• BMB Reports
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• v.44 no.10
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• pp.680-685
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• 2011

The AT-hook motif is a small DNA-binding protein motif that has been found in the high mobility group of non-histone chromosomal proteins. The Arabidopsis genome contains 29 genes encoding the AT-hook motif DNA-binding protein (AHL). Recent studies of Arabidopsis genes (AtAHLs) have revealed that they might play diverse functional roles during plant growth and development. In this report, we mined 20 AHL genes (OsAHLs) from the rice genome database using AtAHL genes as queries and characterized their molecular features. A phylogenetic tree revealed that OsAHL proteins can be classified into 2 evolutionary clades. Tissue expression pattern analysis revealed that all of the OsAHL genes might be functionally expressed genes with 3 distinct expression patterns. Nuclear localization analysis using transgenic Arabidopsis showed that several OsAHL proteins are exclusively localized in the nucleus, indicating that they may act as architectural transcription factors to regulate expression of their target genes during plant growth and development.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.362-372
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• 2018

High mobility group box 2 (HMGB2) is an abundant, chromatin-associated, non-histone protein involved in transcription, chromatin remodeling, and recombination. Recently, the HMGB2 gene was found to be significantly downregulated during senescence and shown to regulate the expression of senescent-associated secretory proteins. Here, we demonstrate that HMGB2 transcription is repressed by p21 during radiation-induced senescence through the ATM-p53-p21 DNA damage signaling cascade. The loss of p21 abolished the downregulation of HMGB2 caused by ionizing radiation, and the conditional induction of p21 was sufficient to repress the transcription of HMGB2. We also showed that the p21 protein binds to the HMGB2 promoter region, leading to sequestration of RNA polymerase and transcription factors E2F1, Sp1, and p300. In contrast, NF-Y, a CCAAT box-binding protein complex, is required for the expression of HMGB2, but NF-Y binding to the HMGB2 promoter was unaffected by either radiation or p21 induction. A proximity ligation assay results confirmed that the chromosome binding of E2F1 and Sp1 was inhibited by p21 induction. As HMGB2 have been shown to regulate premature senescence by IR, targeting the p21-mediated repression of HMGB2 could be a strategy to overcome the detrimental effects of radiation-induced senescence.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.448-458
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• 2020

T-DNA insertional mutations in Arabidopsis genes have conferred huge benefits to the research community, greatly facilitating gene function analyses. However, the insertion process can cause chromosomal rearrangements. Here, we show an example of a likely rearrangement following T-DNA insertion in the Anti-Silencing Function 1B (ASF1B) gene locus on Arabidopsis chromosome 5, so that the phenotype was not relevant to the gene of interest, ASF1B. ASF1 is a histone H3/H4 chaperone involved in chromatin remodeling in the sporophyte and during reproduction. Plants that were homozygous for mutant alleles asf1a or asf1b were developmentally normal. However, following self-fertilization of double heterozygotes (ASF1A/asf1a ASF1B/asf1b, hereafter AaBb), defects were visible in both male and female gametes. Half of the AaBb and aaBb ovules displayed arrested embryo sacs with functional megaspore identity. Similarly, half of the AaBb and aaBb pollen grains showed centromere defects, resulting in pollen abortion at the bi-cellular stage of the male gametophyte. However, inheritance of the mutant allele in a given gamete did not solely determine the abortion phenotype. Introducing functional ASF1B failed to rescue the AaBb- and aaBb-mediated abortion, suggesting that heterozygosity in the ASF1B gene causes gametophytic defects, rather than the loss of ASF1. The presence of reproductive defects in heterozygous mutants but not in homozygotes, and the characteristic all-or-nothing pollen viability within tetrads, were both indicative of commonly-observed T-DNA-mediated translocation activity for this allele. Our observations reinforce the importance of complementation tests in assigning gene function using reverse genetics.

