• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.309-316
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• 2011

Fatty liver disease refers to a range of disorders associated with fatty liver, which occur in excessive eating, evident infection or significant consumption of alcohol. This study was to investigate the effects of water and ethanol extracts of Triticum aestivum young leaf on lipid metabolism and accumulation in liver of mice fed with high-fat diet. Male C57BL/6 mice were divided into normal diet group, high fat diet (HFD) group, high fat diet group administrated with 200 mg/kg/day of T. aestivum water extract (HFD-TAWE) and high-fat group administrated with 200 mg/kg/day of T. aestivum ethanol extract (HFD-TAEE). TAWE and TAEE were administrated orally for 5 weeks once at the same time point. Both TAWE and TAEE significantly reduced body weight, food intake and liver tissue weight, which were augmented in high fat-fed mice. The serum levels of triglyceride, total and LDL-cholesterol also were significantly attenuated in both HFD-TAWE and HFD-TAEE groups compared to the HFD group. Moreover, administration of HFD-TAWE or HFD-TAEE reduced the lipid accumulation in liver tissue of mice fed with high fat diet. Levels of total lipids and triglyceride in liver tissues also was significantly reduced in HFDTAWE and HFD-TAEE groups compared to HFD group. The activities of serum ALT and AST revealed in HFD group were remarkedly decreased in HFD-TAEE groups. These results indicate that both water and ethanol extract of T. aestivum may improve the lipid accumulation in liver as well as lipid metabolism in serum, and that in particular, the ethanol extract of T. aestivum may has the potent anti-hyperlipidemic effect, suggesting that it may be a useful candidate for the therapy preventing fatty liver diseases.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.99-113
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• 2018

Recently, global warming has widened the habitat of mosquitoes and infection chances for mosquito-borne diseases are increasing. Flavivirus is a typical mosquito-borne virus. Flaviviruses with a relatively high frequency of infection in Asian countries include Zika, Dengue, and Japanese encephalitis viruses. Although distinctive diagnosis of flaviviruses is required because the symptoms and therapeutic method differ, there is no diagnostic method that can distinguish them accurately yet. In this study, we propose distinctive diagnosis method of flaviviruses using informations and analysis tools constructed in bioinformatic databases. The envelope protein and non-structural protein 1 which are useful protein for the immuno-diagnostics of three flaviviruses were selected. Their homology was analyzed by multiple sequence alignments and epitope candidates consisting of 10-15 amino acids were selected. Finally two epitopes were suggested to be most useful by immunogenicity analysis and 3D structure prediction. These approaches and results are expected to be great value in the distinctive diagnosis of three flaviviruses with a high frequency of infection in Asian countries.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.23
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• pp.10439-10444
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• 2015

Many chemotherapeutic agents have been successfully used to treat hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); however, the development of chemoresistance in liver cancer cells usually results in a relapse and worsening of prognosis. It has been demonstrated that DNA methylation and histone modification play crucial roles in chemotherapy resistance. Currently, extensive research has shown that there is another potential mechanism of gene expression control, which is mediated through the function of short noncoding RNAs, especially for microRNAs (miRNAs), but little is known about their roles in cancer cell drug resistance. In present study, by taking advantage of miRNA effects on the resistance of human hepatocellular carcinoma cells line to cisplatin, it has been demonstrated that miR-340 were significantly downregulated whereas Nrf2 was upregulated in HepG2/CDDP (cisplatin) cells, compared with parental HepG2 cells. Bioinformatics analysis and luciferase assays of Nrf2-3'-untranslated region-based reporter constructor indicated that Nrf2 was the direct target gene of miR-340, miR-340 mimics suppressing Nrf2-dependent antioxidant pathway and enhancing the sensitivity of HepG2/CDDP cells to cisplatin. Interestingly, transfection with miR-340 mimics combined with miR-340 inhibitors reactivated the Nrf2 related pathway and restored the resistance of HepG2/CDDP cells to CDDP. Collectively, the results first suggested that lower expression of miR-340 is involved in the development of CDDP resistance in hepatocellular carcinoma cell line, at least partly due to regulating Nrf2-dependent antioxidant pathway.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.12
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• pp.4969-4976
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• 2014

