• BMB Reports
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• 제51권7호
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• pp.338-343
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• 2018

Transcription termination factor-1 (TTF-I) is an RNA polymerase 1-mediated transcription terminator and consisting of a C-terminal DNA-binding domain, central domain, and N-terminal regulatory domain. This protein binds to a so-called 'Sal box' composed of an 11-base pair motif. The interaction of TTF-I with the 'Sal box' is important for many cellular events, including efficient termination of RNA polymerase-1 activity involved in pre-rRNA synthesis and formation of a chromatin loop. To further understand the role of TTF-I in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-I virus production, we generated various TTF-I mutant forms. Through a series of studies of the over-expression of TTF-I and its derivatives along with co-transfection with either proviral DNA or HIV-I long terminal repeat (LTR)-driven reporter vectors, we determined that wild-type TTF-I downregulates HIV-I LTR activity and virus production, while the TTF-I Myb-like domain alone upregulated virus production, suggesting that wild-type TTF-I inhibits virus production and trans-activation of the LTR sequence; the Myb-like domain of TTF-I increased virus production and trans-activated LTR activity.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제14권5호
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• pp.1052-1056
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• 2004

A secretion signal sequence-selection vector (pGS40) was constructed based on an $\alpha$-amylase gene lacking a secretion signal and employed for selecting secretion signals from Lactococcus lactis ssp. cremoris LM0230 chromosomal DNA. Six fragments were identified based on their ability to restore $\alpha$-amylase secretion in E. coli, and among these, a fragment, S405, conferred the highest secretion activity (84%) in E. coli. Meanwhile, S407, which conferred poor secretion activity in E. coli, was quite active in L. lactis. The results suggested that the efficiency of a secretion signal depended on the host. All six fragments had an open reading frame (ORF) fused to the reporter gene, and the potential Shine-Dalgamo (SD) sequence and putative promoter sequences were located upstream of the ORF. Deduced amino acid sequences from the six fragments did not show any homology with known secretion signals. However, they contained three distinguished structural features and cleavage sites, commonly found among typical secretion signals. The characterized secretion signals could be useful for the construction of food-grade secretion vectors and gene expression in LAB.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• 제36권3호
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• pp.207-212
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• 2012

The shortage of human organs for transplantation has induced the research on the possibility of using animal as porcine. However, pig to human transplantation as known as xeno-transplantation has major problem as immunorejection. Recently, the solutions of pig to human xenotransplantation are commonly mentioned as having a genetically modification which include alpha 1, 3 galatosyl transferase knockout (GTKO) and immune-suppressing gene transgenic model. Unfortunately, the expression level of transgenic gene is very low activity. Therefore, development of gene overexpression system is the most urgent issue. Also, the tissue specific overexpression system is very important. Because most blood vessels are endothelial cells, establishment of the endothelial-specific promoter is attractive candidates for the introduction of suppressing immunorejection. In this study, we focus the ICAM2 promoter which has endothelial-specific regulatory region. To detect the regulatory region of ICAM2 promoter, we cloned 3.7 kb size mini-pig ICAM2 promoter. We conduct serial deletion of 5' flanking region of mini-pig ICAM2 promoter then selected promoter size as 1 kb, 1.5 kb, 2 kb, 2.5 kb, and 3 kb. To analyze promoter activity, luciferase assay system was conducted among these vectors and compare endothelial activity with epithelial cells. The reporter gene assay revealed that ICAM2 promoter has critical activity in endothelial cells (CPAE) and 1 kb size of ICAM2 promoter activity was significantly increased. Taken together, our studies suggest that mini-pig ICMA2 promoter is endothelial cell specific overexpression promoter and among above all size of promoters, 1 kb size promoter is optimal candidate to overcome the vascular immunorejection in pig to human xenotransplantation.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• 제20권6호
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• pp.573-580
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• 2016

