• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.58-63
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• 2009

Background: T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain containing 3 protein (Tim-3) expressed on terminally differentiated Th1 cells plays a suppressive role in Th1-mediated immune responses. Recently, it has been shown that N-glycosylation affects the binding activity of the Tim-3-Ig fusion protein to its ligand, galectin-9, but the binding properties of non-glycosylated Tim-3 on $CD4^+CD25^+$T cells has not been fully examined. In this study, we produced recombinant Tim-3-Ig fusion proteins in different cellular sources and its N-glycosylation mutant forms to evaluate their binding activities to $CD4^+CD25^+$T cells. Methods: We isolated and cloned Tim-3 cDNA from BALB/C mouse splenocytes. Then, we constructed a mammalian expression vector and a prokaryotic expression vector for the Tim-3-Ig fusion protein. Using a site directed mutagenesis method, plasmid vectors for Tim-3-Ig N-glycosylation mutant expression were produced. The recombinant protein was purified by protein A sepharose column chromatography. The binding activity of Tim-3-Ig fusion protein to $CD4^+CD25^+$T cells was analyzed using flow cytometry. Results: We found that the nonglycosylated Tim-3-Ig fusion proteins expressed in bacteria bound to $CD4^+CD25^+$T cells similarly to the glycosylated Tim-3-Ig protein produced in CHO cells. Further, three N-glycosylation mutant forms (N53Q, N100Q, N53/100Q) of Tim-3-Ig showed similar binding activities to those of wild type glycosylated Tim-3-Ig. Conclusion: Our results suggest that N-glycosylation of Tim-3 may not affect its binding activity to ligands expressed on $CD4^+CD25^+$T cells.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.268-274
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• 2009

Porphyromonas gingivalis, the gram-negative anaerobic oral bacterium, initiates periodontal disease by binding to saliva-coated oral surface. The cholera toxin B subunit (CTB) genetically linked to FimA1 (1-200 aa) or FimA2 (201-337 aa) of the P. gingivalis fimbrial antigen were introduced into Solanum tuberosum cells by Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation method. The integration of CTB-FimA1 or CTB-FimA2 fusion genes were confirmed in the chromosome of transformed leaves by genomic DNA PCR amplification method. Synthesis and assembly of the CTB-FimA fusion proteins into oligomeric structures with pentamer size was detected in transformed tuber extracts by immunoblot analysis. The binding activities of CTB-FimA fusion proteins to intestinal epithelial cell membrane receptors were confirmed by GM1-ganglioside enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (GM1-ELISA). The ELISA showed that the expression levels of the CTB-FimA1 or CTB-FimA2 fusion proteins were 0.0019, 0.002% of the total soluble protein in transgenic tuber tissues, respectively The synthesis of CTB-FimA monomers and their assembly into biologically active oligomers in transformed potato tuber tissues demonstrates the feasibility of using edible plants for the production of enterocyte targeted fimbrial antigens that could elicit mucosal immune responses.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.232-237
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• 1993

A strain of yeast which can convert starch directly to ethanol was developed by the intergeneric protoplast fusion between Schwanniomyces alluvius possessing $\alpha$ amylase as well as glucoamylase with debranching activity and FSC-14-75 which previously had been formed from a heterologous transformation and subsequent intergeneric protoplast fusion. Fusants were selected on minimal medium after protoplasts of auxotrophic mutant of S. alluvius fused with heat-treated protoplasts of FSC-14-75 in the presence of 30%(w/v) PEG and 20 mM $CaCl_2$. The fusion frequency was in the range of $10^{-6}$ order. All fusants tested were intermediate types of parental strains for carbon compound assimilation, and their cell volumes were approximately 1.1 times larger than FSC-14-75 and 1.8 times larger than S. alluvius. The fusants were unable to sporulate like FSC-14-75, while S. alluvius could sporulate. In flask scale the most promising fusant, FSCSa-R10-6, produced 7.83%(v/v) and 10.17%(v/v) ethanol from 15% and 20% of liquefied potato starch, respectively, indicating that the fermetation efficiency of each case increased 1.2 times and 1.6 times than that of FSC-14-75. The elution pattern on DEAE-cellulose chromatography showed that FSCSa-R10-6 has four distinct amylase peaks of which two peaks originated from S. alluvius and the other two from FSC-14-75. These results suggest that the enhanced fermentation efficiency of the fusant might be due to almost-complemented parental amylases.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.274-281
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• 1987

