• Journal of Marine Life Science
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.79-87
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• 2016

Heavy metals such as cadmium (Cd) are highly toxic to aquatic organisms and human, even at trace concentration. Herein we investigated the effect of Cd on the gene expression of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters and glutathione S-transferase (GST) in marine ciliate Euplotes crassus. Seven ABC transporters and one GST genes were partially cloned and sequences, and thereafter, transcriptional modulation of these genes after exposure to Cd for 8 h was investigated using quantitative real time RT- PCR (qRT-PCR). As results, sequence analysis and phylogenetic study revealed that E. crassus ABCs are likely typical ABC transports, in particular, B/C family, and GST gene may be similar to GST theta isoform. A significant increase in the expression of ABCs, except for ABCB21 was observed in a concentration dependent manner after exposure to Cd (0.1 and 0.5 mg/l) for 8 h. The GST mRNA level was the highest at 0.5 mg/l Cd and then reduced until control level. These findings suggest that ABCs and GST may be involved in a protective mechanism against Cd-mediated toxicity in E. crassus.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.9
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• pp.1507-1515
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• 2018

Objective: In the poultry industry, the most important economic traits are meat quality and carcass yield. Thus, many studies were conducted to investigate the regulatory pathways during muscle differentiation. To gain insight of muscle differentiation mechanism during growth period, we identified and validated calcium-related genes which were highly expressed during muscle differentiation through mRNA sequencing analysis. Methods: We conducted next-generation-sequencing (NGS) analysis of mRNA from undifferentiated QM7 cells and differentiated QM7 cells (day 1 to day 3 of differentiation periods). Subsequently, we obtained calcium related genes related to muscle differentiation process and examined the expression patterns by quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Results: Through RNA sequencing analysis, we found that the transcription levels of six genes (troponin C1, slow skeletal and cardiac type [TNNC1], myosin light chain 1 [MYL1], MYL3, phospholamban [PLN], caveolin 3 [CAV3], and calsequestrin 2 [CASQ2]) particularly related to calcium regulation were gradually increased according to days of myotube differentiation. Subsequently, we validated the expression patterns of calcium-related genes in quail myoblasts. These results indicated that TNNC1, MYL1, MYL3, PLN, CAV3, CASQ2 responded to differentiation and growth performance in quail muscle. Conclusion: These results indicated that calcium regulation might play a critical role in muscle differentiation. Thus, these findings suggest that further studies would be warranted to investigate the role of calcium ion in muscle differentiation and could provide a useful biomarker for muscle differentiation and growth.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.29-34
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• 2010

Follicular cystic ovary (FCO) is one of the major causes of reproductive failure in cattle. Genetic alterations affect the function of diverse cells and/or tissues, which could be present in cystic ovaries. A microarray analysis was performed to screen differential gene expressions in follicular cystic follicles of cattle. In this study, we hypothesized that follicular cysts may be induced by changes in ion- and transporter-related gene expression. Microarray data showed that fibrinogen-gamma (FGG) and low density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 8 (LRP8) were up-regulated, while choline transporter-like protein 4 (SLC44A4), very long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase homolog 2 (SLC27A5), annexin 8 (ANXA8), and aquaporin 4 were down-regulated in follicular cystic follicles. A semi-quantitative RT-PCR was carried out to validate DEGs altered in follicular cystic follicles. Of six DEGs, three DEGs (FGG, SLC44A4, and aquaporin 4) showed a positive correlation between microarray and semi-quantitative PCR data. We focused on FGG, among three DEGs, which was highly up-regulated in follicular cystic follicles. The FGG mRNA was upregulated by 8.4-fold and by 1.7-fold in the bovine follicular cystic follicles as judged by microarray and RT-PCR analysis, respectively. However, there was no significant changes in the expression level of FGG protein in both follicular cystic follicles and granulosa cells isolated from follicular cystic follicles by Western blot analysis. Although this study does not reveal a positive correlation between the mRNA and protein level, FGG appears to be an important biomarker in the discrimination of follicular cyst from normal ovary.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.17-24
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• 2010

In the antral follicle phase, several layers of cumulus cells surround the oocyte and play an important support and regulation role in oocyte development and maturation via intercellular communications and interactions between oocytes and cumulus cells. However, information on stage specific gene expression in swine during the phase is not well understood. To investigate the function of cumulus cells during in vitro maturation of porcine oocytes and gene expression, suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) was performed to screen genes that were differentially expressed between cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) and naked oocytes (NOs). Utilizing mRNAs from in vitro maturation oocytes, a SSH cDNA library from COCs as the tester and NOs as the driver was constructed. The SSH cDNA library was then screened using dot blot analysis. Results showed that a total of 70 clones randomly selected from the library were differentially expressed. Among these, 41 exhibited high homology to known genes and 11 were novel expressed sequences tags (ESTs). Four differentially expressed genes, including bfgf, sprouty 2, egr and btc, were further studied by real time quantitative PCR; results confirmed an increased expression of respective mRNA in COCs compared with NOs, which suggests that these factors may play an important role in oocyte development and maturation.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.7-12
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• 2018

Laboratory animal models have been developed to investigate preventive or therapeutic effect of medicinal products, or occurrence or progression mechanism of atopic dermatitis (AD), a pruritic and persistent inflammatory skin disease. The murine model with immunologic phenomena resembling human AD was introduced, which demonstrated skewedness toward predominance of type-2 helper T cell reactivity and pathophysiological changes similar as human AD following 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) sensitization and challenge. Molecular mechanism on the DNCB-mediated AD was further evaluated. Skin tissues were collected from mice treated with DNCB, and each tissue was equally divided into two sections; one for protein and the other for mRNA analysis. Expression of filaggrin, an important protein for keratinocyte integrity, was evaluated through SDS-PAGE. Level of mRNA expression for cytokines was determined through semi-quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Expression of filaggrin protein was significantly enhanced in the mice treated with DNCB compared with the vehicle (acetone : olive oil = 4 : 1 mixture) treatment group or the normal group without any treatment. Level of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-18 mRNA expression, cytokines involved in activity of type-1 helper T ($T_H1$) cell, was significantly downregulated in the AD group compared with other control groups. These results suggest that suppression of $T_H1$ cell-mediated immune response could be reflected into the skin tissue of mice treated with DNCB for AD induction, and disturbance of keratinocyte integrity might evoke a compensatory mechanism.

