• BMB Reports
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.131-138
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• 2015

Cardiac hypertrophy is a form of global remodeling, although the initial step seems to be an adaptation to increased hemodynamic demands. The characteristics of cardiac hypertrophy include the functional reactivation of the arrested fetal gene program, where histone deacetylases (HDACs) are closely linked in the development of the process. To date, mammalian HDACs are divided into four classes: I, II, III, and IV. By structural similarities, class II HDACs are then subdivided into IIa and IIb. Among class I and II HDACs, HDAC2, 4, 5, and 9 have been reported to be involved in hypertrophic responses; HDAC4, 5, and 9 are negative regulators, whereas HDAC2 is a pro-hypertrophic mediator. The molecular function and regulation of class IIa HDACs depend largely on the phosphorylation-mediated cytosolic redistribution, whereas those of HDAC2 take place primarily in the nucleus. In response to stresses, posttranslational modification (PTM) processes, dynamic modifications after the translation of proteins, are involved in the regulation of the activities of those hypertrophy-related HDACs. In this article, we briefly review 1) the activation of HDAC2 in the development of cardiac hypertrophy and 2) the PTM of HDAC2 and its implications in the regulation of HDAC2 activity.

• BMB Reports
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.11-21
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• 2011

During the last decade small regulatory RNA (srRNA) emerged as central players in the regulation of gene expression in all kingdoms of life. Multiple pathways for srRNA biogenesis and diverse mechanisms of gene regulation may indicate that srRNA regulation evolved independently multiple times. However, small RNA pathways share numerous properties, including the ability of a single srRNA to regulate multiple targets. Some of the mechanisms of gene regulation by srRNAs have significant effect on the abundance of free srRNAs that are ready to interact with new targets. This results in indirect interactions among seemingly unrelated genes, as well as in a crosstalk between different srRNA pathways. Here we briefly review and compare the major srRNA pathways, and argue that the impact of srRNA is always at the system level. We demonstrate how a simple mathematical model can ease the discussion of governing principles. To demonstrate these points we review a few examples from bacteria and animals.

• BMB Reports
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.345-349
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• 1999

We fused the promoter region of an H3.2 chicken histone gene, whose expression is dependent on the cell cycle, to the 5' coding region of an H3.3 chicken histone gene, which is expressed constitutively at a low level throughout the cell cycle. This fusion gene showed a cell cycle-regulated pattern of expression, but in a different manner. The mRNA level of the fusion gene increase during the S phase of the cell cycle by about 3.7-fold at 6 h and 2.7-fold at 12 h after the serum stimulation. The mRNA level of the intact H3.2 gene, however, increased by an average of 3.6-fold at 6 h and 8.7-fold at 12 h. This different expression pattern might be due to the differences in their 3' end region that is responsible for mRNA stability. The 3' end of the H3.2 mRNA contains a stem-loop structure, instead of a poly(A) tail present in the H3.3 mRNA. We also constructed a similar fusion gene using a H3.3 histone gene whose introns had been eliminated to rule out the possibility of involvement of the introns in cell cycle-regulated expression. The expression of this fusion gene was almost identical to the fusion gene made previously. These results indicate that the promoter region of the H3.2 gene is only partially responsible for its expression during the S phase of the cell cycle.

• BMB Reports
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.8-14
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• 2014

Telomerase plays a pivotal role in the pathology of aging and cancer by maintaining genome integrity, controlling cell proliferation, and regulating tissue homeostasis. Telomerase is essentially composed of an RNA component, Telomerase RNA or TERC, which serves as a template for telomeric DNA synthesis, and a catalytic subunit, telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT). The canonical function of TERT is the synthesis of telomeric DNA repeats, and the maintenance of telomere length. However, accumulating evidence indicates that TERT may also have some fundamental functions that are independent of its enzymatic activity. Among these telomere-independent activities of hTERT, the role of hTERT in gene transcription has been investigated in detail. Transcriptional regulation is a fundamental process in biological systems. Several studies have shown a direct involvement of hTERT in gene transcription. This mini-review will focus on the role of hTERT in gene transcription regulation, and discuss its possible mechanisms.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.406-411
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• 2011

Background: Invariant Natural killer T (iNKT) cells, a distinct subset of CD1d-restricted T cells with invariant $V{\alpha}{\beta}$ TCR, functionally bridge innate and adaptive immunity. While iNKT cells share features with conventional T cells in some functional aspects, they simultaneously produce large amount of Th1 and Th2 cytokines upon T-cell receptor (TCR) ligation. However, gene expression pattern in two types of cells has not been well characterized. Methods: we performed comparative microarray analyses of gene expression in murine iNKT cells and conventional $CD4^+CD25^-$ ${\gamma}{\delta}TCR^-$ T cells by using Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) method. Results: Here, we describe profound differences in gene expression pattern between iNKT cells and conventional $CD4^+CD25^-$ ${\gamma}{\delta}TCR^-$ T cells. Conclusion: Our results provide new insights into the functional competence of iNKT cells and a better understanding of their various roles during immune responses.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.307-315
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• 2007

