• Animal cells and systems
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.191-198
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• 2007

The ultrastructure of germ cells and follicle cells during oogenesis, oocyte degeneration, reproductive cycle, and first sexual maturity in female Cyclina sinensis were investigated for clams collected from Simpo, Jeollabuk-do, Korea, by cytological and histological observations. Vitellogenesis occured by way of endogeous autosynthesis and exogenous heterosynthesis: vitellogensis occurred through a process of autosynthesis, which involves a combined activities of the Golgi complex, mitochondria, and rough endoplasmic reticulum. The process of heterosynthesis involved endocytotic incorporation of extraovarian precursors into the basal region of the early vitellogenic oocytes prior to the formation of vitelline envelope. The follicle cells appear to play an integral role in vitellogenesis and oocyte degeneration, functioning in phagocytosis and digestion of products originating from the degenerated oocytes: these functions can permit the transfer of yolk precursors needed for vitellogenesis. Follicle cells might have a lysosomal system for breakdown and might also resorb phagosomes in the cytoplasm for nutrient storage during oocyte degeneration.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.42 no.11
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• pp.794-803
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• 2019

Ultraviolet light (UV)-induced cellular response has been studied by numerous investigators for many years. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as new regulators of diverse cellular process; however, little is known about the role of lncRNAs in the cellular response to UV treatment. Here, we demonstrate that levels of lncRNA-HOTTIP significantly increases after UV stimulation and regulates the UV-mediated cellular response to UV through the coordinate activation of its neighboring gene Hoxa13 in GC-1 cells (spermatogonia germ cell line). UV-induced, G2/M-phase arrest and early apoptosis can be regulated by lncRNA-HOTTIP and Hoxa13. Furthermore, lncRNA-HOTTIP can up-regulate ${\gamma}-H_2AX$ and p53 expression via Hoxa13 in UV-irradiated GC-1 cells. In addition, p53 has the ability to regulate the expression of both lncRNA-HOTTIP and Hoxa13 in vitro and in vivo. Our results provide new data regarding the role lncRNAs play in the UV response in spermatogenic cells.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.157-165
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• 2001

Sertoli cells in the normal adult testis are nondividing cells, which are relatively inconspicuous on cross section of the seminiferous tubule and comprise about 10% to 15% of the tubular cellular elements. Ultrastructurally, Sertoli cells have characteristic nucleoli, plasma membrane, and cytoplasmic components. The plasma membrane has two types of intercellular junctions which are developed at puberty: junctions between adjacent Sertoli cells and Sertoli cell-germ ceil junction. However, the ultrastructural findings of Sertoli cells in human fetus is not fully elucidate yet. In the present study, human fetal testes ($14\sim27$ weeks) obtained from artificially induced abortions legally without gross malformation were studied using transmission electron microscopy to make clear the differentiation process of Sertoli cells in human. In human fetal testes from 14 weeks to 27 weeks, the cell junctions of Sertoli-germ cells and Sertoli-Sertoli cells are desmosome like structure and not tight junction or desmosome. The Overall intracytoplasmic organelles of Sertoli cells are relatively sparse. The mitochondrias are relatively abundant but no developed cristae. And the rough endoplasmic reticuli are abundant and smooth endoplasmic reticuli are sparse. The amount of lipid droplets are regularly observed in human fetal Sertoli cells. No microfilaments or Charcot-Bottcher's crystalloids are present. From the results, Sertoli cells in human fetal testes are somewhat different ultrastructural findings with puberty or adult. However, to make clear the differentiation process of Sertoli cells in human, further study for 28 weeks to puberty is required.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.65-70
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• 2004

In mammals, male and female germline stem cells are derived from primodial germ cells. Despite many efforts to identify stem cells from gonads, there has been little successe to identify germline stem cells yet. In this study, we isolate and characterized porcine germline stem cells using only stem cell markers that are prevalently expressed in various tissues. Gonadal cells derived from both male and female formed colonies and showed AP activities and different lectin binding properties. Pluripotency of germline stem cells was also identified by positive signals against putative stem cells markers such as SSEA-1 and SSEA-3. In addition, nestin was also found in primary gonad cells that have a similar morphology to the AP-positive cells. The nestin expression suggests that the germline stem cells may have similar expression of the prevalent stem cell markers found in other tissues. The demonstration of nestin expression together with pluripotent cell markers calls further investigation of the possible differentiation of nestin-positive cells into neurons.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.193-198
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• 2008

The current study was designed to extend the technique of spermatogonial transplantation to economically important pig model We evaluated the efficiency of pig to pig transplantation. Donor testis cells were harvested from testes obtained at castration of 10- to 14-day-old boars and were labeled with fluorescent marker(PKH26) before transplantation. The presence of infused dye or labeled pig testicular cells was confirmed in the seminiferous tubules from recipient pig. The most effective procedure of intratubular germ cell transfer was to insert an fine needle ($21{\sim}25$ gauge) through the cauda epididymis and testis into the rete testis under ultrasound guidance. Infusion of $5{\sim}7ml$ of dye solution or cell suspension could fill the rete and up to 50% of seminiferous tubules of 14-week-old boars. Testis were examined for the presence and localization of labeled donor cells immediately after transplantation and labeled donor cells were found in numerous seminiferous tubules from recipient pig testes. These results indicate that germ cell transplantation is feasible in recipient pig testis. This study represents successful spermatogonial transplantation between individual animals in a livestock species.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.471-480
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• 2024

