• Molecules and Cells
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• 제45권6호
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• pp.425-434
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• 2022

The post-translational modification (e.g., phosphorylation) of estrogen receptor α (ERα) plays a role in controlling the expression and subcellular localization of ERα as well as its sensitivity to hormone response. Here, we show that ERα is also modified by UFM1 and this modification (ufmylation) plays a crucial role in promoting the stability and transactivity of ERα, which in turn promotes breast cancer development. The elevation of ufmylation via the knockdown of UFSP2 (the UFM1-deconjugating enzyme in humans) dramatically increases ERα stability by inhibiting ubiquitination. In contrast, ERα stability is decreased by the prevention of ufmylation via the silencing of UBA5 (the UFM1-activating E1 enzyme). Lys171 and Lys180 of ERα were identified as the major UFM1 acceptor sites, and the replacement of both Lys residues by Arg (2KR mutation) markedly reduced ERα stability. Moreover, the 2KR mutation abrogated the 17β-estradiol-induced transactivity of ERα and the expression of its downstream target genes, including pS2, cyclin D1, and c-Myc; this indicates that ERα ufmylation is required for its transactivation function. In addition, the 2KR mutation prevented anchorage-independent colony formation by MCF7 cells. Most notably, the expression of UFM1 and its conjugating machinery (i.e., UBA5, UFC1, UFL1, and UFBP1) were dramatically upregulated in ERα-positive breast cancer cell lines and tissues. Collectively, these findings implicate a critical role attributed to ERα ufmylation in breast cancer development by ameliorating its stability and transactivity.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제16권9호
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• pp.3723-3727
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• 2015

The p53 tumor suppressor protein is a principal mediator of growth arrest, senescence, and apoptosis in response to a broad array of cellular damage. p53 is a substrate for the ubiquitin-proteasome system, however, the ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes (E2s) involved in p53 ubiquitination have not been well studied. UBE2Q1 is a novel E2 ubiquitin conjugating enzyme gene. Here, we investigated the effect of UBE2Q1 overexpression on the level of p53 in the MDA-MB-468 breast cancer cell line as well as the interaction between UBE2Q1 and p53. By using a lipofection method, the p53 mutated breast cancer cell line, MDA-MB-468, was transfected with the vector pCMV6-AN-GFP, containing UBE2Q1 ORF. Western blot analysis was employed to verify the overexpression of UBE2Q1 in MDA-MB-468 cells and to evaluate the expression level of p53 before and after cell transfection. Immunoprecipitation and GST pull-down protocols were used to investigate the binding of UBE2Q1 to p53. We established MDA-MB-468 cells that transiently expressed a GFP fusion proteins containing UBE2Q1 (GFP-UBE2Q1). Western blot analysis revealed that levels of p53 were markedly lower in UBE2Q1 transfected MDA-MB-468 cells as compared with control MDA-MB-468 cells. Both in vivo and in vitro data showed that UBE2Q1 co-precipitated with p53 protein. Our data for the first time showed that overexpression of UBE2Q1can lead to the repression of p53 in MDA-MB-468 cells. This repression of p53 may be due to its UBE2Q1 mediated ubiquitination and subsequent proteasome degradation, a process that may involve direct interaction of UBE2Q1with p53.

• 생명과학회지
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• 제30권5호
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• pp.483-490
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• 2020