Gene regulation is a fundamental process in biological systems, where transcription factors (TFs) play crucial roles. Inferring transcriptional interactions between TFs and their target genes has utmost importance for understanding the complex regulatory mechanisms in cellular systems. On one hand, with the rapid progress of various high-throughput experiment techniques, more and more biological data become available, which makes it possible to quantitatively study gene regulation in a systematic manner. On the other hand, transcription regulation is a complex biological process mediated by many events such as post-translational modifications, degradation, and competitive binding of multiple TFs. In this review, with a particular emphasis on computational methods, we report the recent advances of the research topics related to transcriptional regulatory networks, including how to infer transcriptional interactions, reveal combinatorial regulation mechanisms, and reconstruct TF activity profiles.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.37 no.7
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• pp.511-517
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• 2014

MicroRNAs are non-coding short (~23 nucleotides) RNAs that mediate post-transcriptional regulation through sequence-specific gene silencing. The role of miRNAs in neuronal development, synapse formation and synaptic plasticity has been highlighted. However, the role of neuronal activity on miRNA regulation has been less focused. Neuronal activity-dependent regulation of miRNA may finetune gene expression in response to synaptic plasticity and memory formation. Here, we provide an overview of miRNA regulation by neuronal activity including high-throughput screening studies. We also discuss the possible molecular mechanisms of activity-dependent induction and turnover of miRNAs.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.115-120
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• 2017

Encystation mediating cyst specific cysteine proteinase (CSCP) of Acanthamoeba castellanii is expressed remarkably during encystation. However, the molecular mechanism involved in the regulation of CSCP gene expression remains unclear. In this study, we focused on epigenetic regulation of gene expression during encystation of Acanthamoeba. To evaluate methylation as a potential mechanism involved in the regulation of CSCP expression, we first investigated the correlation between promoter methylation status of CSCP gene and its expression. A 2,878 bp of promoter sequence of CSCP gene was amplified by PCR. Three CpG islands (island 1-3) were detected in this sequence using bioinformatics tools. Methylation of CpG island in trophozoites and cysts was measured by bisulfite sequence PCR. CSCP promoter methylation of CpG island 1 (1,633 bp) was found in 8.2% of trophozoites and 7.3% of cysts. Methylation of CpG island 2 (625 bp) was observed in 4.2% of trophozoites and 5.8% of cysts. Methylation of CpG island 3 (367 bp) in trophozoites and cysts was both 3.6%. These results suggest that DNA methylation system is present in CSCP gene expression of Acanthamoeba. In addition, the expression of encystation mediating CSCP is correlated with promoter CpG island 1 hypomethylation.

• Environmental Mutagens and Carcinogens
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.171-179
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• 2004

Cytochrome P4503A4(CYP3A4) is the most abundnat CYPs in human liver, comparising approximately 30% of the total liver CYPs contents ans is involbed in the metabolism of more than 60% of currently used therapeutic drugs. The expression of CYP3A4 is induced by a variety of structurally unrelated xonobiotics including the antibiotic rifampicin and endogenous hormones, and might be mediated through steroid and xenobiotic receptor(SXR) system. The molecular mechanisms underlying regulation of CYP3A4 gene expression hae not been understood. In order to gain the insight of the molecular mechanism of CYP3A4 gene expression, study has been undertaken to investigate if the histone deacelylation is involved in the regulation of CYP3A4 gene expression by proximal promoter or not. Also SXR was investigated to see if they were involved in the regulation of CYP3A4 proximal promoter activity. HepG2 or Hena-I cells were transfected with a plasmid containing~1kb of the CYP3A4 proximal promoter region (-863 to +64bp) cloned in front of a reporter gene, luciferase, in the presence or absence of SXR or hER. Transfected cells were treated with CYP3A4 inducers such as rifampicin, PCN and RU 486, or with estradiol, in order to exmine to regulation of CYP3A4 gene expression in the presence or absence of trichostatin A (TSA). In HepG2 cells, CYP3A4 inducers and estradiol increased significantly the luciferase activity by CYP3A4 proximal promoter, only when TSA was co-treated after SXR cotransfection. In the case of Hepa-I cells CYP3A4 inducers and estradiol incressed modestly the luciferase activity when TSA was co-treated, but this increment was not enhanced by SXR cotransfection in contrast to HepG2 cells. Taken together, these results indicated that the inhibition of histone deacetylation was required to SXR-mediated increase in CYP3A4 proximal promoter region when rifampicin, or PCN was treated. Futher a trans-activation by SXR may demand other species-specific transcription factors.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.889-893
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• 2012

Appressorium is a specialized infection structure of filamentous pathogenic fungi and plays an important role in establishing a pathogenic relationship with the host. The Egh16/Egh16H family members are involved in appressorium formation and pathogenesis in pathogenic filamentous fungi. In this study, a homolog of Egh16H, Magas1, was identified from an entomopathogenic fungus, Metarhizium acridum. The Magas1 protein shared a number of conserved motifs with other Egh16/Egh16H family members and specifically expressed during the appressorium development period. Magas1-EGFP fusion expression showed that Magas1 protein was not localized inside the cell. Deletion of the Magas1 gene had no impact on vegetative growth, conidiation and appressorium formation, but resulted in a decreased mortality of host insect when topically inoculated. However, the mortality was not significant between the Magas1 deletion mutant and wild-type treatment when the cuticle was bypassed by injecting conidia directly into the hemocoel. Our results suggested that Magas1 may influence virulence by affecting the penetration of the insects' cuticle.