• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.221-227
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• 2010

Early cleavage is a reliable prognostic tool for successful embryo transfer in assisted reproduction because early cleaved embryo show better pregnancy rate after transfer. There for, preparation of good embryo recipient is important factor to optimize efficiency of pig cloning. The present study was performed to evaluate the effect of early cleavage on the in vivo development of cloned embryos and to analyze breed, parity and estrous synchrony to optimize recipient for pig cloning. In vitro matured porcine oocytes derived from local slaughterhouse and fibroblasts derived from miniature pig fetuses were used for somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). Reconstructed embryos were transferred to recipient pigs on the same day of SCNT or after 1~2 days of in vitro culture for selecting early cleaved embryos. Breed, parity and date of standing estrous of recipients were recorded for analysis. After 25~35 days after embryo transfer pregnancy was diagnosed using ultrasonography, and pregnant recipients were monitored till delivery. Between purebred and crossbred, no significant difference was founded in both pregnancy and delivery rates. However, early cleaved embryos showed significantly higher pregnancy (46.2%) and delivery (12.8%) rates compared to non-selectively transferred group (24.8% and 4.5%, respectively). The results also showed that the recipients showing standing estrous on the same day of SCNT and less than 4 parities were most suitable for pig cloning.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.264-267
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• 2005

A 12-year-old, 8.0 kg, spayed female, mixed-breed dog was presented to the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital of Chungnam National University (VMTH, CNU). That case has been growing up mass in her left upper hindlimb about for 2 years and has showed vomiting and anorexia for 3 days. The patient was diagnosed with mast cell tumor on the basis of fine-needle aspiration (FNA) cytology techniques. According to World Health Organization clinical staging system for diagnosing mast cell tumors, it was classified into stage IIIa. The patient was treated by adjuvant corticosteroid therapy, but complete surgical excision was not achieved by owner's request. In the early stage of therapy, the size of the mass was gradually reduced with only adjuvant glucocorticoid therapy, so the patient's general condition was maintained well. But after 53 days later, the treatmant was not effective anymore and mass size was increased. Two months later, she was euthanized because of intermittent vomiting and severe respiratory distress. Splenic mass, duodenal ulceration, liver mass and infiltrated mast cell tumor in upper hindlimb muscle region were found in necropsy examination.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.108-116
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• 2003

A series of new quinclorac family, herbicidal 3-phenyl-5-(3,7-dichloro-8-quinolinyl)-1,2,4-oxadiazole derivatives as substrate were synthesized and their growth inhibition activity $(pI_{50})$ against root and shoot of rice plant (Oryza sativa L.) and barnyard grass (Echinochloa crus-galli) were determined. And then comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) and molecular holographic quantitative structure- activity relationship (HQSAR) were compared in terms of their potential for predictiability. The statistical results were suggested that HQSAR based model had better predictability than CoMFA model. The selective factors to remove barnyard grass take electron withdrawing groups which can be created positive charge and steric bulky on the phenyl ring. Results revealed that the unknown 2,6-dichloro-substituent, U5 and 2,4,6-trichloro-substituent, U6(${\Delta}pI_{50}$=CoMFA: 1.18 & HQSAR: 1.82) were predicted as compound with higher activity and selectivity.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.45-53
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• 2005

GroE that is a heat shock protein composed of GroEL and GroES is known as an immunodominant target of both the humoral and cellular immune responses in bovine brucellosis. This study was carried out to characterize groE gene encoding heat shock proteins of B. abortus isolated in Korea and to evaluate the immunogenicity of the GroE protein expressed in E. coli system. In PCR the specific signals with the size of 2,077 bp were detected in five strains isolated from the mammary lymphnodes of the dairy cattle that were serologically positive and the reference strains. In comparison of the sequences of nucleotides and amino acids among the strains, GroES showed 100% identity in both sequences. GroEL was evaluated 99.0~99.9% in nucleotides and 98.0~100% homology in amino acids. The groE gene including groES and groEL was inserted into pET29a vector and constructed pET29a-GroE recombinant plasmids. The inserted groE was confirmed by digestion with Nco1 and EcoR1 endonucleases and nucleotide sequencing. E. coli BL (DE3) was transformed with pET29a-GroE, named as E. coli BL (DE3)/pET29a-GroE. In SDS-PAGE, it was evident that the recombinant plasmid effectively expressed the polypeptides for GroES (10 kDa) and GroEL (60 kDa) in 0.5, 1 and 2 hours after IPTG induction. The immuno-reactivity of the expressed proteins were proved in mouse inoculation and Western blot analysis.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.333-340
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• 2003

