• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.225-229
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• 2005

Microinjection of recombinant retrovirus beneath the blastoderm of non-incubated chicken embryo is now the most widespread method for generating transgenic chickens, but transgenesis rates are very low. So to improve this problem, we first introduced retrovirus vector carrying RSV-GFP gene to an one-cell embryo culture system. To investigate whether retrovirus could work on an one-cell chicken embryo, we microinjected the concentrated retrovirus stocks into the germinal disc of one cell or stage-X chicken embryos. Analysis of reporter gene expression on day 4 embryos showed that GFP expression was observed in the only stage-X chicken embryo but was not in the one-cell embryo group. These results suggest that retrovirus system is the most efficient method to generate transgenic chickens in the stage-X embryo.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.430-436
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• 2005

In this study, the prevalence and quantity of a latent pseudorabies virus (PrV) infection in the nervous tissues of randomly selected pigs was determined via nested and real-time PCR. The nervous tissues, including the trigeminal ganglion (TG), olfactory bulb (OB), and brain stem (BS), were collected from the heads of 40 randomly selected pigs. The majority of the nervous tissues from the selected pigs evidenced a positively amplified band on nested PCR. In particular, nested PCR targeted to the PrV glycoprotein B (gB) gene yielded positive results in all of the BS samples. Nested PCR for either the gE or gG gene produced positive bands in a less number of nervous tissues ($57.5\%$ and $42.5\%$, respectively). Real-time PCR revealed that the examined tissues harbored large copy numbers of latent PrV DNA, ranging between $10^{0.1}\;and\;10^{7.2}(1-1.58{\times}10^7)$ copies per $1{\mu}g$ of genomic DNA. Real-time PCR targeted to the PrV gE gene exhibited an accumulated fluorescence of reporter dye at levels above threshold, thereby indicating a higher prevalence than was observed on the nested PCR ($100\%$ for BS, $92\%$ for OB, and $85\%$ for TG). These results indicate that a large number of farm-grown pigs are latently infected with a field PrV strain with a variety of copy numbers. This result is similar to what was found in association with the human herpes virus.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.529-534
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• 2003

This study was done to investigated the phytosterol compositions of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) seed. The phytoestrogen activity was also determined using CAT-ELISA Kit in ethanol extract of safflower seed. The phytosterol of safflower seeds was identified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry after saponification of the oils. The phytosterol content and composition of safflower seed oils were 4% and identified stigmast-5-en-3-ol (3$\beta$, 24S)-form, ${\gamma}$-sitosterol (clionasterol) with Wiley MS spectrum library. The synergistic effect of human estrogen receptor (hER) has been investigated using a minimal chimeric promoters composed of the TATA region of the adenovirus-2 major late promoter (A22MLP) and two consensus perfectly polindromic Xenopus vitellogenin A2 gene estrogen responsive elements (XVEREl19). Transient transfection experiments in tile human breast adenocarcinoma cell line MCF-7, which is known to express the estrogen receptor endogenously, revealed that phytoestrogen from Carthamus tinctorius L. acts as estrogen. We have observed the transcriptional activities stimulated methanol and ethanol extract of safflower seed in MCF-7, were 0.43 and 0.37 respectively, compared to that by $\beta$-estradiol as 1.0. Our data showed that safflower seeds have estrogenic activity methanol and ethanol extracts and ethanol lower than that of $\beta$-estradiol. This result provides the first evidence that the beneficial effect of safflower seeds may be mediated, at least in part, by the stimulating effect of phytoestrogen ell bone-protecting.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.39 no.7
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• pp.543-549
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• 2016

