• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.1336-1344
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• 2011

This study details and examines a novel ligation-mediated polymerase chain reaction (LM-PCR) method. Named the LM-PCR/Shifter, it relies on the use of a Class IIS restriction enzyme giving restriction fragments with different 4-base, 5' overhangs, this being the Shifter, and the ligation of appropriate oligonucleotide adapters. A sequence of 4-base, 5' overhangs of the adapter and a 4-base sequence of the 3' end of the primer(s) determine a subset of the genomic restriction fragments, which are amplified by PCR. The method permits the differentiation of bacterial species strains on the basis of the different DNA band patterns obtained after electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gels stained with ethidium bromide and visualized in UV light. The usefulness of the LM-PCR/Shifter method for genotyping is analyzed by a comparison with the restriction endonuclease analysis of chromosomal DNA by the pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (REA-PFGE) and PCR melting profile (PCR MP) methods for isolates of clinical origin. The clustering of the LM-PCR/Shifter fingerprinting data matched those of the REA-PFGE and PCR MP methods. We found that the LM-PCR/Shifter is rapid, and offers good discriminatory power and excellent reproducibility, making it a method that may be effectively applied in epidemiological studies.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Tobacco Science
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.25-33
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• 2015

Genome walking is a par ticular application for identifying sequences of unknown genomic regions adjacent to a known region. Many genome walking methods based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) are available. Even if earlier techniques suffer from low reproducibility, inefficiency, and non-specificity, improved strategies have been developed. In this study, we present an alternative strategy: the genomic DNA is digested with restriction enzymes. After cytosine overhangs at 5' ends, the fragments are ligated to linker adaptor s had guanine overhang at 3' ends. Then nested PCR is performed. The improvements in this strategy focus on two points. The first is the C tailing method using Pfu polymerase instead of the A tailing method based on nontemplate-dependent terminal transferase activity of Taq polymerase. Therefore unintended modification of target DNA can be prevented without A tailing error. The second point is the use of C/G-specific ligation had advantage in the ligation efficiency compared with A/T-specific ligation. Therefore, the C-G linker PCR method increases ligation efficiency between digested genomic DNA and adaptor DNA. As a result, the quantity of target DNA to amplify by PCR is enriched. We successfully used G-C linker PCR to retrieve flanking regions bordering the phophinothricin resistance gene in genetically modified tobacco (GMO).

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.111-116
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• 2010

Sperm chromatin integrity is essential for successful fertilization and development of an embryo. Reported here is a quantification of DNA fragments which is intimately associated with reproductive potential to provide one of criteria for sperm chromatin integrity. Three sperm populations were considered: CONTROL (no treatment), UV irradiation (48mW/$cm^2$, 1h) and $H_2O_2$ (oxidative stress induced by hydrogen peroxide, 10 mM, 50 mM and 100 mM). DNA fragments in boar sperm were evaluated by using ligation-mediated quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (LM-qPCR) assay, which relies on real-time qPCR to provide a measure of blunt 5' phosphorylated double strand breaks in genomic DNA. The results in agarose gel electrophoresis showed no significant DNA fragmentation and no dose-dependent response to $H_2O_2$. However, the remarkable difference in shape and position was observed in melting curve of LM-qPCR. This result supported that the melting curve analysis of LM-qPCR presented here, could be more sensitive and accurate than previous DNA fragmentation assay method.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 1994.11a
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• pp.147-172
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• 1994

Aziridinylbenzoquinones such as 3, 6-diaziridinyl-1, 4-benzoquinone (DZQ) and its 2, 5-methyl analog (MeDZQ) require bioreductive activation in order to elicit their anticancer activities. To determine the involvement of DTD in the activation of these drugs, we have used a ligation-mediated polymerase chain reaction to map the intracellular alkylation sites in a sing1e copy gene at the nucleotide level. We have performed this analysis in two human colon carcinoma cells, one proficient (HT-29) and one deficient (BE) in DT-diaphorase (DTD) activity. In the DTD proficient HT-29 cell line, DZQ and MeDZQ were found to alkylate both 5'-(A/T)G(C)-3' and 5'-(A/T)A-3' sequences. This is consistent with the nucleotide preferences observed when DZQ and MeDZQ are activated by purified DTD to reactive metabolites capable of alkylating DNA in vitro [Lee, C. -S., Hartley, J. A., Berardini, M. D., Butler, J., Siegel., D., Ross, D., & Gibson, N. W. (1992) Biochemistry, 31: 3019-3025]. Surprisingly in the DTD-deficient BE cell line a pattern of alkylation induced by DZQ and MeDZQ similar to that observed in the DTD-proficient HT-29 cells was observed. This suggests that reductive enzymes other than DTD can be involved in activating DZQ and MeDZQ to DNA reactive species in vivo.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.1735-1743
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• 2010

