• BMB Reports
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• v.51 no.9
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• pp.462-467
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• 2018

A previous study of ours indicated that Drosophila flightless-1 controls lipid metabolism, and that there is an accumulation of triglycerides in flightless-1 (fliI)-mutant flies, where this mutation triggers metabolic stress and an obesity phenotype. Here, with the aim of characterizing the function of FliI in metabolism, we analyzed the levels of gene expression and metabolites in fliI-mutant flies. The levels of enzymes related to glycolysis, lipogenesis, and the pentose phosphate pathway increased in fliI mutants; this result is consistent with the levels of metabolites corresponding to a metabolic pathway. Moreover, high-throughput RNA sequencing revealed that Drosophila FliI regulates the expression of genes related to biological processes such as chromosome organization, carbohydrate metabolism, and immune reactions. These results showed that Drosophila FliI regulates the expression of metabolic genes, and that dysregulation of the transcription controlled by FliI gives rise to metabolic stress and problems in the development and physiology of Drosophila.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.239-247
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• 2021

The scuttle fly is a fly species in the Phoridae family. Scuttle fly which moves abruptly after standing for a while and stop suddenly to rush off again. These characteristic behaviors of the scuttle fly seem to be related to muscular and nervous system or neurotransmitters. Thus, we focused at the neurotransmitter, corazonin (Crz) that is known to be related to resistance to stress and investigated the developmental process of the neurons in the scuttle fly. In a previous studies, we found that there are three groups of corazoninergic neurons in the larval CNS of the scuttle. Larva has 3 pairs of Crz neurons at the dorsolateral area of the brain, 1 pair at the dorsomedial brain and 8 pairs at the ventral nerve cord. In this studies, among these neurons, 1 pair of dorsomedial brain and 8 pairs of ventral nerve cord disappear in early pupal stage after metamorphosis. Only the 3 pairs of dorsolateral brain persist expression of Crz gene through all the period of pupa stage. This group of neurons converge gradually to frontal center of the brain and situated at the medial region. These pairs of corazoninergic neurons keep their number and location in adult stage. In the future, we expect further studies on the histological characteristics of corazonin-expressing cells and the expression of corazonin gene.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.400-407
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• 2009

A pathogenesis-related protein (PgPR5) gene that isolated from the leaf of Panax ginseng was characterized. The ORF is 756 bp with a deduced amino acid sequence of 251 residues. The calculated molecular mass of the matured protein is approximately 27.5 kDa with a predicated isoelectric point of 7.80. A GenBank BlastX search revealed that the deduced amino acid of PgPR5 shares highest sequence similarity to PR5 of Actinidia deliciosa (80% identity, 87% similarity). PgPR5 has a C-terminal and N-terminal signal peptide, suggesting that it is a vacuolar secreted protein. The expression of PgPR5 under various environmental stresses was analyzed at different time points using real-time PCR. Our results reveal that PgPR5 is induced by salt stress, chilling stress, heavy metal, UV, and pathogen infection. These results suggest that the PgPR5 could play a role in the molecular defence response of ginseng to abiotic and pathogen attack. This is the first report of the isolation of PR5 gene from the P. ginseng.

• BMB Reports
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• v.55 no.12
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• pp.577-586
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• 2022

Stress granules (SGs) are stress-induced subcellular compartments, which carry out a particular function to cope with stress. These granules protect cells from stress-related damage and cell death through dynamic sequestration of numerous ribonucleoproteins (RNPs) and signaling proteins, thereby promoting cell survival under both physiological and pathological condition. During tumorigenesis, cancer cells are repeatedly exposed to diverse stress stimuli from the tumor microenvironment, and the dynamics of SGs is often modulated due to the alteration of gene expression patterns in cancer cells, leading to tumor progression as well as resistance to anticancer treatment. In this mini review, we provide a brief discussion about our current understanding of the fundamental roles of SGs during physiological stress and the effect of dysregulated SGs on cancer cell fitness and cancer therapy.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.303-310
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• 2011