• 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.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.23
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• pp.10299-10306
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• 2015

The esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is thought to develop through a multi-stage process. Epigenetic gene silencing constitutes an alternative or complementary mechanism to mutational events in tumorigenesis. Posttranscriptional regulation of human leukocyte antigen class I (HLA-I) and antigen processing machinery (APM) proteins expression may be associated with novel epigenetic modifications in cancer development. In the present study, we determined the expression levels of HLA-I antigen and APM components by immunohistochemistry. Then by a bisulfite-sequencing PCR (BSP) approach, we identified target CpG islands methylated at the gene promoter region of APM family genes in a ESCC cell line (ECa109), and further quantitative analysis of CpG site specific methylation of these genes in cases of Kazakh primary ESCCs with corresponding non-cancerous esophageal tissues using the Sequenom MassARRAY platform. Here we showed that the development of ESCCs was accompanied by partial or total loss of protein expression of HLA-B, TAP2, LMP7, tapasin and ERp57. The results demonstrated that although no statistical significance was found of global target CpG fragment methylation level sof HLA-B, TAP2, tapasin and ERp57 genes between ESCC and corresponding non-cancerous esophageal tissues, there was significant differences in the methylation level of several single sites between the two groups. Of thesse only the global methylation level of LMP7 gene target fragments was statistically higher ($0.0517{\pm}0.0357$) in Kazakh esophageal cancer than in neighboring normal tissues ($0.0380{\pm}0.0214$, p<0.05). Our results suggest that multiple CpG sites, but not methylation of every site leads to down regulation or deletion of gene expression. Only some of them result in genetic transcription, and silencing of HLA-B, ERp57, and LMP7 expression through hypermethylation of the promoters or other mechanisms may contribute to mechanisms of tumor escape from immune surveillance in Kazakh esophageal carcinogenesis.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.2785-2791
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• 2015

The purpose of the study was to determine the effects of autophagy related gene Beclin1 at different levels of expression on the sensitivity of cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer cells (SKOV3/DDP) to different chemotherapeutics. In pSUPER-Beclin1 transfected cells, real-time fluorescence quantitative RT-PCR and Western blot analysis showed that expression was significantly inhibited. Flow cytometry revealed that the mean fluorescence intensity (MDC), reflecting autophagy, and cells in the G0/G1 phase were markedly reduced. When compared with the blank control group, inhibition of Beclin1 expression in SKOV3/DDP cells not only increased the rate of apoptosis following treatment with chemotherapeutics, but also increased the sensitivity. These findings suggest that Beclin1 expression plays an important role in chemotherapeutic agent-induced death of SKOV3/DDP cells. Inhibition of autophagy related gene Beclin1 expression in SKOV3/DDP cells may increase the rate of apoptosis and elevate the sensitivity to chemotherapeutics.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.106-112
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• 2018

The aim of this research was to determine the diverse effects of Sappan Lignum extract and brazilin on human keratinocyte HaCaT cells. We confirmed the antioxidant effect of Sappan Lignum extract and brazilin was analyzed by using an ABTS assay, confirming the efficacy of water extraction method. Also, we examined effect of Sappan Lignum extract and brazilin on the cell viability, using the MTS assay in HaCaT cells. mRNA expression levels of tight junction-related genes associated with skin barrier in HaCaT cells were analyzed using quantitative real-time PCR analysis. Sappan Lignum extract increased the cellular activity of HaCaT cells and the expression of the tight junction-related genes claudin 3, claudin 6, and ZO-2. Brazilin displayed the same effects as that of the extract on HaCaT cells activity and tight junction-related genes expression. Furthermore, dispase assay demonstrated altered cell-cell adhesion strength of Sappan Lignum extract or brazilin treated HaCaT cells. Sappan Lignum extract or brazilin might be an useful ingredient in skin-mosturizinng and anti-wrinkle cosmetics, given its effects of altering mRNA expression of tight junction-related genes and enhancing cell-cell adhesion strength of HaCaT cells.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.20
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• pp.8975-8979
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• 2014

Objective: To explore the possible significance of aromatase P450 in endometrial hyperplasia with a background of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Methods: Immunohistochemistry was used to determine the expression of aromatase P450 in endometrium of PCOS patients. Semiquantitative analysis of aromatase P450 expression of mRNA and protein level wasalso carried out by real-time quantitative RT-PCR method. After endometrial cells were stimulated by testosterone and letrozole in vitro, the estradiol ($E_2$) level was determined, and the expression of cell aromatase P450 mRNA was assessed. Results: The aromatase P450 mRNA level was increased in endometria of PCOS patients. When endometrial cells were cultured with $10^{-6}M$ testosterone, the $E_2$ level in the culture medium increased. An inhibitory effect on $E_2$ generation and expression of aromatase P450 mRNA was observed when the endometrial cells were treated with $10^{-5}M$ letrozole. Conclusions: There is an increased expression of aromatase P450 in PCOS patient endometrium. Androgen stimulation could enhance the synthesis of aromatase P450 mRNA and the production of $E_2$ in endometrial cells in vitro while letrozole could do the reverse.