Background: miR-152 is involved in the genesis and development of several malignancies. However, its role in HCC has not been fully clarified. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinicopathological significance of miR-152 and its effect on the malignant phenotype of HCC cells. Methods: miR-152 expression was detected using real-time quantitative RT-PCR in 89 pairs of HCC formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded and their adjacent tissues. Functionally, in vitro effects and mechanisms of action of miR-152 on proliferation, viability, caspase activity, apoptosis and motility were explored in HepG2, HepB3 and SNU449 cells, as assessed by spectrophotometry, fluorimetry, fluorescence microscopy, wound-healing and Western blotting, respectively. Results: miR-152 expression in HCC was downregulated remarkably compared to that in adjacent hepatic tissues. miR-152 levels in groups of advanced clinical stage, larger tumor size and positive HBV infection, were significantly lower than in other groups. A miR-152 mimic could suppress cell growth, inhibit cell motility and increase caspase activity and apoptosis in HCC cell lines. Furthermore, Western blotting showed that the miR-152 mimic downregulated Wnt-1, DNMT1, ERK1/2, AKT and TNFRS6B signaling. Intriguingly, inverse correlation of TNFRF6B and miR-152 expression was found in HCC and bioinformatics confirmed that TNFRF6B might be a target of miR-152. Conclusions: Underexpression of miR-152 plays a vital role in hepatocarcinogenesis and lack of miR-152 is related to the progression of HCC through deregulation of cell proliferation, motility and apoptosis. miR-152 may act as a tumor suppressor miRNA by also targeting TNFRSF6B and is therefore a potential candidate biomarker for HCC diagnosis, prognosis and molecular therapy.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.7
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• pp.1136-1145
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• 2015

The diverse microbial communities that colonize distinct segments of the gastrointestinal tract are intimately related to aspects of physiology and the pathology of human health. However, most recent studies have focused on the rectal or fecal microbiota, and the microbial signature of the duodenum is poorly studied. In this study, we compared the microbiota in duodenal and rectal samples to illustrate the characteristic microbial signatures of the duodenum in healthy adults. Nine healthy volunteers donated biopsies and luminal contents from the duodenum and rectum. To determine the composition and diversity of the microbiota, 454-pyrosequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA was performed and multiple bioinformatics analyses were applied. The α-diversity and phylogenetic diversity of the microbiota in the duodenal samples were higher than those of the rectal samples. There was higher biodiversity among the microbiota isolated from rectal biopsies than feces. Proteobacteria were more highly represented in the duodenum than in the rectum, both in the biopsies and in the luminal contents from the healthy volunteers (38.7% versus 12.5%, 33.2% versus 5.0%, respectively). Acinetobacter and Prevotella were dominant in the duodenum, whereas Bacteroides and Prevotella were dominant in the rectum. Additionally, the percentage of OTUs shared in biopsy groups was far higher than in the luminal group (43.0% versus 26.8%) and a greater number of genera was shared among the biopsies than the luminal contents. Duodenal samples demonstrated greater biological diversity and possessed a unique microbial signature compared with the rectum. The mucosa-associated microbiota was more relatively conserved than luminal samples.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.11
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• pp.1519-1528
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• 2013

Bacillus pumilus SG2, a halotolerant strain, expresses two major chitinases designated ChiS and ChiL that were induced by chitin and secreted into the supernatant. The present work aimed to obtain a mutant with higher chitinolytic activity through mutagenesis of Bacillus pumilus SG2 using a combination of UV irradiation and nitrous acid treatment. Following mutagenesis and screening on chitin agar and subsequent formation of halos, the mutated strains were examined for degradation of chitin under different conditions. A mutant designated AV2-9 was selected owing to its higher chitinase activity. To search for possible mutations in the whole operon including ChiS and ChiL, the entire chitinase operon, including the intergenic region, promoter, and two areas corresponding to the ChiS and ChiL ORF, was suquenced. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the complete chitinase operon from the SG2 and AV2-9 strains showed the presence of a mutation in the catalytic domain (GH18) of chitinase (ChiL). The results demonstrated that a single base change had occurred in the ChiL sequence in AV2-9. The wild-type chitinase, ChiL, and the mutant (designated ChiLm) were cloned, expressed, and purified in E. coli. Both enzymes showed similar profiles of activity at different ranges of pH, NaCl concentration, and temperature, but the mutant enzyme showed approximately 30% higher catalytic activity under all the conditions tested. The results obtained in this study showed that the thermal stability of chitinase increased in the mutant strain. Bioinformatics analysis was performed to predict changes in the stability of proteins caused by mutation.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.391-397
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• 2016

