• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.488-497
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• 1999

Probing Streptomyces albus ATCC 21838 chromosomal DNA with a proline tRNA sequence resulted in an isolation of a putative integrating element in the 6.4-kb EcoRI fragment. It was found that Streptomyces lividans TK-24 transformed with a cloned DNA fragment on a multicopy plasmid, produced a higher level of spore pigment and mycelial red pigment on a regeneration agar. Furthermore, the transformant S. lividans TK-24 produced a markedly increased level of undecylprodigiosin in a broth culture. A nucleotide sequence analysis of the cloned region revealed several open reading frames homologous to the integrases of integrating plasmids or temperate bacteriophages, signal-transducing regulatory proteins with a conserved ATP-binding domain, oxidoreductases ($\beta$-ketoacyl reductase), and an AraC-like transcriptional regulator. To examine the effect on antibiotic production, each coding region was overexpressed separately from the other genes in the region in S. lividans TK-24 with; pJHS3044 for the expression of the signal-transducing regulatory protein homologue, pJHS3045 for the homologue of oxidoreductase, and pJHS3051 for the homologue of the AraC-like transcriptional regulator. Phenotypic studies of S. lividans TK-24 strains harboring plasmids for the overexpression of individual genes suggested the following effects of the genes on antibiotic production: The oxidoreductase homologue stimulated the production of actinorhodin and undecylprodigiosin, which was influenced by the culture conditions; the homologue of the AraC-like transcriptional regulator was the most effective factor in antibiotic production within all the culture conditions tested; the signal-transducing regulatory protein homologue repressed the effect due to the homologue of the AraC-like transcriptional regulator, however, the antibiotic production was derepressed upon entering the stationary phase.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.49-54
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• 1995

To understand the molecular structure and pathogenesis mechanism of Korean garlic viruses, we have isolated cDNA clones for garlic viruses. The partial nucleotide sequences of 24 cDNA clones were determined and those of five clones containing poly(A) tail were compared with sequences of other plant viruses. One of these clones, V9, has a primary structure similar to the carlavirus group, suggesting that the clone V9 derived from a part of garlic latent virus (GLV). Northern blot analysis with the clone V9 as a probe demonstrated that GLV genome is 8.5 knt long and has a poly(A) tail. The clone V9 encodes coat protein (CP) of 33 kDa and nucleic acid binding protein of 10 kDa in different reading frame. The hexanucleotide motif, 5'-ACCUAA, which is conserved in the 3' noncoding region arid was proposed to be a cis-acting element involved in the production of negative strand genomic RNA was noticed. Complementary sequence to the hexanucleotide motif, 5'-TTAGGT, is also found in the positive strand of V9 RNA. The putative CP gene was cloned into the pRSET-A expression vector and expressed in E. coli BL21. The expressed recombinant V9CP protein was purified by $Ni^{2+}$ NTA affinity chromatography. The anti-V9CP antibody recognizes 34 kDa polypeptide which could be CP of GLV in infected garlic leaf extract. Immunoblot and Northern blot analysis of various cultivars shows wide occurrence of GLV in Korean garlic plants.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.72-78
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• 1993

Since the 'promoter/enhancer region of the major immediate early (IE) ~ene of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) contains the cyclic AMP (cAMP) response element (CRE) consensus sequence, it was reasonable to hypothesize that cAMP might affect HCMV replication. Cyclic AMP modulating drugs such as 8-bromoadenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (BrA), and papaverine were used to affect the intracellular levels of cAMP, and the effects of the drugs on HCMV replication were studied. While papaverine effectively inhibited HCMV multiplication and DNA synthesis, BrA exerted little effect on the production of infectious HCMV yields. The synthesis of DNA in HCMV-infected cells appeared to be stimulated by BrA In order to understand the effect of cAMP on the expression of HCMV major IE gene, plasmid (pCMVIE/CAT) containing a reporter gene driven by HCMV IE promoter was transfected into either permissive human embryo lung (HEL) cells or nonpermissive cells. PL,Javerine, which has been reported to block the HCMV-induced increase in cAMP, reduced the expression of pCMVIE/CA T in permissive HEL cells. Treatment of transfected cells with BrA increased the expression of HCMV major IE promoter not only in HEL cells, but also in nonpermissive HeLa and Vero cells. Therefore, it seems that the expression of HCMV major IE gene is regulated by cAMP.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.285-293
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• 1998

