• BMB Reports
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• v.53 no.10
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• pp.533-538
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• 2020

Notch signaling has been identified as a critical pathway in gastric cancer (GC) progression and metastasis, and inhibition of Delta-like ligand 4 (DLL4), a Notch ligand, is suggested as a potent therapeutic approach for GC. Expression of both DLL4 and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) was similar in the malignant tissues of GC patients. We focused on vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a known angiogenesis regulator and activator of DLL4. Here, we used ABL001, a DLL4/VEGF bispecific therapeutic antibody, and investigated its therapeutic effect in GC. Treatment with human DLL4 therapeutic antibody (anti-hDLL4) or ABL001 slightly reduced GC cell growth in monolayer culture; however, they significantly inhibited cell growth in 3D-culture, suggesting a reduction in the cancer stem cell population. Treatment with anti-hDLL4 or ABL001 also decreased GC cell migration and invasion. Moreover, the combined treatment of irinotecan with anti-hDLL4 or ABL001 showed synergistic antitumor activity. Both combination treatments further reduced cell growth in 3D-culture as well as cell invasion. Interestingly, the combination treatment of ABL001 with irinotecan synergistically reduced the GC burden in both xenograft and orthotopic mouse models. Collectively, DLL4 inhibition significantly decreased cell motility and stem-like phenotype and the combination treatment of DLL4/VEGF bispecific therapeutic antibody with irinotecan synergistically reduced the GC burden in mouse models. Our data suggest that ABL001 potentially represents a potent agent in GC therapy. Further biochemical and pre-clinical studies are needed for its application in the clinic.

• Clean Technology
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.205-211
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• 2014

Biomass-based plastics containing the biomass content higher than 25 wt% have been considered as environment-friendly materials due to their effects on the reduction in the $CO_2$ emission and petroleum consumption as well as biodegradability after use. This article described the effect of the additions of oxo-biodegradable additive, 4 kinds of plant biomass, unsaturated fatty acid, citric acid in the properties of polyethylene films. Bio films were prepared using a variety of biomasses and tested for feasibility as a food packaging film. Mechanical properties such as tensile strength and percent elongation at break were evaluated. Husk biomasses from such as corn, soybean, rice, and wheat were pulverized using air classifying mill (ACM) and four different types of packaging films with thickness of $50{\mu}m$ were prepared using the pulverized biomass and low density polyethylene/linear low density polyethylene. The packaging film with wheat husk biomass was found to have greater mechanical properties of elongation and tensile strength than the other samples. Biodegradability of bio film was measured to be 51.5% compared to cellulose.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.159-159
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• 2017

Drought, a common environmental constraint, induces a range of physiological, biochemical and molecular changes in plants, and can cause severe reductions in crop yield. Consequently, understanding the molecular mechanisms of drought tolerance is an important step towards crop biotechnology. Here, we report that the rice (Oryza sativa) homeodomain-leucine zipper class IV transcription factor gene, ${\underline{R}ice}$ ${\underline{o}utermost}$ ${\underline{c}ell-specific}$ gene 10 (Roc10), enhances drought tolerance and grain yield by increasing lignin accumulation in ground tissues. Overexpression of Roc10 in rice significantly increased drought tolerance at the vegetative stages of growth and promoted both more effective photosynthesis and a reduction in water loss rate, compared with non-transgenic controls or RNAi transgenic plants. Importantly, Roc10 overexpressing plants had a higher drought tolerance at the reproductive stage of growth and a higher grain yield compared with the controls under field-drought conditions. Roc10 is mainly expressed in outer cell layers including the epidermis and the vasculature of the shoots, which coincides with areas of cell wall lignification. Roc10 overexpression elevated the expression levels of lignin biosynthetic genes in shoots, with a concomitant increase in the accumulation of lignin, while the overexpression and RNAi lines showed opposite patterns of lignin accumulation. We identified downstream target genes of Roc10 by performing RNA-seq and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)-seq analyses of shoot tissues. Roc10 was found to directly bind to the promoter of PEROXIDASEN/PEROXIDASE38, a key gene in lignin biosynthesis. Together, our findings suggest that Roc10 confers drought stress tolerance by promoting lignin biosynthesis in ground tissues.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.37-42
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• 2013