• Journal of Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.197-204
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• 2019

This study was investigated to test whether the zygote recognized the topoisomerase II beta (TOP2B) mediated DNA fragmentation in epididymal spermatozoa or the nuclease degradation in vas deferens spermatozoa by testing for the presence of gammaH2AX (γH2AX). The γH2AX is phosphorylation of histone protein H2AX on serine 139 occurs at sites flanking DNA double-stranded breaks (DSBs). The presence of γH2AX in the pronuclei of mouse zygotes which were injected with DNA broke epididymal spermatozoa was tested by immunohistochemistry at 5 and 9 h post fertilization, respectively. Paternal pronuclei that arose from epididymal spermatozoa treated with divalent cations did not stain for γH2AX at 5 h. On the other hand, in embryos injected with vas deferences spermatozoa that had been treated with divalent cations, γH2AX was only present in paternal pronuclei, and not the maternal pronuclei at 5 h. Interestingly, both pronuclei stained positively for γH2AX for all treatments and controls at 9 h after sperm injection. In conclusion, the embryos recognize DNA that is damaged by nuclease, but not by TOP2B because H2AX in phosphorylated in paternal pronuclei resulting from spermatozoa treated with fragmented DNA from vas deferens spermatozoa treated with divalent cations, but not from epididymal spermatozoa treated the same way.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.592-597
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• 2002

The Rkp1/CPC2, a receptor for activated protein kinase C of Schizosaccharomyces pombe, contains seven WD motifs found in the G-protein $\beta$-subunit. A 110-kDa protein was identified to interact with Rkp1/CPC2 by immunoprecipitation and following in vitro binding assay. To examine its kinase activity and binding ability to Rkp1, the $pck1^+$, a PKC homolog of S. pombe, was cloned. Pckl phosphorylated myelin basic protein (MBP) and histone Hl in a phospholipid-dependent and $Ca^{2+}$-independent manner. It was demonstrated that the N-terminal region of Pck1 was responsible for the binding to Rkp1 , thus suggesting that Rkp1 interacted with Pckl to regulate Pckl-mediated signaling in S. pombe.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.306-312
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• 2002

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus(SLE) is a autoimmune disease characterized by combined symtoms of malar rash, discoid rash, neuropsychiatric disorder, renal disorder, hematologic disorder, photosensitivity immunologic disorder, oral ulcer, anti-nuclear antibody, arthritis, pleuritis and pericarditis, etc. Multiple genetic or environmental causes are supposed to facilitate antiboby production to autoantigen such as ds-DNA, histone, phospholipid, red blood cell, platelet, etc. And defective complementary system fail to remove autoantigen-antibody complex, which deposit in multiple organs and result in inflammatory damages. SLE does not correctly correspond to any specific category of oriental medicine. But, accoring to previous reports, it can be controlled by herb medications used differently patients-to-patients. So we are to report this one SLE case being successfully controlled by classic corticosteroids with herb medications based on oriental diffrential diagnosis of symptoms and signs.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.190-193
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• 2020

In 2014, Anthracnose symptoms were observed on fruit of pumpkin in Gangneung, Gangwon in Korea. The typical symptoms on fruit surfaces were circular lesions, brown, shriveled with salmon-colored spore masses on the spots. A fungal isolate was obtained from symptomatic on fruit and cultured on potato dextrose agar at 25℃. The color of the upper surface of the colony varied from white to gray with occurrence of salmon-colored conidial masses and was red to violet on the underside. The causal fungus of anthracnose isolated from the diseased fruits was identified as Colletotrichum fioriniae based on mycological characteristics and sequences of the internal transcribed spacer, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, chitin synthase-1 gene, histone H3, actin gene, beta-tubulin gene region. Pathogenicity tests of the isolate were performed on pumpkin fruit by both wound and non-wound inoculation with conidial suspension (1×10⁶ conidia/ml) and incubated at 25℃. Lesions were observed on both wounded and non-wounded fruit of pumpkin after 7 days inoculation in only C. fioriniae. The pathogen was re-isolated from the lesions of inoculated fruits. To our knowledge, this is the first report of anthracnose on fruit of pumpkin caused by C. fioriniae in Korea.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.591-598
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• 2018

