• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.11 no.5
• /
• pp.825-830
• /
• 2001

Escherichia coli, which harbored the ars operon from a plasmid pMH12 of Klebsiella oxytoca D12, showed filamentation due to the expression of ars genes in the presence of arsenite. The continued DNA replication in the absence of cell division was revealed, since nucleoids abound with DAPI appeared to be arranged in chains. In contrast to overexpression of arsA, its frame-shift mutant and knock-out mutant lost filamentation in the presence of arsenite, which suggested that ars-induced division block was dependent on expression of arsA. ArsA-induced division inhibition was not a consequence of an inhibition of DNA replication, and the inability of arsenite to induce an SOS response indicated that arsA-mediated division inhibition was dependent on the expression of the gene product encoded by the minB operon. ArsA is a peripheral membrane protein with an ATP-binding domain, which is homologous to MinD that requires ATP-dependent efflux. These results suggested that ArsA could possibly recruit MinC to the membrane and modulate cytoplasmic FtsZ to block assembly at the middle of the cell.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.41 no.4
• /
• pp.203-207
• /
• 2003

An ELISA was developed for the diagnosis of vivax malaria using multiple stage-specific recombinant antigens of Plasmodium vivax. The DNA from the whole blood of a malaria patient was used as template to amplify the coding regions for the antigenic domains of circumsporozoite protein (CSP-1), merozoite surface protein (MSP-1), apical merozoite antigen (AMA-1), serine repeat antigen (SERA), and exported antigen (EXP-1). Each amplified DNA fragment was inserted into pQE30 plasmid to induce the expression of His-tagged protein in Escherichia coli (M15 strain) by IPTG. His-tagged proteins were purified by Ni-NTA metal-affinity chromatography and used as antigens for ELISA with patient sera that were confirmed previously by blood smear examinations. When applied to patient sera, 122 (80.3%) out of 152 vivax malaria cases reacted to at least one antigen, while no reactions were observed with 128 uninfected serum samples. We applied this ELISA to the screening of 3,262 civilian residents in endemic regions near the DMZ, which resulted in 236 positively detected (7.2%) cases. This method can be applied to serological diagnosis and mass screening in endemic regions, or can be used as a safety test for transfusion blood in endemic areas.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
• /
• v.14 no.3
• /
• pp.399-404
• /
• 2005

The aim of this study was to investigate the in vitro antioxidant profiles of genistein and other isoflavonoids. The reactivity of genistein towards stable radical and reactive oxygen species including ${\bullet}\;ABTS^+$, ${\bullet}{O_2}^-$, $H_2O_2$ and HOCl has been investigated, and the effects were compared with other isoflavonoids and antioxidants. All the tested isoflavonoids showed remarkable ${\bullet}\;ABTS^+$ scavenging activity and genistein was more potent than BHT and ascorbic acid. Genistein was more effective in scavenging hypochlorous acid than superoxide and hydrogen peroxide. At $10\;{\mu}M$ concentrations of genistein and genistin showed about 90% inhibitory effect on HOCl, while BHT and ascorbic acid showed lower than 50% inhibitory effect. Moreover, genistein could inhibit plasmid DNA cleavage, protein degradation and cell death from HOCl attack, while daidzein, BHT and ascorbic acid could not protect them effectively. These results suggest that genistein is a more potent radical scavenger than other isoflavonoids, and it can remarkably reduce cellular damage induced by HOCl.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.669-674
• /
• 1997

This study was attempted to express human lactoferrin gene that has importance as a functional additive in food industry. Lactoferrin has distinctive antibacterial properties. Also, a number of phy-siological roles have been postulated for the lactoferrin in the modulation of immune and inflamatory responses and as a growth factor. Since it did not show feasible growth inhibition by antimicrobial test against HLF, Pichia pastoris was selected the best lactoferrin expression host. HLF expression plasmid pHIL-SI was integrated into the genomic DNA of P. pastoris GSl15. The integration was confirmed not only with 2.4Kb fragment of HLF gene by PCR(polymerase chain reaction) product, but also with same size of specific signal by southern blotting. Among the various pichica transformants, the JY-1 cell showed a positive response for the expression of HLF by the immunoblotting anaysis. The recombinant HLF protein was started to be secreated at 48hr of culture and reached at the highest secreation level at 96hr.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
• /
• v.20 no.5
• /
• pp.437-441
• /
• 2007

