• BMB Reports
• /
• 제51권7호
• /
• pp.315-316
• /
• 2018

Genome engineering with clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) system can be used as a tool to correct pathological mutations or modulate gene expression levels associated with pathogenesis of human diseases. Owing to well-established local administration methods including intravitreal and subretinal injection, it is relatively easy to administer therapeutic genome engineering machinery to ocular tissues for treating retinal diseases. In this context, we have investigated the potential of in vivo genome engineering as a therapeutic approach in the form of ribonucleoprotein or CRISPR packaged in viral vectors. Major issues in therapeutic application of genome engineering include specificity and efficacy according to types of CRISPR system. In addition to previous platforms based on ribonucleoprotein and CRISPR-associated protein 9 derived from Campylobacter jejuni, we evaluated the therapeutic effects of a CRISPR RNA-guided endonuclease derived from Lachnospiraceae bacterium ND2006 (LbCpf1) in regulating pathological angiogenesis in an animal model of wet-type age-related macular degeneration. LbCpf1 targeting Vegfa or Hif1a effectively disrupted the expression of genes in ocular tissues, resulting in suppression of choroidal neovascularization. It was also notable that there were no significant off-target effects in vivo.

• BMB Reports
• /
• 제43권5호
• /
• pp.344-348
• /
• 2010

Messenger ribonucleoprotein particles (mRNPs) are used to transport mRNAs along neuronal dendrites to their site of translation. Staufen2 is an mRNA-binding protein expressed in the cell bodies and cellular processes of different brain cells. It is notably involved in the transport of dendritic mRNAs along microtubules. Its knockdown expression was shown to change spine morphology and impair synaptic functions. However, the identity of Staufen2-bound mRNAs in brain cells is still completely unknown. As a mean to identify these mRNAs, we immunoprecipitated Staufen2-containing mRNPs from embryonic rat brains and used a genome wide approach to identify Staufen2-associated mRNAs. The genome wide approach identified 1780 mRNAs in Staufen2-containing mRNPs that code for proteins involved in cellular processes such as post-translational protein modifications, RNA metabolism, intracellular transport and translation. These results represent an additional and important step in the characterization of Staufen2- mediated neuronal functions in rat brains.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• 제33권9호
• /
• pp.1228-1237
• /
• 2023

The CRISPR-Cas system has emerged as the most efficient genome editing technique for a wide range of cells. Delivery of the Cas9-sgRNA ribonucleoprotein complex (Cas9 RNP) has gained popularity. The objective of this study was to develop a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)-based assay to quantify the double-strand break reaction mediated by Cas9 RNP. To accomplish this, the dextransucrase gene (dsr) from Leuconostoc citreum was selected as the target DNA. The Cas9 protein was produced using recombinant Escherichia coli BL21, and two sgRNAs were synthesized through in vitro transcription to facilitate binding with the dsr gene. Under optimized in vitro conditions, the 2.6 kb dsr DNA was specifically cleaved into 1.1 and 1.5 kb fragments by both Cas9-sgRNA365 and Cas9-sgRNA433. By monitoring changes in dsr concentration using qPCR, the endonuclease activities of the two Cas9 RNPs were measured, and their efficiencies were compared. Specifically, the specific activities of dsr365RNP and dsr433RNP were 28.74 and 34.48 (unit/㎍ RNP), respectively. The versatility of this method was also verified using different target genes, uracil phosphoribosyl transferase (upp) gene, of Bifidobacterium bifidum and specific sgRNAs. The assay method was also utilized to determine the impact of high electrical field on Cas9 RNP activity during an efficient electroporation process. Overall, the results demonstrated that the qPCR-based method is an effective tool for measuring the endonuclease activity of Cas9 RNP.

