• Development and Reproduction
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.233-240
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• 2014

The early growth response protein 1 (Egr-1) is a widely reported zinc finger protein and a well known transcription factor encoded by the Egr-1 gene, which plays key roles in many aspects of vertebrate embryogenesis and in adult vertebrates. The Egr-1 expression is important in the formation of the gill vascular system in flounders, which develops during the post-hatching phase and is essential for survival during the juvenile period. However, the complete details of Egr-1 expression during embryo development in olive flounder are not available. We assessed the expression patterns of Egr-1 during the early development of olive flounders by using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis. Microscopic observations showed that gill filament formation corresponded with the Egr-1 expression. Thus, we showed that Egr-1 plays a vital role in angiogenesis in the gill filaments during embryogenesis. Further, Egr-1 expression was found to be strong at 5 days after hatching (DAH), in the development of the gill vascular system, and this strong expression level was maintained throughout all the development stages. Our findings have important implications with respect to the biological role of Egr-1 and evolution of the first respiratory blood vessels in the gills of olive flounder. Further studies are required to elucidate the Egr-1-mediated stress response and to decipher the functional role of Egr-1 in developmental stages.

• Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.771-779
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• 2018

BACKGROUND: Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are multipotent stem cells that can differentiate into several cell types. In addition, many studies have shown that MSCs modulate the immune response. However, little information is currently available regarding the maintenance of immunomodulatory characteristics of MSCs through passages. Therefore, we investigated and compared cytokine and gene expression levels from adipose (AD) and bone marrow (BM)-derived MSCs relevant to immune modulation from early to late passages. METHODS: MSC immunophenotype, growth characteristics, cytokine expressions, and gene expressions were analyzed. RESULTS: AD-MSCs and BM-MSCs had similar cell morphologies and surface marker expressions from passage 4 to passage 10. Cytokines secreted by AD-MSCs and BM-MSCs were similar from early to late passages. AD-MSCs and BM-MSCs showed similar immunomodulatory properties in terms of cytokine secretion levels. However, the gene expressions of tumor necrosis factor-stimulated gene (TSG)-6 and human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-G were decreased and gene expressions of galectin-1 and -3 were increased in both AD- and BM-MSCs with repeated passages. CONCLUSION: Our study showed that the immunophenotype and expression of immunomodulation-related cytokines of AD-MSCs and BM-MSCs immunomodulation through the passages were not significantly different, even though the gene expressions of both MSCs were different.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.153-159
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• 2007

In our previous study, overexpression of extracellular proteinase inhibitor (Expi) gene accelerated apoptosis of mammary epithelial cells, and induced expression of B cell activating factor (BAFF) gene. In this study, we found induction of BAFF-receptor (BAFF-R) gene expression in the Expi-transfected cells. A proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL) gene is another TNF family member and the closest known relative of BAFF. We found induction of APRIL gene expression in the Expi-overexpressed apoptotic cells. NF-${\kappa}$B gene was also induced in the Expi-overexpressed cells. Expression patterns of BAFF and APRIL pathway-related genes were examined in in vivo mouse mammary gland at various reproductive stages. Expression levels of BAFF gene were very low at early pregnancy, increased from mid-pregnancy, and peaked at lactation, and thereafter decreased at involution stages of mammary gland. Expression of BAFF-R gene was highly induced in involution stages compared to lactation stages. Thus, expression patterns of BAFF-R gene were correlated to apoptotic status of mammary gland: active apoptosis of mammary epithelial cells occurs at involution stage of mammary gland. Expression levels of NF-${\kappa}$B gene were higher in involution stages compared to lactation stages. We analyzed mRNA levels of bcl-2 family genes from different stages of mammary development. Bcl-2 gene expression was relatively constant during lactation and involution stages. There was a slight increase in bcl-xL gene expression in involution stages compared to lactation state. Bax gene expression was highly induced in involution stage. Our results suggest that signaling pathways activated by both BAFF and ARRIL in mammary gland point towards NF-${\kappa}$B activation which causes upregulation of bax.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.45.1-45.11
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• 2023

