• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.77-84
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• 2003

Chitinase was purified from an antagonistic bacterium Bacillus sp. 7079 by ammonium sulfate precipitation, QAE-Sephadex anion exchange chromatography, Sephadex G-100 gel filtration, and SP-Sephadex cation exchange chromatography. The molecula. weight of purified chitinase (PC-1) was approximately 66.5 kDa on SDS-PACE. PC-1 exhibited optimum pH and temperature of pH 7.5 and $45^{\circ}C$, respectively. More than $80\%$ of PC-1 was stable at pH 5.0 to 9.0, and more than $90\%$ at $40^{\circ}C$. $Fe^2+\;and\;Ca^2+$ inhibited the chitinase activity about $20\%$, and EDTA and p-CMB by about $30\%$, whereas $Ag^+$ inhibited the activity up to $65\%$. The $K_m$ value of PC-1 was 1.215 mg/ml with colloidal chitin as a substrate. We also investigated the effect of PC-1 treated chitin (PCTC) on the pro-inflammatory cytokine gene expression in macrophage RAW 264.7 cells. The expression of IL-$1{\alpha}$ and IL-$1{\beta}$ mRNA gene was investigated using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). IL-$1{\alpha}$ and IL-$1{\beta}$ mRNA were induced by the treatment of PCTC and chitin only in RAW 264.7 cells. These expressions were induced as early as 2 h and sustained up to 24 h in RAW 264.7 cells. IL-$1{\alpha}$ and IL-$1{\beta}$ mRNA were more strongly expressed by the treatment of PCTC than chitin treatment alone in RAW 264.7 cells.

• Nutritional Sciences
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.57-65
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• 2000

Partial enteral nutrition (PEN) supplemented with insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) to neonatal piglets receiving parenteral nutrition increases lactase-phlorizin hydrolase (LPH) activity, but not LPH mRNA. The goal of the current study was to investigate the mechanism by which IGF-I up-regulates LPH activity. We hypothesized that IGF-I regulates LPH synthesis post-transcriptionally. Methods: Newborn piglets (n=15) received 100% parenteral nutrition (TPN), 80% parenteral nutrition + 20% PEN (PEN), or PEN + IGF-I (1.0mg/kg/d). On day 7, two stable isotopes of leucine, [$^2 H_3$]-leucine and [$^{13}C_1$]-L-leucine were intravenously administered to measure mucosal protein and brush LPH (BB LPH) synthesis. Results: Weight gain, nutrient intake and jejunal weight and length were similar among the treatment groups. PEN increased mucosal weight, villus width and cross-sectional area, LPH activity, mRNA expression and the abundance of proLPHh compared to 100% TPN (p<0.05). IGF-I further increased mucosal weight, LPH activity and LPH activity per unit BB LPH ~2-fold over PEN alone (p<0.05), but did not affect LPH mRNA or the abundance of proLPHh or mature LPH. Isotopic enrichment of [$^2 H_3$]-leucine and [$^{13}C_1$]-L-leucine in plasma, mucosal protein and LPH precursors, and the fractional and absolute synthesis rates of mucosal protein and LPH were similar among the treatment groups. Total mucosal protein synthesis was increased 60% (p<0.05) and LPH synthesis tended (p=0.14) to be greater in the IGF-I treated animals compared to the other two groups. Conclusions: The primary mechanism by which IGF-I up-regulates LPH may be post-translational, either via reducing LPH turnover, or by specifically altering LPH activity.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.37 no.12
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• pp.857-864
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• 2014

Astrocyte elevated gene-1 (AEG-1) is a recently discovered oncogene that has been reported to be highly expressed in various types of malignant tumors, including renal cell carcinoma. However, the precise role of AEG-1 in renal cancer cell proliferation and apoptosis has not been clarified. In this study, we transfected the renal cancer cell line Caki-1 with a plasmid expressing AEG-1 short hairpin RNA (shRNA) and obtained cell colonies with stable knockdown of AEG-1. We found that AEG-1 down-regulation inhibited cell proliferation and colony formation and arrested cell cycle progression at the sub-G1 and G0/G1 phase. Western blot analysis indicated that the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), cyclin D1 and cyclin E were significantly reduced following AEG-1 down-regulation. In addition, AEG-1 knockdown led to the appearance of apoptotic bodies in renal cancer cells, and the ratio of apoptotic cells significantly increased. Expression of the antiapoptotic factor Bcl-2 was dramatically reduced, whereas the pro-apoptotic factors Bax, caspase-3 and poly (ADPribose) polymerase (PARP) were significantly activated. Finally, AEG-1 knockdown in Caki-1 cells remarkably suppressed cell proliferation and enhanced cell apoptosis in response to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) treatment, suggesting that AEG-1 inhibition sensitizes Caki-1 cells to 5-FU. Taken together, our data suggest that AEG-1 plays an important role in renal cancer formation and development and may be a potential target for future gene therapy for renal cell carcinoma.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.643-646
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• 2014

