, a murine genomic clone was iso-lated using a mGIF cDNA as probe. A 13-kb genomic fragment, which comprises 4-kb upstream of the transcription initiation site was sequenced. The promoter region lacks a TATA box and CAAT box, is rich in G+C content, and has multiple putative binding sites for the transcription factor Spl. The mGIF gene also has consensus sequences for AP2 binding sites. The transcriptional activity of five deletion mutants of a 2.1-kb fragment was analyzed by modulating transcription of the heterologous luciferase gene in the promoterless plasmid pGL2-Basic. All mutants showed significant transcriptional activity in the murine neuroblastoma cell line NB41A3. Transient expression assays suggested the presence of a positive regulator between -213 and -129 while a negative regulator was found in the region between -806 and -214. Relatively strong transcriptional activity was observed in neuronal NB41A3, glial C6 cells and hepatic HepG2, but very weak activity in skeletal muscle C2C12 cells. These findings confirm the tissue-specific activity of the mGIF promoter and suggest that this gene shares structural and functional similarities with the dopamine receptor genes that it regulates.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.199-209
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• 2015

The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), driven by high density water sinking around Greenland serves as a global climate regulator, because it transports heat and materials in the climate system. We analyzed the mechanism of AMOC on a decadal time scale simulated with the HadGEM2-AO model. The lead-lag regression analysis with AMOC index shows that the decadal variability of the thermohaline circulation in the Atlantic Ocean can be considered as a self-sustained variability. This means that the long-term change of AMOC is related to the instability which is originated from the phase difference between the meridional temperature gradient and the ocean circulation. When the overturning circulation becomes stronger, the heat moves northward and decreases the horizontal temperature-dominated density gradients. Subsequently, this leads to weakening of the circulation, which in turn generates the anomalous cooling at high latitudes and, thereby strengthening the AMOC. In this mechanism, the density anomalies at high latitudes are controlled by the thermal advection from low latitudes, meaning that the variation of the AMOC is thermally driven and not salinity driven.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.177-183
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• 2018

The identification of biomarkers of a living tissues is essentially required to understand specific functions of the cells. In previous study, we reported IGFBP 3 as one of the putative biomarkers, by showing specific expression at porcine spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) of early stage of porcine testis. In this study, we analyzed the expression of seven members of IGFBP family (IGFBPs) in SSCs and histological expression pattern of pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A), which plays a role on the growth promoting enzyme by cleavage of IGFBPs in testis of 5 days old pig. RT-PCR analysis showed that IGFBP 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 were expressed at high level specifically in porcine SSCs compared with whole testis. We performed immunohisotochemical staining of testis sections with PAPP-A and protein gene product 9.5 (PGP9.5) which are the known biomarkers for SSCs. We were not able to find co-expression of PAPP-A and PGP9.5; PAPP-A was expressed only in Sertoli cells and PGP9.5 expression was confirmed in spermatogonium. Additionally, we were able to confirm the GATA4 expression in Sertoli and Leydig cells as a regulator of Sertoli cell function was not detected PGP9.5 expressing cells, indicating indirect evidence of that cytolocalization of PAPP-A expression is limited in Sertoli cells. These results suggested that the PAPP-A expressed in Sertoli cells may play role on regulation of development and differentiation of testicular cells through the IGF axis in neonatal porcine testis.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.22-29
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• 2011

Rhodopsin is a membrane protein with seven transmembrane region which contains a retinal as its chromophore. Although there have been recently reports on various photo-biochemical features of rhodopsins by a wide range of purifying and measurement methods, there was no actual comparison related to the difference of biochemical characteristics according to their physical environment of rhodopsins. First, proteorhodopsin (PR) was found in marine proteobacteria whose function is known for pumping proton using light energy. Second one is Anabaena sensory rhodopsin (Nostoc sp.) PCC7120 (ASR) which belongs to eubacteria acts as sensory regulator since it is co-expressed with transducer 14 kDa in an operon. In this study, we applied two types of rhodopsins (PR and ASR) to various environmental conditions such as in Escherichia coli membranes, membrane in acrylamide gel, in DDM (n-dodecyl-${\beta}$-D-maltopyranoside), OG (octyl-${\beta}$-D-glucopyranoside), and reconstituted with DOPC (1,2-didecanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine). According to the light-induced difference spectroscopy, rhodopsins in 0.02% DDM clearly showed photointermediates like M, and O states which respond to the different wavelengths, respectively and showed the best signal/noise ratio. The laser-induced difference spectra showed the fast formation and decay rate of photointermediates in the DDM solubilized samples than gel encapsulated rhodopsin. Each of rhodopsins seemed to be adapted to its surrounding environment.