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common type of chronic liver disease, with severity levels ranging from nonalcoholic fatty liver to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The extent of liver fibrosis indicates the severity of NASH and the risk of liver cancer. However, the mechanism underlying NASH development, which is important for early screening and intervention, remains unclear. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) is a useful method for identifying hub genes and screening specific targets for diseases. In this study, we utilized an mRNA dataset of the liver tissues of patients with NASH and conducted WGCNA for various stages of liver fibrosis. Subsequently, we employed two additional mRNA datasets for validation purposes. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was conducted to analyze gene function enrichment. Through WGCNA and subsequent analyses, complemented by validation using two additional datasets, we identified five genes (BICC1, C7, EFEMP1, LUM, and STMN2) as hub genes. GSEA analysis indicated that gene sets associated with liver metabolism and cholesterol homeostasis were uniformly downregulated. BICC1, C7, EFEMP1, LUM, and STMN2 were identified as hub genes of NASH, and were all related to liver metabolism, NAFLD, NASH, and related diseases. These hub genes might serve as potential targets for the early screening and treatment of NASH.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.152-157
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• 1997

Infection of human fibroblast (HF) cells with human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) result in changes in the intracellular level of second messengers. Since nitric oxide (NO) production has been known to be related with other second messengers, it is probable that HCMV infection of HF cells may involve NO. To test this possibility, the amount of NO was measured following ogenous addition of NO generators such as sodium nitroprusside (SNP) or S-nitroso-N-a-cetylpenicillamine (SNAP) immediately after HCMV infection, however, inhibited virus multiplication. Furthermore, immunoblot experiment using monoclonal antibody to HCMV major immediate early (MIE) proteins or CAT assay using pCMVIE/CAT (plasmid containing CAT gene driven by HCMV MIE promoter) revealed that SNP or SNAP blocked the MIE gene expression. SNP was more effective than SNAP in hibiting HCMV multiplication or MIE gene expression. SNP produced more NO than SNAP in inhibiting HCMV multiplication or MIE gene expression. SNP produced more NO than SNAP. Although the mechanism for the inhibition of HCMV multiplication and MIE gene expression by NO is still elusive some correlation with NO-mediated inhibition of HCMV-induced increase in cytosolic free Ca$\^$2+/ concentration ([Ca$\^$2+/]) was observed. The increase of [Ca$\^$2+/] following HCMV infection was inhibited by SNP, and less effectively by SNAP. Raising [Ca$\^$2+/ with bromo-A23187 partially reversed the SNP block of MIE gene expression. Thus, there appear to e some relationships among NO. [Ca$\^$2+/], and HCMV MIE gene expression.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.153-160
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• 2014

Adaptive development of early stage embryo is well established and recently it is explored that the mammalian embryos also have adaptive ability to the stressful environment. However, the mechanisms are largely unknown. In this study, to evaluate the possible role of aquaporin in early embryo developmental adaptation, the expression of aquaporin (AQP) 5 gene which is detected during early development were examined by the environmental condition. To compare expression patterns between in vivo and in vitro, we conducted quantitative RT-PCR and analyzed localization of the AQP5 by whole mount immunofluorescence. At in vivo condition, Aqp5 expressed in oocyte and in all the stages of preimplantation embryo. It showed peak at 2-cell stage and decreased continuously until morula stage. At in vitro condition, Aqp5 expression pattern was similar with in vivo embryos. It expressed both at embryonic genome activation phase and second mid-preimplantation gene activation phase, but the fold changes were modified between in vivo embryos and in vitro embryos. During in vivo development, AQP5 was mainly localized in apical membrane of blastomeres of 4-cell and 8-cell stage embryos, and then it was localized in cytoplasm. However, the main localization area of AQP5 was dramatically shifted after 8-cell stage from cytoplasm to nucleus by in vitro development. Those results explore the modification of Aqp5 expression levels and location of its final products by in vitro culture. It suggests that expression of Aqp5 and the roles of AQP5 in homeostasis can be modulated by in vitro culture, and that early stage embryos can develop successfully by themselves adapting to their condition through modulation of the specific gene expression and localization.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.149-151
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• 1997

