• Journal of Life Science
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• v.15 no.6 s.73
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• pp.904-908
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• 2005

Recently the pathological actions of CagA of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) on gastric epithelial cells have been reported. CagA is directly injected into the host cytoplasm and undergoes tyrosine phosphorylation in the cells. In addition, translocated CagA forms a physical complex with SHP-2. There are two major CagA subtypes according to the amino acid sequence in the 3'region of CagA; i) the East Asian type (A-B-D of EPIYA motifs) and ii) the Western type (A-B-C of EPIYA motifs). Repeated EPIYA motifs in the 3'region of CagA are involved in the interaction with SHP-2. The East Asian type conferred stronger SHP-2 binding activity than the Westrrn type of CagA. Here we analyzed the amino acid sequences of the SHP-2 binding site of cagA gene in H. pyzori, and investigated whether there is my relationship between the diversities of cagA and the disease out-come in Korea. Most of Korean H. pylori strains showed A-B-D motifs(the East Asian type), and only one strain showed A-B-B-D motifs. In Korea, the incidence of atrophic gastritis and gastric cancer is significantly high compared with Western countries. The high frequency of the East Asian type CagA among Korean H. pylori strains would be involved in increasing the risk of gastric cancer in Korean populations.

• Korean Journal of Breeding Science
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.369-376
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• 2009

Cowpea might have been introduced from China to Korea and cultivated for several hundred years but it has never been a staple food crop in Korea. In this study, genetic diversity of 492 Korean cowpea landrace accessions that have passport information was estimated using six SSR markers. The mean of Weir's gene diversity was 0.665 from all accessions investigated in the study. Cowpea gene diversity of six local provinces in Korea was ranged from 0.370 in accessions of Gangwon to 0.680 in Jeonra provinces. Low gene diversity of the cowpea genepool of Gangwon province was probably derived from relatively few introductions. Especially SSR markers VM36 and VM39 seem to be good markers to distinguish the Gangwon accessions from others by occurring at a specific locus with higher than 78% of allele frequency. Except for the Gangwon province with the low genetic diversity, gene diversity of cowpea accessions from other provinces was ranged from 0.600 to 0.680 indicating no big differences among provinces. Distribution pattern of the allele frequencies was similar among the other provinces. This may reveal that Korean farmers might exchange cowpea seeds easily with even their neighbors with geographical barriers. A core collection, 100 landraces, ca. 20% of base collection, was developed at the 70% of a similarity coefficient level using random sampling approaches after stratification of the entire landrace collection based on the phenetic dendrogram. The variability of SSR in the base and core collections of Korean cowpea landrace was compared by calculating Weir's gene diversity. The mean of Weir's gene diversity of the core was 0.707 while that of the base collection was 0.665. The higher diversity index in the core collection indicates that it maintains the initial variability and well represents the base collection. The core collection included one of determinate accession (IT 216155) and two of no branching type accessions (IT 103959 and IT 161024). The core collection could be used to guide more efficient management and utilization of the entire collection. This core collection should be revised periodically as additional accessions are collected and further characterization is conducted.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.303-310
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• 2002

Objective s: To estimate the frequency of Y chromosome microdeletions in the Korean population of infertile men and to evaluate the relationship between microdeletion on the Y chromosome and clinical phenotypes of infertile men with idiopathic azoospermia and oligozoospermia. Materials and Methods: Genomic DNA was extracted from blood samples collected from 330 infertile men attending the Infertility Clinic at Samsung Cheil Hospital, Korea. Six sequence tagged sites (STSs) spanning the azoospermia factor (AZF) regions of the Y chromosome were amplified by polymerase chain reactions (PCRs). Results: Microdeletions on Y chromosome were detected in 35 (10.6%) of the 330 infertile men. Most of the microdeletions (91.4%) involved AZFb or AZFc. The high incidence of microdeletions were found in AZFc region (57.1%), but the low in AZFa (8.6%) and AZFb (5.7%). Larger microdeletions involving two or three AZF regions were detected in 28.6% of cases. All patients (6 patients) with deletion of AZFa region showed no germ cell phenotypes, Sertoli cell only syndrome or Leydig cell hyperplasia in histopathologic examinations. Conclusion: Microdeletions on the Y chromosome, especially, at AZFc/DAZ regions may be the major cause of azoospermia and severe oligozoospermia. We suggest that idiopathic infertile men have genetic counselling and microdeletion analysis on the Y chromosome before IVF-ET and ART program.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.38-48
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• 2019

