• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.154-159
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• 2017

Objective: This study was designed to characterize the DNA polymorphisms of the melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) gene in indigenous Saudi Arabian sheep breeds exhibiting different color coats, along with individuals of the Sawaknee breed, an exotic sheep imported from Sudan. Methods: The complete coding region of MC1R gene including parts of 3' and 5' untranslated regions was amplified and sequenced from three the indigenous Saudi sheep; Najdi (generally black, n = 41), Naeimi (generally white with brown faces, n = 36) and Herri (generally white, n = 18), in addition to 13 Sawaknee sheep. Results: Five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were detected in the MC1R gene: two led to nonsynonymous mutations (c.218 T>A, p.73 Met>Lys and c.361 G>A, p.121 Asp>Asn) and three led to synonymous mutations (c.429 C>T, p.143 Tyr>Tyr; c.600 T>G, p.200 Leu>Leu, and c.735 C>T, p.245 Ile>Ile). Based on these five SNPs, eight haplotypes representing MC1R $E^d$ and $E^+$ alleles were identified among the studied sheep breeds. The most common haplotype (H3) of the dominant $E^d$ allele was associated with either black or brown coat color in Najdi and Sawaknee sheep, respectively. Two other haplotypes (H6 and H7) of $E^d$ allele, with only the nonsynonymous mutation A218T, were detected for the first time in Saudi indigenous sheep. Conclusion: In addition to investigating the MC1R allelic variation in Saudi indigenous sheep populations, the present study supports the assumption that the two independent nonsynonymous Met73Lys and Asp121Asn mutations in MC1R gene are associated with black or red coat colors in sheep breeds.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.7
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• pp.863-866
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• 2010

Myostatin, which is also known as growth and differentiation factor 8 (GDF8), has been reported to act as a negative regulator of skeletal muscle development. Variation in the myostatin gene (MSTN) has been associated with variation in muscularity in certain "meaty" sheep breeds. Polymerase Chain Reaction-Single Strand Conformational Polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) analysis was used to investigate allelic variation in the previously described g+6223G>A single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the 3' untranslated region (3' UTR) of MSTN. The sheep studied were 79 New Zealand (NZ) Romney lambs derived from a single sire heterozyous for g+6223G>A, which is in itself notable as this polymorphism has not been described previously in this breed. Allelic variation was observed to be associated with an abnormal gender ratio (p = 0.046) in the progeny. The presence of allele A was observed to have an effect (p<0.05) on birth weight, mean loin yield, proportion yield loin and total muscle yield. Allelic variation did not significantly affect mean shoulder yield, leg yield, proportion yield shoulder and proportion yield leg. This preliminary result suggests that while the A allele at MSTN g+6223 appears to improve some valuable traits in NZ Romney sheep, further research is required to understand if and how it may affect other traits.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.15-20
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• 2010

It has been shown that CA repeats in the 3'-untranslated region (UTR) of bcl-2 mRNA contribute the constitutive decay of bcl-2 mRNA and that hnRNP L (heterogenous nuclear ribonucleoprotein L) interacts with CA repeats in the 3'-UTR of bcl-2 mRNA, both in vitro and in vivo. The aim of this study was to determine whether the alteration of hnRNP L affects the stability of bcl-2 mRNA in vivo. Human breast carcinoma MCF-7 cells were transfected with hnRNP L-specific shRNA or hnRNP L-expressing vector to decrease or increase hnRNP L levels, respectively, followed by an actinomycin D chase. An RT-PCR analysis showed that the rate of degradation of endogenous bcl-2 mRNA was not affected by the decrease or increase in the hnRNP L levels. Furthermore, during apoptosis or autophagy, in which bcl-2 expression has been reported to decrease, no difference in the degradation of bcl-2 mRNA was observed between control and hnRNP L-knock down MCF-7 Cells. On the other hand, the levels of AUF-1 and nucleolin, transacting factors for ARE in the 3'UTR of bcl-2 mRNA, were not significantly affected by the decrease in hnRNP L, suggesting that a disturbance in the quantitative balance between these transacting factors is not likely to interfere with the effect of hnRNP L. Collectively, the findings indicate that the decay of bcl-2 mRNA does not appear to be directly controlled by hnRNP L in vivo.