The argE gene of E.coli was introduced into #Ilmibyeo# cultivar of rice by Agrobacterium tumefaciens and a large number of transgenic plants were produced. Embryogenic calli were co-cultivated with A. tumefaciens strain AGL1 carrying the plasmid pCAMBIA1300 containing hygromycin resistance(HygR). Transgenic plants showing in vitro resistance to 50mg/L hygromycin were obtained using a selection procedure. Stable integration of argE and HPT genes into chromosomal DNA was proven by southern blot analysis and PCR analysis of genomic isolated from $T_0$ progenies. The fragments of 650 bp(HPT) were detected in transgenic rice lines. The 230 bp(argE) fragments were showed in agarose gel, and detected fragments were matched with size of argE specific primer. The microscopic feature of leaf on scanning electron microscope(SEM) revealed differences between clear and chalky in shape and arrangement of stoma but did not discriminate.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.32 no.5
• /
• pp.551-563
• /
• 2022

L-asparaginase (E.C. 3.5.1.1) purified from bacterial cells is widely used in the food industry, as well as in the treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. In the present study, the Burkholderia pseudomallei L-asparaginase gene was cloned into the pGEX-2T DNA plasmid, expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) pLysS, and purified to homogeneity using Glutathione Sepharose chromatography with 7.26 purification fold and 16.01% recovery. The purified enzyme exhibited a molecular weight of ~33.6 kDa with SDS-PAGE and showed maximal activity at 50℃ and pH 8.0. It retained 95.1, 89.6%, and 70.2% initial activity after 60 min at 30℃, 40℃, and 50℃, respectively. The enzyme reserved its activity at 30℃ and 37℃ up to 24 h. The enzyme had optimum pH of 8 and reserved 50% activity up to 24 h. The recombinant enzyme showed the highest substrate specificity towards L-asparaginase substrate, while no detectable specificity was observed for L-glutamine, urea, and acrylamide at 10 mM concentration. THP-1, a human leukemia cell line, displayed significant morphological alterations after being treated with recombinant L-asparaginase and the IC₅₀ of the purified enzyme was recorded as 0.8 IU. Furthermore, the purified recombinant Lasparaginase improved cytotoxicity in liver cancer HepG2 and breast cancer MCF-7 cell lines, with IC₅₀ values of 1.53 and 18 IU, respectively.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.17 no.9 s.89
• /
• pp.1197-1203
• /
• 2007

A genomic DNA library of the bacterium Paenibacillus sp. DG-22 was constructed and the ${\beta}-xylosi-dase-positive$ clones were identified using the fluorogenic substrate $4-methylumbelliferyl-{\beta}-D-xylopyr-anoside$ $({\beta}MUX)$. A recombinant plasmid was isolated from the clone and 4.3-kb inserted DNA was sequenced. The ${\beta}-xylosidase$ gene (xylA) was comprised of a 2,106 bp open reading frame (ORF) en-coding 701 amino acids with a molecular weight of 78,710 dalton and a pI of 5.0. The deduced amino acid sequence of the xylA gene product had significant similarity with ${\beta}-xylosidases$ classified into family 52 of glycosyl hydrolases. The xylA gene was subcloned into the pQE60 expression vector to fuse with six histidine-tag. The recombinant ${\beta}-xylosidase$ $(XylA-H_6)$ was purified to homogeneity by heat-treatment and immobilized metal affinity chromatography. The pH and temperature optima of the $XylA-H_6$ enzyme were pH 5.5-6.0 and $60^{\circ}C$, respectively.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.265-271
• /
• 2014

