• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.86 no.2
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• pp.167-176
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• 1997

Characteristics of leaf morphology and vegetation were examined in 6 populations of rare endemic tree species, Koelreuteria paniculata Laxm. Additionally we studied genetic variation employing isozyme marker. Nested anova showed that there were statistically significant differences among populations as well as among individuals within populations in all 8 leaf morphological traits. In 7 of 8 traits, variance components among populations were larger than those among individuals within populations. Only a few tree species were found within each population and all the populations seemed to have been disturbed by man. Level of genetic diversity for this rare endemic species was very low, especially compared with those of geographically widespread tree species(A/L=1.1, P=9.5%, $H_o=0.021$, $H_e=0.035$) and degree of genetic differentiation was high($F_{ST}=0.114$). Factors contributing to the low level of genetic diversity and high level of genetic differentiation might include genetic drift, inbreeding and limited gene flow. Finally, implications for the conservation of genetic diversity of Koelreuteria paniculata were discussed.

• Weed & Turfgrass Science
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.305-311
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• 2014

The cultivation area and use of genetically modified (GM) crops have been increased continuously over the world. Seed distribution and transgenes to environmental ecosystem is one of the most important factors in risk assessment and risk management of GM crop. Safe management for the development and commercialization of GM crops is required according to The Act on Transboundary Movements of Living Modified Organisms,etc (LMO Act) in Korea. This study was conducted to setup the environmental monitoring system of GM zoysiagrass (event JG21 and JG21-MS). The monitoring was performed in 4 GMO confined fields, Sungwhan, Ochang, Jeju University and Jeju Namwon. In the result of monitoring, we could not found any gene flow and distribution of GM zoysiagrass in the 3 fields, but one spill of JG21 was found in the Namwon field in 2012. These results suggest that continuous monitoring is necessary to detect the occurrence of GM zoysiagrass for preventing genetic contamination in natural environment.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.40 no.12
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• pp.1654-1661
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• 2011

We investigated the effect of Angelica keiskei ethanol (AKE) extract on cell death in MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells. MDA-MB-231 cells were cultured in the presence 125, 150 and 175 ${\mu}g$/mL concentrations of AKE for 24 hours. MTT assays demonstrated that mitochondrial dehydrogenase activities decreased in a dose-dependent manner in MDA-MB-231 cells (p<0.05). In contrast, the proportion of dual staining with Hoechst 33342/ethidium bromide(EtBr) for cell death increased in a dose-dependent manner in MDA-MB-231 cells (p<0.05). In particular, the levels of cell death caused by apoptotic program showed marked increases in the 150 and 175 ${\mu}g$/mL AKE groups, as revealed by flow cytometry. An apoptotic suppressor gene, Bcl-2, significantly decreased at the transcript level (p<0.05). The expression levels of proapoptotic genes, both Bax and caspase 3 significantly increased (p<0.05). Furthermore, the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax mRNA which is considered to be an important indicator of apoptosis, significantly decreased in a dose-dependent manner (p<0.05). These results taken together indicate that, the AKE extract used in this study induces cell death in MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.139-151
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• 2020

Purpose: Globally, there is a high incidence of gastric cancer (GC). Leucine zipper-EF-hand containing transmembrane protein 1 (LETM1) is reported to play a vital role in several human malignancies. However, there is limited understanding of the role of LETM1 in GC. This study aims to investigate the effects of LETM1 on proliferation, migration, and invasion of GC cells. Materials and Methods: The expression levels of LETM1 in the normal gastric mucosal epithelial cells (GES-1) and GC cells were analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blotting. CCK-8, wound healing, and Transwell invasion assays were performed to evaluate the effect of LETM1 knockdown or overexpression on the proliferation, migration, and invasion of the GC cells, respectively. Additionally, the effect of LETM1 knockdown or overexpression on GC cell apoptosis was determined by flow cytometry. Furthermore, the effect of LETM1 knockdown or overexpression on the expression levels of PI3K/Akt signaling pathway-related proteins was evaluated by western blotting. Results: The GC cells exhibited markedly higher mRNA and protein expression levels of LETM1 than the GES-1 cells. Additionally, the knockdown of LETM1 remarkably suppressed the GC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, and promoted the apoptosis of GC cells, which were reversed upon LETM1 overexpression. Furthermore, the western blotting analysis indicated that LETM1 facilitates GC progression via the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. Conclusions: LETM1 acts as an oncogenic gene to promote GC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion via the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. Therefore, LETM1 may be a potential target for GC diagnosis and treatment.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.39-48
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• 2020