유비퀴틴 시스템은 ubiquitin ligases와 deubiquitinases (DUBs)에 의해 타겟 기질의 ubiquitination 유무에 따라 안정화, 활성화, 국소화 및 상호작용을 변화시키고 암 발병의 관여하는 다양한 생물학적 과정을 조절한다. DUBs는 촉매 domain에 따라 6그룹으로 나뉘어지는데, 그 중에서 OTU 그룹 내 대부분의 DUB는 세포의 연속적 신호반응(cell signaling cascade)을 조절할 수 있다. 특이하게도 OTU 그룹에 속하는 otubain 1 (OTUB1)은 정규적(canonical) 활성과 비정규적(non-canonical) 활성을 모두 가지고 있다. 본 보고에서는 OTUB1의 canonical, non-canonical 활성 조절에 있어서 다양한 신호전달경로 및 OTUB1의 역할에 대해 기술하였다. OTUB1은 이 두 종류의 활성 경로를 통하여, OTUB1은 암 관련 신호 전달 체계에 중요한 FOXM1, ERα, KRAS 및 EMT를 조절하고 암세포 증식 및 전이 능력 향상 및 항암제에 대한 내성을 나타낸다. 또한 임상적으로 전이성 및 종양 분화도가 높은 암 조직에서 OTUB1의 발현이 높으며, 이에 따라 환자의 생존율이 감소하는 등 나쁜 예후를 나타낸다. 따라서, 임상적으로 적용할 수 있는 OTUB1 억제제의 개발이 이루어진다면 OTUB1은 종양 치료에 있어 중요한 진단마커이자 치료적인 타겟이 될 수 있다.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제16권18호
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• pp.8247-8252
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• 2016

Background: The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) degrades a variety of proteins which attach to specific signals. The ubiquitination pathway facilitates degradation of damaged proteins and regulates growth and stress responses. This pathway is altered in various cancers, including acute lymphoblastic leukemia, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and breast cancer. Recently it has been reported that expression of newly characterized human genes, UBE2Q1 and UBE2Q2, putative members of ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme family (E2), has been also changed in colorectal cancer. Epigenetics is one of the fastest-growing areas of science and nowadays has become a central issue in biological studies of diseases. According to the lack of information about the role of epigenetic changes on gene expression profiling of UBE2Q1 and UBE2Q2, and the presence of CpG islands in the promoter of these two human genes, we decided to evaluate the promoter methylation status of these genes as a first step. Materials and Methods: The promoter methylation status of UBE2Q1 and UBE2Q2 was studied by methylation-specific PCR (MSP) in tumor samples of 60 colorectal cancer patients compared to adjacent normal tissues and 20 non-malignant controls. The frequency of the methylation for each gene was analyzed by chi-square method. Results: MSP results revealed that UBE2Q2 gene promoter were more unmethylated, while a higher level of methylated allele was observed for UBE2Q1 in tumor tissues compared to the adjacent normal tissues and the non malignant controls. Conclusions: UBE2Q1 and UBE2Q2 genes show different methylation profiles in CRC cases.

• 한국독성학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국독성학회 2006년도 추계학술대회
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• pp.46-54
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• 2006

The methylmercury (MeHg) is a toxic environmental pollutant, causing serious neurological and developmental effects in humans. Recent epidemiological studies have indicated that ingestion of MeHg in fish during pregnancy can result in neuroethological effects in the offspring. However, the mechanism underlying the MeHg-toxicity is not fully understood. To elucidate the mechanisms of toxicity of MeHg and of defense against MeHg, we searched for factors that determine the sensitivity of yeast cells to MeHg, and found that overexpression of Cdc34, a ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme (E2) that is a component of the ubiquitin-proteasome (UP) system, induces a resistance to MeHg toxicity in both yeast and human cells. The UP system is involved in the intracellular degradation of proteins. When Cdc34 is overexpressed in cells, ubiquitination reactions are activated and the degradation of certain proteins by the UP system is enhanced. Therefore, it seems likely that certain as-yet-unidentified proteins that increase MeHg toxicity might exist in cons and that toxicity might be reduced by the enhanced degradation of such proteins, mediated by the UP system, when Cdc34 is overexpressed. SCF ubiquitin-ligase is a component of UP system and consists of Skpl, the scaffold protein Cdc53, the RING-finger protein Hrt1, and one member of the family of F-box proteins. The F-box proteins directly bind to the substrates and are the determinants of substrate specificity of SCF. Therefore, we searched for the f-box protein that cofers resistance to MeHg, and found that overexpression of Hrt3 or Yi1224w induced resistance to MeHg toxicity in yeast cells. Since the protein(5) that enhance toxicity of MeHg might plausibly be induced in substrates of both f-box proteins, we next searched for substrate proteins that are recognized by Hrt3 or Y1r224w using two-hybrid screen. We found that Did3 or Crsl interacts with Hrt3; and Eno2 interacts with Yir224w. The yeast cells that overexpressed each those proteins showed hypersensitivity to MeHg, respectively, indicating that those proteins enhance the MeHg toxicity. Both Dld3 and Eno2 are proteins involved in the synthesis of pyruvate, and overexpression of both proteins might induce increase in interacellular levels of pyruvate. Deletion of Yi1006w that transports pyruvate into the mitochondria induced aresistance to MeHg. These results suggest that the promotion of the pyruvate irdlowinto the mitochondria might enhance MeHg toxicity. This study providesimportant keyfor the elucidauon of the molecular mechanism of MeHg toxicity.

