• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.176-184
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• 2006

The controversy on genotoxicity of molinate, an herbicide, has been reported in bacterial system, and in vitro and in vivo mammalian systems. To clarify the genotoxicity of molinate, we performed bacterial gene mutation test, in vitro chromosome aberration and mouse lymphoma $tk^{+/-}$ gene assay, and in vivo micronucleus assay using bone marrow cells and peripheral reticulocytes of mice. In bacterial gene mutation assay, no mutagenicity of molinate ($12-185{\mu}g/plate$) was observed in Salmonella typhimurium TA 98, 100, 1535 and 1537 both in the absence and in the presence of S-9 metabolic activation system. The clastogenicity of molinate was observed in the presence ($102.1-408.2\;{\mu}g/mL$) of metabolic activation system in mammalian cell system using Chinese hamster lung fibroblast. However, no clastogenicity was observed in the absence ($13.6-54.3\;{\mu}g/mL$) of metabolic activation system. It is suggested that the genotoxicity of molinate was derived some metabolites by metabolic activation. Molinate was also subjected to mouse lymphoma L5178Y $tk^{+/-}$ cells using microtiter cloning technique. In the absence of S-9 mixture, mutation frequencies (MFs) were revealed $1.4-1.9{\times}10^{-4}$ with no statistical significance. However, MFs in the presence of metabolic activation system revealed $3.2-3.4{\times}10^{-4}$ with statistical significance (p<0.05). In vivo micronucleus (MN) assay using mouse bone marrow cells, molinate revealed genotoxic potential in the dose ranges of 100-398 mg/kg of molinate when administered orally. Molinate also subjected to acridine orange MN assay with mouse peripheral reticulocytes. The frequency of micronucleated reticulocytes (MNRETs) induced 48 hr after i.p. injection at a single dose of 91, 182 and 363 mg/kg of molinate was dose-dependently increased as $10.2{\pm}4.7,\;14.6{\pm}3.9\;and\;28.6{\pm}6.3\;(mean{\pm}SD\;of\;MNRETs/2,000\;reticulocytes)$ with statistical significance (p<0.05), respectively. Consequently, genotoxic potential of molinate was observed in in vitro mammalian mutagenicity systems only in the presence of metabolic activation system and in vivo MN assay using both bone marrow cells and peripheral reticulocytes in the dose ranges used in this experiment. These results suggest that metabolic activation plays a critical role to express the genotoxicity of molinate in in vitro and in vivo mammalian system.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.83-93
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• 2024

Purpose: Since the start of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, various variants of concern have emerged. We divided the representative COVID-19 mutation period into four waves and aimed to analyze the clinical and laboratory features of children with COVID-19 from pre-mutation wave to the middle of omicron wave. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of hospitalized patients aged ≤19 years with laboratory confirmed COVID-19. Clinical and laboratory findings during pre-mutation (February 1st 2020 to September 30th 2020), alpha/beta (October 1st 2020 to May 31st 2021), delta (June 1st 2021 to October 31st 2021), and omicron (November 1st 2021 to May 31st 2022) waves were compared. Results: Among total 827 patients, 163 (19.7%) were asymptomatic, and the frequency of fever and cough was 320 (38.7%) and 399 (48.2%), respectively. The proportion of fever ≥38.5℃ was observed to be high during the omicron wave in the age group under 12 years. Lymphopenia was observed highly in the omicron wave in the age group under 12 years, and in the delta wave in the age group older than 12 years. Neutropenia was highly observed in the delta wave in the 0-4 years age group. Conclusions: There were distinct characteristics during all epidemic waves of COVID-19. Children with COVID-19 had more frequent persistent fever during delta wave and children during the omicron wave had a higher peak fever.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.312-321
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• 2024

Tomato is a widely distributed, cultivated, and commercialized vegetable crop. Recently, an increasing trend has been observed in the consumption of transgenic crops with enhanced functional components. However, consumer concerns regarding genotoxicity have been increasing. This study examined the genotoxicity of transgenic tomato (LTT) using the CRISPR/Cas9 system through a bacterial reverse mutation assay, chromosomal aberration assay, and mammalian micronucleus test. In the bacterial reverse mutation assay, LTT did not induce mutagenicity in Salmonella typhimurium strains TA98, TA100, TA1535, and TA1537, or Escherichia coli WP2uvrA, irrespective of the presence or absence of S9. LTT did not cause clastogenic or aneugenic chromosomal abnormalities during metaphase in CHL cells. Moreover, LTT did not increase the frequency of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes in the polychromatic erythrocytes. These findings can be used as a foundation to assess the genotoxicity of transgenic crops using the CRISPR/Cas9 system in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.337-344
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• 2000