• Animal cells and systems
• /
• 제12권3호
• /
• pp.143-148
• /
• 2008

Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein E1(hnRNP E1) is one of the primary pre-mRNA binding proteins in human cells. It consists of 356 amino acid residues and harbors three hnRNP K homology(KH) domains that mediate RNA-binding. The hnRNP E1 protein was shown to play important roles in mRNA stabilization and translational control. In order to enhance our understanding of the cellular functions of hnRNP E1, we searched for interacting proteins through a yeast two-hybrid screening while using HeLa cDNA library as target. One of the cDNA clones was found to be human ribosomal protein L18a cDNA(GenBank accession number BC071920). We demonstrated in this study that human ribosomal protein L18a, a constituent of ribosomal protein large subunit, interacts specifically with hnRNP E1 in the yeast two-hybrid system. Such an interaction was observed for the first time in this study, and was also verified by biochemical assay.

• 농업과학연구
• /
• 제38권1호
• /
• pp.65-70
• /
• 2011

Development of mouse fetus brains can be defined morphologically and functionally by three developmental stages, embryo day (ED) 16, postnatal stage one week and eight weeks. These defined stages of brain development may be closely associated with differential gene expression rates due to limited cellular resources such as energy, space, and free water. Complex patterns of expressed genes and proteins during brain development suggests the changes in relative concentrations of proteins rather than the increase in numbers of new gene products. This study was designed to evaluate early protein expression pattern in mouse fetus brain. The mouse brain proteome of fetus at ED 15.5, and 19.5 was obtained using 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis (DE). Analysis of the 2-DE gels in pH 3-10 range revealed the presence of 15 differentially expressed spots, of which 11 spots were identified to be known proteins following MALDI-TOF analysis; 3 spots were up-regulated and 8 spots were down-regulated in the mouse fetus brain at ED 15.5. UP-regulated proteins were identified as MCG18238, isoform M2 of pyruvate kinase isozymes M1/M2, isoform 2 of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein K, heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein H2, creatine kinase B-type, 40S ribosomal protein SA and hemoglobin subunit beta-H1. Down-regulated proteins were putative uncharacterized protein, lactoylglutathione lyase and secreted acidic cysteine rich glycoprotein. Our results revealed composite profiles of mouse fetus brain proteins related to mouse fetus development by 2-DE analysis implying possible roles of these proteins in neural differentiation.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
• /
• 제51권8호
• /
• pp.886-891
• /
• 2008

복합 교원성 질환은 류마티스 관절염, 경피증, 전신성 홍반성 낭창, 다발성 근염의 다양한 임상양상을 나타내면서 혈청학적 검사에서 항 ENA 항체를 갖는 질환이다. 성인에서 1972년 25례의 복합 교원성 질환의 첫 보고 이래 국내에서 성인에서 발생한 복합 교원성 질환에 대한 몇몇 보고가 있었지만, 소아에서는 복합 교원성 질환의 보고가 드물다. 7세 여아가 내원 3개월 전부터 시작된 양 손가락에, 글쓰기 및 한랭노출에 의해 유발되는, 가역적인 색깔변화와 차가움을 주소로 내원하였다. 신체 검사에서 양측 손가락들의 부종 및 오른쪽 집게손가락 끝에 궤양이 관찰되었다. 혈청학적 검사에서 다른 교원성 질환의 증거 없이 높은 역가의 ANA와 항 ENA 항체 중 항 RNP 항체가 고역가로 검출되었다. Raynaud 현상과 궤양에 대해 slow releasing nifedipin을 사용하였으나 호전 보이지 않아 스테로이드를 투약 하였고, 이후 궤양은 치유 되었으며, Raynaud 현상의 빈도도 현저히 감소하였다. 그러나 steroid를 점차 감량하는 동안 탈모 및 관절염 증상이 새로 발현되었으며, 현재 겨울에 악화되는 Raynaud 증상과 관절염으로 추적 관찰 중이다. 이에 본 저자들은 Raynaud 현상으로 발현되고 추적 동안에 탈모와 관절염이 나타난 복합 교원성 질환의 드문 소아 증례를 보고하는 바이다.