• 한국수산과학회지
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• 제51권1호
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• pp.95-106
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• 2018

To evaluate appropriate reference genes for the normalization of quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) data with embryonic and larval samples from Russian sturgeon Acipenser gueldenstaedtii, the expression stability of eight candidate housekeeping genes, including beta-actin (ACTB), elongation factor-1A (EF1A), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), histone 2A (H2A), ribosomal protein L5 (RPL5), ribosomal protein L7 (RPL7), succinate dehydrogenase (SDHA), and ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2 (UBE2A), were tested using embryonic samples from 12 developmental stages and larval samples from 11 ontogenic stages. Based on the stability rankings from three statistic software packages, geNorm, NormFinder, and BestKeeper, the expression stability of the embryonic subset was ranked as UBE2A>H2A>SDHA>GAPDH>RPL5>EF1A>ACTB>RPL7. On the other hand, the ranking in the larval subset was determined as UBE2A>GAPDH>SDHA>RPL5>RPL7>H2A>EF1A>AC TB. When the two subsets were combined, the overall ranking was UBE2A>SDHA>H2A>RPL5>GAPDH>EF1A>ACTB>RPL7. Taken together, our data suggest that UBE2A and SDHA are recommended as suitable references for developmental and ontogenic samples of this sturgeon species, whereas traditional housekeepers such as ACTB and GAPDH may not be suitable candidates.

• 한국발생생물학회지:발생과생식
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• 제12권3호
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• pp.289-296
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• 2008

BPES($\underline{B}$lepharophimosis/$\underline{P}$tosis/$\underline{E}$picanthus inversus $\underline{S}$yndrome)는 FOXL2 유전자의 돌연변이에 의해 유발되는 상염색체 우성질환이다. 눈꺼풀이 갈라지거나 쳐지고 넓은 미간이 나타나는 특징이 있으며, 여성의 조기 난소 부전증(premature ovarian failure, POF)을 일으켜 불임을 유발한다. FOXL2는 forkhead family에 속하는 전사인자로서 FOXL2가 결여된 난소에서는 granulosa cell의 분화가 진행되지 않아 난포 성숙과정의 멈춤과 난자의 폐쇄증을 유발한다. FOXL2를 bait로 하여 rat의 난소 cDNA 라이브러리의 yeast two-hybrid screening을 시행하여 FOXL2 단백질과 상호작용을 하는 small ubiquitin-related modifier(SUMO)-conjugating E2 효소인 UBE2I 단백질을 찾았다. UBC9이라고도 알려진 UBE2I 단백질은 SUMO 변형 과정을 위한 필수적인 단백질이다. Sumoylation은 수 많은 전사인자의 전사능력의 조절을 포함하여 다양한 신호전달체계에 관여하는 번역 후 변형 과정이다. 본 연구에서 인간세포인 293T 내에서 면역침전반응 실험을 통해 FOXL2와 UBE2I의 단백질-단백질간의 상호작용을 확인하고, FOXL2의 돌연변이형을 제작하여 yeast two-hybrid system을 이용해 UBE2I와 결합에 필요한 FOXL2의 부분을 규명하였다. 따라서, FOX2에 상호작용하는 UBE2I의 규명은 sumoylation에 의한 FOXL2의 새로운 조절 메커니즘을 시사한다.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• 제48권7호
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• pp.779-788
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• 2005

