• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.144-152
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• 2010

As the International Rice Genome Sequencing Project (IRGSP) was completed in 2005 and opened to the public, many countries are making a lot of investments in researches on the utilization of sequence information along with system development. Also, the necessity of the functional genomics researches using microarray is increased currently to secure unique genes related with major agricultural traits and analyze metabolic pathways. Microrarray enables efficient analysis of large scale gene expression and related transcription regulation. This review aims to introduce available microarrays made based on rice genome information and current status of gene expression analysis using these microarrays integrated with the databases available to the public. Also, we introduce the researches on the large scale functional analysis of genes related with useful traits and genetic networks. Understanding of the mechanism related with mutual interaction between proteins with co-expression among rice genes can be utilized in the researches for improving major agricultural traits. The direct and indirect interactions of various genes would provide new functionality of rice. The recent results of the various expression profiling analysis in rice will promote functional genomic researches in plants including rice and provide the scientists involved in applications researches with wide variety of expression informations.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.16-28
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• 2018

Although physiological and ecological characteristics of cyanobacteria have been studied extensively for decades, unknown areas still remain greater than the already known. Recently, the development of omics techniques based on molecular biology has made it possible to view the ecosystem from a new and holistic perspective. The molecular mechanism of toxin production is being widely investigated, by comparative genomics and the transcriptomic studies. Biological interaction between bacteria and cyanobacteria is also explored: how their interactions and genetic biodiversity change depending on seasons and environmental factors, and how these interactions finally affect each component of ecosystem. Bioinformatics techniques have combined with ecoinformatics and omics data, enabling us to understand the underlying complex mechanisms of ecosystems. Particularly omics started to provide a whole picture of biological responses, occurring from all layers of hierarchical processes from DNA to metabolites. The expectation is growing further that algal blooms could be controlled more effectively in the near future. And an important insight for the successful bloom control would come from a novel blueprint drawn by omics studies.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.1154-1161
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• 2005

Yin Yang theory is the first and the last one to interpret diseases apply to treatment in oriental medicine. So it is regarded as the way of heaven and earth, the discipline of all things, the origin of change, the beginning of giving birth and death, the source of spirit. These regulatory passages are needed to compare with western medical physiology and analyzed whether it has scientific bases or not. The Yin Yang theory of traditional oriental medicine are summerized from the descriptions of Scripture of Documents, Ying Wei theory of Huangdi Neijing. Meanwhile up-to-date neurobiological and molecular genetic theories on circadian physiology are reviewed in western medicine. Sunshine is transferred through RGC to SCN, herein the central circadian rhythm is made by zeitgeber and interaction of melatonin secreted from pineal body and orexin from mp pan of hypothalamus. So HPA axis is activated and controlled under the circadian rhythm and affects peripheral tissues and cells of whole body through glucocorticoid hormones. First of all, the circadian rhythm makes the basic patterns of human life in biological and sociological meaning. It is almost same context with the record of the Scripture of Documents. Also the Ying Qi and Wei Qi is basically same with the sleep-awake mechanism, that is melatonin/orexin signal or per/clk/bmal/cry genes with circadian activation and activity of each organ's physiological function. Conclusively it can be said that Yin Yang is a priori principle of living things and the beginning of giving birth and death for activation of them biologically, as is described in Huangdi Neijing.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.117-124
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• 2011

Considering that the world population is expected to total 9 billion by 2050, it will clearly be necessary to sustain and even accelerate the rate of improvement in crop productivity. In the 21st century, we now face another, perhaps more devastating, environmental threat, namely climate change, which could cause irreversible damage to agricultural ecosystem and loss of production potential. Enhancing intrinsic yield, plant abiotic stress tolerance, and pest and pathogen resistance through agricultural biotechnology will be a critical part of feeding, clothing, and providing energy for the human population, and overcoming climate change. Development and commercialization of genetically engineered crops have significantly contributed to increase of crop yield and farmer's income, decrease of environmental impact associated with herbicide and insecticide, and to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from this cropping area. Advances in plant genomics, proteomics and system biology have offered an unprecedented opportunities to identify genes, pathways and networks that control agricultural important traits. Because such advances will provide further details and complete understanding of interaction of plant systems and environmental variables, biotechnology is likely to be the most prominent part of the next generation of successful agricultural industry. In this article, we review the prospects for modification of agricultural target traits by genetic engineering, including enhancement of photosynthesis, abiotic stress tolerance, and pest and pathogen resistance associated with such opportunities and challenges under climate change.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.121-131
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• 2012

