• Molecules and Cells
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.423-435
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• 2018

This investigation was aimed at working out the combined role of lncRNA H19, miR-29b and Wnt signaling in the development of colorectal cancer (CRC). In the aggregate, 185 CRC tissues and corresponding para-carcinoma tissues were gathered. The human CRC cell lines (i.e. HT29, HCT116, SW480 and SW620) and normal colorectal mucosa cell line (NCM460) were also purchased. Si-H19, si-NC, miR-29b-3p mimics, miR-29b-3p inhibitor, si-PGRN and negative control (NC) were, respectively, transfected into the CRC cells. Luciferase reporter plasmids were prepared to evaluate the transduction activity of $Wnt/{\beta}-catenin$ signaling pathway, and dual-luciferase reporter gene assay was arranged to confirm the targeted relationship between H19 and miR-29b-3p, as well as between miR-29b-3p and PGRN. Finally, the proliferative and invasive capacities of CRC cells were appraised through transwell, MTT and scratch assays. As a result, overexpressed H19 and down-expressed miR-29b-3p displayed close associations with the CRC patients' poor prognosis (P < 0.05). Besides, transfection with si-H19, miR-29b-3p mimic or si-PGRN were correlated with elevated E-cadherin expression, decreased snail and vimentin expressions, as well as less-motivated cell proliferation and cell metastasis (P < 0.05). Moreover, H19 was verified to directly target miR-29b-3p based on the luciferase reporter gene assay (P < 0.05), and miR-29b-3p also bound to PGRN in a direct manner (P < 0.05). Finally, addition of LiCl ($Wnt/{\beta}-catenin$ pathway activator) or XAV93920 ($Wnt/{\beta}-catenin$ pathway inhibitor) would cause remarkably altered E-cadherin, c-Myc, vimentin and snail expressions, as well as significantly changed transcriptional activity of ${\beta}-catenin/Tcf$ reporter plasmid (P < 0.05). In conclusion, the lncRNA H19/miR-29b-3p/PGRN/Wnt axis counted a great deal for seeking appropriate diagnostic biomarkers and treatment targets for CRC.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.123-132
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• 2005

Melittin,cationic 26-amino acid, is the principal component of the bee venom (BV) which has been used for treatment of inflammatory disease such as arthritis rheumatism NF-kB is activated by subsequent release of inhibitory IkB via activation of a multisubunit IkB kinase (IKK). We previously found that melittin bind to the sulfhydryl group of p50, a subunit of NF-kB. Since sulfhydryl group is present in kinase domain of IKKa and IKKb, melittin could modify IKK activity by protein-protein interaction. We therefore examined effect of melittin on IKK activities in sodium nitroprusside (SNP)-stimulated synoviocyte obtained from RA patients. Melittin suppressed the SNP-induced release of IkB resulted in inhibition of DNA binding activity of NF-kB and NF-kB-dependent luciferase activity. Consistent with the inhibitory effect on NF-kB activation, IKKa and IKKb activities were also suppressed by melittin. Surface plasmon resonance analysis realized that melitin binds to IKKa $(Kd\;=\;1.34{\times}10-9M)$ and IKKb$(Kd\;=\;1.0{\times}10-9M)$. Inhibition of IKKa and IKKb resulted in reduction of the SNP-induced production of inflammatory mediators NO and PGE2 generation. The inhibitory effect of melittin on the IKKs activities, binding affinity of melittin to IKKs, and NO and PGE2 generation were blocked by addition of reducing agents dithiothreitol and glutathione. In addition, melittin did not show inhibitory effect in the transfected Synoviocytes with plasmid carrying dominant negative mutant IKKa (C178A) and IKKb (C179A). These results demonstrate that melittin directly binds to sulfhydryl group of IKKs resulting in IkBrelease, thereby inhibits activation of NF-kB and expression of genes involving in the inflammatory responses.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.140-145
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• 2005

Streptomyces natalensis ATCC27448 produces natamycin, a commercially important macrolide antifungal antibiotic. For molecular genetic study of S. natalensis, we have developed a system for introducing DNA into S. natalensis via conjugal transfer from Escherichia coli. An effective transformation procedure for S. natalensis was established based on transconjugation from E, coli ET12567/pUZ8002 using a ${\Phi}C31$-derived integration vector, pSET152, containing oriT and attP fragments. The high frequency was obtained on MS medium containing 10 mM $MgCl_2$ using $6.25\times10^8$ of E.coli donor cells without heat treatment of spores. In addition, southern blot analysis of exconjugants and the sequence of plasmids containing DNA flanking the insertion sites from the chromosome revealed that S. natalensis contains a single ${\Phi}C31$ attB site and at least a secondary or pseudo attB site. Similar to the case of various Streptomyces species, a single ${\Phi}C31$ attB site of S. natalensis is present within an ORF encoding a pirin-homolog, but a pseudo-attB site is present within a distinct site (GenBank accession no. $YP\_117731$) and also its sequence deviates from the consensus sequences of attB sequence.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.574-582
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• 1992