Caspases, a family of cysteine proteases, cleave substrates and play significant roles in apoptosis, autophagy, and development. Recently, our group identified 72 genes that interact with Death Caspase-1 (DCP-1) proteins in Drosophila by genetic screening of 15,000 EP lines. However, the cellular functions and molecular mechanisms of the screened genes, such as their involvement in apoptosis and autophagy, are poorly understood in mammalian cells. In order to study the functional characterizations of the genes in human cells, we investigated 16 full-length human genes in mammalian expression vectors and tested their effects on apoptosis and autophagy in human cell lines. Our studies revealed that ALFY, BIRC4, and TAK1 induced autophagy, while SEC61A2, N-PAC, BIRC4, WIPI1, and FALZ increased apoptotic cell death. BIRC4 was involved in both autophagy and apoptosis. Western blot analysis and luciferase reporter activity indicated that ALFY, BIRC4, PDGFA, and TAK1 act in a p53-dependent manner, whereas CPSF1, SEC61A2, N-PAC, and WIPI1 appear to be p53-independent. Overexpression of BIRC4 and TAK1 caused upregulation of p53 and accumulation of its target proteins as well as an increase in p53 mRNA levels, suggesting that these genes are involved in p53 transcription and expression of its target genes followed by p53 protein accumulation. In conclusion, apoptosis and/or autophagy mediated by BIRC4 and TAK1 may be regulated by p53 and caspase activity. These novel findings may provide valuable information that will aid in a better understanding of the roles of caspase-related genes in human cell lines and be useful for the process of drug discovery.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제16권6호
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• pp.952-960
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• 2006

As a unicellular green alga that possesses many of the metabolic pathways present in higher plants, Chlorelia offers many advantages for expression of heterologous proteins. Since strong and constitutive promoters are necessary for efficient expression in heterologous expression systems, the development of such promoters for use in the Chlorella system was the aim of this study. Proteins encoded by the early genes of algal viruses are expressed before viral replication, probably by the host transcriptional machinery, and the promoters of these genes might be useful for heterologous expression in Chlorella. In this study, putative promoter regions of DNA polymerase, ATP-dependent DNA ligase, and chitinase genes were amplified from eight Korean Chlorella virus isolates by using primer sets designed based on the sequence of the genome of PBCV-1, the prototype of the Phycodnaviridae. These putative promoter regions were found to contain several cis-acting elements for transcription factors, including the TATA, CAAT, NTBBF1, GATA, and CCAAT boxes. The amplified promoter regions were placed into Chlorella transformation vectors containing a green fluorescence protein (GFP) reporter gene and the Sh ble gene for phleomycin resistance. C. vulgaris protoplasts were transformed and then selected with phleomycin. The GFP fluorescence intensities of cells transformed with chitinase, DNA polymerase, and DNA ligase gene promoter-GFP fusion constructs were 101.5, 100.8, and 95.8%, respectively, of that of CaMV 35S-GFP-transformed Chlorella cells. These results demonstrate that these viral promoters are active in transformed Chlorella.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• 제25권3호
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• pp.375-380
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• 2002

Cytochrome P4501A2 (CYP1A2) is a member of the cytochrome P450 family of isozymes involved in the phase I drug metabolism of vertebrates. CYP1A2 is responsible for the activation of a number of aromatic amines to mutagenic and carcinogenic forms. Thus, the level of CYP1A2, which varies among different populations, may determine an individual's susceptibility to these chemicals. We have previously reported on the importance of a cis element named PRB (protected region B) in the regulation of human Cytochrome P4501A2 (CYP1A2) gene, which appeared to act as a positive regulatory element. Closer examination of the PRB sequence (-2218 to -2187 bp) revealed a putative AP-1 binding site, TGACTAA, at -2212 bp (Chung and Bresnick, 1997). To elucidate the role of AP-1 in CYP1A2 regulation, we transiently overexpressed c-Jun and c-Fos transcription factors in human hepatoma HepG2 cells, and examined their influence on the CYP1A2 promoter activity by reporter gene assays. Cotransfection of the c-Jun and the c-Fos expression vectors increased the induced transactivation by five to six fold from the CYP1A2 promoter constructs. However, deletion of the PRB element did not affect the degree of activation by the c-Jun and the c-Fos. Therefore, it is unlikely that the c-Jun and the c-Fos activate the CYP1A2 promoter through this AP-1 consensus-like sequence in the PRB region.