Germ-line mutations at DNA repair loci confer susceptibility to colon cancer in hereditary non-polypopsis colorectal cancer. Somatic loss of DNA mismatch repair gene has been reported in a large variety of other tumor types. Replication errors(RERs) judged by microsatellite instability(MSI) and its associated mutations have been recognized as an important mechanism in various tumor types. To investigate associations between MSI and oral squamous cell carcinoma, the frequency of MSI using 12 microsatellite markers were analyzed for the series of oral tumors. Of 17 tumors, 8 cases(47%) did not show instability at any of the 12 loci; 5(29%) showed instability at $2{\sim}3$ loci; and 4(24%) showed instability above 4 loci. The 4 cases showing widespread MSI did not differ from those without evidence of instability in terms of age at diagnosis, degree of differentiation, metastasis to lymph node, tumor location or the presence of mutations in the p53 tumor suppressor gene. DCC and D17S 796 were the most frequently detected in MSI analysis. There were no correlation between smoking and MSI frequency, instead, smoking was suggested to increase the mutation rate of p53 and development of oral carcinomas.

• Journal of Photoscience
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.110-113
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• 2002

We demonstrate here a dynamic structure of bacteriorhodopsin (bR) as revealed by $^{13}$ C NMR studies on [3_$^{13}$ C]_,[1-$^{13}$ C]Ala- and/or Val-labeled wild type and a variety of site-directed mutants at ambient temperature. For this purpose, well-resolved (up to twelve) I$^{13}$ C NMR peaks were assigned with reference to the displacement of peaks due to the conformation-dependent I$^{13}$ C chemical shifts and reduced peak-intensities due to site-directed mutations. Revealed bR structure was not rigid as anticipated from 2D crystals of hexagonal array but a dynamically heterogeneous, undergoing a variety of local fluctuations depending upon specific site with frequency range of 10$^2$ -10$^{8}$ Hz. In particular, dynamics- dependent suppression of peaks turned out to be very sensitive to the motion of 10$^{-4}$ s and 10$^{-5}$ s interfered with frequency of magic angle spinning and proton decoupling, respectively. It is also noteworthy that such dynamic feature is strongly dependent upon the manner of 2D crystalline packing: $^{13}$ C NMR peaks of monomeric bR yielded either highly broadened or completely suppressed signals, depending upon the type of $^{13}$ C-labeled amino-acid residues.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.27-30
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• 1998

Previously, we made a study report on the genotype distribution and the gene frequency of angiotesin I-converting enzyme (ACE) in Korean population, and on the association between hypertension and genetic variance of ACE. This time, we have investigated a rapid mismatch-PCR/RFLP assays for the variant of the angiotesin II type 1 receptor ($AT_1R$) gene (an $A{\rightarrow}C$ transversion at position 1166 of $AT_1R$ gene), a mutation which may interact with the ACE polymorphism in the determining of risk of myocardial infarction. The genotype distributions of Koreans' angiotensin II type 1 receptor gene were AA (66.3%):AC (28.1%):CC (5.6%), thus the AA genotype was most numerous, and the allele frequency was A:C = 0.803:0.197. Genotype distributions were shown as AA (76.8%):AC (20.9%):CC (2.3%), the allele frequency was A:C = 0.872:0.128 in the male group, and AA (47.4%):AC (41.0%):CC (11.6%), A:C = 0.679:0.321 in the female group. Differences were highly significant between the male and female groups (p<0.0001). Genotype distributions between angiotensin II type 1 receptor gene and angiotensin converting enzyme gene showed that there is no significance between $AT_1R$ genotypes and ACE genotypes in total subjects (p>0.05).

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.1247-1253
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• 2014

Mutations in the DNMT3A and IDH genes represent the most common genetic alteration after FLT3/NPM1 in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). We here analyzed the frequency and distribution pattern of DNMT3A and IDH mutations and their associations with other molecular markers in normal karyotype AML patients. Fortyfive patients were screened for mutations in DNMT3A (R882), IDH1 (R132) and IDH2 (R140 and R172) genes by direct sequencing. Of the 45 patients screened, DNMT3A and IDH mutations were observed in 6 (13.3%) and 7 (15.4%), respectively. Patients with isolated DNMT3A mutations were seen in 4 cases (9%), isolated IDH mutations in 5 (11.1%), while interestingly, two cases showed both DNMT3A and IDH mutations (4.3%). Nucleotide sequencing of DNMT3A revealed missense mutations (R882H and R882C), while that of IDH revealed R172K, R140Q, R132H and R132S. Both DNMT3A and IDH mutations were observed only in adults, with a higher frequency in males. DNMT3A and IDH mutations were significantly associated with NPM1, while trends towards higher coexistence with FLT3 mutations were observed. This is the first study to evaluate DNMT3A/IDH mutations in Indian patients. Significant associations among the various molecular markers was observed, that highlights cooperation between them and possible roles in improved risk stratification.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers
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• v.49 no.10
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• pp.91-101
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• 2012