After spermatogenesis, spermatozoa come in contact with fluids in the epididymis where they mature. During ejaculation, spermatozoa are mixed with secretions from prostate gland, vesicular glands, and bulbourethral glands. During natural mating, seminal plasma is deposited in the female reproductive tract eliciting various physiological and immunological responses. With the advances in proteomics, the components of seminal plasma have been identified and the information may be valuable in identifying markers for fertility. Components of seminal plasma that affect fertility have been discovered and the mechanism of action of these factors has been determined. The objective of this study was to determine the specific seminal plasma proteins from Korean native cattle, Hanwoo, and Korean native brindle cattle (KNBC) with the long term goal of improving fertilization rate. After SDS-PAGE and 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis, proteins were identified by Q-ToF analysis. They include plasma serine protease inhibitor precursor and platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase after SDS-PAGE. Number and density of the spots in 2-dimensional gels were higher in KNBC than Hanwoo. Proteins identified from the paired spots of both breeds include chain A, bull seminal plasma PDC-109 Fibronectin Type II module, BSP-30 kDa precursor, and Spermadhesin Z13 or its precursor. Interestingly, some proteins were identified from multiple spots. The functional differences of these diverse forms of the proteins may require further studies. With their previously reported roles in sperm capacitation by these proteins, the studies on the mechanism of action, ligand interaction and the variation in the genome may help improving fertility in cattle.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.146-153
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• 2006

Cell polarity is critical for the division, differentiation, migration, and signaling of eukaryotic cells. RAX2 of budding yeast encodes a membrane protein localized at the cell cortex that helps maintain the polarity of the bipolar pattern. Here, we designate SPAC6f6.06c as $rax2^+$ of Schizosaccharomyces pombe, based on its sequence homology with RAX2, and examine its function in cell polarity. S. pombe $rax2^+$ is not essential, but ${\Delta}rax2$ cells are slightly smaller and grow slower than wild type cells. During vegetative growth or arrest at G1 by mutation of cdc10, deletion of $rax2^+$ increases the number of cells failing old end growth just after division. In addition, this failure of old end growth is dramatically increased in ${\Delta}tea1{\Delta}rax2$, pointing to genetic interaction of $rax2^+$ with $tea1^+$. ${\Delta}rax2$ cells contain normal actin and microtubule cytoskeletons, but lack actin cables, and the polarity factor for3p is not properly localized at the growing tip. In ${\Delta}rax2$ cells, and endogenous rax2p is localized at the cell cortex of growing cell tips in an actin- and microtubule-dependent manner. However, ${\Delta}rax2$ cells show no defects in cell polarity during shmoo formation and conjugation. Taken together, these observations suggest that rax2p controls the cell polarity of fission yeast during vegetative growth by regulating for3p localization.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.28 no.10
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• pp.1196-1202
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• 2005

Omeprazole (OMP) is a proton pump inhibitor used as an oral treatment for acid-related gastrointestinal disorders. In the liver, it is primarily metabolized by cytochrome P-450 (CYP450) isoenzymes such as CYP2C19 and CYP3A4. 5-Hyroxyomeprazole (5-OHOMP) and omeprazole sulfone (OMP-SFN) are the two major metabolites of OMP in human. Cimetidine (CMT) inhibits the breakdown of drugs metabolized by CYP450 and reduces, the clearance of coad-ministered drug resulted from both the CMT binding to CYP450 and the decreased hepatic blood flow due to CMT. Phenobarbital (PB) induces drug metabolism in laboratory animals and human. PB induction mainly involves mammalian CYP forms in gene families 2B and 3A. PB has been widely used as a prototype inducer for biochemical investigations of drug metabolism and the enzymes catalyzing this metabolism, as well as for genetic, pharmacological, and toxicological investigations. In order to investigate the influence of CMT and PB on the metabolite kinetics of OMP, we intravenously administered OMP (30 mg/kg) to rats intraperitoneally pretreated with normal saline (5 mL/kg), CMT (100 mg/kg) or PB (75 mg/kg) once a day for four days, and compared the pharmacokinetic parameters of OMP. The systemic clearance ($CL_{t}$) of OMP was significantly (p<0.05) decreased in CMT-pretreated rats and significantly (p<0.05) increased in PB-pretreated rats. These results indicate that CMT inhibits the OMP metabolism due to both decreased hepatic blood flow and inhibited enzyme activity of CYP2C19 and 3A4 and that PB increases the OMP metabolism due to stimulation of the liver blood flow and/or bile flow, due not to induction of the enzyme activity of CYP3A4.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.381-388
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• 2008

