• Molecules and Cells
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.112-121
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• 2022

Calorie restriction (CR) and the activation of autophagy extend healthspan by delaying the onset of age-associated diseases in most living organisms. Because protein kinase CK2 (CK2) downregulation induces cellular senescence and nematode aging, we investigated CK2's role in CR and autophagy. This study indicated that CR upregulated CK2's expression, thereby causing SIRT1 and AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activation. CK2α overexpression, including antisense inhibitors of miR-186, miR-216b, miR-337-3p, and miR-760, stimulated autophagy initiation and nucleation markers (increase in ATG5, ATG7, LC3BII, beclin-1, and Ulk1, and decrease in SQSTM1/p62). The SIRT1 deacetylase, AKT, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), AMPK, and forkhead homeobox type O (FoxO) 3a were involved in CK2-mediated autophagy. The treatment with the AKT inhibitor triciribine, the AMPK activator AICAR, or the SIRT1 activator resveratrol rescued a reduction in the expression of lgg-1 (the Caenorhabditis elegans ortholog of LC3B), bec1 (the C. elegans ortholog of beclin-1), and unc-51 (the C. elegans ortholog of Ulk1), mediated by kin-10 (the C. elegans ortholog of CK2β) knockdown in nematodes. Thus, this study indicated that CK2 acted as a positive regulator in CR and autophagy, thereby suggesting that these four miRs' antisense inhibitors can be used as CR mimetics or autophagy inducers.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.232-242
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• 2017

The goal of marker-assisted backcrossing (MAB) is to significantly reduce the number of breeding generations required by using genome-based molecular markers to select for a particular trait; however, MAB systems have only been developed for a few vegetable crops to date. Among the types of molecular markers, SNPs (single-nucleotide polymorphisms) are primarily used in the analysis of genetic diversity due to their abundance throughout most genomes. To develop a MAB system in Chinese cabbage, a high-throughput (HT) marker system was used, based on a previously developed set of 468 SNP probes (BraMAB1, Brassica Marker Assisted Backcrossing SNP 1). We selected a broad-spectrum TuMV (Turnip mosaic virus) resistance (trs) Chinese cabbage line (SB22) as a donor plant, constructing a $BC_1F_1$ population by crossing it with the TuMV-susceptible 12mo-682-1 elite line. Foreground selection was performed using the previously developed trsSCAR marker. Background selection was performed using 119 SNP markers that showed clear polymorphism between donor and recipient plants. The background genome recovery rate (% recurrent parent genome recovery; RPG) was good, with three of 75 $BC_1F_1$ plants showing a high RPG rate of over 80%. The background genotyping result and the phenotypic similarity between the recurrent parent and $BC_1F_1$ showed a correlation. The plant with the highest RPG recovery rate was backcrossed to construct the $BC_2F_1$ population. Foreground selection and background selection were performed using 169 $BC_2F_1$ plants. This study shows that, using MAB, we can recover over 90% of the background genome in only two generations, highlighting the MAB system using HT markers as a highly efficient Brassica rapa backcross breeding system. This is the first report of the application of a SNP marker set to the background selection of Chinese cabbage using HT SNP genotyping technology.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.103-111
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• 2014

A1E is an extract from traditional Asian medicinal plants that has therapeutic activities against cancers, metabolic disease, and other intractable conditions. However, its mechanism of action on cervical cancer has not been studied. In order to ascertain if A1E would have pronounced anti-cervical cancer effect, cervical cancer cells were incubated with A1E and apoptosis was detected by nuclear morphological changes, annexin V-FITC/PI staining, cell cycle analysis, western blotting, Reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction, and measurement of mitochondrial membrane potential. Expression of human papiloma virus E6 and E7 oncogenes was down-regulated in A1E-treated cervical cancer cells, while p53 and retinoblastoma protein levels were enhanced. A1E also perturbed cell cycle progression at sub-G1 and altered cell cycle regulatory factors in SiHa cervical cancer cells. A1E activated apoptotic intrinsic pathway markers such as caspase-9, caspase-3 and poly ADP-ribose polymerase, and down-regulated expression of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xl. A1E induced mitochondrial membrane potential collapse and cytochrome c release, and inhibited phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt, key factors involved in cell survival signaling. Taken all these results, A1E induced apoptosis via activation of the intrinsic pathway and inhibition of the PI3K/Akt survival-signaling pathway in SiHa cervical cancer cells. In conclusion, A1E exerts anti-proliferative action growth inhibition on cervical cancer cells through apoptosis which demonstrates its anti-cervical cancer properties.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.59-65
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• 2023

