• Proceedings of the KSAR Conference
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• 2003.06a
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• pp.98-98
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• 2003

Direct gene transfer to mammalian tissues has significant potential for gene therapy and transgenesis. Liposome-mediated in vivo transfection has begun to gain attention as an alternative to viral vectors, and may also be a good mode of transfection in gene transfer. Interestingly, polymerized cationic liposomes are reported to be very stable in the bloods and efficient for in vivo gene transfer. To examine a possible gene delivery in vivo, we investigated the efficacy and safety of the liposome-mediated gene transfer using vein injection in chick or mouse as model animals. The number of injected pGFP-LacZ using either a commercial or home-made liposomes was 8 and 19 at 16 and 7 day of hatch, respectively. One of injected chick of each experiments was analyzed and the rest is being bred. In mouse, 4/22 showed expression of pGFP-LacZ but 8/22 showed no expression and the remaining animals are also being bred. After injection of liposome/pGFP-LacZ complex into wing vein of 7 or 16 day-old chick, pGFP-LacZ was detected in various tissues isolated from not only young chick but also old chick were turned out to possess. exogenous DNA. Transcripts and proteins of the transgene were also detected by RT-PCR or histochemical analysis, respectively. These results suggest that injected DNA were inserted to genome and produced mRNA and proteins in various tissues and may give an important tools for effective gene delivery in gene therapy or transgenesis.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.38-43
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• 2020

Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is caused by enterovirus 71 (EV71) in infants and children under six years of age. HFMD is characterized by fever, mouth ulcers, and vesicular rashes on the palms and feet. EV71 also causes severe neurological manifestations, such as brainstem encephalitis and aseptic meningitis. Recently, frequent outbreaks of EV71 have occurred in the Asia-Pacific region, but currently, no effective antiviral drugs have been developed to treat the disease. In this study, we investigated the antiviral effect of salvianolic acid B (SalB) on EV71. SalB is a major component of the Salvia miltiorrhiza root and has been shown to be an effective treatment for subarachnoid hemorrhages and myocardial infarctions. HeLa cells were cultured in 12-well plates and treated with SalB (100 or 10 ㎍/ml) and 10⁶ PFU/ml of EV71. SalB treatment (100 ㎍/ml) significantly decreased the cleavage of the eukaryotic eIF4G1 protein and reduced the expression of the EV71 capsid protein VP1. In addition, SalB treatment showed a dramatic decrease in viral infection, measured by immunofluorescence staining. The Akt signaling pathway, a key component of cell survival and proliferation, was significantly increased in EV71-infected HeLa cells treated with 100 ㎍/ml SalB. RT-PCR results showed that the mRNA for anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 and the cell cycle regulator Cyclin-D1 were significantly increased by SalB treatment. These results indicate that SalB activates Akt/PKB signaling and inhibits apoptosis in infected HeLa cells. Taken together, these results suggest that SalB could be used to develop a new therapeutic drug for EV71-induced HFMD.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.41-49
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• 2016

In the present study, fast and robust methods for the next generation sequencing (NGS) were developed for analysis of PRRSV full genome sequences, which is a positive sensed RNA virus with a high degree of genetic variability among isolates. Two strains of PRRSVs (VR2332 and VR2332-R) which have been maintained in our laboratory were used to validate our methods and to compare with the sequence registered in GenBank (GenBank accession no. EF536003). The results suggested that both of strains had 100% coverage with the reference; the VR2332 had the coverage depth from minimum 3 to maximum 23,012, for the VR2332-R from minimum 3 to maximum 41,348, and 22,712 as an average depth. Genomic data produced from the massive sequencing capacities of the NGS have enabled the study of PRRSV at an unprecedented rate and details. Unlike conventional sequence methods which require the knowledge of conserved regions, the NGS allows de novo assembly of the full viral genomes. Therefore, our results suggested that these methods using the NGS massively facilitate the generation of more full genome PRRSV sequences locally as well as nationally in regard of saving time and cost.