We have cloned an internal fragment of the putative transoisase gene of MLE in the silkworm, Bombyx mori, using PCR method with degenerative oligonucleotide primers designed to represent regions of amino acids encoding transposase. The resulting PCR clone, designed as BmoMAR, cords a partial ORF(152 a.a.) of MLE in which interrupted by five stop codons, and the sequence of its deduced amino acids showed 37% homology with Mos1, an active mariner, from Drosophila mauritiana. Furthermore, the BmoMAR exhibits nucleotide and amino acid homology with 59% and 37% from Apis mellifera and D. mauritiana 7.9 clone, respectively. This result strongly that a MLE is present in the genome of B. mori.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.11-18
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• 2008

We created a cDNA microarray representing approximately 3,500 pig genes for functional genomic studies. The array elements were selected from 6,494 cDNA clones identified in a large-scale expressed sequence tag (EST) project. These cDNA clones came from normalized and subtracted porcine adipose tissue cDNA libraries. Sequence similarity searches of the 3,426 ESTs represented on the array using BLASTN identified 2,790 (81.4%) as putative human orthologs, with the remainder consisting of "novel" genes or highly divergent orthologs. We used the gene microarray to profile transcripts expressed by adipose tissue of fatty Chinese Xiang pig (XP) and muscley Large White (LW). Microarray analysis of RNA extracted from adipose tissue of fatty XP and muscley LW identified 81 genes that were differently expressed two fold or more. Transcriptional differences of four of these genes, adipocyte fatty acid binding protein (aP2), stearyl-CoA desaturase (SCD), sterol regulatory element binding transcription factor 1 (SREBF1) and lipoprotein lipase (LPL) were confirmed using SYBR Green quantitative RT-PCR technology. Our results showed that high expression of SCD and SREBF1 may be one of the reasons that larger fat deposits are observed in the XP. In addition, our findings also illustrate the potential power of microarrays for understanding the molecular mechanisms of porcine development, disease resistance, nutrition, fertility and production traits.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.363-370
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• 1997

RNase MRP is a ribonucleoprotein complex with a site-specific endonuclease activity. Its original substrate for cleavage is the small mitochondrial RNA near the mitochondrial DNA replication origin, thus it was proposed to generate the primer for mtDNA replication. Recently, it has been shown to have another substrate in the nucleus, such as pre-S.8S ribosomal RNA in nucleolus. The gene for the RNA component of RNase MRP (MRP RNA) was found to be encoded by the nucleus genome, suggesting an interesting intracellular trafficking of MRP RNA to both mitochondria and nucleolus after transcription in nucleus. In this study, genomic DNA encoding MRP RNA was microinjected into the nucleus of Xenopus oocytes, to analyze promoter regions involved in the transcription. It showed that the proximal sequence element and TATA box are important for basal level transcription; octamer motif and Sp1 binding sites are for elevated level transcription. Most of Xenopus MRP RNA was exported out to the cytoplasm following transcription in the nucleus. Utilizing various hybrid constructs, export of MRP RNA was found to be regulated by the promoter and the 5' half of the coding region of the gene. Interestingly, the transcription in nucleus seems to be coupled to the export of MRP RNA to cytoplasm. Intracellular transport of injected MRP RNA can be easily visualized by whole-mount in situ hybridization following microinjection; it also shows possible intra-nuclear sites for transcription and export of MRP RNA.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.133-137
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• 1998

