• 한국동물학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국동물학회 1999년도 한국생물과학협회 학술발표대회
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• pp.190.1-190
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• 1999

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• Animal cells and systems
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• 제9권3호
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• pp.107-111
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• 2005

C. elegans DLK-1 has been reported to play an important role in synaptogenesis by shaping the structure of presynaptic terminal. In this study, we investigated the expression pattern and regulation of the dlk-1 gene in C. elegans. To determine the expression pattern, we made a dlk-1::gfp fusion construct, named pPDdg1, which consisted of -2.2 kb 5' upstream region, the first exon, the first intron, and a part of the second exon of the dlk-1 gene. By microinjecting this construct into the worm, we observed that the DLK-1::GFP was expressed mainly in neurons. We next examined the regulatory elements of gene expression by deletion analysis of pPDdg1. Removal of a large portion of the 5' upstream region (${\Delta}-361$ to -2246) of the gene had little effect on the expression pattern, whereas deletion of the first intron led to elimination of the DLK-1::GFP expression in most of the neurons. Our results suggest that the first intron of the C. elegans dlk-1 gene contains the regulatory element critical for gene expression.

• Animal cells and systems
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• 제11권2호
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• pp.99-104
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• 2007

RNA interference (RNAi) is the phenomenon of gene silencing by double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) at transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels in a sequence-specific manner. Reverse genetic approaches using RNA interference (RNAi) have become a major tool for biological researches since its discovery in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. In this review, we overview how the RNAi phenomenon was discovered and how the underlying mechanism has been elucidated. We also describe and discuss how RNAi experiments can be performed and how RNAi can be used for genetic studies.

• BMB Reports
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• 제50권4호
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• pp.160-161
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• 2017

Proper maintenance of biological components is crucial for longevity and healthy aging. Although the role of homeostatic maintenance systems for DNA and protein in longevity is established, it remains largely unknown for RNA. In our recent work, we show that nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) promotes longevity in the roundworm C. elegans by enhancing RNA quality control. We find that the activity of NMD decreases during aging, raising the possibility that RNA quality declines in old animals. We then show that key components of NMD complex are required for prolonged lifespan in C. elegans. In addition, animals with reduced insulin/insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) signaling (IIS), a representative longevity model, display increased NMD activity. Thus, up-regulation of NMD appears to play crucial roles in longevity conferred by reduced IIS via enhancing mRNA quality control. As both IIS and NMD pathways are evolutionarily conserved, mammals including humans may be equipped with similar RNA quality control systems to achieve longevity.

• BMB Reports
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• 제49권2호
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• pp.93-98
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• 2016

Germline stem cells (GSCs) are the best understood adult stem cell types in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, and have provided an important model system for studying stem cells and their cell fate in vivo, in mammals. In this review, we propose a mechanism that controls GSCs and their cell fate through selective activation, repression and mobilization of the specific mRNAs. This mechanism is acutely controlled by known signal transduction pathways (e.g., Notch signaling and Ras-ERK MAPK signaling pathways) and P granule (analogous to mammalian germ granule)-associated mRNA regulators (FBF-1, FBF-2, GLD-1, GLD-2, GLD-3, RNP-8 and IFE-1). Importantly, all regulators are highly conserved in many multi-cellular animals. Therefore, GSCs from a simple animal may provide broad insight into vertebrate stem cells (e.g., hematopoietic stem cells) and their cell fate specification.

• Animal cells and systems
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• 제16권5호
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• pp.351-356
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• 2012

Food is important to any animal, and a large part of the behavioral repertoire is concerned with ensuring adequate nutrition. Two main nutritional sensations, hunger and satiety, produce opposite behaviors. Hungry animals seek food, increase exploratory behavior and continue feeding once they encounter food. Satiated animals decrease exploratory behavior, take rest, and stop feeding. The signals of hunger or satiety and their effects on physiology and behavior will depend not only on the animal's current nutritional status, but also on its experience and the environment in which the animal evolved. In our novel, nutritionally rich environment, improper control of appetite contributes to diseases from anorexia to the current epidemic of obesity. Despite extraordinary recent advances, genetic contribution to appetite control is still poorly understood partly due to lack of simple genetic model systems. In this review, we will discuss current understanding of molecular and cellular mechanisms by which animals regulate food intake depending on their nutritional status. Then, focusing on relatively less known muscarinic and cGMP signals, we will discuss how the molecular and behavioral aspects of hunger and satiety are conserved in a simple invertebrate model system, Caenorhabditis elegans so as for us to use it to understand the genetics of appetite control.