The full-length genes gyrB (2,415 bp), parC (2,277 bp), and parE (1,896 bp) in Edwardsiella tarda were cloned by PCR with degenerate primers based on the sequence of the respective quinolone resistance-determining region (QRDR), followed by elongation of 5' and 3' ends using cassette ligation-mediated PCR (CLMP). Analysis of the cloned genes revealed open reading frames (ORFs) encoding proteins of 804 (GyrB), 758 (ParC), and 631 (ParE) amino acids with conserved gyrase/topoisomerase features and motifs important for enzymatic function. The ORFs were preceded by putative promoters, ribosome binding sites, and inverted repeats with the potential to form cruciform structures for binding of DNA-binding proteins. When comparing the deduced amino acid sequences of E. tarda GyrB, ParC, and ParE with those of the corresponding proteins in other bacteria, they were found to be most closely related to Escherichia coli GyrB (87.6% identity), Klebsiella pneumoniae ParC (78.8% identity), and Salmonella Typhimurium ParE (89.5% identity), respectively. The two topoisomerase genes, parC and parE, were found to be contiguous on the E. tarda chromosome. All 18 quinolone-resistant isolates obtained from Korea thus far did not contain subunit alternations apart from a substitution in GyrA (Ser83$\rightarrow$Arg). However, an alteration in the QRDR of ParC (Ser84$\rightarrow$Ile) following an amino acid substitution in GyrA (Asp87$\rightarrow$Gly) was detected in E. tarda mutants selected in vitro at $8{\mu}g/ml$ ciprofloxacin (CIP). A mutant with a GyrB (Ser464$\rightarrow$Leu) and GyrA (Asp87$\rightarrow$Gly) substitution did not show a significant increase in the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of CIP. None of the in vitro mutants exhibited mutations in parE. Thus, gyrA and parC should be considered to be the primary and secondary targets, respectively, of quinolones in E. tarda.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.8
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• pp.710-718
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• 2021

Placenta-derived mesenchymal stem cells (PD-MSCs) are promising candidates for cell-based therapy in regenerative medicine. The migration and homing potential of PD-MSCs to injured sites is a critical property of MSC engraftment. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have recently been shown to regulate the critical functions of MSCs, such as proliferation, survival, and migration. The objective of the present study was to identify the miRNA and target genes involved in PD-MSCs homing in a bile duct ligation (BDL) rat model. We selected candidate miRNAs targeting genes for PD-MSCs homing based on microarray analysis. PD-MSC engraftment in BDL-injured rat liver was identified by immunofluorescence assay and human-specific Alu gene expression by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) one week after transplantation. Compared with migrated naïve PD-MSCs under hypoxic and normoxic conditions (Hyp/Nor), the transplanted group with PD-MSCs (Tx) showed distinct differences in miRNA expressions in BDL-injured rat liver. We also validated the miRNAs and their target genes for PD-MSCs homing. The expressions of integrin α4 (ITGA4) and integrin α5 (ITGA5) target genes for miR-199a-5p and miR-148a-3p were significantly upregulated in the Tx group (p<0.05). In addition, integrin β1 (ITGB1) and integrin β8 (ITGB8) were upregulated by suppressing miR-183-5p and miR-145-5p, respectively. These results demonstrated that PD-MSCs regulate miRNA expression related to the integrin family for their homing effects on the BDL-injured rat liver. The findings further suggest that miRNA-mediated regulation of the integrin family contributes to the therapeutic efficacy of PD-MSCs in the rat hepatic fibrosis model by BDL.