• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• 제11권1호
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• pp.1-10
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• 2011

Interleukin-7 (IL-7) is an essential cytokine for T cells. However, IL-7 is not produced by T cells themselves such that T cells are dependent on extrinsic IL-7. In fact, in the absence of IL-7, T cell development in the thymus as well as survival of naive T cells in the periphery is severely impaired. Furthermore, modulating IL-7 availability in vivo either by genetic means or other experimental approaches determines the size, composition and function of the T cell pool. Consequently, understanding IL-7 expression is critical for understanding T cell immunity. Until most recently, however, the spatiotemporal expression of in vivo IL-7 has remained obscured. Shortage of such information was partly due to scarce expression of IL-7 itself but mainly due to the lack of adequate reagents to monitor IL-7 expression in vivo. This situation dramatically changed with a recent rush of four independent studies that describe the generation and characterization of IL-7 reporter mice, all utilizing bacterial artificial chromosome transgene technology. The emerging consensus of these studies confirmed thymic stromal cells as the major producers of IL-7 but also identified IL-7 reporter activities in various peripheral tissues including skin, intestine and lymph nodes. Strikingly, developmental and environmental cues actively modulated IL-7 reporter activities in vivo suggesting that IL-7 regulation might be a new mechanism of shaping T cell development and homeostasis. Collectively, the availability of these new tools opens up new venues to assess unanswered questions in IL-7 biology in T cells and beyond.

• 대한의생명과학회지
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• 제15권1호
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• pp.31-35
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• 2009

High blood pressure (BP) is the most frequent risk factor among metabolic syndrome components. The control of hypertension is very important to prevent the cardiovascular risk in metabolic syndrome. The dysfunction of calcium channel is responsible in the regulation of the vascular muscle contribution to hypertension. Calcium channel, voltage-dependent, P/Q type, alpha-1A subunit (CACNA1A) gene is located in brain and known to control the intracranial hypertension. In this study, we investigate whether the polymorphisms of CACNA1A gene is associated with hypertension. The 49 CACNA1A genotypes were determined using the Affymetrix Genotyping chip array in 92 hypertension and 279 control individuals from a Korean population. Logistic and multiple regression models were employed to analyze the genetic contributions of polymorphisms. Out of 49 polymorphisms, six SNPs (rs12611029, rs16035, rs7259944, rs10419472, rs17777900, and rs4926294) showed a significant association with hypertension in three alternative models (codominant, dominant, and recessive models; P<0.05 after adjusting for age and sex). Our results suggest that the CACNA1A gene may be associated with hypertension in the Korean population.

• 생명과학회지
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• 제16권4호
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• pp.699-703
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• 2006

옥수수(Zea mays)는 단성화 식물로서 암꽃과 수꽃이 한 식물체내에 분리되어서 존재하며 수정시 이질성을 높이는 방향으로 진화되었다. 암꽃과 수꽃 각각은 단성화 상태로 분화하기 전에 한 개의 암술과 세 개의 수술 원시세포가 동일하게 형성된다. 옥수수가수꽃으로 분화할 때는 암술 원시세포에서 세포사멸 현상이 일어나는데 이것은 TASSELSEED 유전자들에 의해 매개된다. 이와 대조적으로 암꽃의 암술에서는 TASSELSEED 유전자들에 의한 세포사멸이 억제되는데 여기에는 SILKLESS1 유전자가 관여한다. 한편, 암꽃의 수술에서는 세포주기 멈춤 현상이 오랜 시간 지속되다가 결국에는 수술이 죽게 된다. 이때 세포주기를 조절하는 유전자인 CYCLIN B 와 WEE1 유전자가 이 과정에 참여한다. 이와 더불어, 지베렐린 생합성의 시간적 공간적 조절이 수술의 세포주기 멈춤의 원인이 된다. 본 총설에서는 옥수수의 성 결정 과정 중에 일어나는 세포사멸, 세포 방어, 세포주기 멈춤에 대하여 분자세포 발생 생물학 및 유전학적인 견지에서 고찰하였다.