• 생약학회지
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• 제46권3호
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• pp.214-222
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• 2015

Recently, many studies have focused on the aging and oxidative stress. Several papers reported that Vigna angularis has various biological properties including antiaging, antioxidative and anti-inflammatory activities. Methanol extract from the red bean sprouts was successively partitioned as n-hexane, methylene chloride, ethyl acetate, n-butanol and H₂O soluble fractions. We had studied lifespan extending and stress resistant effects of the fractions using Caenorhabditis elegans. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase activities, and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were also investigated. Moreover, we had studied to find any significant change in aging-related factors such as reproduction, food intake, growth and movement of C. elegans. Our results represent that ethyl acetate fraction showed the most potent lifespan extending and stress resistant effects, and this fraction was able to elevate SOD and catalase activities of worms, and reduce intracellular ROS accumulation.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• 제3권1호
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• pp.15-23
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• 2005

Background MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of noncoding RNAs found in various organisms such as plants and mammals. However, most of the mRNAs regulated by miRNAs are unknown. Furthermore, miRNA targets in genomes cannot be identified by standard sequence comparison since their complementarity to the target sequence is imperfect in general. In this paper, we propose a kernel-based method for the efficient prediction of miRNA targets. To help in distinguishing the false positives from potentially valid targets, we elucidate the features common in experimentally confirmed targets. Results The performance of our prediction method was evaluated by five-fold cross-validation. Our method showed 0.64 and 0.98 in sensitivity and in specificity, respectively. Also, the proposed method reduced the number of false positives by half compared with TargetScan. We investigated the effect of feature sets on the classification of miRNA targets. Finally, we predicted miRNA targets for several miRNAs in the Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) 3' untranslated region (3' UTR) database. Condusions The targets predicted by the suggested method will help in validating more miRNA targets and ultimately in revealing the role of small RNAs in the regulation of genomes. Our algorithm for miRNA target site detection will be able to be improved by additional experimental­knowledge. Also, the increase of the number of confirmed targets is expected to reveal general structural features that can be used to improve their detection.

• 생명과학회지
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• 제25권3호
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• pp.263-268
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• 2015

체강 소체는 꼬마 선충에서 내화과정을 통해 체강 내 액체를 세포 안으로 들여오는 특이적인 세포이다. 본 연구실에서의 최근 연구 결과에 의하면, 꼬마 선충에서 식이제한에 의한 수명연장에 체강 소체가 필수적임이 발견되었다. 본 연구에서는 꼬마 선충에서 체강 소체를 제거하였을 경우, 환경적 스트레스에 대한 저항성과 번식력을 개체 수준에서 연구하였다. 체강 소체는 체강 소체에만 특이적으로 발현하는 디프테리아 독소를 이용하여 제거하였다. 먼저 자외선에 대한 저항성은 20 J/cm²/min의 자외선을 조사한 후, 생존률의 변화를 매일 기록하였다. 또한 꼬마 선충을 35℃ 배양기에 10시간 동안 배양하여 열 스트레스를 가한 후, 생존률의 변화를 관찰하였다. 산화성 스트레스는 paraquat를 이용하여 생체 내 산화성 스트레스를 유도한 다음, 산화성 스트레스에 대한 저항성을 비교하다. 번식력의 경우, 번식기간 동안의 총 자손의 수와 날짜 별 자손의 수를 비교 분석하였다. 그 결과, 체강소체는 개체의 자외선 스트레스의 저항성에는 필수적이지만, 열과 산화성 스트레스 저항성에는 영향을 미치진 않는 것으로 보인다. 그리고 개체의 번식력에도 관여하는 것으로 나타났다. 본 연구 결과는 노화 및 식이제한에 의한 수명연장의 기전을 이해하는데 기여할 것으로 사료된다.

• Molecules and Cells
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• 제26권6호
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• pp.590-594
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• 2008

brc-2, an ortholog of BRCA2 in Caenorhabditis elegans, is essential in the maintenance of genetic integrity. In C. elegans, cellular location correlates with meiotic progression, and transgene-induced cosuppression is observed in the germ line but not in somatic cells. We used these unique features to dissect the role of brc-2 in the germ line from that in somatic cells. In situ hybridization of wild type animals revealed that brc-2 gene expression was higher in oocytes than in other germline cells, and was barely detectable in mitotic cells. In contrast, germ cells containing multicopies of the brc-2 transgene showed no significant in situ hybridization signal at any oogenesis stage, confirming that brc-2 expression was functionally cosuppressed in the transgenic germ line. RAD-51 foci formation in response to DNA damage was abrogated in brc-2-cosuppressed germ cells, whereas wild-type germ cells showed strong RAD-51 foci formation. These germ cells exhibited massive chromosome fragmentation and decompaction instead of six bivalent chromosomes in diakinesis. Accordingly, lethality was observed after the early stage of germline development. These results suggest that brc-2 plays essential roles in chromosome integrity in early prophase, and therefore is crucial in meiotic progression and embryonic survival.