• BMB Reports
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• v.44 no.12
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• pp.787-792
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• 2011

We investigated whether silk fibroin peptide derived from the silkworm, Bombyx mori, could inhibit inflammation and enhance the anti-inflammatory activity of Tat-superoxide dismutase (Tat-SOD), which was previously reported to effectively penetrate various cells and tissues and exert anti-oxidative activity in a mouse model of inflammation. Inflammation was induced by topical treatment of mouse ears with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA). Histological, Western blot, and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction data demonstrated that silk fibroin peptide or Tat-SOD alone could suppress elevated levels of cyclooxygenase-2, interleukin-6, interleukin-1beta, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha induced by TPA. Moreover, silk fibroin peptide significantly enhanced the anti-inflammatory activity of Tat-SOD, although it had no influence on in vitro and in vivo transduction of Tat-SOD. Silk fibroin peptide exhibited anti-inflammatory activity in a mice model of inflammation. Therefore, silk fibroin peptide alone or in combination with Tat-SOD might be used as a therapeutic agent for various inflammatory diseases.

• BMB Reports
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.297-302
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• 2016

Loss of pancreatic β-cells by oxidative stress or cytokines is associated with diabetes mellitus (DM). DJ-1 is known to as a multifunctional protein, which plays an important role in cell survival. We prepared cell permeable wild type (WT) and mutant type (M26I) Tat-DJ-1 proteins to investigate the effects of DJ-1 against combined cytokines (IL-1β, IFN-γ and TNF-α)-induced RINm5F cell death. Both Tat-DJ-1 proteins were transduced into RINm5F cells. WT Tat-DJ-1 proteins significantly protected against cell death from cytokines by reducing intracellular toxicities. Also, WT Tat-DJ-1 proteins markedly regulated cytokines-induced pro- and anti-apoptosis proteins. However, M26I Tat-DJ-1 protein showed relatively low protective effects, as compared to WT Tat-DJ-1 protein. Our experiments demonstrated that WT Tat-DJ-1 protein protects against cytokine-induced RINm5F cell death by suppressing intracellular toxicities and regulating apoptosisrelated protein expression. Thus, WT Tat-DJ-1 protein could potentially serve as a therapeutic agent for DM and cytokine related diseases.

• BMB Reports
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.212-218
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• 2010

Zinc finger-containing transcription factors are the largest single family of transcriptional regulators in mammals, which play an essential role in cell differentiation, cell proliferation, apoptosis, and neoplastic transformation. Here we have cloned a novel KRAB-related zinc finger gene, ZNF424, encoding a protein of 555aa. ZNF424 gene consisted of 4 exons and 3 introns, and mapped to chromosome 19p13.3. ZNF424 gene was ubiquitously expressed in human embryo tissues by Northern blot analysis. ZNF424 is conserved across species in evolution. Using a GFP-labeled ZNF424 protein, we demonstrate that ZNF424 localizes mostly in the nucleus. Transcriptional activity assays shows ZNF424 suppresses transcriptional activity of L8G5-luciferase. Overexpression of ZNF424 in HEK-293 cells inhibited the transcriptional activity of NFAT and p21, which may be silenced by siRNA. The results suggest that ZNF424 protein may act as a transcriptional repressor that suppresses NFAT and p21 pathway to mediate cellular functions.

• BMB Reports
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.40-45
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• 2010

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a heterotrimeric enzyme that plays a central role in cellular metabolic stress. Modulation of nitric oxide (NO) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is considered a promising approach for the treatment of inflammation and neuronal diseases. In this study, the AMPK gene was fused in-frame with PEP-1 peptide in a bacterial expression vector to produce a PEP-1-AMPK fusion protein. Expressed and purified PEP-1-AMPK fusion proteins were transduced efficiently into macrophage Raw 264.7 cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, transduced PEP-1-AMPK fusion protein markedly inhibited LPS-induced iNOS and COX-2 expression. These results suggest that the PEP-1-AMPK fusion protein can be used for the protein therapy of COX-2 and NO-related disorders such as inflammation and neuronal diseases.

