• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.34 no.2 s.133
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• pp.150-155
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• 2003

The nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) protein induce transcription of cytokine genes required for T-cell activation, including the IL-2 gene. Activation of NFAT normally plays a significant role in inducing immune response. However, excessive activation provokes immunopathological reactions including autoimmunity, transplant rejection and inflammation. Thus, several natural products were screened on the inhibitory activity against the NFAT transcription factor. Among them, Euonymus sieboldiana showed strong inhibitory activity against the NFAT transcription factor without affecting cell viability.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.41-45
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• 2012

Transcription factors govern diverse aspects of cell growth and differentiation as major switches of gene expression. Etv5, a member of the E26 transformation-specific family of transcription factors, has many stories to share when it comes to reproduction. Etv5 deficient mice show complex infertility phenotypes both in males and females. In males, the infertility phenotype exhibited by Etv5 deficiency is sexually dimorphic, and it involves both somatic cells and germ cells. In $Etv5^{-/-}$ female mice, the problem is more complicated by hormonal involvement. This review synthesizes old and new information on this versatile transcription factor-from the inadvertent discovery of its role in the testes to its newly discovered role in maintaining spermatogonial stem cells.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.37 no.10
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• pp.734-741
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• 2014

Histone modifications on major transcription factor target genes are one of the major regulatory mechanisms controlling adipogenesis. Plant homeodomain finger 2 (PHF2) is a Jumonji domain-containing protein and is known to demethylate the histone H3K9, a repressive gene marker. To better understand the function of PHF2 in adipocyte differentiation, we constructed stable PHF2 knock-down cells by using the mouse pre-adipocyte cell line 3T3-L1. When induced with adipogenic media, PHF2 knock-down cells showed reduced lipid accumulation compared to control cells. Differential expression using a cDNA microarray revealed significant reduction of metabolic pathway genes in the PHF2 knock-down cell line after differentiation. The reduced expression of major transcription factors and adipokines was confirmed with reverse transcription- quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting. We further performed co-immunoprecipitation analysis of PHF2 with four major adipogenic transcription factors, and we found that CCATT/enhancer binding protein (C/EBP)${\alpha}$ and C/EBP${\delta}$ physically interact with PHF2. In addition, PHF2 binding to target gene promoters was confirmed with a chromatin immunoprecipitation experiment. Finally, histone H3K9 methylation markers on the PHF2-binding sequences were increased in PHF2 knock-down cells after differentiation. Together, these results demonstrate that PHF2 histone demethylase controls adipogenic gene expression during differentiation.

• BMB Reports
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.602-608
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• 2005

As a crucial transcription factor family, heat-shock factors were mainly analyzed and characterized in tomato and Arabidopsis. In this study, we isolated two putative heat shock factors OsHSF6 and OsHSF12 that interact specifically with heat-shock element (HSE) from Oryza sativa L by yeast one-hybrid method. The full-length cDNA of OsHSF6 and OsHSF12 have 1074bp and 920bp open reading frame (ORF), respectively. Analysis of the deduced amino acid sequences revealed that OsHSF6 was a class A heat shock factor (HSF) with all the conserved sequence elements characteristic of heat stress transcription factor, while OsHSF12 was a class B HSF with C-terminal domain (CTD) lacking of AHA motif. Bioinformatic analysis showed that the sequences and structures of two HSFs' DNA binding domain (DBD) had a high similarity with LpHSF24. The results of RT-PCR indicated OsHSF6 gene was expressed immediately after rice plants exposure to heat stress, and the transcription of OsHSF6 gene accumulated primarily in immature seeds, roots and leaves. However, we did not find the transcription of OsHSF12 gene in different organs and growth periods. Our results implied that OsHSF6 might be function as a HSF regulating early expression of stress genes in response to heat shock, and OsHSF12 might be act as a synergistic factor to regulate the expression of down-stream genes.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.133-137
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• 2003

Cells respond to an accumulation of unfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) by increasing transcription of genes encoding molecular chaperones and folding enzymes. The information is transmitted from the ER lumen to the nucleus by intracellular signaling pathway, called the unfolded protein response (UPR). In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, such induction is mediated by the cis-acting unfolded response element (UPRE) which has been thought to be recognized by Hac1p transcription factor. We cloned the ATFC gene showing similarity with Hac1p, and then examined to determine whether ATFC gene product specifically binds to UPRE by electrophoretic mobility shift assays. ATFC gene product displayed appreciable binding ${to ^{32}}P-labelled$ UPRE. Therefore, we concluded that ATFC represents a major component of the putative transcription factor responsible for the UPR leading to the induction of ER-localized stress proteins.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.616-620
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• 2011

Lysine residues of histone H3 and H4 are covalently modified in the chromatin of eukaryotic cells. Lysine 27 in histone H3 was acetylated (H3K27ac) or methylated at three levels; mono-, di-, and trimethylation (H3K27me1, H3K27me2, and H3K27me3). These modifications at H3K27 were related with gene transcription and/or chromatin structure in distinct patterns. Generally, H3K27ac and H3K27me1 were enriched in active chromatin, such as the locus control region or transcriptionally active genes, while transcriptionally inactive genes were highly marked by H3K27me2 and H3K27me3. These modifications appear to have been catalyzed by distinct histone-modifying enzymes. Recent studies suggest that the four kinds of modifications at H3K27 have inter-correlation in gene transcription or chromatin structure formation.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.97-105
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• 2019