Objective: This study was performed to examine the maturation and the development to the blastocyst stage of immature oocytes collected from patients with high risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). Materials and Methods: Cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were collected following only HCGpriming for non stimulated IVF-ET cycles of the patients. At the time of oocyte collection, COCs were classified into three groups in accordance with their appearance (Group I: oocytes with dispersed cumulus cells; Group II: oocytes with compacted cumulus cells; Group III: oocytes with sparse cumulus cells). The in vitro maturation and blastocyst development rates of the COCs were compared among these groups. From August 2001 to June 2002, 48 IVM/IVF-ET cycles from 42 patients (mean age: $32.4{\pm}3.8$ years) were performed. To prevent the occurrence of OHSS, the patients were primed with 10, 000 IU HCG alone 36 h before oocyte collection without gonadotropin stimulation. Oocytes were aspirated on cycle days from 7 to 13. The normal COCs were classified into three groups according to their appearance. The aspirated immature oocytes were cultured in YS maturation medium containing 30% (v/v) human follicular fluid (HFF), 1 IU/ml FSH, 10 IU/ml HCG and 10 ng/ml rhEGF. Fertilization was induced by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). All zygotes were co-cultured with cumulus cells in $10{\mu}l$ YS medium containing 10% HFF until day 7 after oocyte collection. Blastocyst transfer was performed on day 5 after ICSI. Results: Th e mean number of oocytes cultured in the IVM/IVF cycles was $24.7{\pm}10.6$. Of 1185 COCs, those assigned to Group I, II and III were 470 (39.7%), 414 (35.0%) and 301 (25.4%), respectively. The maturation rate (94.5%, 444/470, p<0.05) in Group I was significantly higher than those of Group II (62.8%, 260/414) and Group III (73.1%, 220/301). Especially, 30.9% of COCs in Group I (145/470) was matured on the day of oocyte aspiration. There were no differences in the rates of fertilization and cleavage among the three groups. The development rate to the blastocyst stage in Group I (54.6%, 206/377, p<0.05) was also significantly higher than those in Group II (33.0%, 68/206) and Group III (30.1%, 52/173). Twenty-four clinical pregnancies (50.0%) was obtained and 22 pregnancies (45.8%) are ongoing. Implantation rate in the present study was 24.6%. Conclusion: These results suggest that there is a positive correlation between the appearance of COCs and the developmental competence of the immature oocytes in non stimulated IVM/IVF cycles.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.10
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• pp.1529-1536
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• 2006

We cloned a gene of ompH(D:4) from pigs infected with P. multocida D:4 in Korea [16]. The gene is composed of 1,026 nucleotides coding 342 amino acids (aa) with a signal peptide of 20 aa (GenBank accession number AY603962). In this study, we analyzed the ability of the ompH(D:4) to induce protective immunity against a wild-type challenge in mice. To determine appropriate epitope(s) of the gene, one full and three different types of truncated genes of the ompH(D:4) were constructed by PCR using pET32a or pRSET B as vectors. They were named ompH(D:4)-F (1,026 bp [1-1026] encoding 342 aa), ompH(D:4)-t1 (693 bp [55-747] encoding 231 aa), ompH(D:4)-t2 (561 bp [187-747] encoding 187 aa), and ompH(D:4)-t3 (540 bp [487-1026] encoding 180 aa), respectively. The genes were successfully expressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3). Their gene products, polypeptides, OmpH(D:4)-F, -t1, -t2, and -t3, were purified individually using nickel-nitrilotriacetic acid (Ni-NTA) affinity column chromatography. Their $M_rs$ were determined to be 54.6, 29, 24, and 23.2 kDa, respectively, using SDS-PAGE. Antisera against the four kinds of polypeptides were generated in mice for protective immunity analyses. Some $50{\mu}g$ of the four kinds of polypeptides were individually provided intraperitoneally with mice (n=20) as immunogens. The titer of post-immunized antiserum revealed that it grew remarkably compared with pre-antiserum. The lethal dose of the wild-type pathogen was determined at $10{\mu}l$ of live P. multocida D:4 through direct intraperitoneal (IP) injection, into post-immune mice (n=5, three times). Some thirty days later, the lethal dose ($10{\mu}l$) of live pathogen was challenged into the immunized mouse groups [OmpH(D:4)-F, -t1, -t2, and -t3; n=20 each, two times] as well as positive and negative control groups. As compared within samples, the OmpH(D:4)-F-immunized groups showed lower immune ability than the OmpH(D:4)-t1, -t2, and -t3. The results show that the truncated-OmpH(D:4)-t1, -t2, and -t3 can be used for an effective vaccine candidate against swine atrophic rhinitis caused by pathogenic P. multocida (D:4) isolated in Korea.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.169-174
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• 2006

