• Proceedings of the KSAR Conference
• /
• 2003.06a
• /
• pp.74-74
• /
• 2003

Embryonic stem cells have several characteristics suitable for cell replacement therapy. To investigate a possibility of using human embryonic stem cell (hESC) as a carrier of therapeutic gene(s), hESC (MB03) was co-transfected with cDNAS coding for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and GTP cyclohydrolase Ⅰ (GTPCH Ⅰ) and bulk-selected using neomycin and hygromycin-B. Successful transfection was confirmed by western immunoblotting and RT-PCR. The genetically modified hESC (bk-THGC) relieved apomorphine-induced asymmetric motor behavior by approximately 54% when grafted into striatum of 6-OHDA-denervated rat brain. The number of rotation, however, increased up to 176+18% in 6 weeks when sham-grafted compared with number of rotation before graft. Immunohistochemical staining revealed that the grafted hESC survived and expressed TH for at least 6 weeks while the experiment was continued.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
• /
• v.41 no.4
• /
• pp.272-279
• /
• 2007

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the discriminating nature of $^{123}I-FP-CIT$ SPECT in patients with parkinsonism. Methods: $^{123}I-FP-CIT$ SPECT images acquired from the 18 normal controls; NC ($60.4{\pm}10.0$ yr) and 237 patients with parkinsonism ($65.9{\pm}9.2$ yr) were analyzed. From spatialIy normalized images, regional counts of the caudate, putamen, and occipital lobe were obtained using region of interest method. Binding potential (BP) was calculated with the ratio of specific to nonspecific binding activity at equilibrium. Additionally, the BP ratio of putamen to caudate (PCR) and asymmetric Index (ASI) were measured. Results: BPs of NC $3.37{\pm}0.57,\; 3.10{\pm}0.41,\; 3.23{\pm}0.48$ for caudate, putamen, whole striatum, respectively) had no significant difference with those of essential tremor; ET ($3.31{\pm}0.64,\; 3.06{\pm}0.61,\; 3.14{\pm}0.63$) and Alzheimer's disease; AD (3.33 $\pm$0.60, 3.29$\pm$0.79, 3.31$\pm$0.70), but were higher than those of Parkinson's disease; PD (1.92$\pm$0.74, 1.39$\pm$0.68, 1.64$\pm$0.68), multiple system atrophy; MSA (2.36$\pm$1.07, 2.16$\pm$0.91, 2.26$\pm$0.96), and dementia with Lewy body; DLB (1.95$\pm$0.72, 1.64$\pm$0.65, 1.79$\pm$0.66)(p<0.005). PD had statisticalIy lower values of PER and higher values of ASI than those of NC (p<0.005). And PD had significantIy lower value of PCR, higher ASI and lower BP in the putamen and whole striatum than MSA (p<0.05). Conclusion: Dopamine transporter image of $^{123}I-FP-CIT$ SPECT was a good value in differential diagnosis of parkinsonism.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.305-310
• /
• 2009

Plasmid pGKV21 contains a 229-nucleotide (nt) single-strand DNA initiation (ssi) signal. Using asymmetric PCR, we prepared a small single-stranded (ss) DNA fragment of the ssi signal and, using the 229-nt ssDNA fragment, determined the requirements of RNA polymerase for priming and DNA-protein interaction. The ssi fragment prepared was able to generate primer RNAs with almost the same efficiency as the $M13{\Delta}lac182/229$ phage DNA. However, the cssi (complementary strand of the ssi signal) fragment could not synthesize primer RNAs. This result suggests that the 229-nt ssi signal functions in a strand specific manner. Gel retardation and DNase I footprinting demonstrated that the synthesized ssi fragment could interact with both E. coli RNA polymerase and SSB protein to synthesize primer RNA. In Escherichia coli [pWVAp], an addition of rifampicin resulted in an accumulation of ssDNA, indicating that the host-encoded RNA polymerase is involved in the conversion of ssDNA to double-stranded plasmid DNA.

• Mycobiology
• /
• v.43 no.1
• /
• pp.37-42
• /
• 2015

A mutant library of Cordyceps militaris was constructed by improved Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation and screened for degradation features. Six mutants with altered characters in in vitro and in vivo fruiting body production, and cordycepin formation were found to contain a single copy T-DNA. T-DNA flanking sequences of these mutants were identified by thermal asymmetric interlaced-PCR approach. ATP-dependent helicase, cytochrome oxidase subunit I and ubiquitin-like activating enzyme were involved in in vitro fruiting body production, serine/threonine phosphatase involved in in vivo fruiting body production, while glucose-methanol-choline oxidoreductase and telomerase reverse transcriptase involved in cordycepin formation. These genes were analyzed by bioinformatics methods, and their molecular function and biology process were speculated by Gene Ontology (GO) analysis. The results provided useful information for the control of culture degeneration in commercial production of C. militaris.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.94-98
• /
• 2013

Dystrophinopathy, caused by mutations in the DMD gene, presents with variable clinical phenotypes ranging from the severe Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) to the milder Becker muscular dystrophy(BMD) forms. DMD is a recessive X-linked form of muscular dystrophy. Two-thirds of mothers of affected males are thought to be DMD carriers. Approximately 2.5-7.8% of female DMD carriers have muscle weakness and are categorized as manifesting DMD carriers. The symptoms of female carriers of DMD range from mild muscle weakness to severe gait problems. The most commonly presented symptom is mild proximal muscle weakness, which is often asymmetric and progressive, but shows variable clinical spectrum with BMD of more severe DMD-like phenotype. Atypical presentations in manifesting carriers are myalgia or cramps without limb weakness, isolated cardiomyopathy and camptocormia. Multiplex PCR and MLPA analysis are common techniques to identify mutations in the DMD gene. Relationship between X-chromosome inactivation and clinical severity is not clear. Female carriers of DMD are not less common, and they have an important role of birth of a male DMD.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.28 no.9
• /
• pp.1030-1041
• /
• 2018