Dehydration Responsive Element Binding (DREB) gene is one of the essential transcription factors plants use for responding to stress conditions including salinity, drought, and cold stress. The purpose of this study was to isolate the full length and characterize the DREB gene from three different genotypes of sugarcane, wild, commercial cultivar, and interspecific hybrid sugarcane. The length of the gene, designated ScDREB was 789 bp, and coding for a putative polypeptide of 262 amino acid residues. Sequences of the gene were submitted to the GenBank database with accession numbers of KX280722.1, KX280721.1, and KX280719.1 for wild sugarcane, commercial cultivar (KPS94-13), and interspecific hybrid (Biotec2), respectively. In silico characterization indicated that the deduced polypeptide contains a putative nuclear localization signal (NLS) sequence, and a conserved AP2/ERF domain of the DREB family, at 82-140 amino residues. Based on multiple sequence alignment, sequences of the gene from the three sugarcane genotypes were classified in the DREB2 group. Gene expression analysis indicated, that ScDREB2 expression pattern in tested sugarcane was up-regulated by salt stress. When the plants were under 100 mM NaCl stress, relative expressions of the gene in leaves was higher than those in roots. In contrast, under 200 mM NaCl stress, relative expressions of the gene in roots was higher than those in leaves. This is the first report on cloning the full length and characterization, of ScDREB2 gene of sugarcane. Results indicate that ScDREB2 is highly responsive to salt stress.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.183-190
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• 2020

Genome mining has recently emerged as a powerful strategy to discover novel microbial secondary metabolites. However, more than 50% of biosynthetic gene clusters are not transcribed under standardized laboratory culture condition. Several methods have been applied to activate silent biosynthetic gene clusters in the microbes so far. Among the regulatory systems for production of secondary metabolites, global regulators, which affect transcription of genes through regulatory cascades, typically govern the production of small molecules. In this review, global regulators to affect production of microbial secondary metabolites were discussed.

• BMB Reports
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.323-328
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• 2020

Matrix metalloproteinase 1 (MMP-1), a calcium-dependent zinccontaining collagenase, is involved in the initial degradation of native fibrillar collagen. Tissue necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine that is rapidly produced by dermal fibroblasts, monocytes/macrophages, and keratinocytes and regulates inflammation and damaged-tissue remodeling. MMP-1 is induced by TNFα and plays a critical role in tissue remodeling and skin aging processes. However, the regulation of the MMP1 gene by TNFα is not fully understood. We aimed to find additional cis-acting elements involved in the regulation of TNFα-induced MMP1 gene transcription in addition to the nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) and activator protein 1 (AP1) sites. Assessments of the 5'-regulatory region of the MMP1 gene, using a series of deletion constructs, revealed the requirement of the early growth response protein 1 (EGR-1)-binding sequence (EBS) in the proximal region for proper transcription by TNFα. Ectopic expression of EGR-1, a zinc-finger transcription factor that binds to G-C rich sequences, stimulated MMP1 promoter activity. The silencing of EGR-1 by RNA interference reduced TNFα-induced MMP-1 expression. EGR-1 directly binds to the proximal region and transactivates the MMP1 gene promoter. Mutation of the EBS within the MMP1 promoter abolished EGR-1-mediated MMP-1 promoter activation. These data suggest that EGR-1 is required for TNFα-induced MMP1 transcriptional activation. In addition, we found that all three MAPKs, ERK1/2, JNK, and p38 kinase, mediate TNFα-induced MMP-1 expression via EGR-1 upregulation. These results suggest that EGR-1 may represent a good target for the development of pharmaceutical agents to reduce inflammation-induced MMP-1 expression.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.172-184
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• 2021

Objective: Vanin1 (VNN1) is a pantetheinase that can catalyze the hydrolysis of pantetheine to produce pantothenic acid and cysteamine. Our previous studies showed that VNN1 is specifically expressed in chicken liver. In this study, we aimed to investigate the roles of peroxisome proliferators activated receptor α (PPARα) and miRNA-181a-5p in regulating VNN1 gene expression in chicken liver. Methods: 5'-RACE was performed to identify the transcription start site of chicken VNN1. JASPAR and TFSEARCH were used to analyze the potential transcription factor binding sites in the promoter region of chicken VNN1 and miRanda was used to search miRNA binding sites in 3' untranslated region (3'UTR) of chicken VNN1. We used a knock-down strategy to manipulate PPARα (or miRNA-181a-5p) expression levels in vitro to further investigate its effect on VNN1 gene transcription. Luciferase reporter assays were used to explore the specific regions of VNN1 targeted by PPARα and miRNA-181a-5p. Results: Sequence analysis of the VNN1 promoter region revealed several transcription factor-binding sites, including hepatocyte nuclear factor 1α (HNF1α), PPARα, and CCAAT/enhancer binding protein α. GW7647 (a specific agonist of PPARα) increased the expression level of VNN1 mRNA in chicken primary hepatocytes, whereas knockdown of PPARα with siRNA increased VNN1 mRNA expression. Moreover, the predicted PPARα-binding site was confirmed to be necessary for PPARα regulation of VNN1 gene expression. In addition, the VNN1 3'UTR contains a sequence that is completely complementary to nucleotides 1 to 7 of miRNA-181a-5p. Overexpression of miR-181a-5p significantly decreased the expression level of VNN1 mRNA. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that PPARα is an important transcriptional activator of VNN1 gene expression and that miRNA-181a-5p acts as a negative regulator of VNN1 expression in chicken hepatocytes.