• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.275-283
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• 2012

Culture-dependent RFLP and culture-independent DGGE were employed to investigate the bacterial community associated with the marine sponge Asteropus simplex collected from Jeju Island. A total of 120 bacterial strains associated with the sponge were cultivated using modified Zobell and MA media. PCR amplicons of the 16S rDNA from the bacterial strains were digested with the restriction enzymes HaeIII and MspI, and then assigned into different groups according to their restriction patterns. The 16S rDNA sequences derived from RFLP patterns showed more than 94% similarities compared with known bacterial species, and the isolates belonged to five phyla, Alphaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Firmicutes, of which Gammaproteobacteria was dominant. DGGE fingerprinting of 16S rDNAs amplified from the sponge-derived total gDNA showed 12 DGGE bands, and their sequences showed more than 90% similarities compared with available sequences. The sequences derived from DGGE bands revealed high similarity with the uncultured bacterial clones. DGGE revealed that bacterial community consisted of seven phyla, including Alphaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, Deltaproteobacteria, Actinobacteira, Chloroflexi, and Nitrospira. Alphaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, and Actinobacteria were commonly found in bacteria associated with A. simplex by both RFLP and DGGE methods, however, overall bacterial community in the sponge differed depending on the analysis methods. Sponge showed more various bacterial community structures in culture-independent method than in culture-dependent method.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.259-266
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• 2009

AfsR2 in Streptomyces lividans, a 63-amino acid protein with limited sequence homology to Streptomyces sigma factors, has been known for a global regulatory protein stimulating multiple antibiotic biosynthetic pathways. Although the detailed regulatory mechanism of AfsK-AfsR-AfsR2 system has been well characterized, very little information about the AfsR2-dependent down-stream regulatory genes were characterized. Recently, the null mutant of afsS in S. coelicolor (the identical ortholog of afsR2) has been characterized through DNA microarray system, revealing that afsS deletion regulated several genes involved in antibiotic biosynthesis as well as phosphate-starvation. Through comparative DNA microarray analysis of afsR2-overexpressed S. lividans, here we also identify several afsR2-dependent genes involved in phosphate starvation, morphological differentiation, and antibiotic regulation in S. lividans, confirming that the AfsR2 plays an important pleiotrophic regulatory role in Streptomyces species.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.541-550
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• 2003

E2 glycoprotein of hepatitis C virus (HCV) comprises a surface of viral particle together with E1 glycoprotein, and is thought to be involved in the attachment of HCV viral particle to receptor (s) on the permissible cells including hepatocytes, B cells, T cells, and monocytes. We constructed a phage library expressing cellular proteins of hepatocytes on the phage surface, which turned out to be 8.8${\times}$$10^5$ cfu of diversity and carried inserts in 95% of library. We screened both cDNA phage library and 12-mer peptide library to identify the cellular proteins binding to E2 protein. Some intracellular proteins including tensin and membrane band 4.1 which are involved in signal transduction of survival and cytoskeleton organization, were selected from cDNA phage library through several rounds of panning and screening. On the contrary, membrane proteins such as CCR7, CKR-L2, and insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor were identified through screening of peptide library. Phages expressing peptides corresponding to those membrane proteins were bound to E2 protein specifically as determined by neutralization of binding assay. Since it is well known that HCV can infect T cells as well as hepatocytes, we examined to see if E2 protein can bind to CCR7, a member of C-protein coupled receptor family expressed on T cells, using CCR7 transfected tells. Human CCR7 cDNA was cloned into pcDNA3.1(-) vector and transfected into human embryonic kidney cell, 293T, and expressed on the surface of the cell as shown by flow cytometer. Binding assay of E2 protein using CCR7 transfected cells indicated that E2 protein bound to CCR7 by dose-dependent mode, giving rise to the possibility that CCR7 might be a putative cellular receptor for HCV.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.17 no.3 s.83
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• pp.420-426
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• 2007

In the present investigation, we studied the modulating effects of (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate(EGCG) on the differentiation of mouse C2C12 myoblasts. We found that the strong inhibitory effect of EGCG on DNA methyltransferase-mediated DNA methylation induced transdifferentiation of C2C12 myoblasts into smooth muscle cells demonstrated by both morphological changes and immunofluorescent staining. C2C12 myoblasts treated with EGCG for 4 days expressed smooth muscle ${\alpha}-actin$ protein. Real-time PCR data revealed that smooth muscle ${\alpha}-actin$ mRNA was induced by EGCG treated C2C12 myoblasts in a concentration-dependent manner. Smooth muscle ${\alpha}-actin$ mRNA concentration increased 330% and 490% after 2 and 3 days of 50 ${\mu}M$ of EGCG treatment. The expression of another smooth muscle marker, transgelin, mRNA was also increased up to 9-fold by 4 days of EGCG treatment compared with control in a concentration-dependent manner. These results suggested that C2C12 enables to transdifferentiate into smooth muscle when gene expression patterns are changed by the inhibition of DNA methylation induced by EGCG. In conclusion, transdifferentiation of C2C12 myoblasts into smooth muscle is resulted from the modulating effects of EGCG on DNA methylation which subsequently results in changing the expression pattern of several genes playing a critical role in the differentiation of C2C12 myoblasts.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.241-247
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• 2003