Rice is one of the most important cereal crops as a model plant for functional genomics of monocotyledons and usually transformed using Agrobacterium tumefaciens. However, the transformation's process using previous method is still time consuming and uneconomical, low efficiency. In this study, we established a new method by modifying the general Agrobacterium protocol especially in the infection and co-cultivation, Agrobacterium elimination, infected calli's selection steps using liquid media. We directly inoculated Agrobacterium containing a ZjLsL gene under the control of constitutive promoter into the 1- to 3-week-old rice calli derived from mature seeds. After 3 days of co-cultivation, the infected calli were transferred onto liquid media of Agrobacterium elimination and calli's selection for 3 days. The calli were transferred to calli's growth solid media for 14 days and then the calli transferred to shoot induction and root induction media. Putative transformants were initially selected on the medium containing phosphinothricin, and the PAT protein verified by PAT strip test. This method in this study would lead to reduction of substantial labor and time to generate transgenic plants.

• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.53-62
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• 2013

A total of 35 phosphate solubilizing bacterial strains were isolated from waste mushroom bed of Agaricus bisporus in Buyeo-Gun, Chungnam and screened for the production of indole acetic acid (IAA). The best IAA producing strain was identified as Pantoea rodasii using 16S rRNA analysis. In addition to the IAA production, this strain could act as an efficient phosphate solubilizer (1100 ${\mu}g$ $ml^{-1}$ after 5 days of incubation) also. The selected strain was cultured under different conditions in order to assess the optimum conditions for maximum IAA production. The nutrient broth (NB) medium was recorded as the best medium, where the maximum IAA production (229 ${\mu}g$ $ml^{-1}$) was recorded at the start of stationary phase (12 hours after inoculation) of the bacteria growth. The performance of the strain was found to be maximum at the temperature of $30^{\circ}C$ followed by $25^{\circ}C$. IAA production was found to be increased with increasing tryptophan concentration (from 0.1 to 0.6%), however beyond this limit, a slight reduction in IAA production was observed. The strains' ability to produce IAA was further confirmed by extraction of crude IAA and subsequent TLC analysis. A specific spot from the extracted IAA preparation was found corresponding with the standard spot of IAA with same $R_f$ value. The results of HPLC analysis conducted in identifying and quantifying the IAA production more precisely, are in agreement with the results of the assessment done with colorimetric method. As revealed by the results of the pot experiment, the isolated strain could significantly enhance the growth (as measured by shoot and root growth) of mung bean plants compared to that of non-inoculated plants. Therefore it can be concluded that the present strain, Pantoea rodasii has great potential to be used as bio-inoculants.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.67-73
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• 2017

For the bio-fuel conversion of algae, several processes are needed including cultivating, agglomeration, extracting and conversion to the bio-fuel. The production cost for each process makes the total production cost of algae bio-fuel conversion. The production cost of algae bio-fuel has still higher than that of the other commercial bio-fuel. The reduction of production cost for each process enables the competitive price as a bio-fuel. It is difficult to separate the algae from water because of the similar magnitude of density each other. The agglomeration and extracting of algae using ultrasonic wave is rare effect of environmental hazard and also it is appropriate technology for the next generation energy resources. The present research is investigated for the elucidation of algae behavior in the water with the ultrasonics wave. For this purpose, the unsteady computational fluid dynamic analysis has been conducted in the ultrasonic pressure field. The velocity, pressure and algae concentration changes with time have been analysed to clarify the mechanism of algae separation by ultrasonic wave.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.118-128
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• 2016

As the interest on the air-pollution is gradually rising up at home and abroad, automotive and fuel researchers have been working on the exhaust emission reduction from vehicles through a lot of approaches, which consist of new engine design, innovative after-treatment systems, using clean (eco-friendly alternative) fuels and fuel quality improvement. This research has brought forward two main issues : exhaust emission and PM (particulate matter) particle emissions of gasoline vehicle. Exhaust emission and PM particle of automotive had many problem that cause of ambient pollution, health effects. In addition, researcher studied the environment problems of the MTBE contained in the fuel as oxygenate additives. The researchers have many data about the health effects of ingestion of MTBE. However, the data support the conclusion that MTBE is a potential human carcinogen at high doses. Based on the oxygenated fuel additive types (MTBE, Bio-ETBE, Bio-ethanol, Bio-butanol), this paper discussed the influence of oxygen contents on gasoline fuel properties and evaporative emission characteristics. Also, this paper assessed the acceleration and power performance of gasoline vehicle for the fuel property.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.295-306
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• 2018