The effects of bovine serum albumin, myoinositol and ergosterol on protoplast formation, regeneration and fusion from auxotrophic mutants of Candida pseudotropicalis were examined. Frequency of protoplast formation ranged from 48 to 98% depending on auxotrophic types. When myoinositol (0.5mg/ml) and ergosterol (0.1mg/ml) were supplemented in the medium of cell growth, and bovine serum albumin (4mg/ml)was added to protoplasting buffer, 50-100% of cells were converted to protoplasts. Such a treatment of three additives improved 2.2-3.0 fold of regeneration rate of protoplasts. The fusion frequencies between complementary auxotrophs ranged from $7.0\times 10^{-4}$ to $1.5\times 10^{-3}$ in the optimal conditions. These values showed 1.9-2.3 fold increase when compared with fusion frequencies obtained without the treatment of additives. These results suggested that these comsion frequencies obtained without the treatment of additives. These results suggested that these xompounds may improve protoplast regeneration and fusion between complementary auxotrophs used in this study.

• The Journal of the Korean bone and joint tumor society
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.57-62
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• 2006

Giant cell tumors are potentially malignant tumors in vertebrae, affecting frequently difficult to diagnose and are often inoperable. So it will be treated using radiation because of their high recurrence rate and the mechanical compression of spinal cord, but many surgeons described tumors of the vertebra, and the affected vertebral body can be treated using radical or near to total excision, with anteroposterior vertebral fusion or instrumentation of the spine. we report a case of giant cell tumor affecting the third cervical vertebra which caused neck pain and destroyed the vertebra body had treated using radical excison with fusion of posterior arch using instrumentation of the spine together with a literature review.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.105-113
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• 2011

The present study investigated the nuclear remodeling, development potential with telomerase activity and transcription level of X-linked genes (ANT3, HPRT, MeCP2, RPS4X, XIAP, XIST and ZFX) in the bovine somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos using two different fusion and activation methods. Female adult fibroblasts were injected into perivitelline space of in vitro matured oocytes. The oocyte-nucleus complexes were fused and followed by immediately either activated (Group 1), or activated at 1 h post-fusion (hpf) (Group 2), respectively. The incidence of normal premature chromosome condensation (PCC) at 1 hpf was slightly increased in the Group 2, compared to those of Group 1, but there was no significant (p<0.05) difference. The incidence of normal pronucleus (PN) and chromosome spread at 5 and 18 hpf were significantly (p<0.05) higher in the Group 2 than those of Group 1. The cleavage rate to 2-cell stage, developmental rate to blastocyst stage, and the mean number of total and ICM cell numbers were significantly (p<0.05) higher in the Group 2, compared to those of Group 1. Level of telomerase activity was significantly (p<0.05) higher in the SCNT blastocysts of Group 2, compared to those of Group 1. Transcript levels of HPRT, MeCP2 and XIST were not significantly (p<0.05) different between blastocysts of Group 1 and 2. However, transcript level of ANT3, RPS4X, XIAP and ZFX were significantly (p<0.05) up-regulated in the SCNT blastocysts of Group 2, compared to those of Group 1. Taken together, it is concluded that oocyte activation at 1 hpf induces the enhanced developmental potential by efficient nuclear remodeling and subsequent facilitation of the nuclear reprogramming of bovine SCNT embryos.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.163-168
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• 2003