We validated the physiological activity of Syzygium claviflorum (Roxb.) Wall. ex A.M. Cowan & Cowan (S. claviflorum) extracts (leaves, stems, fruits, and flowers) as a cosmetic ingredient. Firstly, S. claviflorum extracts removed over 80% of free radicals at various concentrations in antioxidant experiments using the DPPH and ABTS assay. In cytotoxicity experiments using human epidermal keratinocytes, S. claviflorum extracts showed low cytotoxicity. In addition, S. claviflorum extracts significantly increased the expression of keratin (KRT)1, KRT2, KRT9, KRT10, which are differentiation markers of keratinocytes, as well as genes involved in the maintenance of skin barrier function, including involucrin (IVL), loricrin (LOR), filaggrin (FLG), and claudin1 (CLDN1). In particular, the expression of FLG protein, inhibited by interleukin (IL)-4/IL-13 in atopic dermatitis, was restored by S. claviflorum extracts in in vitro experiments. Therefore, S. claviflorum extracts with excellent antioxidant efficacy and skin barrier improvement function will be useful materials for the development of future atopic dermatitis treatments and cosmetics.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.357-361
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• 2005

The exposed strain of C. riparius treated with di (ethyl- hexyl)-phthalate (DEHP) did not result in a consistent relationship between mortality or sex ratio and chemical concentrations. And after treating with DEHP, the emergent female from the exposed strain appeared to be fatty with a large body volume comparing with the non - exposed strain. The emergent period (EP) was especially different between the exposed fourth strain and the non-exposed strain; generally the exposed strain was $7\~10$ days, and non - exposed strain was $17\~24$ days. Regarding sustainable exposed effects, the EP, the first emergent day (FED), and the body volume (BV) could be suggested as suitable bio - markers for detecting of exposure to various EDCs.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.194-195
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• 2007

We have constructed the Rice Genome Information Service System (RGISS), which is an information service system of the Oryza sativa L. ssp. japonica (rice) genome, using the released version of rice Build 3.0 pseudomolecules based on the Ensembl architecture. The nonredundant library, composed of 3,360 clones of BACs, PACs, and fosmids, was used to construct supercontigs. RGISS contains 50,717 annotated genes from GenBank, 56,161 predicted genes from FgeneSH, and information on 9,587 markers, which includes STS, SSR, and EST-based RFLP. The 20,180 ESTs sequenced by the Korea National Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology (NIAB) were aligned and mapped into 168,792 exons. By gene ontology analysis, the classified protein numbers in the rice genome were 6158, 4531, and 12,364 proteins, which were mapped to molecular function, cellular component, and biological process, respectively.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.77-81
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• 2004

The etiological agent is Bacillus anthracis, a gram-positive rod-shaped bacterium able to form spores. In order to elucidate the mechanism of infecttion on human macrophage cells, we performed two-dimensional electrophoresis and MALDI-TOF analysis using the infected human macrophage cells with the spores of B. anthracis Sterne of inactivated B. anthracis Sterne. We identified 9 proteins which related to the infection of Bacillus anthracis spores on human macrophage cells at the early stage events. Maybe nine proteins will be bio-markers and vaccine candidates to the Bacillus anthracis spore infection.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.393-401
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• 2013

