• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.449-460
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• 2012

Plants have versatile detoxification systems to encounter the phytotoxicity of the wide range of natural and synthetic compounds present in the environment. Glutathione S-transferase (GST) is an enzyme that detoxifies natural and exogenous toxic compounds by conjugation with glutathione (GSH). Recently, several roles of GST giving stress tolerance in plants have demonstrated, but little is known about the role of ginseng GSTs. Therefore, this work aimed to provide further information on the GST gene present in Panax ginseng genome as well as its expression and function. A GST cDNA (PgGST) was isolated from P. ginseng cDNA library, and it showed the amino acid sequence similarity with theta type of GSTs. PgGST in ginseng plant was induced by exposure to metals, plant hormone, heavy metals, and high light irradiance. To improve the resistance against environmental stresses, full-length cDNA of PgGST was introduced into Nicotiana tabacum. Overexpression of PgGST led to twofold increase in GST-specific activity compared to the non-transgenic plants, and the GST overexpressed plant showed resistance against herbicide phosphinothricin. The results suggested that the PgGST isolated from ginseng might have a role in the protection mechanism against toxic materials such as heavy metals and herbicides.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.26-32
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• 2014

Recent genome annotation revealed that Populus trichocarpa contains 81 glutathione S-transferase (GST) genes. GST genes play important and varying roles in plants, including conferring tolerance to various abiotic stresses. Little information is available on the relationship - if any - between drought/salt stresses and GSTs in woody plants. In this study, we screened the PatgGST genes in hybrid poplar (Populus alba ${\times}$ Populus tremula var. glandulosa) that were predicted to confer drought tolerance based on our expression analysis of all members of the poplar GST superfamily following exposure to salt (NaCl) and drought (PEG) stresses, respectively. Exposure to the salt stress resulted in the induction of eight PatgGST genes and down-regulation of one PatgGST gene, and the level of induction/repression was different in leaf and stem tissues. In contrast, 16 PatgGST genes were induced following exposure to the drought (PEG) stress, and two were down-regulated. Taken together, we identified seven PatgGSTs (PatgGSTU15, PatgGSTU18, PatgGSTU22, PatgGSTU27, PatgGSTU46, PatgGSTU51 and PatgGSTU52) as putative drought tolerance genes based on their induction by both salt and drought stresses.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.213-222
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• 2003

Genomic epidemiology is defined as 'an evoking field of inquiring that uses the systematic application of epidemiologic methods are approaches in population-based studies of the impact of human genetic variation on health and disease (Khoury, 1998)'. Most human diseases are caused by the intricate interaction among environmental exposures and genetic susceptibility factors. Susceptibility genes involved in disease pathogenesis are categorized into two groups: high penetrance genes (i.e., BRAC1, RB, etc.) and lour penetranoe genes (i.e., GSTs, Cyps, XRCC1, ets.), and low penetrance susceptibility genes has the higher priority for epidemiological research due to high population attributable risk. In this paper, the summarized results of the association study between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and breast cancer in Korea were introduced and the international trends of genomic epidemiology research were reviewed with an emphasis on internee-based case-control and cohort consortium.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Toxicology Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.60-61
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• 2003

Effects of repeated treatment with butylated hydroxyanisole (BRA) on the induction of glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) and teratogenicity of cyclophosphamide were investigated in rats. Pregnant rats were orally treated with BRA (50 mg/kg) for 7 days, from days 6 to 12 of gestation, and subcutaneously challenged with cyclophosphamide (15 mg/kg) 2 hr after the final treatment. On day 20 of gestation, the maternal and fetal abnormalities were examined.(omitted)

• Journal of Crop Science and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.187-192
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• 2008