A plasmid vector with combined features of yeast shuttle vector and mammalian expression vector was constructed to facilitate expression of cloned gene in both cell-types. All necessary elements required for plasmid maintenance and selection in E. coli, yeast and mammalian cells were size-economically arranged in this plasmid. The numan cytomegalovirus (CMV) immediate early promoter and yeast GAL1 promoter were sequentially placed in front of the gene to be expressed. The synthetic splicing donor and acceptor sequences were inserted into the immediate upstream and downstream of the GAL1 promotor, allowing the CMV promotor to direct the expression of a given gene in mammalian cell environment by splicing out the interfering GAL1 promotor sequence. When the resulting vector containing LacZ as a gene was introduced into yeast and mammalian cells, both cells efficiently produced .betha.-galactosidase, dimonstrating its dual host usage.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.30.1-30.4
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• 2019

Neuroblastoma is a major cause of cancer death in early childhood, and its timely and correct diagnosis is critical. Gene expression datasets have recently been considered as a powerful tool for cancer diagnosis and subtype classification. However, no attempts have yet been made to apply deep learning using gene expression to neuroblastoma classification, although deep learning has been applied to cancer diagnosis using image data. Taking the International Neuroblastoma Staging System stages as multiple classes, we designed a deep neural network using the gene expression patterns and stages of neuroblastoma patients. Despite a small patient population (n = 280), stage 1 and 4 patients were well distinguished. If it is possible to replicate this approach in a larger population, deep learning could play an important role in neuroblastoma staging.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.686-690
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• 2015

The adrenergic receptor beta 2 (ADRB2) plays a role in various physiological responses of the muscle to exercise, such as contraction and relaxation. Given its important role in muscle function, we investigated the structure of the horse ADRB2 gene and its expression pattern after exercise to determine if it can serve as a putative biomarker for recovery. Evolutionary analyses using synonymous and non-synonymous mutation ratios, were compared with other species (human, chimpanzee, mouse, rat, cow, pig, chicken, dog, and cat), and revealed the occurrence of positive selection in the horse ADRB2 gene. In addition, expression analyses by quantitative polymerase chain reaction exhibited ubiquitous distribution of horse ADRB2 in various tissues including lung, skeletal muscle, kidney, thyroid, appendix, colon, spinal cord and heart, with the highest expression observed in the lung. The expression of ADRB2 in skeletal muscle was significantly up-regulated about four folds 30 minutes post-exercise compared to pre-exercise. The expression level of ADRB2 in leukocytes, which could be collected with convenience compared with other tissues in horse, increased until 60 min after exercise but decreased afterward until 120 min, suggesting the ADRB2 expression levels in leukocytes could be a useful biomarker to check the early recovery status of horse after exercise. In conclusion, we identified horse ADRB2 gene and analyzed expression profiles in various tissues. Additionally, analysis of ADBR2 gene expression in leukocytes could be a useful biomarker useful for evaluation of early recovery status after exercise in racing horses.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.33-42
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• 2014

Nivalenol (NIV) and deoxynivalenol (DON) are predominant Fusarium-producing mycotoxins found in grains, which are mainly produced by Fusarium asiaticum and F. graminearum. NIV is found in most of cereals grown in Korea, but the genetic basis for NIV production by F. asiaticum has not been extensively explored. In this study, 12 genes belonging to the trichothecene biosynthetic gene cluster were compared at the transcriptional level between two NIV-producing F. asiaticum and four DON-producing F. graminearum strains. Chemical analysis revealed that time-course toxin production patterns over 14 days did not differ between NIV and DON strains, excluding F. asiaticum R308, which was a low NIV producer. Both quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Northern analysis revealed that the majority of TRI gene transcripts peaked at day 2 in both NIV and DON producers, which is 2 days earlier than trichothecene accumulation in liquid medium. Comparison of the gene expression profiles identified an NIV-specific pattern in two transcription factor-encoding TRI genes (TRI6 and TRI10) and TRI101, which showed two gene expression peaks during both the early and late incubation periods. In addition, the amount of trichothecenes produced by both DON and NIV producers were correlated with the expression levels of TRI genes, regardless of the trichothecene chemotypes. Therefore, the reduced production of NIV by R308 compared to NIV or DON by the other strains may be attributable to the significantly lower expression levels of the TRI genes, which showed early expression patterns.