• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Developmental Biology Conference
• /
• 2001.10a
• /
• pp.14-17
• /
• 2001

Positional clonging (map-based cloning) of mutations or genetic variations has been served as an invaluable tool to understand in-vivo functions of genes and to identify molecular components underlying phenotypes of interest. Mice homozygous for the cerebellar deficient folia (cdf) mutation are ataxic, with cerebellar hypoplasia and abnormal lobulation of the cerebellum. In the cdf mutant cerebellum approximately 40% of Purkinje cells are ectopically located within the white matter and the inner granule cell layer (IGL). To identify the cdf gene, a high-resolution genetic map for the cdf-gene-encompassing region was constructed using 1997 F2 mice generated from C3H/HeSnJ-cdf/cdf and CAST/Ei intercross. The cdf gene showed complete linkage disequilibrium with three tightly linked markers D6Mit208, D6Mit359, and D6Mit225. A contig using YAC, BAC, and P1 clones was constructed for the cdf critical region to identify the gene. A deletion in the cdf critical region on chromosome 6 that removes approximately 150 kb of DNA selection. cdf mutant mice with the transgenic copy of the identified gene restored the brain abnormalities of the mutant mice. The positional cloning of cdf gene provides a good example showing the identification of a gene could lead to finding a new component of important molecular pathways.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.14 no.11
• /
• pp.6991-6995
• /
• 2013

Antioxidant activity, total phenolic, total flavonoid compounds and cytotoxicity to cancer cell lines of propolis extracts from two extraction methods were investigated in this study. Propolis was collected from Phayao province and extracted with 70% ethanol using maceration and sonication techniques. The antioxidant activity was evaluated by DPPH assay. Total phenolic and flavonoid compounds were also determined. Moreover, the cytotoxicity of propolis was evaluated using MTT assay. The percentage propolis yield after extraction using maceration (18.1%) was higher than using sonication (15.7%). Nevertheless, antioxidant and flavonoid compounds of the sonication propolis extract were significant greater than using maceration. Propolis extract from sonication showed antioxidant activity by $3.30{\pm}0.15$ mg gallic acid equivalents/g extract. Total phenolic compound was $18.3{\pm}3.30$ mg gallic acid equivalents/g extract and flavonoid compound was $20.49{\pm}0.62$ mg quercetin/g extract. Additionally, propolis extracts from two extraction methods demonstrated the inhibitory effect on proliferation of A549 and HeLa cancer cell lines at 24, 48 and 72 hours in a dose-dependent manner. These results are of interest for the selection of the most appropriate method for preparation of propolis extracts as potential antioxidant and anticancer agents.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
• /
• v.55 no.3
• /
• pp.200-206
• /
• 2010

Banaba, Lagerstroemia speciosa (L.) Pers. (Lythraceae) is a tree that grows in the tropic islands of the Pacific. This plants are used for medical purposes in the world. The components of L. speciosa were analyzed for the contents according to growing stages at leaves. The distributions of the corosolic acid ($2{\alpha}$, $3{\beta}$-dihydroxyurs-12-en-28-oic acid), phytol, campestrol, and vitamin E were rich among samples in this study. These were contained much fatty acids. The mean content of palmitic acid was from 2.4% across all growing stages, varying from 2.15% for young leaves with the lowest content and 2.86% for fallen leaves with the highest content. Oleic acid, linoleic acid, and linolenic acid were contained nearly mean 2.0% in all leaves of banaba. Our results have shown that the phytochemical profile of young L. speciosa leaves differs quite radically from that of old L. speciosa leaves. In addition, these subdividing results according to plant growth should allow future researches to conduct targeted experimental studies and use of particular medical components of interest, examining chemical variation on the inter-developmental levels.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.30-41
• /
• 2017

Mammals in Korea have been studied in various fields such as animal science, veterinary medicine, laboratory animal science, ecology, and genetics. As the importance of biodiversity has been emphasized recently, conservation and management of mammals have attracted much public attention. However, in spite of such an increase in scientific research and public interest, it is still difficult to find a report or summary to grasp the trend of mammalian research in Korea. The purpose of this study is to provide the basic data for future plans of the detailed research area and the related policies by grasping the research trends of mammals in Korea. Using text-ming and co-word analysis, we analyzed 392 mammalian research papers published in Korean national journals as of 2015. Our results showed that the number of mammalian research papers published in Korea has gradually increased and that the research target species have also become increasingly diverse. The major research areas identified through text-mining and co-word analysis are (1) evolution/phylogenetics/genetics, (2) environmental science/ecology, (3) embryology/reproductive biology/cell biology, (4) veterinary medicine related to parasites, (5) parasitology related to rodents, (6) bacteriology/virology, (7) anatomy/cell biology/laboratory animal science, (8) veterinary science related to morphology and anatomy, (9) animal science, (10) marine mammalogy, and (11) Chiroptera (bat) research. Environmental science/ecology has been the most active field among the 11 research areas in recent times, and the proportion of research has increased sharply compared to the past. Environmental science/ecology is the core of biodiversity conservation, and as the importance of biodiversity has been emphasized in recent years, researchers' interest in mammal ecology appears to have increased. We expect that the results of this study will be useful for future research plan and related policies on mammals in Korea.

• Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.44 no.5
• /
• pp.556-561
• /
• 2006

A differential display for the expression profiles of wild-type Cryphonectria parasitica and its virally-infected isogenic hypovirulent strain revealed several transcripts of interest, which evidenced significant matches with fungal genes of known function. Among which, we have further analyzed an amplified PCR product with significant sequence similarity to the known fungal stress-responsive thioredoxin gene from Neurospora crassa. The product of the cloned thioredoxin gene, CpTrx1, consists of 117 amino acids, with a predicted molecular mass of 13.0 kDa and a pI of 5.4. Sequence comparisons demonstrated that the deduced protein sequence of the CpTrx1 gene evidenced a high degree of homology to all known thioredoxins, with the highest degree of homology with trx1, a thioredoxin gene from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and evidenced a preservation of the conserved hall markresidues (Trp-Cys-Gly-Pro-Cys) at the active site of thioredoxin. The E. coli-generated CpTRX1 manifested thioredoxin activity, according to the insulin reduction assay, which indicates that the cloned gene does indeed encode for the C. parasitica thioredoxin.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.40 no.12
• /
• pp.897-905
• /
• 2017

Cellular protein homeostasis is maintained by two major degradation pathways, namely the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) and autophagy. Until recently, the UPS and autophagy were considered to be largely independent systems targeting proteins for degradation in the proteasome and lysosome, respectively. However, the identification of crucial roles of molecular players such as ubiquitin and p62 in both of these pathways as well as the observation that blocking the UPS affects autophagy flux and vice versa has generated interest in studying crosstalk between these pathways. Here, we critically review the current understanding of how the UPS and autophagy execute coordinated protein degradation at the molecular level, and shed light on our recent findings indicating an important role of an autophagy-associated transmembrane protein EI24 as a bridging molecule between the UPS and autophagy that functions by regulating the degradation of several E3 ligases with Really Interesting New Gene (RING)-domains.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.10-20
• /
• 2013

Prostate cancer is one of the most prevalent non-skin related cancers. It is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among males in most Western countries. If prostate cancer is diagnosed in its early stages, there is a higher probability that it will be completely cured. Prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP) is a non-specific phosphomonoesterase synthesized in prostate epithelial cells and its level proportionally increases with prostate cancer progression. PAP was the biochemical diagnostic mainstay for prostate cancer until the introduction of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) which improved the detection of early-stage prostate cancer and largely displaced PAP. Recently, however, there is a renewed interest in PAP because of its usefulness in prognosticating intermediate to high-risk prostate cancers and its success in the immunotherapy of prostate cancer. Although PAP is believed to be a key regulator of prostate cell growth, its exact role in normal prostate as well as detailed molecular mechanism of PAP regulation is still unclear. Here, many different aspects of PAP in prostate cancer are revisited and its emerging roles in other environment are discussed.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
• /
• v.47 no.1
• /
• pp.20-29
• /
• 2017

Purpose: The microstructural characteristics of trabecular bone were identified using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), in order to develop a potential strategy for implant surface improvement to facilitate osseointegration. Methods: Alveolar bone specimens from the cadavers of 30 humans were scanned by high-resolution micro-CT and reconstructed. Volumes of interest chosen within the jaw were classified according to Hounsfield units into 4 bone quality categories. Several structural parameters were measured and statistically analyzed. Results: Alveolar bone specimens with D1 bone quality had significantly higher values for all structural parameters than the other bone quality categories, except for trabecular thickness (Tb.Th). The percentage of bone volume, trabecular separation (Tb.Sp), and trabecular number (Tb.N) varied significantly among bone quality categories. Tb.Sp varied markedly across the bone quality categories (D1: $0.59{\pm}0.22mm$, D4: $1.20{\pm}0.48mm$), whereas Tb.Th had similar values (D1: $0.30{\pm}0.08mm$, D4: $0.22{\pm}0.05mm$). Conclusions: Bone quality depended on Tb.Sp and number-that is, endosteal space architecture-rather than bone surface and Tb.Th. Regardless of bone quality, Tb.Th showed little variation. These factors should be taken into account when developing individualized implant surface topographies.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
• /
• v.24 no.3
• /
• pp.86-90
• /
• 2020

Iron-sulfur (Fe-S) clusters are one of the most ancient yet essential cofactors mediating various essential biological processes. In prokaryotes, Fe-S clusters are generated via several distinctive biogenesis mechanisms, among which the ISC (Iron-Sulfur Cluster) mechanism plays a house-keeping role to satisfy cellular needs for Fe-S clusters. The Escherichia coli ISC mechanism is maintained by several essential protein factors, whose structural characterization has been of great interest to reveal mechanistic details of the Fe-S cluster biogenesis mechanisms. In particular, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic approaches have contributed much to elucidate dynamic features not only in the structural states of the protein components but also in the interaction between them. The present minireview discusses recent advances in elucidating structural features of IscU, the key player in the E. coli ISC mechanism. IscU accommodates exceptional structural flexibility for its versatile activities, for which NMR spectroscopy was particularly successful. We expect that understanding to the structural diversity of IscU provides critical insight to appreciate functional versatility of the Fe-S cluster biogenesis mechanism.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
• /
• v.9 no.6
• /
• pp.440-446
• /
• 2004

Interest in in vitro study of entomopathogenic fungi, including Cordyceps species, has been increasing due to their valuable bioactive compounds and biocontrol effects. Among Cordyceps species, in vitro stromata of C militaris has been successfully produced and cultivated for industrial purposes. However, genetic study on in vitro stromata formation of C militaris has not been carried out yet. Here, relationship between mating system and perithecial stromata formation of C militaris is reported. Mating system was determined by observing perithecial stromata formation from mono-ascospore cultures and their pair-wise combinations. Certain combinations of mono-ascospore strains produced perithecial club-shaped stromata, whereas other combinations produced either no stromata or only abnormal non-perithecial stromata. Similarly, mono­ascospore cultures without combination produced either no stromata or only abnormal non­perithecial stromata. Despite obvious heterothallism, self-fertility was occasionally observed in few strains of C militaris. These observations indicated that C militaris behaves as a bipolar het­erothallic fungus and requires two mating compatible strains in order to produce regular club­shaped perithecial stromata, a fundamental requirement for its industrial cultivation.