Schisandra chinensis (SC) and Lycium chinense (LC) were widely distributed in Asia and the fruit has been used traditionally for medicinal herbs. The processing method was solid-state fermentation using Aspergillus oryzae for 48 h after stir-frying treatment at $220^{\circ}C$ for 12 min. In this study, in vitro the anti-inflammatory effect and in vivo hangover reduction were compared to unprocessed SC and LC water extract. Anti-inflammatory effects have been evaluated in pro-inflammatory mediators which were secreted by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW 264.7 macrophages. Nitric oxide (NO) was determined using Griess reaction. Proinflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor $(TNF)-{\alpha}$ and interleukin $(IL)-1{\beta}$ were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activities were compared to processed SC or LC and mixtures thereof (1:1). In vivo study was compared to hangover relief in alcohol-fed mice. After administering a mixture of SC and LC (300 mg/kg) water extract (1:1), mice were fed 3 g/kg of ethanol. Serum was collected at 1, 3, and 5 h intervals to analyze ethanol and acetaldehyde levels using a colorimetric assay kit. The processed SC and LC water extracts compared to raw materials significantly inhibited LPS-induced NO and inflammatory cytokine production in RAW 264.7 cells. The results of the hangover mouse model are also consistent with anti-inflammatory effects. These results suggest that processed SC and LC extracts may be functional materials for the treatment of inflammation and hangover.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.1083-1095
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• 2019

Butyrate is known to play a significant role in energy metabolism and regulating genomic activities that influence rumen nutrition utilization and function. Thus, this study investigated the effects of an isolated butyrate-producing bacteria, Clostridium saccharobutylicum, in rumen butyrate production, fermentation parameters and microbial population in Holstein-Friesian cow. An isolated butyrate-producing bacterium from the ruminal fluid of a Holstein-Friesian cow was identified and characterized as Clostridium saccharobutylicum RNAL841125 using 16S rRNA gene sequencing and phylogenetic analyses. The bacterium was evaluated on its effects as supplement on in vitro rumen fermentation and microbial population. Supplementation with $10^6CFU/ml$ Clostridium saccharobutylicum increased (p < 0.05) microbial crude protein, butyrate and total volatile fatty acids concentration but had no significant effect on $NH_3-N$ at 24 h incubation. Butyrate and total VFA concentrations were higher (p < 0.05) in supplementation with $10^6CFU/ml$ Clostridium saccharobutylicum compared with control, with no differences observed for total gas production, $NH_3-N$ and propionate concentration. However, as the inclusion rate (CFU/ml) of C. saccharobutylicum was increased, reduction of rumen fermentation values was observed. Furthermore, butyrate-producing bacteria and Fibrobacter succinogenes population in the rumen increased in response with supplementation of C. saccharobutylicum, while no differences in the population in total bacteria, protozoa and fungi were observed among treatments. Overall, our study suggests that supplementation with $10^6CFU/ml$ C. saccharobutylicum has the potential to improve ruminal fermentation through increased concentrations of butyrate and total volatile fatty acid, and enhanced population of butyrate-producing bacteria and cellulolytic bacteria F. succinogenes.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.216-220
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• 2002

Seed decay of soybean caused by Diaporthe phaseolorum, Colletotrichum truncatum and Cercospora kikuchii is a serious disease when soybean is harvested under warm and wet weather conditions. Benomyl has been used for controlling the disease, however, benomyl application may be limited due to common occurrence of resistance. The efficacy of 21 fungicides against the pathogens was evaluated in vitro. Among the fungicides tested, benomyl, carbendazim, fluazinam, iprodione+propineb, thiophanate-methyl, and triflumizole were found effective and were evaluated for their ability to control the seed pathogens. Fluazinam completely inhibited mycelial growth at a concentration of 100 $\mu\textrm{g}$/$\textrm{m}{\ell}$ for D. phaseolorum; and at a concentration of 500 $\mu\textrm{g}$/$\textrm{m}{\ell}$ for C. truncatum and C. kikuchii. $EC_90$ values of fluazinam were similar to that of benomyl. Because fluazinam, iprodione+propineb, and triflumizole were found effective against the seed pathogens, these were subjected for field-testing. Suppression of pod and seed infection by fluazinam and iprodione+propineb was as high as that of benomyl without any reduction in agronomic characters of soybean. This study shows that fluazinam and iprodione+propineb may be used in combination with benomyl to control seed pathogens, manage resistance, and ensure production of high quality soybean seeds.