• BMB Reports
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.201-205
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• 2001

Thionins are a family of low molecular weight cysteine-rich antimicrobial peptides. We isolated a cDNA encoding thionin gene from a flower bud cDNA library of Chinese cabbage (CFT). The gene contains 611 by nucleotides with 60 bp, and 150 by untranslated regions at its N- and C-terminal, respectively. The deduced amino acid sequence encoded 133 amino acids containing precursor polypeptide. The protein reveals that the precursor has a tripartite structure: a putative signal sequence at the N-terminus, followed by a mature thionin peptide, and a C-terminal acidic domain, which facilitates transport of the mature thionin through membrane. Genomic Southern blot analysis suggests that the CFT gene may be present as a single or two copy gene in the Chinese cabbage genome. Northern blot analysis shows that the gene is specifically expressed in flowers, but not in leaves, stems, or roots. When we analyzed the antifungal activity of the recombinant CFT protein, which was expressed in E. coli using the truncated cDNA region corresponding to the mature protein part, it was not active on fungal growth inhibition.

• BMB Reports
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• v.45 no.11
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• pp.641-646
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• 2012

It has been reported that ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme 9 (Ubc9), the unique enzyme2 in the sumoylation pathway, is up-regulated in many cancers. However, the expression and regulation of UBC9 in glioma remains unknown. In this study, we found that Ubc9 was up-regulated in glioma tissues and cell lines compared to a normal control. UBC9 knockdown by small interfering RNA (siRNA) affected cell proliferation and apoptosis in T98G cells. Further experiments revealed that microRNA (miR)-214 directly targeted the 3' untranslated region (UTR) of UBC9 and that there was an inverse relationship between the expression levels of miR-214 and UBC9 protein in glioma tissues and cells. miR-214 overexpression suppressed the endogenous UBC9 protein and affected T98G cell proliferation. These findings suggest that miR-214 reduction facilitates UBC9 expression and is involved in the regulation of glioma cell proliferation.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.13-19
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• 2010

We developed a novel dicistronic system for the expression of target cDNA sequences in the milk of transgenic animals using goat beta-casein/hGH fusion construct, pGbc5.5hGH (Lee, 2006) and internal ribosome entry site (IRES) sequences of encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV). Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (hG-CSF) cDNA was linked to 3' untranslated region of hGH gene in the pGbc5.5hGH via EMCV IRES sequences. Transgenic mice were generated by microinjection and transgene expression was examined in the milk and mammary gland of transgenic mice at 10 days of lactation. Northern blot analysis showed that hGH gene and hG-CSF cDNA were transcribed as a single dicistronic mRNA. The hG-CSF and hGH proteins were independently translated from the dicistronic mRNA and secreted into the milk of transgenic mice. The highest concentration of hG-CSF and hGH in the milk of transgenic mice were $237{\mu}g/m{\ell}$ and $8,990{\mu}g/m{\ell}$, respectively. In contrast, another hG-CSF expression cassette, in which hG-CSF genomic sequences were inserted into a commercial milk-specific expression vector (pBC1), generated a lower level ($91{\mu}g/m{\ell}$) of hG-CSF expression in the milk of transgenic mice. These results demonstrated that the novel pGbc5.5hGH-based dicistronic construct could be useful for an efficient cDNA expression in the milk of transgenic animals.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.59-64
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• 2001

A complementary DNA encoding metallothionein(MT), a heavy metal-responsive protein was cloned from a cartilaginous shark species. Scyliorhinus torazame. An expressed sequence tag(EST)from the shark liver, which showed high similarity with a MT gene, was isolated and its full-length sequence(390bp)was determined. The putative shark MT cDNA sequence contained an open reading frame consisting 68 amino acids and 182bp of 3-untranslated region including the poly (A+) signal. The deduced amino acid sequence was 41-54% identical to those of other animals including mammals and fish species. Tiger shark MT cDNA showed high conservation in the Cys regions. however, peculiarly contained not only additional five amino acids just prior to the conserved beta-domain but also a Ser residue at C terminal, which has not been seen in other MT sequences.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.2397-2402
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• 2015