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.155-161
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• 2013

Cathepsins are lysosomal/cysteine proteases belong to papain family (C1 family) that is involved in intracellular protein degradation, antigen processing, hormone maturation, and immune responses. In this study, member of cathepsin family was identified from Manila clam (Mc-Cathepsin D) and investigated the immune response against brown ring disease (BRD) causing Vibrio tapetis challenge. The identified Mc-Cathepsin D gene encodes characteristic features typical for the cathepsin family including eukaryotic and viral aspartyl protease signature domain and two highly conserved active sites ($^{84}VVFDTGSSNLWV^{95}$ and $^{270}IADTGTSLLAG^{281}$). Moreover, MC-Cathepsin D shows higher identity values (-50-70%) and conserved amino acids with known cathepsin D members. Transcriptional results (by quantitative real-time RT-PCR) showed that Mc-Cathepsin D was expressed at higher levels in gills and hemocytes than mantle, adductor muscle, foot, and siphon. After the V. tapetis challenge under laboratory conditions, Mc-Cathepsin D mRNA was up-regulated in gills and hemocytes. Present study indicates that Mc-Cathepsin D is constitutively expressed in different tissues and potentially inducible when infecting BRD by V. tapetis. It is further suggesting that Mc-Cathepsin D may be involved in multiple role including immune response reactions against BRD.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.150-160
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• 2017

Background: Recently, a fixed combination of grazoprevir and elbasvir (GE) has been introduced to the arsenal of chemotherapeutics to fight against this virus. The study aimed to provide information on the efficacy and safety of GE for the treatment of HCV infection by performing a meta-analysis of literature data. Methods: PubMed and EMBASE database searches were conducted. Among the literature retrieved, pivotal Phase III clinical studies were analyzed. Statistical analysis of the data was performed by RevMan. Results: Four pivotal Phase III clinical studies compared the efficacy and safety of GE. When HCV patients were treated with GE for 12 weeks, the sustained virologic response, defined as the viral RNA level below the lower limit of quantification at 12 weeks after the cessation of therapy (SVR12), was 94.7%. The clinical advantage of GE involves its use by patients with cirrhosis and/or renal failure without dose adjustment. If the genotype (GT) of the causative virus was GT1a with NS5A polymorphism or GT4 with resistance to peginterferon/ribavirin, treatment with GE plus ribavirin for 16 weeks resulted in a better outcome compared to treatment with GE alone for 12 weeks. Adverse events reported during the four clinical studies were 71.09% in the GE arms and it was 76.61% in the non-GE arms, with the most frequent events being mild central nervous system symptoms. Conclusion: GE was generally safe and effective for the treatment of HCV infection. However, since HCV mutates very rapidly and becomes resistant to antiviral agents, long-term monitoring should be mandatory.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.399-403
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• 2006

Cervical cancer is one of the most prevalent cancers developed in women worldwide, and human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16 is the most common agent linked to human cerivical carcinoma. Viral oncogenes E6 and E7 are selectively ratined and expressed in carcinoma cells infected with human papillomavirus type 16 and cooperated with each other in immortalization and transformation of primary keratinocytes. Because of HPV oncogenesis mechanism was not completely solved, the more studies be required thoroughly. In the present study, to investigate the telomere independent role of telomerase in HPV oncogenesis, we constructed the E6 mutant, E7, E6/E7 and hTERT over-expressed stable cells with a telomerase negative cell line, SW13. Expressions of Inserted genes were measured by RT-PCR. E6, E7 and hTERT genes were well expressed in each cell lines comparing with the control groups. By analyzing the cell morphology under the microscope, hTERT clone size was a more smaller than the mock control but oncogene expressed clones were slightly lengthened the marginal region. In addition, hTERT cells has also, a tendency of brief dividing time compared to the mock control. To determine whether telomerase activity associated with a HPV oncogenesis by oncoprotein expression, we performed the PCR based TRAP assay and Northern blot analysis. In TRAP assay data, telomerase activities in hTERT and oncogene clones were more increased than the mock control. In addition, SW13/ E6/E7 cells appeared a extremely increased activity than any other clones. Induced TERT mRNA by E6/E7 wasn't, however, detected in Northern blotting. In conclusion, these findings suggest that telomerase activity closely associated the HPV oncogenesis and E6/E7 co-expression is a most important factor of telomerase activity.