• 생명과학회지
• /
• 제23권11호
• /
• pp.1311-1316
• /
• 2013

hnRNP L은 pre-mRNA에 결합하는 단백질들 중에서 핵심이 되는 단백질이다. hnRNP L은 양이 아주 많은 핵 단백질로서 핵과 세포질을 왕복하는 특성을 지니고 있다. 이 단백질은 염색질 변형(chromatin modification), pre-mRNA 스플라이싱, 인트론이 없는 유전자들에서 유래한 mRNA들의 세포질로의 반출(export), IRES-매개성 번역, mRNA의 안정성 조절, 정자형성과정 등, 세포 내의 여러 가지 과정에 관여하고 있는 것으로 알려져 있다. 이 논문에서는 hnRNP L과 결합하는 세포 내 단백질을 찾아내기 위하여 사람의 간세포 cDNA library를 사용하여 이스트 two-hybrid 탐색 실험을 수행하였다. 그 결과 사람의 간세포에서 IGFBP-4가 hnRNP L과 상호결합하는 새로운 파트너라는 것을 발견하였다. 본 연구를 통하여 hnRNP L이 이스트 two-hybrid 시스템에서 IGFBP-4와 특이적으로 상호 결합한다는 것을 처음으로 발견하였다. 본 연구에서는 또한 이스트 two-hybrid 시스템에서 hnRNP L이 IGFBP-4와 상호결합한다는 점을 in vitro pull-down 실험을 통하여 재확인하였다.

• 대한의생명과학회지
• /
• 제20권1호
• /
• pp.1-7
• /
• 2014

RNA granules such as Stress Granules (SG) and P-Bodies (PB) are aggregates of translationally stalled messenger ribonucleoprotein (mRNP) complexes induced by a wide range of stresses. Over the past decade, extensive studies described key components of RNA granules, their molecular interactions and signaling pathways require for their assembly and disassembly. However, researches defining their exact roles under stress conditions have not been performed so far, although several studies suggested their roles in neurodegenerative diseases recently. In this review, we provide an introduction about their basic properties, key components, and the dynamic nature for their assembly.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• 제40권12호
• /
• pp.889-896
• /
• 2017

Nuclear bodies are subnuclear, spheroidal, and membraneless compartments that concentrate specific proteins and/or RNAs. They serve as sites of biogenesis, storage, and sequestration of specific RNAs, proteins, or ribonucleoprotein complexes. Recent studies reveal that a subset of nuclear bodies in various eukaryotic organisms is constructed using architectural long noncoding RNAs (arcRNAs). Here, we describe the unifying mechanistic principles of the construction and function of these bodies, especially focusing on liquid-liquid phase separation induced by architectural molecules that form multiple weakly adhesive interactions. We also discuss three possible advantages of using arcRNAs rather than architectural proteins to build the bodies: position-specificity, rapidity, and economy in sequestering nucleic acid-binding proteins. Moreover, we introduce two recently devised methods to discover novel arcRNA-constructed bodies; one that focuses on the RNase-sensitivity of these bodies, and another that focuses on "semi-extractability" of arcRNAs.

• Genomics & Informatics
• /
• 제5권1호
• /
• pp.32-35
• /
• 2007

Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) is an enzymatic ribonucleoprotein that prolongs the replicative life span of cells by maintaining protective structures at the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes. Telomerase activity is highly up-regulated in 85-90% of human cancers, and is predominately regulated by hTERT expression. In contrast, most normal somatic tissues in humans express low or undetectable levels of telomerase activity. This expression profile identifies TERT as a potential anticancer target. By using an RNA mapping strategy based on a trans-splicing ribozyme library, we identified the regions of mouse TERT (mTERT) RNA that were accessible to ribozymes. We found that particularly accessible sites were present downstream of the AUG start codon. This mTERTspecific ribozyme will be useful for validation of the RNA replacement as cancer gene therapy approach in mouse model with syngeneic tumors.