• BMB Reports
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• v.47 no.11
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• pp.609-618
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• 2014

DNA methylation at cytosines (5mC) is a major epigenetic modification involved in the regulation of multiple biological processes in mammals. How methylation is reversed was until recently poorly understood. The family of dioxygenases commonly known as Ten-eleven translocation (Tet) proteins are responsible for the oxidation of 5mC into three new forms, 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC), 5-formylcytosine (5fC) and 5-carboxylcytosine (5caC). Current models link Tet-mediated 5mC oxidation with active DNA demethylation. The higher oxidation products (5fC and 5caC) are recognized and excised by the DNA glycosylase TDG via the base excision repair pathway. Like DNA methyltransferases, Tet enzymes are important for embryonic development. We will examine the mechanism and biological significance of Tet-mediated 5mC oxidation in the context of pronuclear DNA demethylation in mouse early embryos. In contrast to its role in active demethylation in the germ cells and early embryo, a number of lines of evidence suggest that the intragenic 5hmC present in brain may act as a stable mark instead. This short review explores mechanistic aspects of TET oxidation activity, the impact Tet enzymes have on epigenome organization and their contribution to the regulation of early embryonic and neuronal development.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.309-315
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• 2003

DNA methylation at CpG sites, which is a epigenetic modification, is associated with gene expression without change of DNA sequences. During early mouse embryogenesis, dynamic changes of DNA methylation occur. In this study, DNA methylation patterns of porcine embryos produced in vivo and in vitro were examined at various developmental stages by the immunocytochemical staining method. Interestingly, active demethylation was not observed on the paternal pronucleus of porcine zygotes. However, differences were detected in the passive demethylation process between in vivo and in vitro embryos. There was no change in the DNA methylation state until the blastocyst stage of in vivo embryos, whereas partial demethylation was observed in several blastomeres from a 4 cell stage to a morula stage of in vitro embryos. The whole genome of inner cell mass (ICM) and trophectoderm (TE) cells in porcine blastocysts were evenly methylated without de novo methylation. Our findings demonstrate that genome-wide demethylation does not occur in pig embryos during preimplantation development unlike murine and bovine embryos. It indicates that the machinery regulating epigenetic reprogramming may be different between species.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.95-99
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• 1993

Peroxidase activity of cytochrome P-450 was examined using N, N-dimethylaniline (NDA) as a substrate and cumene hydroperoxide (CHP) as an oxidant. The initial rates of the N-demethylation for varied concentrations of NDA (0.05-0.5 mM) by P-450 at different fixed concentrations of CHP (0.02-0.2 mM) were determined. The results suggest that P-450 proceeds its peroxidative reaction by the rapid equilibrium random bi bi mechanism to form a ternary complex with substrate and oxidant as an active intermediate.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.579-590
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• 2020

Botrytis cinerea, which causes gray mold disease in more than 200 plant species, is an economically important pathogen that is mainly controlled by synthetic fungicides. Synergistic fungicide mixtures can help reduce fungicide residues in the environment and mitigate the development of fungicide-resistant strains. In this study, we screened microbial culture extracts on Botrytis cinerea to identify an antifungal synergist for tebuconazole. Among the 4,006 microbial extracts screened in this study, the culture extract from Schizophyllum commune displayed the most enhanced activity with a sub-lethal dosage of tebuconazole, and the active ingredient was identified as schizostatin. In combination with 5 ㎍/ml tebuconazole, schizostatin (1 ㎍/ml) showed disease control efficacy against gray mold on tomato leaf similar to that achieved with 20 ㎍/ml tebuconazole treatment alone. Interestingly, schizostatin showed demethylation inhibitor (DMI)-specific synergistic interactions in the crossed-paper strip assay using commercial fungicides. In a checkerboard assay with schizostatin and DMIs, the fractional inhibitory concentration values were 0.0938-0.375. To assess the molecular mechanisms underlying this synergism, the transcription levels of the ergosterol biosynthetic genes were observed in response to DMIs, schizostatin, and their mixtures. Treatment with DMIs increased the erg11 (the target gene of DMI fungicides) expression level 15.4-56.6-fold. However, treatment with a mixture of schizostatin and DMIs evidently reverted erg11 transcription levels to the pre-DMI treatment levels. These results show the potential of schizostatin as a natural antifungal synergist that can reduce the dose of DMIs applied in the field without compromising the disease control efficacy of the fungicides.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Developmental Biology Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.26-28
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• 2003

"Epigenetics" means the study of heritable changes in gene-activity without changes in DNA sequences. Methylation of the cytosine residue in a CpG dinucleotide sequence is a characteristic of the vertebrate genome. In vertebrates, methylation of DNA mainly occurs at the 5′-position of cytosine in a CpG dinucleotide forming 5-methylcytosine. Methylation of DNA plays a profound role in transcriptional repression of gene expression through several mechanisms. Generally, DNA of inactive genes is more heavily methylated than that of active ones; conversely demethylation of DNA reactivates gene expression in vivo and in vitro.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.280-284
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• 2003