Clostridium is a genus of Gram-positive, rod shape, spore-forming obligate anaerobe. Recently, Clostridium has been attracted as a host for bio-based chemical production, due to its diversity of substrate utilization and the production ability for metabolites which can be used as a building block for chemical production. Especially, butanol produced from Clostridium has been considered as an alternative fuel. As a transportation fuel, butanol has a higher energy density and lower hygroscopicity compared to ethanol, the first generation biofuel. Recently, metabolic engineering of Clostridium has been massively conducted for butanol production. In this study, the metabolic engineering strategy of Clostridium for butanol production has been reviewed with a brief perspective.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.60-72
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• 2007

In general, the importance of geological information is emphasized not only for national SOC construction, underground space development and energy resources development but also in areas related to environmental disasters such as mine damage, ground subsidence and landslides. Although geological information is highly useful in developing industrial raw materials, national land management and people's welfare, there is no unified governmental institution in charge of collecting and managing geological information in the national level. For this, this paper study: first, to analyze geological demand for common experts; second, to analyze geological demand for public institution; and third, to set priority for geological informatization. In the result of surveying demand for geological information, we need to improve laws and systems for collecting and reporting geology-related materials, making thematic maps, and maintaining and managing geological information we need to establish national strategies and build an integrated system for interoperability of databases and systems. Accordingly, we will guideline on future direction of strategies for the national integration of geological information management system.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.385-391
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• 2016

The discovery and understanding of antigenic proteins are essential for development of a vaccine against malaria. In Plasmodium falciparum, Pf92 have been characterized as a merozoite surface protein, and this protein is expressed at the late schizont stage, but no study of Pv92, the orthologue of Pf92 in P. vivax, has been reported. Thus, the protein structure of Pv92 was analyzed, and the gene sequence was aligned with that of other Plasmodium spp. using bioinformatics tools. The recombinant Pv92 protein was expressed and purified using bacterial expression system and used for immunization of mice to gain the polyclonal antibody and for evaluation of antigenicity by protein array. Also, the antibody against Pv92 was used for subcellular analysis by immunofluorescence assay. The Pv92 protein has a signal peptide and a sexual stage s48/45 domain, and the cysteine residues at the N-terminal of Pv92 were completely conserved. The N-terminal of Pv92 was successfully expressed as soluble form using a bacterial expression system. The antibody raised against Pv92 recognized the parasites and completely merged with PvMSP1-19, indicating that Pv92 was localized on the merozoite surface. Evaluation of the human humoral immune response to Pv92 indicated moderate antigenicity, with 65% sensitivity and 95% specificity by protein array. Taken together, the merozoite surface localization and antigenicity of Pv92 implicate that it might be involved in attachment and invasion of a merozoite to a new host cell or immune evasion during invasion process.

• Interdisciplinary Bio Central
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.9.1-9.6
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• 2009

Introduction: In the mass spectrometry-based proteomics, biological samples are analyzed to identify proteins by mass spectrometer and database search. Database search is the process to select the best matches to the experimental mass spectra among the amino acid sequence database and we identify the protein as the matched sequence. The match score is defined to find the matches from the database and declare the highest scored hit as the most probable protein. According to the score definition, search result varies. In this study, the difference among search results of different search engines or different databases was investigated, in order to suggest a better way to identify more proteins with higher reliability. Materials and Methods: The protein extract of human mesenchymal stem cell was separated by several bands by one-dimensional electrophorysis. One-dimensional gel was excised one by one, digested by trypsin and analyzed by a mass spectrometer, FT LTQ. The tandem mass (MS/MS) spectra of peptide ions were applied to the database search of X!Tandem, Mascot and Sequest search engines with IPI human database and SwissProt database. The search result was filtered by several threshold probability values of the Trans-Proteomic Pipeline (TPP) of the Institute for Systems Biology. The analysis of the output which was generated from TPP was performed. Results and Discussion: For each MS/MS spectrum, the peptide sequences which were identified from different conditions such as search engines, threshold probability, and sequence database were compared. The main difference of peptide identification at high threshold probability was caused by not the difference of sequence database but the difference of the score. As the threshold probability decreases, the missed peptides appeared. Conversely, in the extremely high threshold level, we missed many true assignments. Conclusion and Prospects: The different identification result of the search engines was mainly caused by the different scoring algorithms. Usually in proteomics high-scored peptides are selected and low-scored peptides are discarded. Many of them are true negatives. By integrating the search results from different parameter and different search engines, the protein identification process can be improved.