Objectives: Endotoxins in dust generated in occupational settings is known to contribute to the occurrence of respiratory illness among workers. The relationship between the level of endotoxins in total dust or respirable particulates collected from swine farms and immunological markers related with respiratory allergy was evaluated among swine husbandry workers. Materials and Methods: Peripheral blood samples were collected from ten workers at ten swine farms at Gyeonggi province, Korea. Peripheral mononuclear cells were stimulated with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and ionomycin for 48 hours. The levels of various cytokines produced at culture supernatants were determined using a commercially available ELISA kit. The concentration of particulate matter($PM_{10}$) in the indoor air of the swine farms was evaluated using a PVC membrane filter and mini volume air sampler, and endotoxin levels in the dust were measured by Limulus Amebocyte Lysate Kinetic QCL method. Results: Levels of endotoxins in the total dust were categorized into high(geometric mean: $109.35EU/m^3$) and low concentrations (geometric mean: $0.95EU/m^3$) for five swine farms. Interleukin-4 levels were higher in the high endotoxin group than in the low endotoxin group, while interferon-${\gamma}$ levels were lower in the high endotoxin group than in the low endotoxin group. The ratio (interferon-${\gamma}$ to interleukin-4), indicating immunologic skewedness against allergic reactivities, was lower in the high endotoxin group($1.15{\pm}0.60$) than the low endotoxin group($3.09{\pm}2.38$). In addition, the level of interleukin-13, another cytokine contributing to the occurrence of allergic responses, was significantly higher in the at the high endotoxin group($1.12{\pm}0.37ng/m{\ell}$) than in the low endotoxin group($0.37{\pm}0.04ng/m{\ell}$). Hematologic assessment showed significantly lower cellularity in the number of total leukocytes, neutrophils, and eosinophils in the high endotoxin group than in the low endotoxin group. Conclusions: Even though a sufficient number of swine workers and farms were not investigated, this study generlly suggests that the immunological function of swine farm workers exposed to high levels of endotoxin could be modulated toward allergic reactivities.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.7
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• pp.947-953
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• 2008

We studied genetic diversity and relationships among Mongolian goat populations on the basis of microsatellite DNA polymorphisms. DNA samples from eight populations (Bayandelger, Ulgii Red, Zavkhan Buural, Sumber, Zalaajinst White, Erchim Black, Dorgon, and Gobi Gurvan Saikhan) from geographically distinct areas of Mongolia were analyzed by using 10 microsatellite DNA markers. Since the 10 markers were highly polymorphic, the genetic characteristics of these native goat populations could be estimated. Genetic diversity within populations, as estimated by the expected heterozygosities, was high, ranging from 0.719 to 0.746, but genetic differentiation between populations was low, representing only 1.7% of the total genetic variation. The results suggest that Mongolian native goat populations still have a semi-wild genetic structure reflecting traditional Mongolian nomadism and the short history of artificial selection. The genetic relationships among the populations were not clear in the neighbor-joining tree generated from the modified Cavalli-Sforza chord genetic distances. By using principal components analysis, the five core populations of Mongolian native goats (Bayandelger, Ulgii Red, Zavkhan Buural, Sumber, and Dorgon) and the populations crossed with Russian breeds (Zalaajinst White, Erchim Black, and Gobi Gurvan Saikhan) were distinguished. There was no correlation between genetic relationships among the populations and the geographical distribution of the populations.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.59 no.4
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• pp.492-497
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• 2014

Soybean (Glycine max L.) is crucial legume crop as source of high quality vegetable protein and oil, and Korea is regarded as a part of center of soybean origin. To expand the information of conserved genetic diversity, we analyzed the genetic variability of soybean collection mainly introduced Korean accessions using 75 microsatellite markers. A total of 1,503 alleles with an average value of 20.0 alleles were detected among 644 accessions. Korean collection revealed average allele number of 13.4 while Chinese, Japanese and Southeast Asian accessions showed 9.0, 5.4 and 6.5 mean alleles, respectively. Especially, Korean accessions showed more number of private allele per locus as 3.4 contrary to other geographical groups. The mean expected heterozygosity and polymorphic information content was 0.654 and 0.616, respectively, and expected heterozygosity values were not significantly distinguished according to the geographical groups. The phylogenetic dendrogram and deduced population structure based on DNA profiles of 75 SSR loci showed Korean accessions formed distinct gene pool against Chinese accessions, and could be divided into five subpopulations. Korean soybean accessions have specific genetic diversity and might be serve the valuable alleles for bio-industry as a part of the center of soybean origin.