The reactive oxygen species (ROS) are considered to be an important mediator in pancreatic ${\beta}$ cell destruction, thereby triggering the development of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. In the present study, HIV-1 Tat-mediated transduction of Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutase (SOD) was investigated to evaluate its protective potential against streptozotocin (STZ)-induced cytotoxicity in insulin-producing MIN6N cells. Tat-SOD fusion protein was successfully delivered into MIN6N cells in a dose-dependent manner and the transduced fusion protein was enzymatically active for 48 h. The STZ induced-cell destruction, superoxide anion radical production, and DNA fragmentation of MIN6N cells were significantly decreased in the cells pretreated with Tat-SOD for 1 h. Furthermore, the transduction of Tat-SOD increased Bcl-2 and heat shock protein 70 (hsp70) expressions in cells exposed to STZ, which might be partly responsible for the effect of Tat-SOD. These results suggest that an increased of free radical scavenging activity by transduction of Tat-SOD enhanced the tolerance of the cell against oxidative stress in STZ-treated MIN6N cells. Therefore, this Tat-SOD transduction technique may provide a new strategy to protect the pancreatic ${\beta}$ cell destruction in ROS-mediated diabetes.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.43-53
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• 2021

We examine the effect of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress inhibitor treatment time on the in vitro development of porcine somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos. Porcine SCNT embryos were classified by four groups following treatment time of ER stress inhibitor, tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA; 100 µM); 1) non-treatment group (control), 2) treatment during micromanipulation process and for 3 h after fusion (NT+3 h group), 3) treatment only during in vitro culture after fusion (IVC group), and 4) treatment during micromanipulation process and in vitro culture (NT+IVC group). SCNT embryos were cultured for six days to examine the X-box binding protein 1 (Xbp1) splicing levels, the expression levels of ER stress-associated genes, oxidative stress-related genes, and apoptosis-related genes in blastocysts, and in vitro development. There was no significant difference in Xbp1 splicing level among all groups. Reduced expression of some ER stress-associated genes was observed in the treatment groups. The oxidative stress and apoptosis-related genes were significantly lower in all treatment groups than control (p<0.05). Although blastocyst development rates were not different among all groups (17.5% to 21.7%), the average cell number in blastocysts increased significantly in NT+3 h (48.5±2.3) and NT+IVC (47.7±2.4) groups compared to those of control and IVC groups (p<0.05). The result of this study suggests that the treatment of ER stress inhibitor on SCNT embryos from the micromanipulation process can improve the reprogramming efficiency of SCNT embryos by inhibiting the ER and oxidative stresses that may occur early in the SCNT process.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.396-403
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• 1997

In order to direct the form of the immune response in an antigen-specific manner, we constructed a fusion protein (OVA/IL12) that contained the T cell-dependent antigen, ovalbumin (OVA), covalently linked to murine interleukin-12 (IL-12). The OVA/IL12 protein was produced in a baculovirus expression system and was purified by anti-OVA immunoaffinity chromatography. The purified OVA/ILI2 protein displayed potent IL-12 bioactivity in an IL-12 proliferation assay. BALB/c mice immunized with the OVA/IL12 protein produced increased quantities of anti-OVA IgG2a antibody compared with mice immunized with recombinant OVA alone. Lymph node cells from the immunized mice with the OVA/IL12 protein produced large amounts of IFN-,Y when restimulated in vitro with OVA, while those from mice immunized with the OVA protein produced little or no IFN-.gamma.. In contrast, immunization with a mixture of OVA and free recombinant IL-12 also induced IFN-.gamma. production, which was not OVA-specific. These studies indicate that the OVA/IL12 fusion protein can induce OVA-specific, Th1-dominated immune responses, and that the covalent linkage of OVA and IL-12 confines the effect of IL-12 to OVA-specific cells.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.805-813
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• 1994

Immunohistochemical study on the intestinal tissues obtained from the 21 pigs of the 14 terms in Korea in which the clinical and epidemiological features had indicated the possible outbreaks of porcine epidemic diarrhea(PED) was performed using the indirect immunofluorescence test and/or the immunoperoxidase method in order to detect PED viral antigens in the infected cells of the intestines, and histopathological features were described as well. By immunohistochemical analysis, PED viral antigens were detected in the epithelial cells covering the small intestinal villi and recognized slightly in the cells lining the colonic surface epithelium as well. Occasional fluorescence was also seen in a few intestinal crypt epithelium. On light microscopy, the piglets with PED showed marked villous atrophy and fusion, and severe enterocyte degeneration and desquamation. On the other hand, the older pigs more than 4 week old age was mild villous atrophy and fusion, severe villous epithelial cell proliferation, and moderate mononuclear cell infiltration.