Exo-xylanase encoded by the xylA gene of Bacillus stearothermoPhillus was produced from Escherichia coli ]M109 carrying a recombinant plasmid pMGL Synthesis of the enzyme was observed to be cell-associated, and about 94% of the enzyme synthesized was located in the cytoplasmic region. The maximum production was attained when the E. coli strain was grown at $37^{\circ}C$ for 8 hours on the medium containing 0.5% fructose, 1.0% tryptone, 1.0% sodium chloride, and 0.5% yeast extract. The exo-xylanase was purified to homogeneity using a combination of salting out with ammonium sulfate, DEAE-Sepharose CL-6B ion exchange chromatography, Sephadex G-IOO gel filtration, and Sephadex G-150 gel filtration. The' purified enzyme was most active at pH 6.0 and $45^{\circ}C$. $Ca^{2+}$ and $Co^{2+}$ activated the exo-xylanase activity by about 20% while $Ag^{2+}$, $Fe^{2+}$, $Mg^{2+}$ and $Zn^{2+}$ inhibited the enzyme activity by up to 60%. The $K_m$, value on p-nitrophenyl-$\beta$-D-xylanopyranoside was 2.75 mM. The enzyme had a pI value of 4.7. The estimated molecular weight of the native protein was 200,000 daL SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis suggested that the native enzyme was a trimer composed of three identical 66,000 da!. polypeptides. The purified enzyme efficiently converted all the xylo-oligosaccharides tested to xylose. It was also confirmed that the enzyme split xylans in an exo-manner even though the degree of hydrolysis was fairly low. The xylanolytic enzyme was, therefore, classified to be one of the few bacterial exo-xylanases lacking transferase activity.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.159-165
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• 2013

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) belong to the transforming growth factor (TGF-${\beta}$) superfamily and are involved in osteoblastic differentiation. The largest TGF-${\beta}$ superfamily subgroup shares genetic homology with human BMPs (hBMPs) and silkworm decapentaplegic (dpp). In addition, hBMPs are functionally interchangeable with Drosophila dpp. Bombyx mori dpp may induce bone formation in mammalian cells. To test this hypothesis, we synthesized the 1,285-base pairs cDNA of full-length B. mori dpp using total RNAs obtained from the fat body of 3-day-old of the $5^{th}$ instar larvae and cloned the cDNA into the pCEP4 mammalian expression vector. Next, B. mori dpp was expressed in C3H10T1/2 cells. The target cells transfected with the pCEP4-Bm dpp plasmid showed biological functions similar to those of osteogenic differentiation induction growth factors such as hBMPs. We determined the relative mRNA expression rates of Runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2), osterix, osteocalcin, and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) to validate the osteoblast-specific differentiation effects of B. mori dpp by performing quantitative real-time RT-PCR. Interestingly, mRNA expression levels of the 3 marker genes except RUNX2, in cells expressing B. mori dpp were much higher than those in control cells and C3H10T1/2 cells transfected with pCEP4. These results suggested that B. mori dpp signaling regulates osterix expression during osteogenic differentiation via RUNX2-independent mechanisms.

• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
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• 1991.04a
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• pp.225-236
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• 1991

The genes encoding the thermostable $\alpha$-amylase and maltogenic amylase from Bacillus lichenciformis were cloned and expressed in E. coli. The recombinant plasmid pTA322 was found to contain a 3.1kb EcoRI genomic DNA fragment of the thermostable $\alpha$-amylase. The cloned $\alpha$-amylase was compared with the B. licheniformis native $\alpha$-amylase. Both $\alpha$-amylase have the same optimal temperature of $70^{\circ}C$ and are stable in the pH range of 6 and 9. The complete nucleotide sequences of the thermostable $\alpha$-amylase gene were determined. It was composed of one open reading rame of 1,536 bp. Start and stop codons are ATG and TAG. From the amino acid sequence deduced from the nucleotide sequence, the cloned thermostable $\alpha$-amylase is composed of 483 amino acid residues and its molecular weight is 55,200 daltons. The content of guanine and cytosine is $47.46mol\%$ and that of third base codon was $53_41mol\%$. The recombinant plasmid, pIJ322 encoding the maltogenic amylase contains a 3.5kb EcoRI-BamHI genomic DNA fragment. The optimal reaction temperature and pH of the maltogenci amylase were $50^{\circ}C$ and 7, respectively. The maltogenic amylase was capable of hydrolysing pullulan, starch and cyclodextrin to produce maltose from starch and panose from pullulan. The maltogenic amylase also showed the transferring activity. The maltogenic amylase gene is composed of one open reading frame of 1,734bp. Start and stop codons are ATG and ATG. At 2bp upstream from start codon, the nucleotide sequence AAAGGGGGAA seems to be the ribosome-binding site(RBS, Shine-Dalgarno sequence). A putative promoter(-35 and-10 regions) was found to be GTTAACA and TGATAAT. From deduced amino acid sequence from the nucleotide srquence, this enzyme was comosed of 578 amino acid residues and its molecular weight was 77,233 daltons. The content of guanine and cytosine was $48.1mol\%$. The new recombinant plasmid, pTMA322 constructed by inserting the thermostable $\alpha$-amylase gene in the EcoRI site of pIJ322 to produce both the thermostable $\alpha$-amylase and the maltogenic amylase were expressed in the E. coli. The two enzymes expressed from E. coli containing pTMA322 was reacted with the $15\%$ starch slurry at $40^{\circ}C$ for 24hours. The distribution of the branched oligosaccharides produced by the single-step process was of the ratio 50 : 50 between small oligosaccharide up DP3 and large oligosaccharide above DP3.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.1890-1893
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• 2007