Background: Interspecific ginseng hybrid, Panax ginseng ${\times}$ Panax quenquifolius (Pgq) has vigorous growth and produces larger roots than its parents. However, F1 progenies are complete male sterile. Plant tissue culture technology can circumvent the issue and propagate the hybrid. Methods: Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium with different concentrations (0, 2, 4, and 6 mg/L) of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) was used for callus induction and somatic embryogenesis (SE). The embryos, after culturing on $GA_3$ supplemented medium, were transferred to hormone free 1/2 Schenk and Hildebrandt (SH) medium. The developed taproots with dormant buds were treated with $GA_3$ to break the bud dormancy, and transferred to soil. Hybrid Pgq plants were verified by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) analyses and by LC-IT-TOF-MS. Results: We conducted a comparative study of somatic embryogenesis (SE) in Pgq and its parents, and attempted to establish the soil transfer of in vitro propagated Pgq tap roots. The Pgq explants showed higher rate of embryogenesis (~56% at 2 mg/L 2,4-D concentration) as well as higher number of embryos per explants (~7 at the same 2,4-D concentration) compared to its either parents. The germinated embryos, after culturing on $GA_3$ supplemented medium, were transferred to hormone free 1/2 SH medium to support the continued growth and kept until nutrient depletion induced senescence (NuDIS) of leaf defoliation occurred (4 months). By that time, thickened tap roots with well-developed lateral roots and dormant buds were obtained. All Pgq tap roots pretreated with 20 mg/L $GA_3$ for at least a week produced new shoots after soil transfer. We selected the discriminatory RAPD and ISSR markers to find the interspecific ginseng hybrid among its parents. The $F_1$ hybrid (Pgq) contained species specific 2 ginsenosides (ginsenoside Rf in P. ginseng and pseudoginsenosides $F_{11}$ in P. quinquefolius), and higher amount of other ginsenosides than its parents. Conclusion: Micropropagation of interspecific hybrid ginseng can give an opportunity for continuous production of plants.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.549-564
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• 1993

The purpose of this study was to research the condylar path and the anterior angle of glenoid fossae and classify the patterns of condylar path. Thirty male and female dental students with normal occlesion and masticatory system ranging in age from 21 to 30, without present symptoms and an)r history of TM joint disturbance, were selected for this study. Transcranial radiographs of TM joints under mandibular lateral movement were obtained. By the computer analysis on the radiographs, the angle of posterior slope of articular eminance, the sagittal condylar guidance angie, condylar movement patterns and the height of glenoid fossa was measured respectively, and studied their interrelationship comparatively. The results obtained were as follows : 1. The total distance of condylar movement on balancing side during mandibular lateral movement was 4.55mm for Lt. and 4.78mm for Rt. when mandible moved from C.R. to canine to canine relation and 7.86mm for the Lt. and 8.10mm for the Rt. when mandible moved from C.R. to 7.5mm. 2. The horizontal distance of condylar movement on balancing side during mandibular lateral movements was 3.16mm for the Lt. and 3.52mm for the Rt. when mandible moved from C.R. to canine to canine relation and 6.10mm for the Lt. and 6.30mm for the Rt. when mandible moved from C.R. to 7.5mm. 3. The sagittal condylar guidance angle on balancing side during mandibular lateral movements was $45.96^{\circ}$ for the Lt. and $43.22^{\circ}$ for the Rt. when mandible moved from C.R. from canine to canine relation and $41.14^{\circ}$ for the Lt. and $39.77^{\circ}$ for the Rt. when mandible moved from C.R. to 7.5mm. 4. The height of glenoid fossa was 8.23mm for the Lt. and 7.80mm for the Rt. and the angle of posterior slope of articular eminence was $38.30^{\circ}$ for the Lt. and $38.79^{\circ}$ for the Rt. by method-A and $55.61^{\circ}$ for the Lt. and $55.64^{\circ}$ for the Rt. by method-B. 5. The sequence of the frequency of condylar movement patterns on balancing side during mandibular lateral movement were concave type(30 cases), convex type(16 cases), reverse S shape curve(9 cases) and S shape curve(5 cases) when mandible moved from C.R. to canine to canine relation and concave type(27 cases), 5 shape curve(13 cases), convex type(11 cases) and reverse S shape curve(9 cases) when mandible moved from C.R. to 7.5mm.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.77-83
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• 2010

