• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.336-344
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• 2011

Using the abundant available information about the tomato genome, we developed DNA markers that are linked to disease resistant loci and performed marker-assisted selection (MAS) to construct multi-disease resistant lines and varieties. Resistance markers of Ty-1, T2, and I2, which are linked to disease resistance to Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), Tomato mosaic virus (ToMV), and Fusarium wilt, respectively, were developed in a co-dominant fashion. DNA sequences near the resistance loci of TYLCV, ToMV, and Fusarium wilt were used for primer design. Reported candidate markers for powdery mildew-resistance were screened and the 32.5Cla marker was selected. All four markers (Ty-1, T2, I2, and 32.5Cla) were converted to cleavage amplification polymorphisms (CAPS) markers. Then, the CAPS markers were applied to 96 tomato lines to determine the phenetic relationships among the lines. This information yielded clusters of breeding lines illustrating the distribution of resistant and susceptible characters among lines. These data were utilized further in a MAS program for several generations, and a total of ten varieties and ten inbred lines were constructed. Among four traits, three were introduced to develop varieties and breeding lines through the MAS program; several cultivars possessed up to seven disease resistant traits. These resistant trait-related markers that were developed for the tomato MAS program could be used to select early stage seedlings, saving time and cost, and to construct multi-disease resistant lines and varieties.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.234-241
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• 2005

Galla Rhois is a nest of parasitic bug, Mellaphis chinensis Bell, in Rhus chinensis Mill. Galla Rhois has been used for the therapy of diarrhea, peptic ulcer, hemauria, etc., that showed various antiinflammatory activity, and other biological properties. We studied the effect of Galla Rhois water extract(GRWE). The cytotoxic activity of GRWE in HL-60 cells was increased in a concentration-dependent manner. GRWE was cytotoxic to HL-60 cells, with $IC_50$ of $100{\mu}g/m{\ell}$. Treatment of GRWE to HL-60 cells showed the fragmentation of DNA in a concentration manner, suggesting that these cells underwent apoptosis. In addition, the flow cytometric analysis revealed GRWE concentration-dependently increased apoptotic cells with hypodiploid DNA content and arrested G1 phase of cell cycle. These results indicate that GRWE may have a possibility of potential anticancer activities. Treatment of HL-60 cells with GRWE was induced activation of caspase-3, caspase-8 and proteolytic cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase. Also, caspase-3 was directly activated via caspase-8 activation. GRWE also caused the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria into the cytosol. GRWE-induced cytochrome c release was mediated by caspase-8-dependent cleavage of Bid and Bax translocation. These results suggest that caspase-8 mediates caspase-3 activation and cytochrome c release during GRWE-induced apoptosis in HL-60 cells.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.68-73
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• 1995

Pseudomonas sp. P20 was shown to be capable of degrading biphenyl and 4-chlorobiphenyl (4CB) to produce the corresponding benzoic acids wnich were not further degraded. But the potential of the strain for biodegradation of 4CB was shown to be excellent. The pcbA, B, C and D genes responsible for the aromatic ring-cleavage of biphenyl and 4CB degradation were cloned from the chromosomal DNA of the strain. In this study, the pebC and D genes specifying degradation of 2, 3-dihydroxybiphenyl (2, 3-DHBP) produced from biphenyl by the pebAB-encoded enzymes were cloned by using pBluescript SK(＋) as a vector. From the pCK102 (9.3 kb) containing pebC and D genes, pCK1022 inserted with a EcoRI-HindIII DNA fragment (4.1 kb) carrying pebC and D and a pCK1092 inserted with EcoRI-XbaI fragment (1.95 kb) carrying pebC were constructed. The expression of pcbC and D' in E. coli CK102 and pebC in E. coli CK1092 was examined by gas chromatography and UV-vis spectrophotometry. 2.3-dihydroxybiphenyl was readily degraded to produce meta-cleavage product (MCP) by E. coli CK102 after incubation for 10 min, and then only benzoic acid(BA) was detected in the 24-h old culture. The MCP was detected in E. coli CK1022 containing pebC and 0 genes (by the resting cells assay) for up to 3 h after incubation and then diminished completely in 8 h, whereas the MCP accumulated in the E. coli CK1092 culture even after 6 h of incubation. The 2, 3-DHBP dioxygenases (product of pebC gene) produced by E. coli CK1, CK102, CK1023, and CK1092 strains were measured by native PAGE analysis to be about 250 kDa in molecular weight, which were about same as those of Pseudomonas sp. DJ-12, P. pseudoa1caligenes KF707, and P. putida OU83.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.115-121
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• 2006

