• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.453-463
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• 2007

Backgrounds : Glutathione-s-transferase (GST) is a kind of phase II metabolism enzyme and plays an important role in the detoxification of various toxic chemicals. It was reported that the genetic polymorphism of GSTM1 and GSTT1 genes may be responsible for asthma development and susceptibility to allergy. Traditional oriental medicine uses a unique diagnostic technique. differentiation-syndrome. to analyze signs and symptoms of patients synthetically. Through differentiation-syndrome. asthma patients can be divided into two groups: the deficiency syndrome group (DSG) and the excess syndrome group (ESG). Objectives : The purpose of this study was to investigate the possible association of GST gene polymorphism with clinical phenotype by differentiation-syndrome of bronchial asthma patients. Materials and Methods : One hundred and ten participants were evaluated by pulmonary function test. Patients with 53 DSG and 31 ESG by differentiation-syndrome were assessed for genetic analysis. GSTM1 and GSTT1 deletion polymorphism was performed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results : GSTM1 gene deletion was detected in 43.4% of individuals in the DSG and in 38.71 % in the ESG. The distribution of GSTM1 polymorphism between DSG and ESG was not significantly different [$x^2$=0.1767, p=0.6742; OR(95% CI)=1.2139(0.4915-2.9979)]. The proportion of GSTT1 null genotypes was 41.51% in the DGS and 45.16% in the ESG. The distribution of GSTT1 polymorphism between DSG and ESG was also not significantly different [$x^2$=0.1065, p=0.7442; OR(95% CI)=0.8618(0.3525-2.1065)]. In the combined analysis of GSTM1 and GSTT1 genes, the frequency of both null type of GSTM1/GSTT1 genes was not significantly different from both positive type of GSTM1/GSTT1 genes[$x^2$=0.0768, p=0.7817; OR(95% CI)=1.2000(0.3303-4.3602)] Conclusions : These results indicate that polymorphism of the GST gene might not be associated with the symptomatic classification of DSG and ESG by differentiation-syndrome in Korean asthmatics.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.27-35
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• 2006

Plantlet regeneration in Asteracantha longifolia(L.) Nees (Acanthaceae), a medicinal herb has been achieved from seedling explants on basal MS medium. Three different seedling explants including node, internode and leaf segments on used. Of these three explant, leaf explants gave better response for both callus mediated organogenesis and direct multiple shoot induction. Number of explants showing differentiation of shout buds was higher on MS media supplemented with BA compared to kinetin. MS medium fortified with BA ($2.0mgl^{-1}$) and NAA ($0.5mgl^{-1}$) was found to be most suitable for both callus mediated organogenesis and elongation of shouts. The elongated shoots were successfully routed on MS medium fortified with NAA or IBA. Among them $0.1mgl^{-1}$ NAA or $0.2mgl^{-1}$ IBA provides better response for rhizogenesis. Regenerated plantlets were successfully established in soil where 85.4% or them developed into morphologically normal and fertile plants. RAPD profiling using four decamer primers confirmed the genetic uniformity of the regenerated plantlets and substantiated the efficacy and suitability of this protocol for in vitro propagation of A. longifolia.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.1908-1915
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• 2018

Upon viral infection, the host cell recognizes the invasion through a number of pattern recognition receptors. Melanoma differentiation associated gene 5 (MDA5) and retinoic acid-inducible gene-I (RIG-I) recognize RNA molecules derived from invading viruses, activating down-stream signaling cascades, culminating in the induction of the type I interferon. On the other hand, viruses have evolved to evade type I interferon-mediated inhibition. Hepatitis E virus has been shown to encode a few antagonists of type I interferon and it is not surprising that viruses encode multiple mechanisms of viral evasion. In the present study, we demonstrated that HEV PCP strongly down-regulates MDA5-mediated activation of interferon ${\beta}$ induction in a dose-dependent manner. Interestingly, MDA5 protein expression was almost completely abolished. In addition, polyinosinic polycytidylic acid (poly(I:C))- and Sendai virus-mediated activation of type I interferon responses were similarly abrogated in the presence of HEV PCP. Furthermore, HEV PCP down-regulates several molecules that play critical roles in the induction of type I IFN expression. Taken together, these data collectively suggest that HEV-encoded PCP is a strong antagonist of type I interferon.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.79-92
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• 1986

Electrophoretic method is and morphometric analysis were used to examine genetic and phenetic variation among 16 populations of Rhabdophis tigrina and to clarify the subspecific status of R.t.tigrina and R.t. lateralis in Korea. The degree of genic variation based on 23 presume loci was moderate and was similar to those found for other vertebrates. Interpopulation levels of genic differentiation were slight for all populations studied and overall genetic similarities were =0.970. The number of ventral and subcaudal scales showed clinal variation with increasing tendency in numbers toward south . Discriminant function analysis based on six morphometric characters revealed that there were no morphometric differentiation between two subspecies, therefore it was concluded that they were same taxon and R.t. lateralis (Berthold, 1859) should be treated as synonym of R. t. tigrina(Boie, 1826)

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.1137-1143
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• 2019

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) accounts for 20 million infections in humans worldwide. In most cases, the infections are self-limiting while HEV genotype 1 infection cases may lead to lethal infections in pregnant women (~ 20% fatality). The lack of small animal models has hampered detailed analysis of virus-host interactions and HEV-induced pathology. Here, by employing a recently developed culture-adapted HEV, we demonstrated that methyltransferase, a non-structural protein, strongly inhibits melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (MDA5)-mediated activation of type I interferon responses. Compared to uninfected controls, HEV-infected cells display significantly lower levels of $IFN-{\beta}$ promoter activation when assessed by luciferase assay and RT-PCR. HEV genome-wide screening showed that HEV-encoded methyltransferase (MeT) strongly inhibits MDA5-mediated transcriptional activation of $IFN-{\beta}$ and $NF-{\kappa}B$ in a dose-responsive manner whether or not it is expressed in the presence/absence of a tag fused to it. Taken together, current studies clearly demonstrated that HEV MeT is a novel antagonist of MDA5-mediated induction of $IFN-{\beta}$ signaling.