The effects of some coumarins(coumarin, 7-hydroxycoumarin, scopoletin and esculetin) were investigated on pumpkin(Cucurbita maxima Duch.) seedlings and on pumpkin glutathione S-transferases(GSTs). Coumarin and esculetin suppressed the growth of seedlings, especially the elongation of roots as well as hypocotyls. Among the compounds tested, only esculetin inhibited the activity of a particular pumpkin GST by 50%, CmGSTU3 toward 1-chloro-2, 4- dinitrobenzene(CDNB) and at a concentration of 22 ${\mu}M$. Both ethylacetae(EtOAc) and water fractions in pumpkin seedlings and different organs of one-month-old pumpkin plants contained esculetin or similar hydrophobic fluorescent substances as well as hydrophilic substances, which showed different degrees of inhibitory effects on CmGSTU3 activity.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.442-444
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• 2006

On long time scale and over large areas ground surface temperatures (GSTs) track surface air temperatures (SATs). Additionally, GST changes penetrate into the subsurface and are recorded as transient temperature perturbation to the background thermal filed. Therefore, climate change can be reconstructed from borehole temperature measurements We present GST hi story reconstructed from temperature measurements in a borehole at Pocheon The result shows that GST cold period in the late 19th century and then increased by about 2K to 1990. GST history matches well with surface air temperatures measured from 1907 to 2001 at the Seoul Meteorological Station and GST history reconstructed from temperature measurements in three boreholes at Ulsan.

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.399-408
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• 2014

Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are a superfamily of detoxification enzymes that primarily catalyze the nucleophilic addition of reduced glutathione to both endogenous and exogenous electrophiles. In this study, we isolated and characterized a full-length of alpha class GST cDNA from the abalone (Haliotis discus hannai). The abalone GST cDNA encodes a 223-amino acid polypeptide with a calculated molecular mass of 25.8 kDa and isoelectric point of 5.69. Multiple alignments and phylogenetic analysis with the deduced abalone GST protein revealed that it belongs to the alpha class GSTs and showed strong homology with disk abalone (Haliotis discus discus) putative alpha class GST. Abalone GST mRNA was ubiquitously detected in all tested tissues. GST mRNA expression was comparatively high in the mantle, gill, liver, and digestive duct, however, lowest in the hemocytes. Expression level of abalone GST mRNA in the mantle, gill, liver, and digestive duct was 182.7-fold, 114.8-fold, 4675.8-fold, 406.1-fold higher than in the hemocytes, respectively. Expression level of abalone GST mRNA in the liver was peaked at 6 h post-infection with Vibrio parahemolyticus and decreased at 12 h post-infection. While the expression level of abalone GST mRNA in the hemocytes was drastically increased at 3 h post-infection with Vibrio parahemolyticus. These results suggest that abalone GST is conserved through evolution and may play roles similar to its mammalian counterparts.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.293-300
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• 1998

Previous studies have shown that the heterocycles including thiazoles are efficacious in inducing phase phase II metabolizing enzyme as well as certain cytochrome P450s and that the inductin of these matabolizing enzymes by the heterocyclic agents is highly associated with their hepatotoxicity. In the present study, the effects of benzylisothiazole (BIT), which has a isothiazole moiety, on the expression of microsomal epoxide hydrolase (mEH), major glutathione S-transerases and cytochrome P450s were studied in the rat liver in association with its hepatotoxicity. Treatment of rats with BIT(1.17 mmol/kg, 1~3d) resulted in substantial increases in the mEH. rGSTA2, rGSTA2, rGSTM1 and rGSTM2 mRNA levels, whereas rGSTA3 and rGSTA5 mRNA levels were increased to much lesser extents. A time-course study showed that the mRNA levels of mEH and rGSTs were greater at 24hr after treatment than those after 3 days of consecutive treatment. Relative changes in mEH and rGST mRNA levels were consistent with those in the proteins, as assessed by Western immunoblot analysis. Hepatic cytochrom P450 levels were monitored after BIT treatment under the assumption that metabolic activation of BIT may affect expression of the enzymes in conjunction with hepatotoxicity. Immunoblot analysis revealed that cytochrome P450 2B1/2 were 3-to 4-fold induced in rats teatd with BIT(1.17 mmol/kg/day.3days), whereas P450 1A2, 2C11 and 3A1/2 levels were decreased to 20~30% of those in unteatd rats. P450 2E1 was only slightly decreased by BIT. Thus, the levels of several cytochrome P450s were suppressed by BIT treatment. Rats treated with BIT at the dose of 1.17mmol/kg for 3 days exhibited extensive multifocal nodular necrosis with moderate to extensive diffuse liver cell degeneration. No notable toxicity was observed in the kidney. These results showed that BIT induces mEH and rGSTs in the liver with increases in the mRNA levels, whereas the agent significantly decreased major cytochrome P450s. The changes in the detoxifying enzymes might be associated with the necrotic liver after consecutive treatment.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.9
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• pp.2497-2502
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• 2010