Abiotic stresses limit the growth and productivity of plants. Cellular adaptation to abiotic stresses requires coordinated regulation in gene expression directed by complex mechanisms. This study used the activation tagging system to identify novel salt stress-responsive genes. The study selected 9 activation tagging lines that showed salt stress-tolerant phenotypes during their germination stages. Thermal asymmetric interlaced-PCR (TAIL-PCR) was used to identify the T-DNA tagging sites on the Arabidopsis genome in selected activation tagging lines, including AT7508, AT7512, AT7527, AT7544, AT7548, and AT7556. RT-PCR analysis showed that ClpC2/HSP93-III (At3g48870), plant thionin family (At2g20605), anti-muellerian hormone type-2 receptor (At3g50685), vacuolar iron transporter family protein (At4g27870), and microtubule-associated protein (At5g16730) were activated in AT7508, AT7512, AT7527, AT7544, and AT7556, respectively. Interestingly, in AT7548, both the genes adjacent to the T-DNA insertion site were activated: Arabinogalactan protein 13 (AGP13) (At4g26320) and F-box/RNI-like/FBD-like domains-containing protein (At4g26340). All of the seven genes were newly identified as salt stress-responsive genes from this study. Among them, the expression of ClpC2/HSP93-III, AGP13, F-box/RNI-like/FBD-like domains-containing protein gene, and microtubule-associated protein gene were increased under salt-stress condition. In addition, AT7508, AT7527, and AT7544 were more tolerant to salt stress than wild type at seedling development stage, functionally validating the screening results of the activation tagging lines. Taken together, our results demonstrate that the activation tagging system is useful for identifying novel stress-responsive genes.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Poultry Science Conference
• /
• 2005.11a
• /
• pp.64-65
• /
• 2005

Members of the Pumilio are the RNA binding proteins acting as translational repressors and required for germ cell development and asymmetric division. We identified chicken Pum1 and Pum2 that are similar to mouse and human in highly conserved C-terminal RNA-binding domain and eight tandem repeats. The comparative sequence analysis of Pum1 and Pum2 from fly, chicken, mouse and human shows high degree of evolutionary conservation in the homology of the peptide sequence and the structure of PUM-HD (Pumilio homology domain) with similar spacing between adjacent Pum repeats. Also, structures of chicken Pum1 and Pum2 genes are almost identical to those of mouse and human. We revealed that the expression levels of Pum1 and Pum2 were the highest in hatched female gonad among various embryonic tissues, and Pum2 expressed highly in 12-day and hatched gonad by real-time RT-PCR. These results suggest that Pum1 and Pum2 might have an effect on the development of chicken gonad.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.26 no.3
• /
• pp.282-289
• /
• 2018

Melanin is a pigment produced from tyrosine in melanocytes. Although melanin has a protective role against UVB radiation-induced damage, it is also associated with the development of melanoma and darker skin tone. Tyrosinase is a key enzyme in melanin synthesis, which regulates the rate-limiting step during conversion of tyrosine into DOPA and dopaquinone. To develop effective RNA interference therapeutics, we designed a melanin siRNA pool by applying multiple prediction programs to reduce human tyrosinase levels. First, 272 siRNAs passed the target accessibility evaluation using the RNAxs program. Then we selected 34 siRNA sequences with ${\Delta}G{\geq}-34.6kcal/mol$, i-Score value ${\geq}65$, and siRNA scales score ${\leq}30$. siRNAs were designed as 19-bp RNA duplexes with an asymmetric 3' overhang at the 3' end of the antisense strand. We tested if these siRNAs effectively reduced tyrosinase gene expression using qRT-PCR and found that 17 siRNA sequences were more effective than commercially available siRNA. Three siRNAs further tested showed an effective visual color change in MNT-1 human cells without cytotoxic effects, indicating these sequences are anti-melanogenic. Our study revealed that human tyrosinase siRNAs could be efficiently designed using multiple prediction algorithms.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.26 no.11
• /
• pp.1924-1932
• /
• 2016

Mycophenolic acid (MPA) is an antibiotic produced by Penicillium brevicompactum. MPA has antifungal, antineoplastic, and immunosuppressive functions, among others. ${\beta}-Hydroxy-{\beta}-methylglutaryl-CoA$ (HMG-CoA) lyase is a key enzyme in the bypass metabolic pathway. The inhibitory activity of HMG-CoA lyase increases the MPA biosynthetic flux by reducing the generation of by-products. In this study, we cloned the P. brevicompactum HMG-CoA lyase gene using the thermal asymmetric interlaced polymerase chain reaction and gene walking technology. Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation (ATMT) was used to insert a mutated HMG-CoA lyase gene into P. brevicompactum. Successful insertion of the HMG-CoA lyase gene was confirmed by hygromycin screening, PCR, Southern blot analysis, and enzyme content assay. The maximum MPA production by transformants was 2.94 g/l. This was 71% higher than wild-type ATCC 16024. Our results demonstrate that ATMT may be an alternative practical genetic tool for directional transformation of P. brevicompactum.