The slender shinner (Pseudopungtungia tenuicorpa), a tiny freshwater fish of about 8 to 10 cm belonging to Cyprinidae, is an endangered species found only in the Han and Imjin Rivers on the Korean Peninsula. During the breeding season, this species spawns in nests of Coreoperca herzi, a predator of this species, or small crevices on rocks. This unique reproductive ecology can make this species more vulnerable to anthropogenic perturbance that can further limit the places to spawn. Here, mtDNA and microsatellite loci were analyzed to identify the genetic diversity and structure of slender shinners and further to provide the basic data necessary for the conservation planning of this species. A total of 28 polymorphic microsatellite markers were developed using Illumina paired-end sequencing, and 67 slender shinners collected from three localities in the Han River were genotyped using these loci. This species showed a remarkably high level of genetic diversity with mean expected heterozygosity of 0.914 and mean allele number per locus of 27.9, and no signature of drastic demographic decline was detected. As a result of our microsatellite analysis, the genetic structure between the two stems of the Han River, North Han and South Han, was prominent. Such a genetic structure was also evident in the sequence analysis of 14 haplotypes obtained from mtDNA control region. Although slender shinners are only found in very limited areas around the world, the genetic structure indicates that there is a block of gene flow among the populations, which should be reviewed in the future if management and restoration of this species is needed.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.161-168
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• 2016

Nucleotide metabolism in endothelium is variable between different species. Recent studies demonstrated that this variability could contribute coagulation dysfunction, even though organs of the alpha 1,3-galactosyltransferase gene knockout pig were transplanted into the primate. CD73 (ecto-5'-nucelotidase) is an enzyme at cell surface catalyzing the hydrolysis of adenosine triphosphate to adenosine, which plays role on a substance for anti-inflammatory and anti-coagulant. Thus, overexpression of CD73 in endothelial cells of the pig is considered as an approach to reduce coagulopathy. In this study, we constructed a human CD73 expression vector under control of porcine Icam2 promoter (pIcam2-hCD73), which is expressed specifically at endothelial cells, and of CMV promoter as a control (CMV-CD73). First, we transfected the CMV-CD73 vector into HEK293 cells, and then confirmed CD73 expression at cell surface by flow cytometry analysis. Next, we transfected the pIcma2-CD73 and CMV-CD73 vectors into primary porcine fibroblasts and endothelial cells. Consequence was that the pIcma2-CD73 vector was expressed only at the porcine endothelial cells, meaning that the pIcam2 promoter lead to endothelial cell-specific expression of CD73 in vitro. Finally, we nucleofected the pIcam2-hCD73 vector into passage 3 fibroblasts, and enforced hygromycin selection of 400mg/ml. We were able to obtain forty three colonies harboring pIcam2-CD73 to provide donor cells for transgenic cloned porcine production.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.15 no.5 s.72
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• pp.726-733
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• 2005

Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors target key steps of tumor development. They inhibit proliferation, induce differentiation and/or apoptotic cell death, and exhibit potent antimetastatic and antiangiogenic properties in cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Although they are emerging as a promising new treatment strategy in malignancy, how they exert their effect on human non-small cell lung cancer cells is as yet unclear. The present study was undertaken to investiate the underlying mechanism of a HDAC inhibitor trichostatin A (TSA)-induced growth arrest and its effect on the cell cycle control gene products in a human lung carcinoma cell line A549. TSA treaoent induced the growth inhibition and morphological changes in a concentration-dependent manner. Treatment of A549 cells with TSA resulted in a concentration-dependent increased G1 (under 100 ng/ml) and/or G2/M (200 ng/ml) cell population of the cell cycle as determined by flow cytometry Moreover, 200 ng/ml TSA treatment significantly induced the population of sub-G1 cells (23.0 fold of control). This anti-proliferative effect of TSA was accompanied by a marked inhibition of cyclins, positive regulators of cell cycle progression, and cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks) expression and concomitant induction of tumor suppressor p53 and Cdk inhibitors such as p21 and p27 Although further studies are needed, these findings provide important insights into the possible molecular mechanisms of the anti-cancer activity of TSA in human lung carcinoma cells.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.105 no.4
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• pp.414-421
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• 2016