A bacterium, Burkholderia sp. JBA3, which can mineralize the pesticide parathion, was isolated from an agricultural soil. The strain JBA3 hydrolyzed parathion to p-nitrophenol, which was further utilized as the carbon and energy sources. The parathion hydrolase was encoded by a gene on a plasmid that strain JBA3 harbored, and it was cloned into pUC19 as a 3.7-kbp Sau3AI fragment. The ORF2 (ophB) in the cloned fragment encoded the parathion hydrolase composed of 526 amino acids, which was expressed in E. coli DH10B. The ophB gene showed no significant sequence similarity to most of other reported parathion hydrolase genes.

• The Journal of Korean Society of Virology
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.129-138
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• 1998

Bovine growth hormone (bGH) gene was expressed in an insect Spodoptera frugiperda cell line using a Baculovirus, Hyphantria cunea nuclear polyhedrosis virus (HcNPV). The bGH gene in pbGH plasmid was sequenced and amplified by PCR technique with two primers containing NcoI sites. The bGH gene consisted of 654 bp (217 amino acid residues), the 5'-untranslated region of the cloned bGH cDNA contains 56 bp, and the 3'-untranslated region contains 145 bp and two pallindromic regions. The amplified bGH gene DNA fragment (654 bp) was inserted into the NcoI site of the pHcEVII vector, which was named pHcbGH. The pHcbGH transfer vector DNA and the wild type HcNPV DNA were cotransfected into S. frugiperda cells to construct a recombinant virus. Eight recombinant viruses were selected and named HcbGH. One clone, HcbGH-4-1 showed largest plaque size, therefore the recombinant virus was further studied. The multiplication pattern of the recombinant HcbGH-4-1 was similar to that of the wild type HcNPV. The bGH gene DNA in the HcbGH-4-1 recombinant was confirmed by Southern blot hybridization. The amount of the bGH (217 amino acid residues, 21 kDa) produced in S. frugiperda cells infected with the HcbGH-4-1 recombinant was approximately 5.5 ng per ml ($10^6$ cells) by radioimmunoassay.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.77 no.2
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• pp.199-207
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• 1988

Three clones of Populus alba ${\times}$ P. grandidentata have been tested for susceptibility to Agrobacterium tumefaciens strains A281 and A348. We determined the optimum concentration of kanamycin sulfate for effective selection of leaf disc-derived, transgenic tissues transformed using Agrobacterium binary vector pGA472 containing a neomycin phosphotransferase gene (NPT-II) which confers kanamycin resistance. Of the wild type Ti plasmids contained by the two Agrobacterium strains, pTiBo542 of strain A281 appears to be best suited to serve as a helper plasmid for binary vector systems. A relatively low concentration (10mg/l) of kanamycin sulfate inhibited adventitious shoot initiation from leaf discs on regeneration medium. Transformed kanamycin-resistant calli were obtained by culturing Agrobacterium inoculated leaf discs on selective regeneration medium. The transformed kanamycin-resistant calli continued to grow on regeneration media supplemented with kanamycin sulfate to levels of 50 and 200mg/l. The growth of non-co-cultivated control calli was severely inhibited on regeneration medium containing 50mg/l kanamycin sulfate.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.6 no.5
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• pp.331-335
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• 1996

The second $\beta$-Xylosidase gene (xylB) from Bacillus stearothermophilus was isolated from the genomic library, cloned into pBR322, and subsequently transferred into Escherichia coli HB101. Six out of 10, 000 transformants were selected from the selective LB medium supplemented with p-nitrophenyl-$\alpha$-L-arabinofuranoside (pNPAf) and ampicillin ($50\mu g$/ml) based on their ability to form a yellow ring around the colony. One of the clones was found to harbor the recombinant plasmid with 5.0 kb foreign DNA, which was identical to the $\alpha$-L-arabinofuranosidase gene (arfI) previously cloned in this lab, while the other five had 3.5 kb of the foreign DNA. Southern blotting experiments confirmed that the 3.5 kb insert DNA was from B. stearothermophilus chromosomal DNA. A zymogram with 4-methylumbelliferyl-$\alpha$-L-arabinofuranoside as the enzyme substrate revealed that the cloned gene product was one of the mutiple $\alpha$-L-arabinofuranosidases produced by B. stearothermophilus. Unlike the arfI gene product, the product of the gene on the insert DNA (xylB) showed an activity not only on pNPAf but also on oNPX suggesting that the cloned gene product could be a bifunctional enzyme having both $\alpha$-L-arabinofuranosidase and $\beta$-xylosidase activities.