• 대한예방한의학회지
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• 제12권3호
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• pp.81-90
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• 2008

Objectives : The pathophysiology of ICH is not fully understood, therefore, the fundamental therapeutic strategies for ICH also not well inspected either. The genetic profile for the effect of Carthami Flos extract on cerebral hemorrhage in rat brain tissue was measured using microarray technique. Genes displaying expressional change on brain damage were selected and the functional analysis on these genes was conducted. Methods : Rats were placed in a stereotaxic frame after intraperitoneal injection of chloralhydrate, and ICH was induced by injection of collagenase type IV and Carthami Flos extract was administered orally. The molecular profile of cerebral hemorrhage in rat brain tissue was measured using microarray technique to identify up- or down- regulated genes in brain tissue. Results : Upon treatment with Carthami Flos extract on the rat having brain damage, many genes show expressional change. The pattern of gene expressional change can be classified into 8 classes in which two types of classes were composed of recovered genes from up or down-regulation by brain damage, respectively. Conclusions : Further analysis using protein interaction database identified some key molecules that can be used for elucidation of therapeutical mechanism of Carthami Flos extract in future.

• 한국작물학회지
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• 제64권4호
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• pp.432-440
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• 2019

Global climate change exerts adverse effects on maize production. Among abiotic stresses, drought stress during the tasseling stage (VT) can increase anthesis-silking intervals (ASI) and decrease yield. We performed an evaluation of ASI and yield using a drought-sensitive line (Ki3) and a drought-tolerant line (Ki11) to analyze the correlation with ASI and yield. Moreover, the de novo data of Ki11 were analyzed to find putative novel transcripts related todrought stress in tropical maize. A total of 182 transcripts, with a log2 ratio >1.5, were found by comparing drought conditions to a control. The top 40 transcripts of high expression levels in the de novo analysis were selected and analyzed with PCR. Of the 40 transcripts, six novel transcripts were detected by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) using seedling and VT stage samples. Five transcripts (transcripts_1, 12, 34, 35, and 40) were up-regulated in the Ki11 shoot at seedling stage, and transcripts_1, 12, and 40 were up-regulated at the re-watering stage after 12 h of drought stress. The transcripts_32 and 34 were up-regulated at the VT stage. Hence, transcript_34 possibly plays a significant role in drought tolerance during the seedling and VT stages. The transcript_32 was identified as chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) by Pfam domain analysis. The function of the other transcripts remained unknown. Further characterization of these novel transcripts in genetic regulation will be of great value for the improvement of maize production.

• 한국동물생명공학회지
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• 제35권1호
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• pp.73-85
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• 2020

A high-cholesterol diet can reduce male fertility. However, it is not known whether a high-cholesterol diet can regulate the expression of genes involved in sperm maturation and sperm fertilizing ability. Quercetin, a natural product, is known to have cytoprotective effects by regulating lipid metabolism in various cell types. This study aimed to confirm the expression of genes involved in sperm maturation in the testes of mice fed a high-cholesterol diet and to determine whether quercetin can reverse the genetic regulation of cholesterol. Mice were divided into groups fed a normal chow diet and a high-cholesterol diet. Mice fed the high-cholesterol diet were dose-dependently supplemented with quercetin for 6 weeks. Investigations using quantitative PCR and in situ hybridization revealed that the high-cholesterol diet alters the expression of genes associated with sperm maturation in the testes of mice, and this was reversed with the supplementation of quercetin. In addition, the high-cholesterol diet regulated the expression of genes related to lipid metabolism in the liver of mice. Under a high-cholesterol diet, quercetin can improve male fertility by regulating the expression of genes involved in sperm maturation.

• Molecules and Cells
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• 제28권5호
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• pp.455-461
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• 2009

Calcineurin is a $Ca^{2+}$/Calmodulin activated Ser/Thr phosphatase that is well conserved from yeast to human. It is composed of catalytic subunit A (CnA) and regulatory subunit B (CnB). C. elegans homolog of CnA and CnB has been annotated to tax-6 and cnb-1, respectively and in vivo function of both genes has been intensively studied. In C. elegans, calcineurin play roles in various signaling pathways such as fertility, movement, body size regulation and serotonin-mediated egg laying. In order to understand additional signaling pathway(s) in which calcineurin functions, we screened for binding proteins of TAX-6 and found a novel binding protein, HLH-11. The HLH-11, a member of basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) proteins, is a putative counterpart of human AP4 transcription factor. Previously bHLH transcription factors have been implicated to regulate many developmental processes such as cell proliferation and differentiation, sex determination and myogenesis. However, the in vivo function of hlh-11 is largely unknown. Here, we show that hlh-11 is expressed in pharynx, intestine, nerve cords, anal depressor and vuvla muscles where calcineurin is also expressed. Mutant analyses reveal that hlh-11 may have role(s) in regulating body size and reproduction. More interestingly, genetic epistasis suggests that hlh-11 may function to regulate serotoninmediated egg laying at the downstream of tax-6.