• 미생물학회지
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• 제35권1호
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• pp.28-34
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• 1999

본 연구에서는 Yeast Artificial Chromosome을 효율적으로 조작하고 유유전자의 기능을 보다 더 용이하게 분석하기 위해 EMCV 바이러스의 IRES 염기서열과 $\beta$-galactosidase를 포함하는 새로운 bicistronic fragmentation vector를 제조하였다. 이 벡터의 폴리클로닝 site에 네 개의희귀한 제한효소 부위를 도입하여 DNA를 용이하게 클로닝할 수 있게 만들었다. 그러므로 원하는 어떤 YAC도 효모세포에서 쉽게 상동 재조함에 의해 절편할 수 있는 장점이 있다. 이 bicistronic fragmentation vector 시스템을 이용하면하나의 메시지로부터 연구하고자 하는 유전자와 $\beta$-galactosidase를 동시에 한 세포에서 발현할 수 있기 때문에 유전자의 발현양상을 쉽게 분석할 수 있는 새로운 도구로 이용할 수 있다.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• 제32권2호
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• pp.91-95
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• 2005

옥수수 미숙배배양과 Agrobacterium tumefaciens공동배양법에 의해 형질전환체를 생산하였다. Hi II계통의 미숙배를 Ubiquitin 1 promoter-GUS유전자와 선발마커로서 nptII 유전자로 제작된 pPTN290벡터를 C58C1에 도입한 후 형질전환 균주로 사용하였다. 7개의 paromomycin저항성 배 발생캘러스를 얻었으며, GUS양성반응을 나타내는 7개의 독립적인 식물체를 얻었다. Southern분석법에 의하여 $T_1$세대 식물체로부터 nptII유전자가 안정적으로 도입되어 있음을 확인하였다.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• 제33권11호
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• pp.3676-3680
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• 2012

An Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-based plasmid contains the EBV nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1) gene and EBV replication origin (oriP) sequence. Since EBNA1 (the only EBV-encoded protein) is combined with oriP, it is replicated simultaneously with chromosomal DNA in human, primate, and canine cells and is faithfully segregated at a stable copy number upon cell division. Consequently, it can be used to stably express gene inserts over a prolonged time in target cells. We have previously shown that the polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer can be surface-modified with L-arginine. Arginine is present at a high frequency in the transactivator of transcription (Tat) sequences of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). It presents high membrane permeability and permits effective transfer of DNA inside the cells. In this study, we constructed two kinds of recombinant DNA by inserting the luciferase gene and enhanced green fluorescence protein (eGFP) gene as reporter genes into the pCEP4 plasmid vector. We measured dynamic light scattering (DLS) and zeta potential after preparing PAMAM-based cationic polymer/EBV-based plasmid complexes. We performed transfection of HEK 293 cell lines with the polyplexes, and monitored luciferase activity and green fluorescence protein (GFP) expression. Our results show that PAMAM-based cationic polymer/EBV plasmid complexes provide enhanced and sustained gene expression.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제27권9호
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• pp.1586-1592
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• 2017

Some promoters were isolated and characterized from the genome of Leuconostoc mesenteroides SY2, an isolate from kimchi, a Korean traditional fermented vegetable. Chromosomal DNA of L. mesenteroides SY2 was digested with Sau3AI and ligated with BamHI-cut pBV5030, a promoter screening vector containing a promoterless cat-86. Among E. coli transformants (TFs) resistant against Cm (chloramphenicol), 17 were able to grow in the presence of $1,000{\mu}g/ml$ Cm and their inserts were sequenced. Transcription start sites were examined for three putative promoters (P04C, P25C, and P33C) by primer extension. Four putative promoters were inserted upstream of a promoterless ${\alpha}$-amylase reporter gene in $pJY15{\alpha}$. ${\alpha}$-Amylase activities of E. coli TFs containing $pJY15{\alpha}$ (control, no promoter), $pJY03{\alpha}$ ($pJY15{\alpha}$ with P03C), $pJY04{\alpha}$ (with P04C), $pJY25{\alpha}$ (with P25C), and $pJY33{\alpha}$ (with P33C) were 66.9, 78.7, 122.1, 70.8, and 99.3 U, respectively. Cells harboring $pJY04{\alpha}$ showed 1.8 times higher activity than the control. Some promoters characterized in this study might be useful for construction of food-grade expression vectors for Leuconostoc sp. and related lactic acid bacteria.