We characterized a cytoplasmic actin gene locus in greenling Hexagrammos otakii (Scorpaeniformes). Genomic clones isolated from the greenling DNA library contained two homologous cytoplasmic actin gene copies (HObact2.1 and HObact2.2) in a tail-to-head orientation. Their gene structure is characterized by six translated exons and one non-translated exon. Exon-intron organization and the nucleotide sequences of the two actin gene isoforms are very similar. However, only the HObact2.1 isoform contains microsatellite-like, dinucleotide repeats in the 5'-flanking region (named HOms2002) and intron 1 following the non-translated exon 1 (named HOms769). One microsatellite locus (HOms769) was highly polymorphic while the other (HOms2002) was not. Based on bioinformatic analysis, different transcription factor binding motifs are related to stress and immune responses in the two actin isoforms. Semiquantitative and real-time reverse transcription-PCR assays showed that both isoform transcripts were detectable ubiquitously in all the tissues examined. However, the basal expression levels of each isoform varied across tissues. Overall, the two isoforms showed a similar, but not identical, expression pattern. Our data suggest that the cytoplasmic actin genes may be the result of a recent duplication event in the greenling genome, which has not experienced significant subfunctionalization in their housekeeping roles.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.50
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• pp.127-136
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• 2023

Water scarcity decreases the rate of photosynthesis and, consequently, the yield of banana plants (Musa spp). In this study, transcriptome analysis was performed to identify photosynthesis-related genes in banana plants and determine their expression profiles under water stress conditions. Banana plantlets were in vitro cultured on Murashige and Skoog agar medium with and without 10% polyethylene glycol and marked as BP10 and BK. Chlorophyll contents in the plant shoots were determined spectrophotometrically. Two cDNA libraries generated from BK and BP10 plantlets, respectively, were used as the reference for transcriptome data. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis was performed using the Database for Annotation, Visualization, and Integrated Discovery (DAVID) and visualized using the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway prediction. Morphological observations indicated that water deficiency caused chlorosis and reduced the shoot chlorophyll content of banana plantlets. GO enrichment identified 52 photosynthesis-related genes that were affected by water stress. KEGG visualization revealed the pathways related to the 52 photosynthesisr-elated genes and their allocations in four GO terms. Four, 12, 15, and 21 genes were related to chlorophyll biosynthesis, the Calvin cycle, the photosynthetic electron transfer chain, and the light-harvesting complex, respectively. Differentially expressed gene (DEG) analysis using DESeq revealed that 45 genes were down-regulated, whereas seven genes were up-regulated. Four of the down-regulated genes were responsible for chlorophyll biosynthesis and appeared to cause the decrease in the banana leaf chlorophyll content. Among the annotated DEGs, MaPNDO, MaPSAL, and MaFEDA were selected and validated using quantitative real-time PCR.

• BMB Reports
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• v.46 no.9
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• pp.454-459
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• 2013

LRRK2 (leucine-rich repeat kinase 2) has been identified as a gene corresponding to PARK8, an autosomal-dominant gene for familial Parkinson's disease (PD). LRRK2 pathogenic-specific mutants induce neurotoxicity and shorten neurites. To elucidate the mechanism underlying LRRK2 expression, we constructed the LRRK2-promoter-luciferase reporter and used it for promoter analysis. We found that the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) transactivated LRRK2 in a ligand-dependent manner. Using quantitative RT-PCR and Western analysis, we further showed that treatment with dexamethasone, a synthetic GR ligand, induced LRRK2 expression at both the transcriptional and translational levels, in dopaminergic MN9D cells. Dexamethasone treatment also increased expression of ${\alpha}$-synuclein, another PD causative gene, and enhanced transactivation of the ${\alpha}$-synuclein promoter-luciferase reporter. In addition, dexamethasone treatment to MN9D cells weakly induced cytotoxicity based on an LDH assay. Because glucocorticoid hormones are secreted in response to stress, our data suggest that stress might be a related factor in the pathogenesis of PD.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.323-335
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• 2002