An X-linked skeletal disorder, SEDT (spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia tarda) is a genetic disease characterized by a disproportionately short trunk and short stature caused by mutations in the SEDL gene. This gene is evolutionarily conserved from yeast to human. The yeast SEDL protein ortholog, Trs20p, has been isolated as a member of a large multi-protein complex called the transport protein particle (TRAPP), which is involved in endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-to-Golgi transport. The interaction between SEDL and partner proteins is important in order to understand the molecular mechanism of SEDL functions. We isolated several SEDL-binding proteins derived from rat cells by an immobilized GST-fusion method. Furthermore, the SEDL-homologue proteins were identified using motif based methods. Common motifs between SEDL-binding proteins and SEDL-homologue proteins were classified into seven types and 78 common motifs were revealed. Sequence similarities were contracted to seven types using phylogenetic trees. In general, types I-III and VI were classified as having the function of acetyl-CoA carboxylase, glycogen phosphorylase, isocitrate dehydrogenase, and enolase, respectively, and type IV was found to be functionally related to the GST protein. Types V and VII were found to contribute to TRAPP vesicle trafficking.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.227-231
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• 2006

Micro-deletions at specific loci of the Y chromosome have been observed frequently in male infertility patients, suggesting that genes in these regions are involved in male germ cell development. DAZ is a representative male infertility gene at the AZFc locus of the Y chromosome. Since DAZ contains an RNA binding motif along with so-called a DAZ domain, it was proposed to participate in RNA metabolism during spermatogenesis. A mouse gene homologous to the human DAZ gene has been cloned and named Dazl (DAZlike). Dazl is autosomal and expressed in the testis and also at a low level in the ovary. Male mice homozygous for the Dazl null allele have small testes with a few spermatogonia and almost complete absence of germ cells beyond the spermatogonial stage, suggesting the requirement of Dazl for entry or progression through meiosis. However, its exact cellular functions have not been understood yet. In order to investigate cellular functions of Dazl, we decided to isolate candidate interacting protein genes of the mouse Dazl, using yeast two-hybrid screening. A number of candidate Dazlinteracting proteins have been isolated, such as Bprp, Acf, Hgs, Murr1, Nbak3 and Ranbp9, but dynein light chain 1 (Dlc1) was most predominant. A strong interaction of Dazl with Dlc1 suggests that Dazl might function as an mRNA adaptor to the dynein motor complex.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.21 no.1 s.52
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• pp.27-34
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• 2006

Numerous studies reported the significant association between genetic polymorphisms in the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene and various bone phenotypes such as bone mineral density (BMD) and bone quality, although conflicting results were produced. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between a TaqI RFLP in the VDR gene and calcaneal BMD in Korean vegetarian men, and its interaction with nutrition status as an environmental factor. BUA (broadband ultrasound attenuation), SOS (sound of speed) and stiffness index of the calcaneus were measured using an ultrasound bone densitometer in 266 Korean men (age: $mean{\pm}SD;\;50.9{\pm}12.0$ year), and a TaqI RFLP in the VDR gene analysed by PCR-RFLP method. In total subjects, the distribution of TT, Tt and tt genotypes occurred with frequencies of 90.8%, 8.8% and 0.4%, respectively. There were no significant associations between this polymorphism and osteopenia-osteoporosis or several bone phenotypes in our subjects irrespectively of nutrition status (P>0.05). Therefore, our results suggest that a TaqI RFLP in the vitamin D receptor gene does not contribute to the susceptibility to the calcaneal BMD in Korean men.