• Korean Journal of Computational Design and Engineering
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.183-191
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• 2004

This paper deals with smooth curve fitting of data corrupt by noise. Most research efforts have been concentrated on employing the smoothness penalty function with the estimation of its optimal parameter in order to avoid the 'overfilling and underfitting' dilemma in noisy data fitting problems. Our approach, called DBSF(Differentiation-Based Smooth Fitting), is different from the above-mentioned method. The main idea is that optimal functions approximately estimating the derivative of noisy curve data are generated first using genetic programming, and then their integral values are evaluated and used to recover the original curve form. To show the effectiveness of this approach, DBSP is demonstrated by presenting two illustrative examples and the application of estimating the principal dimensions of bulk cargo ships in the conceptual design stage.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Developmental Biology Conference
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• 2001.08a
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• pp.34-35
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• 2001

RAPD analysis based on numerous markers have been used to investigate patterns of genetic differentiation ann and within two cultured and wild populations represented by the species crucian carp(Carassius carassius). From RAPD analysis using five primers, a total of 442 polymorphic bands were obtained in two populations and 273 were found to be specific to a wild population. According to RAPD-based estimates, average number of polymorphic bands in wild population was approximately 1.5 times as diverse as that in cultured. The average level of bandsharing values was $0.40 \pm 0.05$ in wild population, but was $0.69 \pm 0.08$ in cultured population, With reference to bandsharing values and banding patterns, wild population was considerably more diverse than cultured population. Knowledge of the genetic diversity of crucian carp should help in formulating more effective strategies for managing this aquacultural fish species.

• Korean Journal Plant Pathology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.171-176
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• 1998

Gentic diversity of 42 isolates of Phomopsis citri was analyzed with random amplified polymorphic DNA(RAPD) and fungicide resistance. RAPD profiles of genomic DNA of the isolates of P. citri and the degrees of their resistance to the fungicides mancozeb and propineb suggested the occurrence of genetic differentiation of P. citri distributed in Cheju. The isolates showed genetically diverse RAPD profiles according to the host species collected even from the same collection site and also according to the geographic origin collected even from the same host species. High levels of resistance to fungicides mancozeb and propineb were observed among the isolates of P. citri. However, there was no correlation between RAPD profiles of genomic DNA and levels of fungicide resistance of the isolates, suggesting that fungicide resistance of P. citri occurred irrespective of the host and geographic origin.

• The Korean Journal of Zoology
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.565-569
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• 1995

We have previoosly demonstrated that the RecA-like protein of Schizosaccharomyces pombe (S. pombe) is immunologically related to Escherichia coil (E. coil) RecA protein and that the cellular level of the protein is significantly increased by inhibitors of nucleotide pool-forming enzymes such as hydroxyurea (HU) and methotrexate (MTX) (lee and Park, 1994; lee et al., 1994). In this study, we report that the ribonudeotide redudase activity of S. pombe is inhibited by E. coil RecA antibody, as determined by thin layer chromatography using [5-$^3$H]CDP as a substrate. The relative activity of ribonucleotide reductase was dramatically inhibited by 100 mM of flu (26.4% reduction) in in vitro assay, compared to that of non-treated control. The ribonucleotide reductase activity was also inhibited by immunoprecipitation with E. coil RecA antibody (43.3% reduction). These results indicate that the strudure of S. pombe ribonucleotide reductase is in part similar to that of E. coil RecA protein.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.529-535
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• 2016

Atopic dermatitis (AD) results from gene and environment interactions that lead to a range of immunological abnormalities and breakdown of the skin barrier. Protease-activated receptor 2 (PAR2) belongs to a family of G-protein coupled receptors and is expressed in suprabasal layers of the epidermis. PAR2 is activated by both trypsin and a specific agonist peptide, SLIGKV-$NH_2$ and is involved in both epidermal permeability barrier homeostasis and epithelial inflammation. In this study, we investigated the effect of lobaric acid on inflammation, keratinocyte differentiation, and recovery of the skin barrier in hairless mice. Lobaric acid blocked trypsin-induced and SLIGKV-$NH_2$-induced PAR2 activation resulting in decreased mobilization of intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ in HaCaT keratinocytes. Lobaric acid reduced expression of interleukin-8 induced by SLIGKV-$NH_2$ and thymus and activation regulated chemokine (TARC) induced by tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-${\alpha}$) and IFN-${\gamma}$ in HaCaT keratinocytes. Lobaric acid also blocked SLIGKV-$NH_2$-induced activation of ERK, which is a downstream signal of PAR2 in normal human keratinocytes (NHEKs). Treatment with SLIGKV-$NH_2$ downregulated expression of involucrin, a differentiation marker protein in HaCaT keratinocytes, and upregulated expression of involucrin, transglutamase1 and filaggrin in NHEKs. However, lobaric acid antagonized the effect of SLIGKV-$NH_2$ in HaCaT keratinocytes and NHEKs. Topical application of lobaric acid accelerated barrier recovery kinetics in a SKH-1 hairless mouse model. These results suggested that lobaric acid is a PAR2 antagonist and could be a possible therapeutic agent for atopic dermatitis.