• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.385-394
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• 2015

Leishmaniasis is a worldwide uncontrolled parasitic disease due to the lack of effective drug and vaccine. To speed up effective drug development, we need powerful methods to rapidly assess drug effectiveness against the intracellular form of Leishmania in high throughput assays. Reporter gene technology has proven to be an excellent tool for drug screening in vitro. The effects of reporter proteins on parasite infectivity should be identified both in vitro and in vivo. In this research, we initially compared the infectivity rate of recombinant Leishmania major expressing stably enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) alone or EGFP-luciferase (EGFP-LUC) with the wild-type strain. Next, we evaluated the sensitivity of these parasites to amphotericin B (AmB) as a standard drug in 2 parasitic phases, promastigote and amastigote. This comparison was made by MTT and nitric oxide (NO) assay and by quantifying the specific signals derived from reporter genes like EGFP intensity and luciferase activity. To study the amastigote form, both B10R and THP-1 macrophage cell lines were infected in the stationary phase and were exposed to AmB at different time points. Our results clearly revealed that the 3 parasite lines had similar in vitro infectivity rates with comparable parasite-induced levels of NO following interferon-${\gamma}$/lipopolysaccharide induction. Based on our results we proposed the more reporter gene, the faster and more sensitive evaluation of the drug efficiency.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.399-407
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• 2001

The microinjection of retroviral vectors into the perivitelline spaces of MII-stage oocytes increased production of transgenic bovine embryos. However, oocytes have various sizes of perivitelline space, and there is the tendency that the oocyte membranes are damageable by micropipettes during the injection of retroviral vectors into perivitelline spaces or oocytes. Thus, it was not always possible to stably inject retroviral vector into perivitelline spaces of oocytes. Here we used sucrose to minimize the damage of the oocyte membrane. When the oocytes were suspended in 0.5% sucrose, poor quality oocytes showed rough cytoplasmic membranes, while good quality oocytes maintained smooth membranes. However, when the tatters were subjected to in vitro fertilization, no significant differences were observed in cleavage rates (82% of control Vs. 84% of sucrose treated oocytes). The Same trends were obtained from the oocytes fertilized after microinjection of LN$\beta$-EGFP and LNC-hGH genes into the perivitelline spares. The rates of cleavage and blastocyst from microinjection of LN$\beta$-EGFP genes were 81 and 25%, and from microinjection of LNC-hGM genes were 53 and 30%, respectively. The result indicated that microinjected oocytes could develop to the blastocyst stages after in vitro fertilization with no significant difference from control group. Moreover, the integration of hGH-gene (by PCR analysis) was detected in 52% of infected cleaved embryos and the expression of EGFP-gene (under a fluoresrence microscope) was also observed in 34% of infected blastocyst. These results indicated that 0.5% sucrose treatment could be an efficient method not only to select good quality embryos but also to inject retroviral vectors into perivitelline spares without any harm and hence improving developmental rates.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.18 no.7
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• pp.912-917
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• 2008

To investigate the biological activity of recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rec-hG-CSF) in mammalian cells, hG-CSF gene was cloned using the eDNA extracted from the human squamous carcinoma cell lines and rec-hG-CSF was produced in CHO cell lines. To analyze the biological activity in vivo, the rec-hG-CSF protein was injected into mice subcutaneously on days 0 and 2. Blood was withdrawn for white blood cell (WBC) determination 5 days after the first injection. WBC values were found to have increased significantly. A pEGFP-mUII-hG-CSF vector was transfected into somatic cell lines isolated from bovine fetal cells. The colony expressing EGFP signals was observed with a confocal microscope. These data suggest that the rec-hG-CSF produced in this study has potent activity in vivo. Thus, the results of this biological activity show that rec-hG-CSF can be enhanced considerably by genetic engineering that affects potential activity, including mutations, which add the oligosaccharide chain and construct double-fusion proteins. A pEGFP-mUII-hG-CSF vector can be utilized for the production of cloned transgenic livestock.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.35-38
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• 2007

In this study, ORF 46 of Bombyx mod nucleopolyhedrovirus(Bm46) fused with EGFP was expressed in Bombyx mod cell lines, larvae and pupae by BmNPV Bacmid system. Bm46 and EGFP were cloned into donor plasmid pFastBacHTb, which was transformed to competent DH10B cells containing helper and BmNPV bacmid by site-specific transposition. Recombinant bacmid was used to transfected BmN-4 cells to produce the recombinant baculovirus vBm-Bm46-EGFP. Recombination virus was injected into silkworm larvae and pupae. The expression of the fusion protein was monitored by examining green fluorescence using a fluorescent microscope. Intense fluorescence in cells and silkworm was observed at 4 days post-infection, indicating the Bm46-EGFP fusion gene was expressed successfully.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.6-9
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• 2007

An RNase P ribozyme library has been developed as a tool for functional genomics studies. Each clone of this library contains a random 18-mer and the sequence of M1 RNA, the catalytic subunit of RNase P. Repression of target gene expression is thus achieved by the complementary binding of mRNA to the random guide sequence and the successive target cleavage via M1 RNA. Cellular expression of the ribozyme expression was confirmed, and EGFP mRNA was used as a model to demonstrate that the RNase P ribozyme expression system can inhibit the target gene expression. The constructed RNase P ribozyme library has a complexity of $1.4\times10^7$. This novel library system should become a useful in functional genomics, to identify novel gene functions in mammalian cells.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.12
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• pp.1953-1957
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• 2008

