• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.32-41
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• 2008

Background : Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1(MCP-1), one of the CC chemokines, appears to play a significant role in asthma pathogenesis. It was reported that polymorphism in the MCP-1(-2518 A/G promoter) was associated with asthma in Caucasians, but the association of this polymorphism and asthma patients in the Korean population has not yet been clarified. Objective : We investigated the possible association between 2 polymorphisms (-2518 A/G promoter and Cys35Cys) and asthma patients in a Korean population. Materials and Methods : DNA samples were obtained from 86 Korean asthma patients and 270 healthy controls. MCP-1 genomic variants (-2518 A/G promoter and Cys35Cys polymorphism) were detected by PCR-RFLP. Level of MCP-1 was measured by ELISA for each genotype (n=8) (AA, AG, GG) and allele types of -2518 A/G promoter polymorphism for control subjects. Results : The Cys35Cys polymorphism was associated with asthma patients in Korean population [genotype distribution ($X^{2}=16.011$, P<0.001)]. Comparison of the two groups revealed no detectable differences in genotype and allele frequencies of the -2518 A/G polymorphism. Haplotype frequencies analysis revealed significant difference $(X^{2}=51.70$, P<0.001). MCP-1 serum level of subjects with G genotype of -2518 A/G promoter polymorphism was statistically higher than that with AA genotype (P<0.05). Conclusion : Our data indicate that no association exists between the MCP-1 -2518 A/G polymorphism and asthma susceptibility in the Korean population. However, it is noteworthy that the high prevalence of the -2518 G allele in the Korean population suggests a potentially important ethnic variation in the regulation of MCP-1 production. This variation must be considered in gene-association studies in different ethnic populations.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.21-29
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• 2017

Methylation of CpG islands in the promoter region of genes acts as a significant mechanism of epigenetic gene silencing in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). DNA methylation markers are particularly advantageous because DNA methylation is an early event in tumorigenesis, and the epigenetic modification, 5-methylcytosine, is a stable mark. In the present study, we assessed the genome-wide preliminary screening and were to identify novel methylation biomarker candidate in HNSCC. Genome-wide methylation analysis was performed on 10 HNSCC tumors using the Methylated DNA Isolation Assay (MeDIA) CpG island microarray. Validation was done using immunohistochemistry using tissue microarray of 135 independent HNSCC tumors. In addition, in vitro proliferation, migration/invasion assays, RT-PCR and immunoblotting were performed to elucidate molecular regulating mechanisms. Our preliminary validation using CpG microarray data set, immunohisto-chemistry for HNSCC tumor tissues and in vitro functional assays revealed that methylation of the Homeobox B5 (HOXB5) and H6 Family Homeobox 2 (HMX2) could be possible novel methylation biomarkers in HNSCC.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.118-122
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• 1995

Escherichia Coli ornithine transcarbamylase is the enzyme which catalyzes the L-citrulline biosynthesis from L-ornithine and carbamyl phosphate. To facilitate the purification of enzyme which will be used for many biochemical studies such as structure and function relationships and catalytic mechanisms, the cloning and expression of E. coli argI gene for ornithine transcarbamylase was conducted. argI was amplified from genomic DNA of E. coli strain of $DH5{\alpha}$, by polymerization chain reaction (PCR) method. The amplified argI gene was ligated to the prokaryotic expression vector pKK223-3 and used for transformation of E. coli TB2 which was deficient of ornithine transcarbamylase. The over-produced enzyme by the tnansformant was purified by ammonium sulfate fractionation, heat denaturation and affinity chromatography. The result of SDS denaturation gel electrophoresis for the purified enzyme showed a single band of about 38 kDa of ornithine transcarbamylase. Kinetic data for the expressed enzyme gave almost the s?????? values as those of the wild type enzyme. The $k_{cat}$, of the enzyme was $1.0{\times}10^5min^{-1}$, and $K_ms$ for ornithine and carbamyl phosphate were 0.35 mM and 0.06 mM, respectively.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.457-464
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• 2008