Objective: This study aimed to explore the expression of tissue factor (TF), protease activated receptor-2 (PAR-2), and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) in the MCF-7 breast cancer cell line and influence on invasiveness. Methods: Stable MCF-7 cells transfected with TF cDNA and with TF ShRNA were established. TF, PAR-2, and MMP-9 protein expression was analyzed using indirect immunofluorescence and invasiveness was evaluated using a cell invasion test. Effects of an exogenous PAR-2 agonist were also examined. Results: TF protein expression significantly differed between the TF cDNA and TF ShRNA groups. MMP-9 protein expression was significantly correlated with TF protein expression, but PAR-2 protein expression was unaffected. The PAR-2 agonist significantly enhanced MMP-9 expression and slightly increased TF and PAR-2 expression in the TF ShRNA group, but did not significantly affect protein expression in MCF-7 cells transfected with TF cDNA. TF and MMP-9 expression was positively correlated with the invasiveness of tumor cells. Conclusion: TF, PAR-2, and MMP-9 affect invasiveness of MCF-7 cells. TF may increase MMP-9 expression by activating PAR-2.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.795-799
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• 2013

Ku70/80 heterodimer is a central element in the nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) DNA repair pathway, Ku80 playing a key role in regulating the multiple functions of Ku proteins. It has been found that the Ku80 protein located at telomeres is a major contributor to radiosensitivity in some telomerase positive human cancer cells. However, in ALT human osteosarcoma cells, the precise function in radiosensitivity and telomere maintenance is still unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Ku80 depletion in the U2OS ALT cell line cell line. Suppression of Ku80 expression was performed using a vector-based shRNA and stable Ku80 knockdown in cells was verified by Western blotting. U2OS cells treated with shRNA-Ku80 showed lower radiobiological parameters (D0, Dq and SF2) in clonogenic assays. Furthermore, shRNA-Ku80 vector transfected cells displayed shortening of the telomere length and showed less expression of TRF2 protein. These results demonstrated that down-regulation of Ku80 can sensitize ALT cells U2OS to radiation, and this radiosensitization is related to telomere length shortening.

• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.68-73
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• 2020

Korean fir (Abies koreana) is an evergreen coniferous tree species that is unique to South Korea. A. koreana is found in a limited sub-alpine habitat and is considered particularly vulnerable to climate change. Identification of populations vulnerable to climate change is an important component of conservation programs. In this study, a heat stress-induced transcriptome RNA-seq dataset was used to identify a subset of six genes for assessment as candidate marker genes for ecologically vulnerable populations. Samples of A. koreana were isolated from ecologically stable and vulnerable regions of the Halla and Jiri mountains, and the expression levels of the six candidate markers were assessed using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. All six of the candidate genes exhibited higher expression levels in samples from vulnerable regions compared with stable regions. These results confirm that the six high temperature-induced genes can be used as diagnostic markers for the identification of populations of A. koreana that are experiencing stress due to the effects of climate change.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.513-519
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• 2010

Marine bacterium producing pigment was isolated from the solar saltern of Mijo-myeon, Namhae, Korea. Based on phenotypic characteristics and 16S rRNA sequence analysis, the strain was identified as Kocuria sp., which produced a yellow pigment. The pigment showed UV absorption maximum at 469nm. The bacterial strain grew well on Marine broth 2216 culture medium. Productivity of the pigment reached the maximum value after 44 hours at $30^{\circ}C$, 2% NaCl and pH 6.0. The pigment was produced best when supplied by 1% lactose as a carbon source and 1% beef extract as a nitrogen source. The result of the color stability study showed that pigment extracted from the strain by ethanol was stable at $-20-25^{\circ}C$ and also showed higher stability over 70% for 14 days in light conditions at $25^{\circ}C$. The pigment extract was also stable for all metal ions tested, except for $FeCl_2$.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.344-351
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• 1990