The present study aims to characterize a cDNA encoding zebrafish thyroid hormone receptor $\alpha{1}$ $(zTR\alpha{1)}$ in order to investigate its possible role in the early stage of embryonic development. A mobility shift assay showed that $zTR\alpha{1}$ overexpressed in COS7 cells specifically bound to thyroid hormone response element (TRE). In addition, the specific interaction of anti-rat $TR\alpha{1}$ antibodies with $zTR\alpha1$/TRE complexes demonstrated that the cDNA clone encoded zebrafish thyroid hormone receptor $\alpha{1}$. Transient cotransfection assays showed that $zTR\alpha{1}$ repressed the transcription which was induced by retinoic acid (RA), a well-characterized embryonic morphogen. These results suggest that zTRal may be involved in regulating the RA-induced gene transcription during early embryonic development.

• BMB Reports
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• v.42 no.11
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• pp.737-742
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• 2009

Hypoxia-inducible factor-$1{\alpha}/{\beta}$ (HIF-$1{\alpha}/{\beta}$) is a heterodimeric transcriptional activator that mediates gene expression in response to hypoxia. HIF-$1{\alpha}$ has been noted as an effective therapeutic target for ischemic diseases such as myocardiac infarction, stroke and cancer. By using a yeast two-hybrid system and a random peptide library, we found a 16-mer peptide named F29 that directly interacts with the bHLH-PAS domain of HIF-$1{\alpha}$. We found that F29 facilitates the interaction of the HIF-$1{\alpha/\beta}$ heterodimer with its target DNA sequence, hypoxia-responsive element (HRE). The transient transfection of an F29-expressing plasmid increases the expression of both an HRE-driven luciferase gene and the endogenous HIF-1 target gene, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Taken together, we conclude that F29 increases the DNA-binding ability of HIF-$1{\alpha}$, leading to increased expression of its target gene VEGF. Our results suggest that F29 can be a lead compound that directly targets HIF-$1{\alpha}$ and increases its activity.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.115-121
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• 2011

hFSH is a glycoprotein secreted from anterior pituitary and consists of ${\alpha}$ and ${\beta}$ subunits. Because of its major biological functions including sperm formation in the male and for follicular growth, FSH is used to cure woman's sterility. In this study we tried to produce recombinant hFSH in vitro using a retrovirus expression vector. Two major components of the vector we constructed are: ( i ) a DNA fragment containing ${\alpha}$ and ${\beta}$ genes fused by a DNA sequence coding carboxyl terminal peptide (CTP) of human chorionic gonadotropin, (ii) a DNA fragment corresponding woodchuck hepatitis virus posttranscriptional regulatory element (WPRE). Evaluation of expression profile of the recombinant FSH using reverse transcription PCR and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Among three cell lines tested, HeLa cells were the best for hFSH expression (5,395 mIU/ml), then followed by chicken embryonic fibroblast (CEF) cells and Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells in the order of hFSH production. In addition to the amount, the FSH produced from HeLa cells was highest in terms of biological activity which was determined by measuring cAMP.

• BMB Reports
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.440-446
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• 2005

A cDNA that was rapidly induced upon abscisic acid, cold, drought, mechanical wounding and to a lesser extent, by high salinity treatment, was isolated from Arabidopsis seedlings. It was classified as DREB subfamily member based on multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic characterization. Since it encoded a protein with a typical ERF/AP2 DNA-binding domain and was closely related to the TINY gene, we named it TINY2. Gel retardation assay revealed that TINY2 was able to form a specific complex with the previously characterized DRE element while showed only residual affinity to the GCC box. When fused to the GAL4 DNA-binding domain, either full-length or its C-terminus functioned effectively as a trans-activator in the yeast one-hybrid assay while its N-terminus was completely inactive. Our data indicate that TINY2 could be a new member of the AP2/EREBP transcription factor family involved in activation of down-stream genes in response to environmental stress.