목 적 : Echinacea는 면역증강제로 이미 사용되고 있는 재래 식물로서 최근에 Echinacea의 추출물로 단구를 중심으로 면역세포들에 의한 면역증강효과에 대한 연구가 이루어지고 있다. 본 연구는 단구와 수지상세포에서 Echinacea에 의해 유전자의 발현이 증가되는 면역관련 유전자들을 cDNA microarray chip을 사용하여 선별하고 이들을 토대로 Echinacea의 면역증강 효과에 대한 연구를 할 때 기초 자료가 되고자 하였다. 방 법 : 실험 1과 2는 3명의 공여자의 말초혈 단구로 실험하였는데 실험 1은 단구에 최종 농도가 $50{\mu}g/mL$ 되게 Echinacea를 첨가하여 1일간 배양하였고, 실험 2는 실험 1의 대조군으로서 Echinacea를 첨가하지 않고 배양하였다. 실험 3과 4는 2명의 공여자의 단구로 실험하였는데 실험 3은 GM-CSF와 IL-4를 첨가하여 5일간 배양시켜 수지상세포로 분화시킨 뒤 Echinacea를 첨가하여 1일간 더 배양시켰고, 실험 4는 실험 3의 대조군으로서 수지상세포로 분화시킨 뒤 Echinacea를 첨가하지 않고 1 일간 더 배양하였다. Echinacea에 의한 단구와 수지상세포의 유전자발현 효과를 알아보기 위해서 cDNA microarray chip을 이용하여 대조군에 대한 실험군의 각 유전자의 발현비를 구하였다. Echinacea를 첨가하지 않은 단구(실험 2의 단구)에 대한 Echinacea를 첨가한 단구(실험 1의 단구)의 각 유전자들의 발현 비를 구하였고, Echinacea를 첨가하지 않은 수지상세포(실험 4의 수지상세포)에 대한 Echinacea를 첨가한 수지상세포(실험 3의 수지상세포)의 각 유전자들의 발현비를 구하였다. 여기서 실험 1과 2에서는 세 공여자의 단구에서 나온 유전자 발현비의 결과를, 실험 3과 4에서는 두 공여자의 수지상세포에서 나온 유전자 발현비의 결과를 평균하여 그 발현비가 2.5 이상 되는 것을 의미있게 발현된 유전자로 보았다. 결 과 : Echinacea를 첨가하지 않은 단구를 대조군으로 하여 Echinacea를 첨가한 단구의 유전자 발현비가 2.5 이상으로 증가한 것들 중 면역과 관계된 유전자들은 17개였다. Echinacea를 첨가하지 않은 수지상세포를 대조군으로 하여 Echinacea를 첨가한 수지상세포의 유전자 발현비가 2.5 이상으로 증가한 것들 중 면역과 관계된 유전자들은 24개였고, 실험에 사용한 수지상세포들은 모두 미성숙 수지상세포의 특징적인 표면항원들을 가지고 있음을 유세포 분석으로 확인하였다. Echinacea가 단구와 수지상세포 둘 다에서 의미있게 유전자발현비가 증가된 것들이 7개 있었는데, 이들은 CD44, IFI 30, MRC 1, CCR 7, CLK 2, syntenin, cytochrome C oxidase subunit VIII 등의 유전자들이었다. 특히 발현비가 3.5 이상으로 높은 유전자들을 그 발현비 순으로 나열하면 단구에서는 IFI 30, CLK 2, syntenin, superoxide dismutase 2 등 4개의 유전자들이 있었고, 수지상세포에서는 somatomedin A, methyl-CpG binding domain protein 3, IFI 30, small inducible cytokine subfamily A(Cys-Cys), member 22, ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2L 6, hexosaminidase B, nuclear factor of kappa light polypeptide gene enhancer in B-cells inhibitor epsilon, CCR 7 등 8개의 유전자들이 있었다. 결 론 : 본 연구는 Echinacea가 $CD14^+$ 단구 및 수지상세포에서 발현을 증가시키는 면역관련 유전자들을 cDNA microarray chip을 이용하여 검색하였고, 향후 이 유전자들을 기초로 정량적이고 기능적으로 분석할 수 있는 토대를 마련하였다.