Heritability and genetic correlation for reproductive traits in Yorkshire pig breed were estimated using Bayesian method via Gibbs sampling. The data set consisted of 9,609 reproductive records at pig breeding farm in Korea. For estimating those parameters using Gibbs sampling, 5,000 cycles of ‘burn-in’ period were discarded among a total of 55,000 samples. Out of the remaining 50,000 samples, 5,000 estimates by each parameter were retained and used for analyses to avoid any correlation among adjacent samples. The reproductive trait considered in this study were total number of born piglets(TNB) and estimated by two different models. The estimated heritability and permanent environmental effect using Gibbs sampler were 0.12±0.020 and 10.9±1.63, respectively. Estimated genetic correlations considered parities as different traits were distributed from 0.99 to －0.13. Such results indicated that reproductive traits for sows should be considered as different traits.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.118-125
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• 2018

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), but the genes associated with the host immune system can be attributed to the development of TB. The ITGB2 gene encodes the integrin beta 2 chain CD18 protein and is present on chromosome 21. The integrin beta 2 chain is an integrin expressed in leukocytes and plays a very important role in leukocyte maturation and attachment. ITGB2 plays an important role in the phagocytosis of MTB and the aggregation of leukocytes in MTB infections. This study examined the genetic polymorphisms of the ITGB2 gene between the TB case and normal control using Korean genomic and epidemiologic data. As a result, a statistically significant correlation was confirmed in 10 SNPs. The most significant SNP was rs113421921 (OR=0.69, CI: 0.53~0.90, $P=5.8{\times}10^{-3}$). In addition, rs173098, one of the significant 10 SNPs, is possibly located in a binding motif with the transcription factor cofactor p300, and can affect ITGB2 gene expression. These findings suggest that the pathogenesis of TB may be influenced by a range of genetic factors related to the immune function of the host, e.g., the reactions associated with the recruitment and attachment of leukocytes. The results of this study could be used to predict the infection control for tuberculosis in a patient-tailored manner.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.278-288
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• 2014

Background: Panax ginseng Meyer is a traditional medicinal plant famous for its strong therapeutic effects and serves as an important herbal medicine. To understand and manipulate genes involved in secondary metabolic pathways including ginsenosides, transcriptome profiling of P. ginseng is essential. Methods: RNA-seq analysis of adventitious roots of two P. ginseng cultivars, Chunpoong (CP) and Cheongsun (CS), was performed using the Illumina HiSeq platform. After transcripts were assembled, expression profiling was performed. Results: Assemblies were generated from ~85 million and ~77 million high-quality reads from CP and CS cultivars, respectively. A total of 35,527 and 27,716 transcripts were obtained from the CP and CS assemblies, respectively. Annotation of the transcriptomes showed that approximately 90% of the transcripts had significant matches in public databases.We identified several candidate genes involved in ginsenoside biosynthesis. In addition, a large number of transcripts (17%) with different gene ontology designations were uniquely detected in adventitious roots compared to normal ginseng roots. Conclusion: This study will provide a comprehensive insight into the transcriptome of ginseng adventitious roots, and a way for successful transcriptome analysis and profiling of resource plants with less genomic information. The transcriptome profiling data generated in this study are available in our newly created adventitious root transcriptome database (http://im-crop.snu.ac.kr/transdb/index.php) for public use.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.7
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• pp.839-848
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• 2015

A molecular marker is a molecule contained within a sample taken from an organism or other matter. The development of molecular techniques for genetic analysis has led to a great contribution to our knowledge of plant genetics and our understanding of the structure and behavior of various genomes in plants. Recently, functional molecular markers have been developed to detect the presence of major genes from the analysis of pedigreed data in absence of molecular information. DNA markers have developed into many systems based on different polymorphism-detecting techniques or methods such as RFLP, AFLP, RAPD, SSR, SNP, etc. A new class of very useful DNA markers called genic molecular markers utilizing the ever-increasing archives of gene sequence information being accumulated under the EST sequencing projects on a large number of plant species. Functional markers are derived from polymorphic sequences, and are more likely to be involved in phenotypic trait variation. Based on this conceptual framework, the marker systems discussed below are all (gene)-targeted markers, which have the potential to become functional. These markers being part of the cDNA/EST-sequences, are expected to represent the functional component of the genome i.e., gene(s), in contrast to all other random DNA based markers that are developed/generated from the anonymous genomic DNA sequences/domains irrespective of their genic content/information. Especially I sited Poczai et al’ reviews, advances in plant gene-targeted and functional markers. Their reviews may be some useful information to study molecular markers in plants.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.444-450
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• 2013