• BMB Reports
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.115-120
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• 2014

In this study, we show that Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis MAP1305 induces the maturation of bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDCs), a representative antigen presenting cell (APC). MAP1305 protein induces DC maturation and the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines (Interleukin (IL)-6), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-${\alpha}$, and IL-$1{\beta}$) through Toll like receptor-4 (TLR-4) signaling by directly binding with TLR4. MAP1305 activates the phosphorylation of MAPKs, such as ERK, p38MAPK, and JNK, which is essential for DC maturation. Furthermore, MAP1305-treated DCs transform naive T cells to polarized $CD4^+$ and $CD8^+$ T cells, thus indicating a key role for this protein in the Th1 polarization of the resulting immune response. Taken together, M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis MAP1305 is important for the regulation of innate immune response through DC-mediated proliferation of $CD4^+$ and $CD8^+$ T cells.

• BMB Reports
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.86-91
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• 2014

Tissue-specific gene expression is regulated by epigenetic modification involving trans-acting factors. Here, we identified that the human MAGEB16 gene and its mouse homolog, Mageb16, are only expressed in the testis. To investigate the mechanism governing their expression, the promoter methylation status of these genes was examined in different samples. Two CpG islands (CGIs) in the 5' upstream region of MAGEB16 were highly demethylated in human testes, whereas they were methylated in cells without MAGEB16 expression. Similarly, the CGI in Mageb16 was hypomethylated in mouse testes but hypermethylated in other tissues and cells without Mageb16 expression. Additionally, the expression of these genes could be activated by treatment with the demethylation agent 5'-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5'-aza-CdR). Luciferase assays revealed that both gene promoter activities were inhibited by methylation of the CGI regions. Therefore, we propose that the testis-specific expression of MAGEB16 and Mageb16 is regulated by the methylation status of their promoter regions.

• BMB Reports
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.218-222
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• 2020

Excessive and hyperactive osteoclast activity causes bone diseases such as osteoporosis and periodontitis. Thus, the regulation of osteoclast differentiation has clinical implications. We recently reported that dehydrocostus lactone (DL) inhibits osteoclast differentiation by regulating a nuclear factor of activated T-cells, cytoplasmic 1 (NFATc1), but the underlying mechanism remains to be elucidated. Here we demonstrated that DL inhibits NFATc1 by regulating nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), activator protein-1 (AP-1), and nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2). DL attenuated IκBα phosphorylation and p65 nuclear translocation as well as decreased the expression of NF-κB target genes and c-Fos. It also inhibited c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) but not p38 or extracellular signal-regulated kinase. The reporter assay revealed that DL inhibits NF-κB and AP-1 activation. In addition, DL reduced reactive oxygen species either by scavenging them or by activating Nrf2. The DL inhibition of NFATc1 expression and osteoclast differentiation was less effective in Nrf2-deficient cells. Collectively, these results suggest that DL regulates NFATc1 by inhibiting NF-κB and AP-1 via down-regulation of IκB kinase and JNK as well as by activating Nrf2, and thereby attenuates osteoclast differentiation.

• Journal of KIISE:Databases
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.119-132
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• 2007

In molecular biology, approximate subsequence search is one of the most important operations. In this paper, we propose an accurate and efficient method for approximate subsequence search in large DNA databases. The proposed method basically adopts a binary trie as its primary structure and stores all the window subsequences extracted from a DNA sequence. For approximate subsequence search, it traverses the binary trie in a breadth-first fashion and retrieves all the matched subsequences from the traversed path within the trie by a dynamic programming technique. However, the proposed method stores only window subsequences of the pre-determined length, and thus suffers from large post-processing time in case of long query sequences. To overcome this problem, we divide a query sequence into shorter pieces, perform searching for those subsequences, and then merge their results. To verify the superiority of the proposed method, we conducted performance evaluation via a series of experiments. The results reveal that the proposed method, which requires smaller storage space, achieves 4 to 17 times improvement in performance over the suffix tree based method. Even when the length of a query sequence is large, our method is more than an order of magnitude faster than the suffix tree based method and the Smith-Waterman algorithm.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.1-9
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• 2008