DNA watermarking have been interested for both the security of private genetic information or huge DNA storage information and the copyright protection of GMO. Multimedia watermarking has been mainly designed on the basis of frequency domain, such as DCT, DWT, FMT, and so on, for the robustness and invisibility. But a frequency domain watermarking for coding DNA sequence has a considerable constraint for embedding the watermark because transform and inverse transform must be performed without completely changing the amino acid sequence. This paper presents a coding sequence watermarking on lifting based DWT domain and brings up the availability of frequency domain watermarking for DNA sequence. From experimental results, we verified that the proposed scheme has the robustness to until a combination of 10% point mutations, 5% insertion and deletion mutations and also the amino preservation and the security.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Toxicology Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.45-67
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• 2000

2-Amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (MeIQx) is a mutagenic and carcinogenic heterocyclic amino found in cooked meat. The in vivo mutagenicity and hepatocarcinogenicity of MeIQx were examined in mice harboring the lacZ mutation reporter gene ($Muta^{TM}$ Mice) and bitransgenic mice over-expressing the c-myc oncogene. C57B1/$\lambda$lacZ and bitransgenic c-myc (albumin promoter)/$\lambda$lacZ mice were bred and weaned onto an AIN-76 based diet containing $0.06\%$ (w/w) MeIQx or onto control diet. After 30 weeks on diet, only male bitransgenic mice on MeIQx developed hepatocellular carcinoma ($100\%$ incidence) indicating that there was synergism between c-myc over-expression and MeIQx. By 40 weeks, hepatic tumor incidence was $100\%$ ($17\%$) and $44\%$ ($0\%$) in male c-myc/$\lambda$lacZ and C57B1/$\lambda$lacZ mice given MeIQx (or control) diet, respectively, indicating that either MeIQx or c-myc over-expression alone eventually induced hepatic tumors. At either time point, mutant frequency in the lacZ gene was at least 40-fold higher in MeIQx-treated mice than in control mice of either strain. These findings suggest that MeIQx-induced hepatocarcinogenesis is associated with MeIQx-induced mutations. Elevated mutant frequency in MeIQx-treated mice also occurred concomitant with the formation of MeIQx-guanine adducts as detected by the $^{32}P$-postlabeling assay. Irrespective of strain or diet, sequence analysis of the lacZ mutants from male mouse liver showed that the principal sequence alteration was a single guanine-base substitution. Adenine mutations, however, were detected only in animals on control diet. MeIQx-fed mice harboring the c-myc oncogene showed a l.4-2.6-fold higher mutant frequency in the lacZ gene than mice not carrying the transgene. Although there was a trend toward higher adduct levels in c-myc mice, MeIQx-DNA adduct levels were not significantly different between c-myc/$\lambda$lacZ and C57B1/$\lambda$lacZ mice after 30 weeks on diet. Thus, it appeared that factors in addition to MeIQx-DNA adduct levels, such as the enhance rate of proliferation associated with c-myc over-expression, may have accounted for a higher mutant frequency in c-myc mice. In the control diet groups, the lacZ mutant frequency was significantly higher in c-myc/$\lambda$lacZ mice than in 057B1/$\lambda$1acZ mice. The findings are consistent with the notion that c-myc over-expression is associated with an increase in mutagenesis. The mechanism for the synergistic effects of c-myc over-expression on MeIQx hepatocarcinogenicity appears to involve an enhancement of MeIQx-induced mutations.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.63 no.2
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• pp.128-138
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• 2007

Backgrounds: Mutations of katG and inhA (ORF and promoter) are known to be related to isoniazid (INH) resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Because reports on these mutations in Korean isolates are limited (i.e. only the frequency of katG codon 463 was evaluated.), we tried to know the kinds of mutations of two genes and their frequencies in INH resistant Korean M. tuberculosis strains. Methods: PCR was performed to amplify katG (2,223 bp), inhA ORF (-77~897, 975 bp), and inhA promoter (-168~80, 248 bp) from 29 multidrug resistant M. tuberculosis (MDR-TB) DNAs prepared by bead beater-phenol method. Their sequences were determined and analyzed by ABI PRISM 3730 XL Analyzer and MegAlign package program, respectively. Results: All of the isolates had more than one mutation in katG or inhA gene. Twenty seven (93%) of 29 tested strains had katG mutations, which suggests that katG is a critical gene determining INH resistance of M. tuberculosis. Amino acid substitutions, such as Arg463Leu and Ser315Thr, due to point mutations of the katG were the most frequent (62.1% and 55.2%) mutations. In addition, deletion of the katG gene was frequently observed (17.2%). Analyzed Korean MDR-TB isolates also had variable inhA mutations. Point mutation of inhA promoter region, such as -15 ($C{\rightarrow}T$) was frequently found. Substitution of amino acid (Lsy8Asn) due to point mutation ($AAA{\rightarrow}AAC$) of inhA ORF was found in 1 isolate. Interestingly, 14 point mutated types that were not previously reported were newly found. While four types resulted in amino acid change, the others were silent mutations. Conclusions: Although it is not clear that the relationship of these newly found mutations with INH resistance, they show marked diversity in Korean MDR-TB strains. It also suggests their feasibility as a molecular target to supplement determining the INH resistance of clinical isolates because of the possible existence of low-level INH resistant strains.