To search of a new porcine pheromonal odorants, the comparative molecular similarity indices analysis(CoMSIA) between porcine odorant binding protein(pOBP) as receptor and ligands of green odorants 2-(Cyclohexyloxy)tetrahydrofurane derivatives as substrate molecule were conducted and disscused quantitatively. In the optimized CoMSIA model(I-AI) with chirality($I:\;C_{1'}(R),\;C_2(S)$) in substrate molecules and atom based fit alignment(AE) of the odorants the statistical PLS results showed the best predictability of the binding affinities based on the LOO cross-validated value ${r^2}_{cv.}\;(q^2=0.856)$ and non cross-validated conventional coefficient(${r^2}_{ncv.}=0.964)$). The structural distinctions of the highest active molecules were able to understand from the interaction between pOBP and green odorants in the contour maps with CoMSIA model.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.181-187
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• 2006

In recent years the number of patients waiting for organ transplantation has greatly outpaced the supply of human organs available, which leads to a renewed interest in pig-to-human xenotransplantation as an alternative. However, one of the biggest barriers in the xenotransplantation is presence of porcine endogenous retroviruses(PERV) that can infect human cells. In this study, to present a possible solution for this problem we tried to inhibit expression of PERVs using shRNAs(short hairpin RNA) at the level of RNA synthesis and virus release. The shRNA targeting the sequence of PERV A, B type was cloned into pSIREN-RetroQ vector under the control of polymerase-III U6-RNA gene promoter. Quantitative real-time PCR was performed to detect my alterations in mRNA production of PERV A, B targeted by the shRNA in each done. Depending on the target sequence of the shRNA, the transcription of PERV was decreased to as much as 4% and the number of progeny viruses was reduced to less than 1/200,000. Transgenic pigs producing such shRNAs may result in a highly reduced PERV expression in cells and organs, which is a prerequisite for safe xenotransplantations.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.104-108
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• 2007

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the clinical antagonistic effect of atipamezole(0.25 mg/kg, IM) in cats anesthetized with tiletamine-zolazepam ($Zoletil^{(R)}$, 10 mg/kg, IM) and medetomidine (0.05 mg/kg, IM). Twelve healthy 1 year old Korean mixed breed cats were used for this study. They were 4 males and 8 females. These cats were randomly assigned to two groups. One was control group ($Zoletil^{(R)}$ + medetomidine, ZM), and the other was treatment group ($Zoletil^{(R)}$ + medetomidine and antagonism by atipamezole, ZMA). All cats were examined 15 minutes before, 5, 25, 65 and 105 minutes after administration of tiletamine-zolazepam and medetomidine. Atipamezole was injected intramuscularly 20 minutes after ZM administation. Recovery time, heart rate, respiratory rate, total plasma protein and blood glucose were significantly different between ZM group and ZMA group (P<0.05). However, rectal temperature was not significantly different between ZM group and ZMA group. Two groups were able to induce sternal recumbency within 2 minutes and lateral recumbency within 4 minutes after the anesthetics injection. Mean sternal position time ($mean{\pm}SD$) was $174.0{\pm}44.6\;and\;116.2{\pm}27.3$ minutes, and mean standing position time was $210.8{\pm}45.6\;and\;154.2{\pm}21.1$ minutes in ZM and ZMA group, respectively. In these two groups, adverse effects during recovery time from anesthesia were not seen. As a result, the ZMA group had a faster recovery than the ZM group. Thus it was concluded that atipamezole could exert a useful reversal effect in cats anesthetized with medetomidine-tiletamine/zolazepam combination.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.389-397
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• 2018

The structure of glycan residues attached to glycoproteins can influence the biological activity, stability, and safety of pharmaceutical proteins delivered from transgenic pig milk. The production of therapeutic glycoprotein in transgenic livestock animals is limited, as the glycosylation of mammary gland cells and the production of glycoproteins with the desired homogeneous glycoform remain a challenge. The ${\beta}$-1,3-N-acetylglucosaminylatransferase1 (B3GNT1) gene is an important enzyme that attaches N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) to galactose (Gal) residues for protein glycosylation; however, there is limited information about pig glycosyltransferases. Therefore, we cloned the pig B3GNT1 (pB3GNT1) and investigated its functional properties that could attach N-acetylglucosamine to galactose residue. Using several different primers, a partial pB3GNT1 mRNA sequence containing the full open reading frame (ORF) was isolated from liver tissue. The ORF of pB3GNT1 contained 1,248 nucleotides and encoded 415 amino acid residues. Organ-dependent expression of the pB3GNT1 gene was confirmed in various organs from adult and juvenile pigs. The pB3GNT1 mRNA expression level was high in the muscles of the heart and small intestine but was lower in the lungs. For functional characterization of pB3GNT1, we established a stable expression of the pB3GNT1 gene in the porcine kidney cell line (PK-15). As a result, it was suggested that the glycosylation pattern of pB3GNT1 expression in PK-15 cells did not affect the total sialic acid level but increased the poly N-acetyllactosamine level. The results of this study can be used to produce glycoproteins with improved properties and therapeutic potential for the generation of desired glycosylation using transgenic pigs as bioreactors.