Fourteen Acer pseudosieboldianum populations in South Korea were used to estimate genetic diversity, genetic differentiation and genetic relationships using seven AFLP primer combinations. The average of effective alleles ($A_e$), the proportion of polymorphic loci (%P) and Shannon's diversity index (I) was 1.4, 82.2% and 0.358, respectively. The expected heterozygosity ($H_e$) under Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was 0.231 and the expected heterozygosity (Hj) from Bayesian inference was 0.253. The level of genetic diversity was moderate compared to those of Genus Acer and lower than those of other species having similar ecological niche and life history. The inbreeding coefficient within populations ($F_{IS}$) from Bayesian method was 0.712 and it could be influenced by selfing or biparental inbreeding to induce homozygote excess. The level of genetic differentiation was 0.107 from AMOVA (${\Phi}_{ST}$) and 0.110 from Bayesian method (${\Phi}^{II}$). The genetic differentiation was lower than those of other species having similar ecological niche and life history. Ulleungdo population had the lowest level of genetic diversity and was genetically the most distinct population from others in the study. We consider that founder effect and genetic drift might be occurred to reduce genetic diversity and then the geographical isolation might interrupt gene flow to aggravate it.

• BMB Reports
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.459-466
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• 2007

The cDNA sequence of the Japanese flounder (Paralychthys olivaceus) IgD has been previously reported (GenBank accession no. AB052658) and this was followed by the detection of IgD mRNA expression in some flounder organ tissues. However, it has not been determined whether the flounder IgD gene is virtually expressed into IgD protein. To characterize the flounder immunoglobulins utilized in elucidating the mechanism, evolution and diversity of the flounder immune system, antibodies specific to IgD and IgM were necessary. In the present study, partial flounder recombinant IgD (rIgD), IgM (rIgM) and the conserved regions of IgD and IgM (rCIg) were produced by cloning the cDNA sequence using isotype specific primers which were designed to produce unique fragments of IgD and IgM specific amino acid sequences. The production of recombinant Igs was ascertained by SDS-gel electrophoresis and immunoblot analysis using anti-T7$\cdot}$Taq antibody. The produced recombinant Igs were purified using affinity columns, and used as immunogens. Antibodies specific to the isotype of flounder Igs were generated by immunizing rabbits with rfIgs and the antibodies produced were identified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunoblotting. Specificities of the generated antibodies were evaluated by testing cross-reactivity between recombinant IgM and IgD. By ELISA, rabbit antibodies against the rfIgD fragment (anti-rfIgD) failed to recognize any kind of flounder serum Igs, whereas respective antibodies against rfCIg (anti-rfCIg) and rfIgM fragments (anti-rfIgM) reacted with serum Igs. Likewise, in immunoblot assays, though anti-rfIgD did not, both anti-rfCIg and anti-rfIgM bound with the ~85 kd flounder IgM heavy chain. By flow cytometry analysis, anti-rfCIg, anti-rfIgD and anti-rfIgM reacted with 6%, 3% and 6.5% of cells, respectively, suggesting that flounder IgD is not secreted in serum but expressed on flounder B-like cell surfaces as in mammals. Antibodies produced against recombinant flounder Igs could be used to develop sandwich assay systems for detecting flounder Igs and for further investigating the flounder immune system.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.677-682
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• 2004

Debates on safety of genetically modified (GM) crops have led to mandatory-labeling legislation of GM foods in many countries including Korea. Effects of heat, pressure, and acid treatments on degradation of DNAs or proteins in GM soybean at levels below detection limits of qualitative PCR and lateral flow strip test (LFST) methods were examined. Results showed that genomic DNAs and proteins were degraded into fragment sizes no longer possible for detection of inserted gene depending on thermal, or thermal and pressure treatment period. Detectaability of LFST for toasted meal increased in weakly treated soybean. DNA and protein detection methods were barely effective for detection of GM ingredient after $121^{\circ}C$ and 1.5 atmospheric treatment for 20 min. These results will be useful in determining GM labeling requirements of processed foods.