Recombinant Lactobacillus strains have been constructed using gene splicing by overlap extension (SOE). Primers were designed of which one end of an amplified product contained complementary sequences for an end of other amplified fragment. For efficient matching, we used an asymmetric PCR step that was effective at generating an excess of strands that would anneal in the final PCR. CP12, a recombinant fragment consisting of the integrase gene and attachment site of the bacteriophage A2, was constructed and inserted into the genome of Lactobacillus casei ATCC 393, yielding Lb. casei ATCC 393::XCP12. Another recombinant Lb. casei strain was constructed, where the egfp gene was a part of the construction. The EGFP produced from Lb. casei ATCC 393::XCEGFP14 was detected by Western blot hybridization. This simple and widely applicable approach has significant advantages over standard recombinant DNA techniques for Lactobacillus species.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2013.10a
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• pp.946-948
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• 2013

Several baculovirus vector systems recombined with coding genes of polyhedron promoter, vesicular stomatitis virus G (VSVG), polyA, cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter, enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP), and protein transduction domain (PTD) were constructed. These recombinant baculovirus vector systems were applied into human foreskin fibroblast cells and compared the effects of gene transfer and gene expression of these recombinant baculovirus vector systems with control vector system. From this study, it showed that these novel recombinant baculovirus vector systems were superior efficacy to control vector system in view of gene transfer and gene expression.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.617-622
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• 2017

In this study, we sought to develop an effective cloning system by which human cytochrome $b_5$ (cyt $b_5$) is introduced and expressed in zebrafish. First, the 414 bp human cyt $b_5$ gene was amplified from RNA extracts of HeLa cells using RT-PCR, and the amplicon was subsequently sequenced to confirm that it was intact. Next, cyt $b_5$ was cloned into the pEGFP-N3 vector, which also encodes a fluorescent gene. One-cell stage zebrafish embryos were microinjected with the recombinant vector containing the cyt $b_5$ gene. Fluorescence microscopy confirmed high expression of the fluorescent gene in the injected fry compared to the non-fluorescent control fry. Finally, we extracted RNA from the injected fry and performed RT-PCR to determine whether the human cyt $b_5$ gene is expressed in the transgenic zebrafish. Sequencing analysis further confirmed that the cloned human cyt $b_5$ gene was intact. The transgenic zebrafish model produced in this study will be a useful tool to study therapeutic approaches to cure various diseases related to the deficiency of functional human cyt $b_5$ as well as tools for cloning useful genes in fish.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.468-477
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• 2009

Purpose: Hydrodynamic-based procedure is a simple and effective gene delivery method to lead a high gene expression in liver tissue. Non-invasive imaging reporter gene system has been used widely with herpes simplex virus type 1 thymidine kinase (HSV1-tk) and its various substrates. In the present study, we investigated to image the expression of HSV1-tk gene with 5-(2-iodovinyD-2'-deoxyuridine (IVDU) in mouse liver by the hydrodynamicbased procedure. Materials and Methods: HSV1-tk or enhanced green fluorescence protein (EGFP) encoded plasmid DNA was transferred into the mouse liver by hydrodynaminc injection. At 24 h post-injection, RT-PCR, biodistribution, fluorescence imaging, nuclear imaging and digital wholebody autoradiography (DWBA) were performed to confirm transferred gene expression. Results: In RT-PCR assay using mRNA from the mouse liver, specific bands of HSV1-tk and EGFP gene were observed in HSV1-tk and EGFP expressing plasmid injected mouse, respectively. Higher uptake of radiolabeled IVDU was exhibited in liver of HSV1-tk gene transferred mouse by biodistribution study. In fluorescence imaging, the liver showed specific fluorescence signal in EGFP gene transferred mouse. Gamma-camera image and DWBA results showed that radiolabeled IVDU was accumulated in the liver of HSV1-tk gene transferred mouse. Conclusion: In this study, hydrodynamic-based procedure was effective in liver-specific gene delivery and it could be quantified with molecular imaging methods. Therefore, co-expression of HSV1-tk reporter gene and target gene by hydrodynamic-based procedure is expected to be a useful method for the evaluation of the target gene expression level with radiolabeled IVDU.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.10
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• pp.1367-1372
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• 2000

The present study was conducted to evaluate the efficiency of transgenic rabbit production by DNA microinjection using EGFP (Enhanced Green Fluorescent Protein) gene. In this experiment EGFP coding sequences fused to CMV promoter were microinjected into rabbit one-cell embryos, and then GFP expression and gene integration were evaluated in preimplantation embryos and fetuses recovered on day 15 of pregnancy to determine efficiency of transgenic rabbit production. Effect of DNA concentration was also tested on development in vitro following microinjection and transgene integration in fetuses. Development of embryos in vitro was decreased by DNA microinjection, but the rates of pregnancy and implantation were not significantly affected by microinjection. As development progressed in vitro percentage of GFP expression in rabbit embryos was decreased, resulting GFP expression detected in 37.5% of blastocysts. The efficiencies for production of transgenic fetuses were 4.0% and 7.6%, respectively, when $10ng/{\mu}l$ and $20ng/{\mu}l$ of DNA concentration were microinjected. Transgenic fetuses were confirmed by GFP expression and PCR analysis of fetus genomic DNA. These results indicated that DNA microinjection itself damaged embryo development and DNA concentration affected the efficiency of transgenic rabbit production.