Objective : The purpose of this report was to provide the information about activity and safety of Ojeok-san by analyzing domestic/international papers about Ojeok-san. Methods : Domestic/international papers related to Ojeok-san were reviewed and analyzed. These papers were then classified by year, experimental method and subject. Results : The following results were obtained in this study. 1. The studies of Ojeok-san started from 1984 and has continuously increased. The studies were mainly focused on experimental models rather than clinical studies. 2. By subject, papers related to safety were most common with 5 papers among 20 papers. Besides there were papers related to efficacy of analgesic, anti-hyperlipidemic, anti-blood stasis and treatment for uterine myoma. 3. The papers related to safety were mainly focused on the effect of Okeok-san on liver function, renal function or metal concentration of organs such as blood, brain, liver, kidney and bone. Ojeok-san proved to be safe, but more clinical studies regarding the safety are needed hereafter. 4. Papers related to analgesic, anti-pyretic, anti-phlogistic activities of Ojeok-san were in vivo studies, and other papers were about anti-hyperlipidemic activity, apoptosis inducing activity on uterine myeloma cell line and anti blood static activity on hydrocortisone acetate induced blood statis model. 5. Case reports were about anti-lipidemia, analgesic effect for mastalgia/back pain and anxiety disorder due to climacteric changes. Conclusion : Ojeok-san is being used in various ways with analgesic, anti-pyretic, anti-phlogistic, anti-hyperlipidemic, anti-tumor or anti-blood statis activity. However, mechanism study should be conducted at the molecular biology level and more clinical studies on the efficacy of Ojeok-san are needed.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.143-153
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• 2018

The large extracellular domain of glycoprotein hormone receptors is a unique feature within the G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) family. After interaction with the hormone, the receptor becomes coupled to Gs, which, in turn stimulates adenylyl cyclase and the production of cAMP. Potential phosphorylation sites exist in the C-terminal region of GPCRs. The experiments described herein represent attempts to determine the functions of the eel follicle-stimulating hormone receptor (eelFSHR). We constructed a mutant of eelFSHR, in which the C-terminal cytoplasmic tail was truncated at residue 614 (eelFSHR-t614). The eelFSHR-t614 lacked all potential phosphorylation sites present in the C-terminal region of eelFSHR. In order to obtain the eelFSHR ligand, we produced recombinant follicle-stimulating hormone ($rec-eelFSH{\beta}/{\alpha}$) in the CHO-suspension cells. The expression level was 2-3 times higher than that of the transient expression of eelFSH in attached CHO-K1 cells. The molecular weight of the $rec-eelFSH{\beta}/{\alpha}$ protein was identified to be approximately 34 kDa. The cells expressing eelFSHR-t614 showed an increase in agonist-induced cAMP responsiveness. The maximal cAMP responses of cells expressing eelFSHR-t614 were lower than those of cells expressing eelFSHR-wild type (eelFSHR-WT). The $EC_{50}$ following C-terminal deletion in CHO-K1 cells was approximately 60.4% of that of eelFSHR-WT. The maximal response in eelFSHR-t614 cells was also drastically lower than that of eelFSHR-WT. We also found similar results in PathHunter Parental cells expressing ${\beta}$-arrestin. Thus, these data provide evidence that the truncation of the C-terminal cytoplasmic tail phosphorylation sites in the eelFSHR greatly decreased cAMP responsiveness and maximal response in both CHO-K1 cells and Path-Hunter Parental cells expressing ${\beta}$-arrestin.