Arg13 is a conserved active-site residue in all known Pi class glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) and in most Alpha class GSTs. To evaluate its contribution to substrate binding and catalysis of this residue, three mutants (R13A, R13K, and R13L) were expressed in Escherichia coli and purified by GSH affinity chromatography. The substitutions of Arg13 significantly affected GSH-conjugation activity, while scarcely affecting glutathione peroxidase or steroid isomerase activities. Mutation of Arg13 into Ala largely reduced the GSH-conjugation activity by approximately 85 - 95%, whereas substitutions by Lys and Leu barely affected activity. These results suggest that, in the GSH-conjugation activity of hGST P1-1, the contribution of Arg13 toward catalytic activity is highly dependent on substrate specificities and the size of the side chain at position 13. From the kinetic parameters, introduction of larger side chains at position 13 results in stronger affinity (Leu > Lys, Arg > Ala) towards GSH. The substitutions of Arg13 with alanine and leucine significantly affected $k_{cat}$, whereas substitution with Lys was similar to that of the wild type, indicating the significance of a positively charged residue at position 13. From the plots of log ($k_{cat}/{K_m}^{CDNB}$) against pH, the $pK_a$ values of the thiol group of GSH bound in R13A, R13K, and R13L were estimated to be 1.8, 1.4, and 1.8 pK units higher than the $pK_a$ value of the wild-type enzyme, demonstrating the contribution of the Arg13 guanidinium group to the electrostatic field in the active site. From these results, we suggest that contribution of Arg13 in substrate binding is highly dependent on the nature of the electrophilic substrates, while in the catalytic mechanism, it stabilizes the GSH thiolate through hydrogen bonding.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.29-34
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• 2006

Immunoglobulin E (IgE) plays an important role in the development of allergic disorders including asthma. Cigarette smoking was reported to elevate serum IgE level and air pollutants such as $NO_{2}$ have been reported to modulate the immune system including inflammation. Moreover, genetic polymorphisms of glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) were reported to affect inflammatory diseases including asthma. Therefore, in the present study we tried to investigate whether tobacco smoke or $NO_{2}$ exposure increases the level of IgE and the GST gene polymorphisms are associated with change of IgE level due to tobacco smoke or $NO_{2}$ exposure. We measured urinary cotinine, personal $NO_{2}$ exposure, and serum IgE levels in 300 healthy university students without allergic disorders. Allelic loss of the GSTM1 and GSTT1 and the GSTP1 (lle105Val) polymorphism were determined by PCR and RFLP. Total serum IgE levels were significantly different according to urinary cotinine levels (P=0.046), while $NO_{2}$ passive dosimeter level and genetic polymorphisms of three GSTs were not associated with total IgE level. Moreover, subjects with cotinine $500\;{\mu}g/g$ creatinine or more showed the highest level of total IgE when they had null type of GSTM1, null type of GSTT1, or variant type of GSTP1 (P<0.05). When we considered IgE level according to urinary cotinine levels in strata with the combinations of GSTM1, GSTT1, and GSTP1 genetic polymorphisms, the subjects with GSTM1 null, GSTT1 null, and GSTP1 variant types showed the largest difference between IgE levels of subpopulations according to cotinine levels (P=0.030). However, there was no significant difference between IgE levels of subpopulations according to $NO_{2}$ passive dosimeter levels in any group with combinations of GSTM1, GSTT1, and GSTP1 polymorphisms. This result suggests that smoking increases allergic response measured as IgE level and combinations of the GSTM1, GSTT1, and GSTP1 polymorph isms modify the effect of smoking on serum IgE level.