Objectives : For the purpose of developing new anti-HIV agents from natural sources, the extracts of Actinidia arguta were tested for their inhibitory effects on essential enzymes as the reverse transcriptase (RT), protease and ${\alpha}-\;glucosidase$. And we predicted inhibition activity of major compounds of Actinidia arguta using Quantitative Structure Activity Relationships (QSAR). Methods : In this assay the activity of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase is measured as the formation of a strand of copy-DNA (cDNA) using RNA as a template. The activity of HIV-1 protease is measured as the cleavage of an oligopeptide by HIV-1 protease. Results : In the anti-HIV-1 RT using Enzyme Linked Oligonucleotide Sorbent Assay (ELOSA) method, water extracts (100ug/ml) of stem and leaf showed strong activity of 93.9% and 91.9%, respectively. In the HIV-1 protease inhibition assay, aqueous stem extract inhibited the activity of the enzyme to cleave an oligopeptide, resembling one of the cleavage sites in the viral polyprotein which can only be processed by HIV-1 protease with 56.8%. In the ${\alpha}-glucosidase$ inhibition assay, aqueous stem extract showed activity of 73.1%. Conclusion : We found out this result, for these samples it is possible that the inhibition of the viral replication in vitro is due to the inhibition at least one of RT and ${\alpha}-glucosidase$. It would be of great interest to identify the compounds which are responsible for this inhibition, since all therapeutically useful agent up to date are RT, PR and ${\alpha}-glucosidase$ inhibitors.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.531-536
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• 2007

The aerial part of Artemisia iwayomogi Kitamura has traditionally been used for inflammation, infectious disease, cancer, pyretic, diuretic, liver protective effect, and choleretic purposes in Korea. We investigated that the essential oil induces apoptosis in KB cell as evidenced by Hoechst-33258 dye staining, flow cytometry (cell cycles), and DNA fragmentation for nuclear condensation and Western blotting for activation of caspases-3, -8, -9, Bax, Bcl-2, cytochrome c, and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) cleavage. In the present study, we found that the essential oil could induce apoptosis in KB cells, as characterized by DNA fragmentation, activation of caspase-3, -8, and -9, and PARP cleavage. The efficacious induction of apoptosis was observed as a dose-dependent. The essential oil-induced apoptotic cell death was accompanied by up-regulation of Bax and down-regulation of Bcl-2. The essential oil also caused the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and cytochrome c release from mitochondria to cytosol. These findings indicate that mitochondrial pathways might be involved in the essential oil-induced apoptosis and enhance our understanding of the anticancer function of the essential oil in herbal medicine.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.399-404
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• 2005

The aim of this study was to investigate the in vitro antioxidant profiles of genistein and other isoflavonoids. The reactivity of genistein towards stable radical and reactive oxygen species including ${\bullet}\;ABTS^+$, ${\bullet}{O_2}^-$, $H_2O_2$ and HOCl has been investigated, and the effects were compared with other isoflavonoids and antioxidants. All the tested isoflavonoids showed remarkable ${\bullet}\;ABTS^+$ scavenging activity and genistein was more potent than BHT and ascorbic acid. Genistein was more effective in scavenging hypochlorous acid than superoxide and hydrogen peroxide. At $10\;{\mu}M$ concentrations of genistein and genistin showed about 90% inhibitory effect on HOCl, while BHT and ascorbic acid showed lower than 50% inhibitory effect. Moreover, genistein could inhibit plasmid DNA cleavage, protein degradation and cell death from HOCl attack, while daidzein, BHT and ascorbic acid could not protect them effectively. These results suggest that genistein is a more potent radical scavenger than other isoflavonoids, and it can remarkably reduce cellular damage induced by HOCl.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.59 no.3
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• pp.255-260
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• 2016