Epigenetic silencing is considered to be a major mechanism for loss of activity in tumor suppressors. Reversal of epigenetic silencing by using inhibitors of DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) or histone deacetylases (HDACs) such as 5-Aza-CdR and FK228 has shown to enhance cytotoxic activities of several anticancer agents. This study aims to assess the combinatorial effects of genesilencing reversal agents (5-Aza-CdR and FK228) and oxaliplatin in gastric cancer cells, i.e., Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-negative SNU-638 and EBV-positive SNU-719 cells. The doublet combinatorial treatment of 5-Aza-CdR and FK228 exhibited synergistic effects in both cell lines, and this was further corroborated by Zta expression induction in SNU-719 cells. Three drug combinations as 5-Aza-CdR/FK228 followed by oxaliplatin, however, resulted in antagonistic effects in both cell lines. Simultaneous treatment with FK228 and oxaliplatin induced synergistic and additive effects in SNU-638 and SNU-719 cells, respectively. Three drug combinations as 5-Aza-CdR prior to FK228/oxaliplatin, however, again resulted in antagonistic effects in both cell lines. This work demonstrated that efficacy of doublet synergistic combination using DNMT or HDACs inhibitors can be compromised by adding the third drug in pre- or post-treatment approach in gastric cancer cells. This implies that the development of clinical trial protocols for triplet combinations using gene-silencing reversal agents should be carefully evaluated in light of their potential antagonistic effects.

• BMB Reports
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.230-235
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• 2008

LRP15 is a novel gene cloned from lymphocytic cells, and its function is still unknown. Bioinformatic data showed that LRP15 might be regulated by DNA methylation and had an important role in DNA repair. In this study, we investigate whether the expression of LRP15 is regulated by DNA methylation, and whether overexpression of LRP15 increases efficiency of DNA repair of UV-induced DNA damage in HeLa cells. The results showed (1) the promoter of LRP15 was hypermethylated in HeLa cells, resulting a silence of its expression. Gene expression was restored by a demethylating agent, 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine, but not by a histone deacetylase inhibitor, trichostatin A; (2) overexpression of LRP15 inhibited HeLa cell proliferation, and the numbers of cells in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle in cells transfected with LRP15 increased about 10% compared with controls; (3) cyclin B1 level was much lower in cells overexpressing LRP15 than in control cells; and (4) after exposure to UV radiation, the LRP15-positive cells showed shorter comet tails compared with the LRP15-negative cells. From these results we conclude that the expression of LRP15 is controlled by methylation in its promoter in HeLa cells, and LRP15 confers resistance to UV damage and accelerates the DNA repair rate.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.1-12
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• 2010

The individual differences in disease development and susceptibility have been researched primarily on the subject of genes, environment or the interaction between genes and the environment respectively. However, there have been limitations in explaining complex diseases, and the differences in health and diseases in monozygotic and dizygotic twins. Fortunately, thanks to active research on the relationship between genes and the environment, and epigenetics, there has been much progress in the understanding of body's reactions and changes. Epigenetics is referred to as a study of gene expression through the interactions of DNA methylation, chromatin's histone and the change of structure in tail, RNA editing without any change in DNA sequence. In this paper, we introduce the basic concepts and mechanisms of epigenetics. The result of the epigenetics is heritable ; can regulate gene expressions ; is reversible ; and has many variable forms depending on cell types. The influences of epigenetics occur throughout life, but it is mainly determined in utero during early pregnancies. Diseases occur or the risk rises if these influences continue after birth until adult life when problems occur in excess/lack of nutrition, environmental plasticity, or already inputted data. Therefore, there is a need for change and innovation, especially in interest and investment in health education for young women near pregnancies and correct treatment of epigenetic-related diseases.