While the DNA-protein kinase (DNA-PK) complex, comprised of DNA-PKcs and Ku80, is primary involved in the repair of DNA double-strand breaks, it is also believed to participate in additional cellular processes. Here, treatment of embryo fibroblasts (MEFs) derived from either wild-type (Wt) or DNA-PKcs-null (DNA-$PKcs^{-/-}$) mice with various stress inducing agents revealed that adriamycin was markedly more cytotoxic for $Ku80^{-/-}MEFs$ and led to their long-term accumulation in the $G_2$/M phase. This differential response was not due to differences in DNA repair, since adrimycin-triggered DNA damage was repaired with comparable efficiency in both Wt and $Ku80^{-/-}MEFs$, but was associated with differences in the expression of important cell cycle regulatory genes. Our results support the notion that Ku80-mediated cytoprotection and $G_2$/M-progression are not only dependent on the cell's DNA repair but also may reflect Ku80's influence on additional cellular processes such as gene expression.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.736-738
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• 2003

Ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) is the key enzyme in the synthetic pathway of polyamines. This enzyme is a homodimeric and a pyridoxal 5-phosphate (PLP) dependent enzyme. We have isolated, a cDNA clone encoding ODC from brain cDNA library constructed from flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus). The ODC cDNA contained a complete ORF consisting of 460 amino acids and one stop codon with comparison to nucleotide sequences of the flounder, zebrafish and rat ODC genes, the ODC genes were highly conserved. The transcription of ODC was analyzed with reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) species in brain, kidney, liver, and embryo.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.100-107
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• 1999

Apoptosis is now widely recognized as a common form of cell death and represents mechanism of cell clearance in many physiological situations where deletion of cells is required. In vivo administration of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to Balb/c mice induced DNA fragmentation in the thymus. DNA fragmentation in the thymus was roughly dependent on the dose of LPS injected and reached the peak 18 hours after injection. This apoptosis in the thymus might be mediated due to LPS stimulant. DEN (diethylnitrosamine) has been shown to cause liver cancer in experimental animals and humans. The hepatic tumorigenesis was induced by ad libitum feeding of DEN only. It was suggested that DEN induced hepatic tumorgenesis in rat is a good reproducible model for studying biochemical and pathophysiological changes associated with the development of hepatic tumorigenesis and apoptosis.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.187-191
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• 1997

Cell death induced by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), environmental toxicant, was investigated in mouse splenocytes. The fragmentation of intact DNA, a parameter of apoptotic cell death, was evaluated qualitatively by agarose gel electrophoresis analysis and quantitatively by diphenylamine reaction method. PCBs induced apoptotic cell death of splenocytes in a dose- and time- dependent manner. The effect of serum on the apoptotic cell death induced by PCBs was also investigated. The DNA fragmentation induced by PCB treatment in serum-free medium was clearly inhibited by an addition of serum to the culture medium. The decrease of DNA fragmentation due to serum addition was accompanied with the increase of cell viability.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.251-259
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• 2004

Xenoestrogens are chemicals with diverse structure that mimic estrogen. Bisphenol A, a monomer of polycarbonate and epoxy resins, has been detected in canned food and human saliva. Bisphenol A stimulate cell proliferation and induce expression of estrogen -response genes in vitro. The purpose of the this study was to evaluate cell proliferation of bisphenol A in the presence of a rat liver 59 mix contaning cytochrome P450 enzymes and Cu (II). The fragmentation of intact DNA, a parameter of apoptotic cell death, was evaluated quantitatively by diphenylamine reaction method. Bisphenol A induced apoptotic cell death in a dose-dependent manner The effect of radical scavenger on the apoptotic cell death induced bisphenol A was investigated. The DNA fragmentation induced by bisphenol A was significantly inhibited by addition of radical scavenger to the culture medium. This indicated that elevated oxidative stress caused by imbalance between the production and removal of free radicals occurred in cells. Taken together, these results suggest that free radical reacts with Cu (II) leading oxidative stress.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.29-34
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• 2012

Streptomycetes are gram-positive filamentous bacteria that are well-known for producing a vast array of bioactive compounds, including more than 70 % of commercially important antibiotics. For the research about Streptomyces sp., the protoplast and electroporation transformation method have been the general techniques for the construction of transformants. However, these techniques have low efficiency and are time-consuming. Another option is intergenic conjugation, which is used for DNA transfer using methylation-deficient E. coli as a DNA donor to avoid the methylated-DNA-dependent restriction systems of actinomycetes. This conjugation method has been widely improved and applied to many other actinomycetes. In this research, an effective transformation procedure for the construction of expression vector by using gateway system was established to avoid limit of restriction enzyme site for cloning of target gene based on transconjugation by Escherichia coli ET12567/pUZ8002 with a pSET152 integration vector.