• BMB Reports
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.166-171
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• 2020

A chemical library comprising 2,354 drug-like compounds was screened using a transcription and replication-competent viruslike particle (trVLP) system implementing the whole Ebola virus (EBOV) life cycle. Dose-dependent inhibition of Ebola trVLP replication was induced by 15 hit compounds, which primarily target different types of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Based on the chemical structure, the compounds were divided into three groups, diphenylmethane derivatives, promazine derivatives and chemicals with no conserved skeletons. The third group included sertindole, raloxifene, and ibutamoren showing prominent antiviral effects in cells. They downregulated the expression of viral proteins, including the VP40 matrix protein and the envelope glycoprotein. They also reduced the amount of EBOV-derived tetracistronic minigenome RNA incorporated into progeny trVLPs in the culture supernatant. Particularly, ibutamoren, which is a known agonist of growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHSR), showed the most promising antiviral activity with a 50% effective concentration of 0.2 μM, a 50% cytotoxic concentration of 42.4 μM, and a selectivity index of 222.8. Here, we suggest a strategy for development of anti-EBOV therapeutics by adopting GHSR agonists as hit compounds.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.134-134
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• 2017

Recently, host-induced gene silencing (HIGS) system has been successfully applied into development of resistant crops against insects, fungal and viral pathogens. To test HIGS-mediated resistance in rice against rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae, we first tested possibility of movement of small non-coding RNA from rice cells to rice blast fungus. The rice blast fungus expressing GFP transgene were inoculated to transgenic rice plants ectopically expressing dsRNAi construct targeting fungal GFP gene. Expression of dsRNAi construct for GFP gene in transgenic plants significantly suppressed GFP expression in infected fungal cells indicating that small RNAs generated in plant cells can move into infected fungal cells and efficiently suppress the expression of fungal GFP gene. Consistent with these results, expression of dsRNAi constructs against 3 fungal pathogenic genes of M. oryzae in transgenic rice specifically and efficiently suppressed not only the expression of fungal pathogenic genes, but also fungal infection. The conidia of M. oryzae applied on leaf sheath of transgenic rice expressing dsRNAs against 3 fungal pathogenic genes showed abnormal development of primary hyphae and malfunction of appressorium, which is consistent with the phenotypes of corresponding fungal knock-out mutants. Taken these results together, here, we suggest a novel strategy for development of antifungal crops by means of HIGS system.

• The Journal of Korean Society of Virology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.169-176
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• 1997

In this study, the feasibility of identification and genotypic differentiation of enteroviruses was investigated by using nested reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (nested RT-PCR), single-stranded conformation polymorphism (SSCP), and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) techniques. Two hundred seventy-four clinical samples were assayed by both nested RT-PCR and tube culture method using MRC-5 and MK cells; 58 (86.6%) out of 67 enterovirus culture-positive samples contained enteroviral RNA. In addition, 114 (55.1%) of 207 samples from patients with suspected enteroviral CNS disease with negative viral cultures were positive by the nested RT-PCR. The nested RT-PCR products were genotyped by the SSCP method and the results were compared with serotypes. We could differentiate 6 subtypes, 3 of which are similar to coxsackievirus B3, B5, echovirus 11, plus 3 other subtypes. RFLP cleaved with Sty I, Bgl I, and Xmn I yielded characteristic patterns for each laboratory strains. This study demonstrates the usefulness of the RT-PCR for the rapid diagnosis of enterovirus infection and the potentials of the SSCP method for differentiation of enterovirus strains.

• The Journal of Korean Society of Virology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.115-128
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• 1997

Three cDNA fragments located within NS5 region of HCV were synthesized by RT using viral RNA extracted from blood sample of Korean patient as a template. The cDNAs were amplified by PCR, cloned into the T-vector, and the nucleotide sequences were determined. Comparative analysis of the nucleotide and amino acid sequence of NS5 cDNAs showed that it is closely related with HCV type 1b. The cloned NS5 cDNA showed 91-94% homology at the nucleotide sequence level and 96-98% homology at the amino acid sequence level with several strains of the HCV type 1b. The NS5 cDNAs were subcloned into E. coli expression vectors to construct pRSETA5-1, pTHAN5-1, pRSETC5-2, pRSETBB1, pRESTCB1 and pRSETB-H3. Expression of the NS5 proteins was achieved by inducing the promoter with isopropyl-thio-${\beta}$-D-galactoside (IPTG) and confirmed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The NS5 proteins were immunoreactive against sera from Korean hepatitis C patients in Western blot analysis. Among the recombinant NS5 proteins, pRSETAS-1 plasmid derived protein, coded from aa2022 to aa2521 of HCV polyprotein, showed the strongest immunoreactivity against sera from Korean hepatitis C patients in immunoblot analysis. These results suggest that NS5 proteins would be useful as an antigen for detection of antibody against HCV in the blood samples.