Eighteen cultivars of tomato were tested for their regeneration response. Lycopersicon esculentum cv. 2001-58 showed a very high frequency of regeneration (93%). We evaluated the effect of two compounds with known antioxidant activity (ascorbic acid and cystein). The use of ascorbic acid ($200\;-\;300\;{\mu}M/L$) has a positive effect on shoot regeneration. To develope a system for plastid transformation in tomato via homologous recombination, we constructed the tomato plastid expression vector (pKRT22-AG) harboring 2.2 kb flanking sequences cloned from intact plastid genome and gfp gene. To investigate the factors affecting the delivery system of the pKRT22-AG into chloroplast using bombardment, We assessed the optimal DNA concentration, gold particle volume and target distance. Expression of the GFP protein was observed within chloroplast on protoplast of cotyledon explant by confocal laser scanning microscopy, which indicates that the protocol developed in this study be useful for the production of plastid transgenic plants in tomato.

• Genes and Genomics
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• v.40 no.12
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• pp.1319-1329
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• 2018

SSRs were successfully isolated from the Perilla crop in our current study, and used to analyze Perilla accessions from East Asia. Analyses of the clear genetic diversity and relationship for Perilla crop still remain insufficient. In this study, 40 new simple sequence repeat (SSR) primer sets were developed from RNA sequences using transcriptome analysis. These new SSR markers were applied to analyze the diversity, relationships, and population structure among 35 accessions of the two cultivated types of Perilla crop and their weedy types. A total of 220 alleles were identified at all loci, with an average of 5.5 alleles per locus and a range between 2 and 10 alleles per locus. The MAF (major allele frequency) per locus varied from 0.229 to 0.943, with an average of 0.466. The average polymorphic information content (PIC) value was 0.603, ranging from 0.102 to 0.837. The genetic diversity (GD) ranged from 0.108 to 0.854, with an average of 0.654. Based on population structure analysis, all accessions were divided into three groups: Group I, Group II and the admixed group. This study demonstrated the utility of new SSR analysis for the study of genetic diversity and population structure among 35 Perilla accessions. The GD of each locus for accessions of cultivated var. frutescens, weedy var. frutescens, cultivated var. crispa, and weedy var. crispa were 0.415, 0.606, 0.308, and 0.480, respectively. Both weedy accessions exhibited higher GD and PIC values than their cultivated types in East Asia. The new SSR primers of Perilla species reported in this study may provide potential genetic markers for population genetics to enhance our understanding of the genetic diversity, genetic relationship and population structure of the cultivated and weedy types of P. frutescens in East Asia. In addition, new Perilla SSR primers developed from RNA-seq can be used in the future for cultivar identification, conservation of Perilla germplasm resources, genome mapping and tagging of important genes/QTLs for Perilla breeding programs.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.44-52
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• 2016

Purpose: To quantitatively and qualitatively compare fat-suppressed MRI quality using iterative decomposition of water and fat with echo asymmetry and least-squares estimation (IDEAL) with that using frequency selective fat-suppression (FSFS) T2- and postcontrast T1-weighted fast spin-echo images of the head and neck at 3T. Materials and Methods: The study was approved by our Institutional Review Board. Prospective MR image analysis was performed in 36 individuals at a single-center. Axial fat suppressed T2- and postcontrast T1-weighted images with IDEAL and FSFS were compared. Visual assessment was performed by two independent readers with respect to; 1) metallic artifacts around oral cavity, 2) susceptibility artifacts around upper airway, paranasal sinus, and head-neck junction, 3) homogeneity of fat suppression, 4) image sharpness, 5) tissue contrast of pathologies and lymph nodes. The signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) for each image sequence were assessed. Results: Both IDEAL fat suppressed T2- and T1-weighted images significantly reduced artifacts around airway, paranasal sinus, and head-neck junction, and significantly improved homogeneous fat suppression in compared to those using FSFS (P < 0.05 for all). IDEAL significantly decreased artifacts around oral cavity on T2-weighted images (P < 0.05, respectively) and improved sharpness, lesion-to-tissue, and lymph node-to-tissue contrast on T1-weighted images (P < 0.05 for all). The mean SNRs were significantly improved on both T1- and T2-weighted IDEAL images (P < 0.05 for all). Conclusion: IDEAL technique improves image quality in the head and neck by reducing artifacts with homogeneous fat suppression, while maintaining a high SNR.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.18
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• pp.7589-7595
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• 2014

Apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APEX1) is a multifunctional protein which plays a central role in the BER pathway. APEX1 gene being highly polymorphic in cancer patients and has been indicated to have a contributive role in Apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) site accumulation in DNA and consequently an increased risk of cancer development. In this case-control study, all exons of the APEX1 gene and its exon/intron boundaries were amplified in 530 breast cancer patients and 395 matched healthy controls and then analyzed by single-stranded conformational polymorphism followed by sequencing. Sequence analysis revealed fourteen heterozygous mutations, seven 5'UTR, one 3'UTR, two intronic and four missense. Among identified mutations one 5'UTR (rs41561214), one 3'UTR (rs17112002) and one missense mutation (Ser129Arg, Mahjabeen et al., 2013) had already been reported while the remaining eleven mutations. Six novel mutations (g.20923366T>G, g.20923435G>A, g.20923462G>A, g.20923516G>A, 20923539G>A, g.20923529C>T) were observed in 5'UTR region, two (g.20923585T>G, g.20923589T>G) in intron1 and three missense (Glu101Lys, Ala121Pro, Ser123Trp) in exon 4. Frequencues of 5'UTR mutations; g.20923366T>G, g.20923435G>A and 3'UTR (rs17112002) were calculated as 0.13, 0.1 and 0.1 respectively. Whereas, the frequency of missense mutations Glu101Lys, Ser123Trp and Ser129Arg was calculated as 0.05. A significant association was observed between APEX1 mutations and increased breast cancer by ~9 fold (OR=8.68, 95%CI=2.64 to 28.5) with g.20923435G>A (5'UTR), ~13 fold (OR= 12.6, 95%CI=3.01 to 53.0) with g.20923539G>A (5'UTR) and~5 fold increase with three missense mutations [Glu101Lys (OR=4.82, 95%CI=1.97 to 11.80), Ser123Trp (OR=4.62, 95%CI=1.7 to 12.19), Ser129Arg (OR=4.86, 95%CI=1.43 to 16.53)]. The incidence of observed mutations was found higher in patients with family history and with early menopause. In conclusion, our study demonstrates a significant association between germ line APEX1 mutations and breast cancer patients in the Pakistani population.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.57-65
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• 1997

Cytogenetic observations of loss of the distal portion of the Y chromosome long arm were found to be associated with disrupted spermatogenesis. The existence of a gene involved in the regulation of spermatogenesis, the azoospermia factor (AZF), was postulated. In this study, we screened the AZF region including DAZ and DAZH genes and observed the expression pattern of DAZ and DAZH transcript in infertile men with azoospermia and oligospermia by using a sequence-tagged site (STS)-based PCR method. PCR primers were synthesized for 11 STSs that span Yq interval 6, SRY, DAZ, and DAZH, functional DAZ homologue on chromosome 3. Microdeletions were detected in 4/32 (12.5%) azoospermic men and 1/11 (9%) severe oligospermic men. Only 2 of 5 patients had microdeletions of Yq that contained the DAZ gene, whereas the other 3 patients had deletions extending from intervals 5L-6F proximal to the DAZ gene on Yq. Testis biopsies of the azoospermic patients revealed a variety from Sertoli cell-only syndrome to testicular maturation arrest. Of 4 men with clinical data available, average testis size was R: 13.8 cc, L: 13.8 cc, serum T was $4.0{\pm}1.25$ ng/ml, LH was $3.63{\pm}1.90$ mIU/ml, and FSH was $8.85{\pm}5.13$ mIU/ml. These values did not differ significantly from the remainder of the patients tested. We could not observed the DAZ transcript in 2 patients, who have no mature spermatozoa. In 11.6% of patients microdeletions of the AZF could be detected. These deletions in the AZF region seem to be involved causing spermatogenic failure. But the frequency of microdeletions proximal to DAZ suggests that DAZ is not the only gene associated with spermatogenic failure.