To develope of diagnosis and estimation system for utility of fungicides and insecticides as crop protection agents, various 10 physicochemical parameters, hydrophobicity (LogP), dipole moment (DM), HOMO energy, LUMO energy, molar refractivity $(MR:\;cm^3/mol)$, polarizability $(Pol:\;A^3)$, van der Waals molecular surface area $(A^2)$, van der Waals molecular volume $(Vol:\;cm^3)$, molecular weight (amu), hydration energy (Kcal/mol) for the active ingredients of 133 fungicides and 152 insecticides were calculated. And then the distribution ranges for each of the physicochemical parameters in fungicides, sterol biosynthesis inhibitors (DMI: demethylation inhibitor), insecticides and acetylcholine esterase inhibitors (AChE) were confirmed. It is suggested that the various compounds based on the range of the physicochemical parametes could be predicted for possibilities as fungicides and insecticides.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.243-251
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• 2007

It has been recently demonstrated the presence of not only $C_{28}-BRs$ biosysnthesis, but also $C_{27}-$ and $C_{29}-BRs$ biosynthesis in plants, suggesting that BRs biosynthesis are complicatedly connected to produce biologically active BR (s). This prompted us to investigation of metabolism of a $C_{29}-BR$, 28-homoCS in seedlings of rice from which $C_{29}-BRs$ such as 28-homoTE and 28-homoTY have been identified. In vitro enzyme conversion study using a crude enzyme solution prepared from rice seedlings revealed that 28-homoCS is converted into both CS and 26-nor-28-homoCS, but their reversed reaction did not occur. This indicated that 28-homoCS is biosynthetically converted into more biologically active $C_{28}-BR$, CS by C-28 demethylation and biodegraded into 26-nor-28-homoCS by C-26 demethylation. Next, bio-conversion of 28-homoCS to 28-homoBL was examined by the same enzyme solution. No 28-homoBL as a metabolite of 28-homoCS was detected, meaning that biosynthetic reaction for 28-homoCS to 28-homoBL is not contained, and main connection of $C_{28}-BRs$ and $C_{29}-BRs$ biosynthesis is between CS and 28-homoCS in the rice seedling. This study is the first demonstrated that $C_{29}-BRs$ and $C_{28}-BRs$ bionsynthetic pathways are connected, and that $C_{29}-BRs$ biosynthetic pathway is an alternative biosynthetic pathway to produce more biologically active $C_{28}-BR$, CS in plant.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.666-671
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• 1999

In this work, sulfonated poly(phenylene sulfide) (SPPS) was prepared by demethylation with aqueous NaOH solution after poly[methyl[4-(phenylthio)phenyl]sulfonium trifluoromethanesulfonate](PPST) was sulfonated with fumic sulfonic acid(10% $SO_{3}-H_{2}SO_{4}$). PPST soluble in organic solvents was synthesiszed by self-condensation polymerization of methyl-(phenylthio)phenyl sulfoxide(MPPSO). SPPS showed IR bands of asymmetric O=S=O stretching at $1200cm^{-1}$ and S-O stretching at $621cm^{-1}$ from $-SO_{3}H$ group. From the result, it could be known that sulfonic acid groups were introduced to poly(phenylene sulfide). when PPST was sulfonated for 12hr at $150^{\circ}C$, 1.48 sulfonic acid groups were introduced per repeat unit. The weight average molecular weight(Mw) of PPST and SPPS determined by high temperature GPC were 118323 and 131204, respectively. The SPPS exhibited adsorption capacity of ammonia gas $9.67mmol\;NH_{3}/g$ and it was much higher than that of active carbon or silica gel.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.337-343
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• 2006

Trimethylamine dehydrogenase (TMADH, EC 1.5.99.7), an iron-sulfur flavoprotein that catalyzes the oxidative demethylation of trimethylamine to form dimethylamine and formaldehyde, was purified from Methylophaga sp. strain SK1. The active TMADH was purified 12.3-fold through three purification steps. The optimal pH and temperature for enzyme activity was determined to be 8.5 and $55^{\circ}C$, respectively. The $V_{max}\;and\;K_m$ values were 7.9 nmol/min/mg protein and 1.5 mM. A genomic DNA of 2,983 bp from Methylophaga sp. strain SK1 was cloned, and DNA sequencing revealed the open reading frame (ORF) of the gene coding for TMADH. The ORF contained 728 amino acids with extensive identity (82%) to that of Methylophilus methylotrophus $W_3A_1$.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.423-428
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• 2005

Immediately after fertilization, a chromatin remodeling process in the oocyte cytoplasm extracts protamine molecules from the sperm-derived DNA and loads histones onto it. We examined how the histone H3-lysine 9 methylation system is established on the remodeled sperm chromatin in mice. We found that the paternal pronucleus was not stained for dimethylated H3-K9 (H3-$m_2K9$) during pronucleus development, while the maternal genome stained intensively. Such H3-$m_2K9$ asymmetry between the parental pronuclei was independent of $HP1{\beta}$ localization and, much like DNA methylation, was preserved to the two-cell stage when the nucleus appeared to be compartmentalized for H3-$m_2K9$. A conspicuous increase in H3-$m_2K9$ level was observed at the four-cell stage, and then the level was maintained without a visible change up to the blastocyst stage. The behavior of H3-$m_2K9$ was very similar, but not identical, to that of 5-methylcytosine during preimplantation development, suggesting that there is some connection between methylation of histone and of DNA in early mouse development.