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the regulation relationship of Ten-eleven translocation 1 (Tet1) in DNA demethylation and the proliferation of primordial germ cells (PGCs) in chickens. Methods: siRNA targeting Tet1 was used to transiently knockdown the expression of Tet1 in chicken PGCs, and the genomic DNA methylation status was measured. The proliferation of chicken PGCs was detected by flow cytometry analysis and cell counting kit-8 assay when activation or inhibition of Wnt4/β-catenin signaling pathway. And the level of DNA methylation and hisotne methylation was also tested. Results: Results revealed that knockdown of Tet1 inhibited the proliferation of chicken PGCs and downregulated the mRNA expression of Cyclin D1 and cyclin-dependent kinase 6 (CDK6), as well as pluripotency-associated genes (Nanog, PouV, and Sox2). Flow cytometry analysis confirmed that the population of PGCs in Tet1 knockdown group displayed a significant decrease in the proportion of S and G2 phase cells, which meant that there were less PGCs entered the mitosis process than that of control. Furthermore, Tet1 knockdown delayed the entrance to G1/S phase and this inhibition was rescued by treated with BIO. Consistent with these findings, Wnt/β-catenin signaling was inactivated in Tet1 knockdown PGCs, leading to aberrant proliferation. Further analysis showed that the methylation of the whole genome increased significantly after Tet1 downregulation, while hydroxyl-methylation obviously declined. Meanwhile, the level of H3K27me3 was upregulated and H3K9me2 was downregulated in Tet1 knockdown PGCs, which was achieved by regulating Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Conclusion: These results suggested that the self-renewal of chicken PGCs and the maintenance of their characteristics were regulated by Tet1 mediating DNA demethylation through the activation of Wnt4/β-catenin signaling pathway.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.228-236
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• 2019

CD4 T cells differentiate into $ROR{\gamma}t/IL$-17A-expressing cells in the small intestine following colonization by segmented filamentous bacteria (SFB). However, it remains unclear whether SFB-specific CD4 T cells can differentiate directly from naïve precursors, and whether their effector differentiation is solely directed towards the Th17 lineage. In this study, we used adoptive T cell transfer experiments and showed that naïve CD4 T cells can migrate to the small intestinal lamina propria (sLP) and differentiate into effector T cells that synthesize IL-17A in response to SFB colonization. Using single cell RT-PCR analysis, we showed that the progenies of SFB responding T cells are not uniform but composed of transcriptionally divergent populations including Th1, Th17 and follicular helper T cells. We further confirmed this finding using in vitro culture of SFB specific intestinal CD4 T cells in the presence of cognate antigens, which also generated heterogeneous population with similar features. Collectively, these findings indicate that a single species of intestinal bacteria can generate a divergent population of antigen-specific effector CD4 T cells, rather than it provides a cytokine milieu for the development of a particular effector T cell subset.

• Proceedings of the KSAR Conference
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• 2002.06a
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• pp.22-22
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• 2002

Identification of spermatogonial stern cell-specific surface molecules is important in understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying the maintenance and differentiation of these cells. We have found that spermatogonia from busulfan treated mice expressed an autoantigen that distinguishes between undifferentiated and differentiated spermatogonia. Four to six weeks after busulfan treatment, germ cells located in the basal compartment of seminiferous epithelium show isotype-specific IgG deposits that form due to autoimmunity. (omitted)

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Embryo Transfer Conference
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• 2002.06a
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• pp.19-25
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• 2002

Researches on manipulation pluripotent stem cells derived from blastocysts or promordial germ cells (PGCs) have a great advantages for developing innovative technologies in various fields of life science including medicine, pharmaceutics, and biotechnology. Since the first isolation in the mouse embryos, stem cells or stem cell-like colonies have been continuously established in the mouse of different strains, cattle, pig, rabbit, and human. In the animal species, stem cell biology is important for developing transgenic technology including disease model animal and bioreactor production. ES cell can be isolated from the inner cell mass of blastocysts by either mechanical operation or immunosurgery. So, mass production of blastocyst is a prerequisite factor for successful undertaking ES cell manipulation. In the case of animal ES cell research, various protocol of gamete biotechnology can be applied for improving the efficiency of stem cell research. Somatic cell nuclear transfer technique can be applied to researches on animal ES cells, since it is powerful tool for producing clone embryos containing genes of interest. In this presentation, a brief review was made for explaining how somatic cell nuclear transfer technology could contribute to improving stem cell manipulation technology.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.465-472
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• 2019

Candida albicans is an opportunistic human pathogen that causes infections. Candidiasis is often related to antifungal resistance because the pathogen has the ability to form biofilms. In a previous study, we found that the Salvia miltiorriza ethanol extract demonstrated anticandidal activity by altering membrane permeability and inhibiting the cell wall synthesis in C. albicans. Our results here demonstrate that $78{\mu}g/ml$ of the S. miltiorriza extract significantly diminished the early stage biofilms formed by 10 clinical C. albicans isolates by 51.3%; this was analyzed by 2,3-Bis-(2-methoxy-4-nitro-5-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium-5-carboxanilide salt (XTT) reduction assay. The effect of the S. miltiorrhiza extract on the adhesion of C. albicans cells to polystyrene plates and germ tube formation was examined via microscopic investigation. Although the density of the adhered cells was remarkably reduced up on incubation with $39{\mu}g/ml$ S. miltiorrhiza extract, germ tube formation by C. albicans was rarely affected. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis showed that the S. miltiorrhiza extract downregulated the expression of C. albicans hypha-specific genes, EAP1 by 34.7% (p < 0.001), ALS1 by 45.0% (p < 0.001), ALS3 by 48.1% (p < 0.001), and ECE1 by 21.3% (p = 0.006), respectively. Our data suggest that the S. miltiorrhiza ethanol extract significantly inhibited the early stage of biofilm formation by C. albicans by interfering with cell adhesion, by downregulating EAP1, ALS1 and ALS3, and presumably by modifying the cell wall and membrane structure.