• 생물치료정신의학
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• 제24권3호
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• pp.129-141
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• 2018

Suicide is a behavior that is intended to cause death by itself and requires medical treatment, resulting in suicidal attempt or completion. Suicide causes loss of life, damages the body, costs a lot of medical expenses, and causes families to fall into sorrow and suffering therefore this suicide is a huge loss to family and society. There have been attempts to reduce and prevent suicide by understanding the mechanism of suicide. The mechanism of suicide can be thought of as psychological mechanism and biological mechanism. In the past, if we considered the psychological and biological mechanisms separately, the development of neuroscience now connects and integrates these two. Psychological factors affect biological factors and biological temperaments also affect perception or thinking about the situation and increase psychological vulnerability. Distant factors in suicidal behavior-such as childhood adversity and family and genetic predisposition-increase the lifetime risk of suicide. They alter the response to stress and other processes through changes in gene expression and regulation of emotional and behavioral characteristics. Distant factors affect the biological system and consequently changes in these systems can increase the risk of suicide. In other words, the distal factor does not directly induce suicidal behavior but rather acts indirectly through developmental or mediating factors. These mediating factors are impulsive aggressive and anxious trait, and chronic use of substances. The mechanism of this disorder is the abnormality of the serotonin system and the abnormality of the lipid level. Proximal factors are associated with the onset of suicide events and include changes in the major neurotransmitter systems, inflammatory changes, and dysfunction of glial cells in the brain. A series of studies, including a variety of research methods and postmortem and in-vivo imaging studies, show the impairment of the serotonergic neurotransmitter system and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis stress response system for suicidal behavior. These disorders lead to suicidal behavior due to difficulty in cognitive control of mood, pessimism, reactive aggression, abnormality in problem solving abilities, excessive response to negative social signals, severe emotional distress, and cognitive dysregulation of suicidal ideation.

• 지질동맥경화학회지
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• 제7권2호
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• pp.122-154
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• 2018

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is typically associated with single gene mutation that is inherited by autosomal dominant manner. Due to high cardiovascular risk, aggressive discovery, diagnosis, and treatment of FH are critical. Although FH is being increasingly spotlighted, we do not have sufficient data on Korean patients with FH. Here, we present the content of symposium of the Education Committee, Korean Society of Lipid and Atherosclerosis held in May 2018: 1) epidemiology, clinical diagnosis, Korean FH data, and regulation in Korea; 2) genes associated with FH, sequencing process in suspicious proband, cascade screening, and difficulty in genetic diagnosis in FH; 3) the importance of lipid-lowering therapy in FH, conventional and novel therapeutics for FH; 4) diagnosis of FH in children and adolescence, screening, and treatment of FH in children and adolescence; 5) history of FH studies in Korea, the structure and current status of FH registry of Korean Society of Lipid and Atherosclerosis; and 6) difficulty in diagnosis of heterozygous and homozygous FH, drug intolerance and achievement of treatment target. Discussion between speakers and panels were also added. We hope that this article is helpful for understanding FH and future studies performed in Korea.

• Toxicological Research
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• 제35권3호
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• pp.257-270
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• 2019

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been widely used in a variety of applications in innovative development; consequently, people are more exposed to this particle. Growing concern about toxicity from AgNP exposure has attracted greater attention, while questions about nanosilver-responsive genes and consequences for human health remain unanswered. By considering early detection and prevention of nanotoxicology at the genetic level, this study aimed to identify 1) changes in gene expression levels that could be potential indicators for AgNP toxicity and 2) morphological phenotypes correlating to toxicity of HepG2 cells. To detect possible nanosilver-responsive genes in xenogenic targeted organs, a comprehensive systematic literature review of changes in gene expression in HepG2 cells after AgNP exposure and in silico method, connection up- and down-regulation expression analysis of microarrays (CU-DREAM), were performed. In addition, cells were extracted and processed for transmission electron microscopy to examine ultrastructural alterations. From the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) Series database, we selected genes that were up- and down-regulated in AgNPs, but not up- and down-regulated in silver ion exposed cells, as nanosilver-responsive genes. HepG2 cells in the AgNP-treated group showed distinct ultrastructural alterations. Our results suggested potential representative gene data after AgNPs exposure provide insight into assessment and prediction of toxicity from nanosilver exposure.