An alkalophilic microoganism producing a detergent-resistant alkaline protease was isolated from soil and identified as Baeiltus sp. The alkaline protease has been partially purified by ammonium sulfate fractionation, DEAE-Cellulose, CM-Cellulose and Sephdex G-100 column chromatography. The purified alkaline protease was highly active at pH 12-13 toward casein and stable at pH values from 6 to ll. The optimum temperature for the enzyme reaction was $55^{\circ}C$. The enzyme was completely inactivated by diisopropyl fluorophosphate (DFP) indicating that the enzyme was serine protease, but considerabiy stable in the presence of surface active agents.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.33 no.12
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• pp.2021-2030
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• 2020

Objective: Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) has been extensively used in the field of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) research to elucidate their characteristics and clinical potential by normalization of target genes against reference genes (RGs), which are believed to be stably expressed irrespective of various experimental conditions. However, the expression of RGs is also variable depending on the experimental conditions, which may lead to false or contradictory conclusions upon normalization. Due to the current lack of information for a clear list of stable RGs in bovine MSCs, we conducted this study to identify suitable RGs in bovine MSCs. Methods: The cycle threshold values of ten traditionally used RGs (18S ribosomal RNA [18S], beta-2-microglobulin [B2M], H2A histone family, member Z [H2A], peptidylprolyl isomerase A [PPIA], ribosomal protein 4 [RPL4], succinate dehydrogenase complex, subunit A [SDHA], beta actin [ACTB], glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase [GAPDH], TATA box binding protein [TBP], and hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltrasnfrase1 [HPRT1]) in bovine bone marrow-derived MSCs (bBMMSCs) were validated for their stabilities using three types of RG evaluation algorithms (geNorm, Normfinder, and Bestkeeper). The effect of validated RGs was then verified by normalization of lineage-specific genes (fatty acid binding protein 4 [FABP4] and osteonectin [ON]) expressions during differentiations of bBMMSCs or POU class 5 homeobox 1 (OCT4) expression between bBMMSCs and dermal skins. Results: Based on the results obtained for the three most stable RGs from geNorm (TBP, RPL4, and H2A), Normfinder (TBP, RPL4, and SDHA), and Bestkeeper (TBP, RPL4, and SDHA), it was comprehensively determined that TBP and RPL4 were the most stable RGs in bBMMSCs. However, traditional RGs were suggested to be the least stable (18S) or moderately stable (GAPDH and ACTB) in bBMMSCs. Normalization of FABP4 or ON against TBP, RPL4, and 18S presented significant differences during differentiation of bBMMSCs. However, although significantly low expression of OCT4 was detected in dermal skins compared to that in bBMMSCs when TBP and RPL4 were used in normalization, normalization against 18S exhibited no significance. Conclusion: This study proposes that TBP and RPL4 were suitable as stable RGs for qPCR study in bovine MSCs.

• Journal of Marine Bioscience and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.45-54
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• 2024

Microalgae have great potential in the biomedical and pharmaceutical industries as a new type of bioreactor that can produce proteins for specific purposes, including recombinant proteins, pharmaceuticals, and industrial enzymes. Despite the production advantages and importance of microalgae-based expression systems, studies on secretion efficiency are limited. In this study, for stable expression and efficient secretion of the heterologous protein (human SCF and human INFγ) in Chlorella vulgaris, we constructed SP:hSCF:His and SP:hINFγ:His plant binary vectors using the signal peptide (SP) of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, and we obtained stable transformants through the effective agrobacterium-mediated transformation of these vectors. Transformants with accurately inserted hSCF and hINFγ demonstrated stably increased mRNA and protein expression using RT-PCR and western blotting under the same culture conditions. Following the analysis of the proteins secreted into the culture medium using ELISA, it was confirmed that hINFγ was effectively produced in the transformed C. vulgaris culture medium. The overall findings indicate that the combination of heterologous protein and SP may be crucial for ensuring the expression and secretion of recombinant proteins in Chlorella culture systems.