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been reported to be involved in many neurodegenerative diseases. The present study focused on the role of hsa-miR-144-3p in one of the neuro-degenerative diseases, Parkinson's disease (PD). Our study showed a remarkable down-regulation of miR-144-3p expression in 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1, 2, 3, 6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-treated SH-SY5Y cells. MiR-144-3p was then overexpressed and silenced in human SH-SY5Y cells by miRNA-mimics and miRNA-inhibitor transfections, respectively. Furthermore, ${\beta}$-amyloid precursor protein (APP) was identified as a target gene of miR-144-3p via a luciferase reporter assay. We found that miR-144-3p overexpression significantly inhibited the protein expression of APP. Since mitochondrial dysfunction has been shown to be one of the major pathological events in PD, we also focused on the role of miR-144-3p and APP in regulating mitochondrial functions. Our study demonstrated that up-regulation of miR-144-3p increased expression of the key genes involved in maintaining mitochondrial function, including peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor ${\gamma}$ coactivator-$1{\alpha}$(PGC-$1{\alpha}$), nuclear respiratory factor 1 (NRF-1) and mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM). Moreover, there was also a significant increase in cellular ATP, cell viability and the relative copy number of mtDNA in the presence of miR-144-3p overexpression. In contrast, miR-144-3p silencing showed opposite effects. We also found that APP overexpression significantly decreased ATP level, cell viability, the relative copy number of mtDNA and the expression of these three genes, which reversed the effects of miR-144-3p overexpression. Taken together, these results show that miR-144-3p plays an important role in maintaining mitochondrial function, and its target gene APP is also involved in this process.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.475-480
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• 2009

The transcription of soybean (Glycine max) calmodulin isoform-4 (GmCaM-4) is dramatically induced within 0.5 h of exposure to pathogen or NaCl. Core cis-acting elements that regulate the expression of the GmCaM-4 gene in response to pathogen and salt stress were previously identified, between -1,207 and -1,128 bp, and between -858 and -728 bp, in the GmCaM-4 promoter. Here, we characterized the properties of the DNA-binding complexes that form at the two core cis-acting elements of the GmCaM-4 promoter in pathogen-treated nuclear extracts. We generated GUS reporter constructs harboring various deletions of approximately 1.3-kb GmCaM-4 promoter, and analyzed GUS expression in tobacco plants transformed with these constructs. The GUS expression analysis suggested that the two previously identified core regions are involved in inducing GmCaM-4 expression in the heterologous system. Finally, a transient expression assay of Arabidopsis protoplasts showed that the GmCaM-4 promoter produced greater levels of GUS activity than did the CaMV35S promoter after pathogen or NaCl treatments, suggesting that the GmCaM-4 promoter may be useful in the production of conditional gene expression systems.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.66-71
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• 2016

Delphinidin is a blue-red pigment and one of the major anthocyanins in plants. It plays an important role in anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-mutagenic and anti-cancer properties. In this study, we investigated the inhibitory effects of delphinidin on vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene expression, an important factor involved in angiogenesis and tumor progression in human prostate cancer. Delphinidin decreased levels of epidermal growth factor (EGF)-induced VEGF mRNA expression in PC-3M cells. The expression of the EGF-induced hypoxia inducible factor-$1{\alpha}$ (HIF-$1{\alpha}$) and signaling transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) proteins, which are the major transcription factors for VEGF, were inhibited by delphinidin. In addition, delphinidin decreases HRE-promoter reporter gene activity, suggesting that delphinidin can suppress the transcription of HIF-$1{\alpha}$ under EGF induction, leading to a decrease in the expression of VEGF. Delphinidin specifically suppressed the phosphorylation of Akt, p70S6K, and 4EBP1, but not the phosphorylation of EGFR. Therefore, our results suggest that delphinidin may inhibit human prostate cancer progression and angiogenesis by inhibiting HIF-$1{\alpha}$, STAT3 and VEGF gene expression.

• Korean Journal of Breeding Science
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.278-285
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• 2008

An efficient transformation method for soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] using meristematic tissues of germinating seeds has been established. The embryonic axes were excised from germinating seeds of Korean soybean cultivar, Iksannamulkong and 0.5-2 cm long segment containing meristematic tissues were prepared by cutting hypocotyl region. The explants were inoculated with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain LBA4404 harboring a binary vector with the bar gene as a selectable marker gene and a ${\beta}-glucuronidase$ (GUSINT) reporter gene, and then co-cultured for 7 days on co-cultivation medium (CCM). The meristematic tissues were cultured on shoot induction medium (SIMP6) supplemented with 0.4 mg/l $N_6-benzylaminopurine$ (BAP) and 0.1 mg/l indolebutyric acid (IBA) in the presence of 6 mg/l L-phosphinotricin (PPT) for 2 weeks and the surviving explants were transferred to shoot elongation medium (SEMP6). Transformation was confirmed by Southern blot analysis and the transformation efficiencies ranged from 1.48 to 2.07%. The new modified transformation method was successfully implemented for obtaining several transgenic lines with SMV-CP gene. It is expected that this method could efficiently be used for the transformation of recalcitrant soybean cultivars.