A Gram-negative, strictly aerobic, non-motile, non-spore-forming, and rod-shaped bacterial strain designated FW-$6^T$ was isolated from a freshwater sample and its taxonomic position was investigated by using a polyphasic approach. Strain FW-$6^T$ grew optimally at $10-42^{\circ}C$ and at pH 7.0 on nutrient and R2A agar. Strain FW-$6^T$ displayed ${\beta}$-glucosidase activity that was responsible for its ability to transform ginsenoside $Rb_1$ (one of the dominant active components of ginseng) to Rd. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, strain FW-$6^T$ was shown to belong to the family Sphingomonadaceae and was related to Novosphingobium aromaticivorans DSM $12444^T$ (98.1% sequence similarity) and N. subterraneum IFO $16086^T$ (98.0%). The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 64.4%. The major menaquinone was Q-10 and the major fatty acids were summed feature 7 (comprising $C_{18:1}{\omega}9c/{\omega}12t/{\omega}7c$), summed feature 4 (comprising $C_{16:1}{\omega}7c/iso-C_{15:0}2OH$), $C_{16:0}$, and $C_{14:0}$ 2OH. DNA and chemotaxonomic data supported the affiliation of strain FW-$6^T$ to the genus Novosphingobium. Strain FW-$6^T$ could be differentiated genotypically and phenotypically from the recognized species of the genus Novosphingobium. The isolate that has ginsenoside converting ability therefore represents a novel species, for which the name Novosphingobium ginsenosidimutans sp. nov. is proposed, with the type strain FW-$6^T$ (= KACC $16615^T$ = JCM $18202^T$).

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.151-160
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• 2005

Genomic DNA samples isolated from Fenneropenaeus chinensis (fleshy prawn; FP) and Palaemon gravieri (Chinese ditch prawn; CDP) collected in the West Sea, off the Korean Peninsula, at Buan, were PCR-amplified repeatedly. The sizes of the DNA fragments generated by seven different primers varied from 50 bp to 1,600 bp. We identified 358 fragments for the FP species and 301 fragments for the CDP species. There were 18 polymorphic fragments (5.03$\%$) for the FP species and 12 (3.99$\%$) for the CDP species. In total, 66 common fragments (average of 9.4 fragments per primer) were observed for the FP species and 44 fragments (average of 6.3 fragments per primer) were observed for the CDP species. The numbers of specific fragments seen for the FP species and CDP species were 38 and 47, respectively. The complexity of the banding patterns varied dramatically between the primers and the two species. In the FP species, a specific fragment of approximately 1,200 bp generated by primer OPB-04 exhibited inter-individual-specific characteristics that were indicative of DNA polymorphisms. Moreover, in the CDP species, a major fragment of approximately 550 bp generated by primer OPB-20 was found to be specific for the CDP. The average bandsharing value between the two prawn species was 0.421$\pm$0.006, and ranged from 0.230 to 0.611. The dendrogram obtained using the data from the seven primers indicated seven genetic clusters: cluster 1, FLESHY 01, 02, 03, and 04; cluster 2, FLESHY 05, 06, and 07; cluster 3, FLESHY 08, 09, 10, and 11; cluster 4, DITCH 13, 14, 16, and 18; cluster 5, DITCH 12, 15, and 17; cluster 6, DITCH 19, 20, and 21; and cluster 7, DITCH 22. The genetic distance between the two prawn species ranged from 0.071 to 0.642. Thus, RAPD-PCR analysis revealed a significant genetic distance between the two prawn species. Using various arbitrary primers, RAPD-PCR may be applied to identify specific/polymorphic markers that are particular to a species and geographic population, and to define genetic diversity, polymorphisms, and similarities among shrimp species.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.287-293
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• 2011

Objectives : The region of chromosome 5p14 is known to be associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The cadherin9 (CDH9) and cadherin10 (CDH10) genes are located in the region of chromosome 5p14 and reported to be associated with ASD in the Caucasian population. We performed an association study to identify if single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located on the CDH9 and CDH10 genes are associated in the Korean population. Methods : Genomic DNA was extracted from the blood of 214 patients with ASD and 258 controls. SNPs selected from two genes were genotyped using an Illumina Golden-Gate Genotyping assay with VeraCode technology. Statistical analysis was performed using SAS and Plink software. Results : All controls and ASD patients were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. In the results of logistic regression analyses for the genotype model and the chi-square test for the allele model, we found that SNPs on the CDH9 and CDH10 genes were not associated with ASD. Conclusion : Our data suggests that the CDH9 and CDH10 genes are not associated with ASD in the Korean population.