Previous studies have shown that miR-454 plays an important role in a variety of biological processes in various human cancer cells. However, the underlying mechanisms of this microRNA in colorectal cancer (CRC) cells remain largely unknown. In the present study, we investigated the miR-454 role in CRC cell proliferation. We found that miR-454 expression is markedly upregulated in CRC tissues and CRC cells compared with the matched tumor adjacent tissues and the FHC normal colonic cell line. Ectopic expression of miR-454 promoted the proliferation and anchorage-independent growth of CRC cells, whereas inhibition of miR-454 reduced this effect. Bioinformatics analysis further revealed cylindromatosis (CYLD), a putative tumor suppressor as a potential target of miR-454. Data from luciferase reporter assays showed that miR-454 directly binds to the 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR) of CYLD mRNA and repressed expression at both transcriptional and translational levels. In functional assays, CYLD-silenced in miR-454-in-transfected SW480 cells have positive effect to promote cell proliferation, suggesting that direct CYLD downregulation is required for miR-454-induced CRC cell proliferation. In sum, our data provide compelling evidence that miR-454 functions as an onco-miRNA, playing a crucial role in the promoting cell proliferation in CRC, and its oncogenic effect is mediated chiefly through direct suppression of CYLD expression.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.16
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• pp.6505-6510
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• 2014

Objective: This study was conducted to identify whether polymorphic variants of set domain-containing protein 8 (SET8) and tumor protein p53 (TP53) codon 72, either independently or jointly, might be associated with increased risk for cervical cancer. Methods: We genotyped SET8 and TP53 codon 72 polymorphisms of peripheral blood DNA from 114 cervical cancer patients and 200 controls using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and direct DNA sequencing. Results: The frequency of SET8 CC (odds ratios (OR) = 2.717, 95% CI=1.436-5.141) or TP53 GG (OR=2.168, 95% CI=1.149-4.089) genotype was associated with an increased risk of cervical cancer on comparison with the SET8 TT or TP53 CC genotypes, respectively. In additional, interaction between the SET8 and TP53 polymorphisms increased the risk of cervical cancer in a synergistic manner, with the OR being 9.913 (95% CI=2.028-48.459) for subjects carrying both SET8 CC and TP53 GG genotypes. Conclusion: These data suggest that there are significant associations between the miR-502-binding site SNP in the 3'-UTR of SET8 and the TP53 codon 72 polymorphism with cervical cancer in Chinese, and there is a gene-gene interaction.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.15-23
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• 2005

Background MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of noncoding RNAs found in various organisms such as plants and mammals. However, most of the mRNAs regulated by miRNAs are unknown. Furthermore, miRNA targets in genomes cannot be identified by standard sequence comparison since their complementarity to the target sequence is imperfect in general. In this paper, we propose a kernel-based method for the efficient prediction of miRNA targets. To help in distinguishing the false positives from potentially valid targets, we elucidate the features common in experimentally confirmed targets. Results The performance of our prediction method was evaluated by five-fold cross-validation. Our method showed 0.64 and 0.98 in sensitivity and in specificity, respectively. Also, the proposed method reduced the number of false positives by half compared with TargetScan. We investigated the effect of feature sets on the classification of miRNA targets. Finally, we predicted miRNA targets for several miRNAs in the Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) 3' untranslated region (3' UTR) database. Condusions The targets predicted by the suggested method will help in validating more miRNA targets and ultimately in revealing the role of small RNAs in the regulation of genomes. Our algorithm for miRNA target site detection will be able to be improved by additional experimental­knowledge. Also, the increase of the number of confirmed targets is expected to reveal general structural features that can be used to improve their detection.