• Korean Journal of Breeding Science
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.252-260
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• 2009

Rice is the most important cereal crop not only in supplying the basic staple food for more than half of the world's population but also as a model plant for functional genomic studies of monocotyledons. Although rice transformation method using A. tumefaciens has already been widely used to generate transgenic plants, the transformation rate is still low in most Korean elite cultivars. We made several modifications of the standard protocol especially in the co-cultivation step to improve the efficiency of the rice transformation. The co-culture medium was modified by the addition of three antioxidant compounds (10.5 mg/L L-cysteine, 1 mM sodium thiosulfate, 1 mM dithiothreitol) and of Agrobacterium growth-inhibiting agent (5 mg/L silver nitrate). Co-cultivation temperature ($23.5^{\circ}C$ for 1 day, $26.5^{\circ}C$ for 6 days) and duration (7 days) were also changed. The plasmid of pMJC-GB-GUS carrying the GUS reporter gene and the bar gene as the selectable marker was used to evaluate the efficiency of the transformation. After co-cultivation, a high level of GUS gene expression was observed in calli treated with the modified method. It is likely that those newly added compounds helped to minimize the damage due to oxidative bursts during plant cell-Agrobacterium interaction and to prevent necrosis of rice cells. And the transformation rate under the modified method was also remarkably increased approximately 8-fold in Heungnambyeo and 2-fold in Ilmibyeo as compared to the corresponding standard method. Furthermore, we could produce the transgenic plants stably from Ilpumbyeo which is a high-quality rice but its transformation rate is extremely low. Transformation and the copy number of transgenes were confirmed by PCR, bar strip and Southern blot analysis. The improved method would attribute reducing the effort and the time required to produce a large number of transgenic rice plants.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.23-29
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• 2020

The skin is colonized by a large number of microorganisms with a stable composition of species. However, disease states of skin such as acne vulgaris, psoriasis, and atopic dermatitis have specific microbiome compositions that are different from those of healthy skin. The target modulation of the skin microbiome can be a potential treatment for these skin diseases. Quorum sensing (QS), a bacterial cell-cell communication system, can control the survival of bacteria and increase cell density. Also, QS affects the pathogenicity of bacteria such as biofilm formation and protease production. In this study, we confirmed anti-QS activity of Amorepacific patented ingredients, which are Lactobacillus ferment lysate (using Lactobacillus plantarum APsulloc 331261, KCCM 11179P) through bio-reporter bacterial strain Chromobacterium violaceum. The purple pigment production of C. violaceum controlled by QS was reduced 27.3% by adding 10 ㎍/mL of Lactobacillus ferment lysate (freeze dried). In addition, the Lactobacillus ferment lysate increased growth of Staphylococcus epidermidis 12% and decreased growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa 38.5% and its biofilm formation 17.7% at a concentration of 10 ㎍/mL compared to the untreated control group. Moreover, S. epidermidis was co-cultured with the representative dermatological bacterium Staphylococcus aureus in the same genus, the growth of S. epidermidis was increased 134 % and the growth of S. aureus was decreased 13%. These results suggest that fermented lysate using Lactobacillus plantarum APsulloc 331261 may be useful as a cosmetic ingredient that can control the balance of skin microbiome.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.736-742
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• 2008

To evaluate changes in functional characteristics of traditional Doenjang during aging, Doenjang was prepared using an extract of Phellinus linteus (Phellinus extract). Control Doenjang was aged without the extract. The protease activity of Doenjang prepared with Phellinus extract was 3.15 units/mL. Tyrosinase and acetylcholinesterase inhibition activities were 45.78% and 55.18% of control, respectively, in the treated sample. When Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium TA100 was used as a reporter strain, antimutagenic activities against the mutagens MNNG and NPD were 90.42% and 82.57% of control values in the treated sample. When S. enterica serovar Typhimurium TA98 was used, antimutagenic activities were 60.28% and 50.33% of control, respectively. Hydrogen-donating activity was 86.65% in the treated sample, which was higher than that of the control (61.69%). Daidzin (an isoflavon glucoside) levels in Doenjang prepared with Phellinus extract were higher, by 35.49 mg/kg, than the control, whereas genistin was not detected in either group. Daidzin and genistin aglycone levels were 263.01 mg/kg and 262.60 mg/kg in the control and test groups, respectively.