Interleukin-7 (IL-7) is a potent anti-apoptotic cytokine that enhances immune effector cell functions and is essential for lymphocyte survival. While it known to induce differentiation and proliferation in some haematological malignancies, including certain types of leukaemias and lymphomas, little is known about its role in solid tumours, including breast cancer. In the current study, we investigated whether IL-7 could enhance the in vivo antitumor activity of tumor-reactive $CD8^+$ T cells with induction of IFN-${\gamma}$ in a murine breast cancer model. Human IL-7 cDNA was constructed into the eukaryotic expression plasmid pcDNA3.1, and then the recombinational pcDNA3.1-IL-7 was intratumorally injected in the TM40D BALB/C mouse graft model. Serum and intracellular IFN-${\gamma}$ levels were measured by ELISA and flow cytometry, respectively. $CD8^+$ T cell-mediated cytotoxicity was analyzed using the MTT method. Our results showed that IL-7 administration significantly inhibited tumor growth from day 15 after direct intratumoral injection of pcDNA3.1-IL-7. The anti-tumor effect correlated with a marked increase in the level of IFN-${\gamma}$ and breast cancer cells-specific CTL cytotoxicity. In vitro cytotoxicity assays showed that IL-7-treatment could augment cytolytic activity of $CD8^+$ T cells from tumor bearing mice, while anti-IFN-${\gamma}$ blocked the function of $CD8^+$ T cells, suggesting that IFN-${\gamma}$ mediated the cytolytic activity of $CD8^+$ T cells. Furthermore, in vivo neutralization of $CD8^+$ T lymphocytes by CD8 antibodies reversed the antitumor benefit of IL-7. Thus, we demonstrated that IL-7 exerts anti-tumor activity mainly through activating $CD8^+$ T cells and stimulating them to secrete IFN-${\gamma}$ in a murine breast tumor model. Based on these results, our study points to a potential novel way to treat breast cancer and may have important implications for clinical immunotherapy.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.41 no.2
• /
• pp.140-145
• /
• 2005

Streptomyces natalensis ATCC27448 produces natamycin, a commercially important macrolide antifungal antibiotic. For molecular genetic study of S. natalensis, we have developed a system for introducing DNA into S. natalensis via conjugal transfer from Escherichia coli. An effective transformation procedure for S. natalensis was established based on transconjugation from E, coli ET12567/pUZ8002 using a ${\Phi}C31$-derived integration vector, pSET152, containing oriT and attP fragments. The high frequency was obtained on MS medium containing 10 mM $MgCl_2$ using $6.25\times10^8$ of E.coli donor cells without heat treatment of spores. In addition, southern blot analysis of exconjugants and the sequence of plasmids containing DNA flanking the insertion sites from the chromosome revealed that S. natalensis contains a single ${\Phi}C31$ attB site and at least a secondary or pseudo attB site. Similar to the case of various Streptomyces species, a single ${\Phi}C31$ attB site of S. natalensis is present within an ORF encoding a pirin-homolog, but a pseudo-attB site is present within a distinct site (GenBank accession no. $YP\_117731$) and also its sequence deviates from the consensus sequences of attB sequence.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
• /
• v.33 no.2
• /
• pp.304-310
• /
• 2006

Prevotella intermedia is one of the most frequently implicated pathogens in human periodontal disease and has a requirement for hemin for growth. This study has identified a hemin-binding P. intermedia protein by expression of a P. intermedia genomic library in Escherichia coli, a bacterium which does not require or transport exogenous hemin. The genomic library of P. intermedia was constructed into plasmid pUC18, transformed into Escherichia coli strain $DH5{\alpha}$, and screened for recombinant clones using heminbinding activity by plating onto hemin-containing agar. Approximately 5,000 recombinant E. coli colonies were screened onto LB-amp-hemin agar, single clone(pHem1) was exhibited a clearly pigmented phonotype. The 2.5kb insert DNA of pHem1 was determined by restriction enzyme mapping. Southern blot analysis of BamHI, BglII, EcoRI, HindIII and PstI-digested P. intermedia DNA indicated that single copy of the gene was present in the genome. Northern blot analysis revealed that the size of transcript was approximately 1.8 kb. The cloned gene contained a single ORF, consisting of approximately 850-residue amino acids. A BLAST search of the Institute for Genomic Research genes with similar nucleotide sequence revealed no significant similarity It needs further investigation to clarify the mechanisms of heme uptake in P. intermedia.