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) has been played a critical role in damage of DNA. Recently, many effort is focusing to develop the natural antioxidants for controlling ROS. Zelkova serrata, Ulmaceae, is close as plants which are planted in front of Korea villages. Although Zelkova serrata is familiar with Koreans, those of antioxidant activities and protective effects on oxidative DNA damage haven't studied. We demonstrated antioxidant activities and inhibitory effects on oxidative DNA damage of Leaf from Zelkova serrata with ethyl acetate fractions (EA) and hot water extracts (HW). Between the extracts, EA showed higher activities in 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl, 2,2'-azino-bis[3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid radical scavenging, $Fe^{2+}$ chelating and reducing power than HW. Also, those of total phenolic content are 56.63 and 51.61 mg/g respectively. In addition, ${\phi}X$-174 RF I plasmid DNA cleavage assay for inhibitory effect by oxidative DNA damage was both EA and HW has significant protective effect on oxidative DNA damage. The results suggested that leaf from Zelkova serrata with ethyl acetate fractions and hot water extracts have surpassing potential as natural resources with antioxidant and inhibitory effect on oxidative DNA damage.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.363-370
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• 1997

RNase MRP is a ribonucleoprotein complex with a site-specific endonuclease activity. Its original substrate for cleavage is the small mitochondrial RNA near the mitochondrial DNA replication origin, thus it was proposed to generate the primer for mtDNA replication. Recently, it has been shown to have another substrate in the nucleus, such as pre-S.8S ribosomal RNA in nucleolus. The gene for the RNA component of RNase MRP (MRP RNA) was found to be encoded by the nucleus genome, suggesting an interesting intracellular trafficking of MRP RNA to both mitochondria and nucleolus after transcription in nucleus. In this study, genomic DNA encoding MRP RNA was microinjected into the nucleus of Xenopus oocytes, to analyze promoter regions involved in the transcription. It showed that the proximal sequence element and TATA box are important for basal level transcription; octamer motif and Sp1 binding sites are for elevated level transcription. Most of Xenopus MRP RNA was exported out to the cytoplasm following transcription in the nucleus. Utilizing various hybrid constructs, export of MRP RNA was found to be regulated by the promoter and the 5' half of the coding region of the gene. Interestingly, the transcription in nucleus seems to be coupled to the export of MRP RNA to cytoplasm. Intracellular transport of injected MRP RNA can be easily visualized by whole-mount in situ hybridization following microinjection; it also shows possible intra-nuclear sites for transcription and export of MRP RNA.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.4853-4856
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• 2016

Objective: Gimatecan is a new camptothecin (CPT) analogue that inhibits tumor growth by targeting DNA topoisomerase I (TOP I) and introducing strong and persistent DNA cleavage. Anti-tumor activity has been demonstrated with a wide range of solid tumors in previous preclinical and clinical studies. Here, we investigated for the first time the effects of gimatecan on the proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells both in vitro and in vivo. Methods: Anticancer efficacy of gimatecan were evaluated in a panel of HCC cell lines and corresponding mouse xenograft models. Inhibition of cell proliferation was measured by CellTiter-Glo cell viability assay. In vivo, gimatecan and control preparations were orally administered every four days, for a total of four times. Tumor volume and body weights of the mice were measured twice weekly. Results: In vitro cytotoxicity evaluation showed that gimatecan inhibited the proliferation of a large panel of HCC cell lines in a dose dependent manner, with IC50 values ranging between 12.1~1085.0 nM. In vivo evaluation in mouse xenograft models showed significant antitumor effects of gimatecan at 0.8mg/kg and 0.4mg/kg as compared to the control group. Conclusion: This study suggested that gimatecan may have the potential to be used as a chemotherapeutic agent for the treatment of HCC.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.297-302
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• 1985

The 7.1 Mdal Xbaf fragment of Bacillus pasteurii ATCC 11859 containing gene for urease was inserted into the Xbal site of bifunctional plasmid pGR71, and its urease gene was cloned and expressed in E. coil RRI. But the cloned gene was not expressed in Bacillus subtilis BR151 in consequence of deletion of inserted DNA fragment. The recombinant plasmid thus formed was named pGU66. The restriction map of the plasmid pGU66 was determined, and the size of the plasmid was estimated to be 12.6 Mdal by double digestion of restriction enzymes of the plasmid. The urease of the cloned strain was accumulated in periplasmic space and very similiar to that of donor strains in their enzymatic properties.