Object: The present study was accomplished to obtain a gene expression profile of the luminal epithelium during embryo apposition in comparison of implantation (1M) and interimplantation (INTER) sites. Material and Method: The mouse uterine luminal epithelium from IM and INTER sites were sampled on day 4.5 (Day of vaginal plug = day 0.5) by Laser Captured Microdissection (LCM). RNA was extracted from LCM captured epithelium, amplified, labeled and hybridized to microarrays. Results from microarray hybridization were analyzed by Significance Analysis of Microarrays (SAM) method. Differential expression of some genes was confirmed by LCM followed by RT-PCR. Results: Comparison of IM and INTER sites by SAM identified 73 genes most highly ranked at IM, while 13 genes at the INTER sites, within the estimated false discovery rate (FDR) of 0.163. Among 73 genes at IM, 20 were EST/unknown function, and the remain 53 were categorized to the structural, cell cycle, gene/protein expression, immune reaction, invasion, metabolism, oxidative stress, and signal transduction. Of the 24 structural genes, 14 were related especially to extracellular matrix and tissue remodeling. Meanwhile, among 13 genes up-regulated at INTER, 8 genes were EST/unknown function, and the rest 5 were related to metabolism, signal transduction, and gene/protein expression. Among these 58 (53+5) genes with known functions, 13 genes (22.4%) were related with $Ca^{2+}$ for their function. Conclusions: Results of the present study suggest that 1) active tissue remodeling is occurring at the IM sites during embryo apposition, 2) the INTER sites are relatively quiescent than IM sites, and 3) the $Ca^{2+}$ may be a crucial for apposition. Search for human homologue of those genes expressed in the mouse luminal epithelium during apposition will help to understand the implantation process and/or implantation failure in humans.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.64 no.4
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• pp.800-811
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• 2022

The integration of metabolomics and transcriptomics may elucidate the correlation between the genotypic and phenotypic patterns in organisms. In equine physiology, various metabolite levels vary during exercise, which may be correlated with a modified gene expression pattern of related genes. Integrated metabolomic and transcriptomic studies in horses have not been conducted to date. The objective of this study was to detect the effect of moderate exercise on the metabolomic and transcriptomic levels in horses. In this study, using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, we analyzed the concentrations of metabolites in muscle and plasma; we also determined the gene expression patterns of branched chain (alpha) keto acid dehydrogenase kinase complex (BCKDK), which encodes the key regulatory enzymes in branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) catabolism, in two breeds of horses, Thoroughbred and Jeju, at different time intervals. The concentrations of metabolites in muscle and plasma were measured by ¹H NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectroscopy, and the relative metabolite levels before and after exercise in the two samples were compared. Subsequently, multivariate data analysis based on the metabolic profiles was performed using orthogonal partial least square discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA), and variable important plots and t-test were used for basic statistical analysis. The stress-induced expression patterns of BCKDK genes in horse muscle-derived cells were examined using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to gain insight into the role of transcript in response to exercise stress. In this study, we found higher concentrations of aspartate, leucine, isoleucine, and lysine in the skeletal muscle of Jeju horses than in Thoroughbred horses. In plasma, compared with Jeju horses, Thoroughbred horses had higher levels of alanine and methionine before exercise; whereas post-exercise, lysine levels were increased. Gene expression analysis revealed a decreased expression level of BCKDK in the post-exercise period in Thoroughbred horses.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.34-40
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• 2010

Radiofrequency (RF) radiation might induce the transcription of a certain set of genes as other physical stresses like ionizing radiation and UV. To observe transcriptional changes upon RF radiation, we exposed WI-38, human lung fibroblast cell to 1763 MHz of mobile phone RF radiation at 60 W/kg of specific absorption rate (SAR) for 24h with or without heat control. There were no significant changes in cell numbers and morphology after exposure to RF radiation. Using quantitative RT-PCR, we checked the expression of three heat shock protein (HSP) (HSPA1A, HSPA6 and HSP105) and seven stress-related genes (TNFRSF11B, FGF2, TGFB2, ITGA2, BRIP1, EXO1, and MCM10) in RF only and RF/HS groups of RF-exposed cells. The expressions of three heat shock proteins and seven stress-related genes were selectively changed only in RF/HS groups. Based on the expression of ten genes, we could classify thermal and non-thermal effect of RF-exposure, which genes can be used as biomarkers for RF radiation exposure.