• BMB Reports
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.484-488
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• 2001

STATs are proteins with a dual function: signal transducers in the cytoplasm and transcriptional activators in the nucleus. Among the six known major STATs (STAT1-6), STAT3 has been implicated in the widest range of signaling pathways that regulate cell growth and differentiation. As a part of our on-going investigation on the pleiotropic functions of STAT proteins, we examined the role of STAT3 as a molecular adaptor that links diverse cell growth signaling pathways. We observed that STAT3 can be specifically activated by multiple cytokines, such as IL-3, in transformed fibroblasts and IL-4 or IFN-$\gamma$ in primary immune cells, respectively. The selective activation of STAT3 in H-ras-transformed NIH3T3 cells is associated with an increased expression of phosphoserioe STAT3 in these cells, compared to the parental cells. Notably phosphoresine-STAT3 interacts with oncogenic ras, shown by immunoprecipitation and Western blots. The results suggest the role of STAT3 in rasinduced cellular transformation as a molecular adaptor linking the Jak/STAT and Ras/MAPK pathways. In primary immune cells, IL-4 and IFN-$\gamma$ each induced (in addition to the characteristic STAT6 and STAT1 homodimers) the formation of STAT3-containing complexes that bind to GAS probes, which correspond to the $Fe{\varepsilon}$ Rll and $Fe{\gamma}$ RI promoter sequences, respectively. Since IL-4 and IFN-$\gamma$ are known to counter-regulate the expression of these genes, the ability of STAT3 to form heterodimeric complexes with STAT6 or STAT1 implies its role in the fine-tuned control of genes that are regulated by IL-4 and IFN-$\gamma$.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.13.1-13.11
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• 2023

Background: Highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIVs) is an extremely contagious and high mortality rates in chickens resulting in substantial economic impact on the poultry sector. Therefore, it is necessary to elucidate the pathogenic mechanism of HPAIV for infection control. Objective: Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) can effectively avoid the limitations of subjective screening for differential gene expression. Therefore, we performed GSEA to compare HPAI-infected resistant and susceptible Ri chicken lines. Methods: The Ri chickens Mx(A)/BF2(B21) were chosen as resistant, and the chickens Mx(G)/BF2(B13) were selected as susceptible by genotyping the Mx and BF2 genes. The tracheal tissues of HPAIV H5N1 infected chickens were collected for RNA sequencing followed by GSEA analysis to define gene subsets to elucidate the sequencing results. Results: We identified four differentially expressed pathways, which were immune-related pathways with a total of 78 genes. The expression levels of cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-12), chemokines (CCL4 and CCL5), type interferons and their receptors (IFN-β, IFNAR1, IFNAR2, and IFNGR1), Jak-STAT signaling pathway genes (STAT1, STAT2, and JAK1), MHC class I and II and their co-stimulatory molecules (CD80, CD86, CD40, DMB2, BLB2, and B2M), and interferon stimulated genes (EIF2AK2 and EIF2AK1) in resistant chickens were higher than those in susceptible chickens. Conclusions: Resistant Ri chickens exhibit a stronger antiviral response to HPAIV H5N1 compared with susceptible chickens. Our findings provide insights into the immune responses of genetically disparate chickens against HPAIV.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.161-168
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• 2009

In the peripheral nerves, injury-induced cytokines and growth factors perform critical functions in the activation of both the MEK/ERK and JAK/STAT3 pathways. In this study, we determined that nerve injury-induced ERK activation was temporally correlated with STAT3 phosphorylation at the serine 727 residue. In cultured Schwann cells, we noted that ERK activation is required for the serine phosphorylation of STAT3 by neuropoietic cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6). Serine phosphorylated STAT3 by IL-6 was transported into Schwann cell nuclei, thereby indicating that ERK may regulate the transcriptional activity of STAT3 via the induction of serine phosphorylation of STAT3. Neuregulin-1 (NRG) also induced the serine phosphorylation of STAT3 in an ERK-dependent fashion. In contrast with the IL-6 response, serine phosphorylated STAT3 induced by NRG was not detected in the nucleus, thus indicating the non-nuclear function of serine phosphorylated STAT3 in response to NRG. Finally, we determined that the inhibition of ERK prevented injury-induced serine phosphorylation of STAT3 in an ex-vivo explants culture of the sciatic nerves. Collectively, the results of this study show that ERK may be an upstream kinase for the serine phosphorylation of STAT3 induced by multiple stimuli in Schwann cells after peripheral nerve injury.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.161-167
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• 2023

Despite the various medications used in clinics, the efforts to develop more effective treatments for depression continue to increase in the past decades mainly because of the treatment-resistant population, and the testing of several hypotheses- and target-based treatments. Undesirable side effects and unresponsiveness to current medications fuel the drive to solve this top global health problem. In this study, we focused on neuroinflammatory response-mediated depression which represents a cluster of depression etiology both in animal models and humans. Several meta-analyses reported that proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin 6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were increased in major depressive disorder patients. Inflammatory mediators implicated in depression include type-I interferon and inflammasome pathways. To elucidate the molecular mechanisms of neuroinflammatory cascades underlying the pathophysiology of depression, we introduced hycanthone, an antischistosomal drug, to check whether it can counteract depressive-like behaviors in vivo and normalize the inflammation-induced changes in vitro. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatment increased proinflammatory cytokine expression in the murine microglial cells as well as the stimulation of type I interferon-related pathways that are directly or indirectly regulated by Janus kinase-signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK-STAT) activation. Hycanthone treatment attenuated those changes possibly by inhibiting the JAK-STAT pathway and inflammasome activation. Hycanthone also ameliorated depressive-like behaviors by LPS. Taken together, we suggest that the inhibitory action of hycanthone against the interferon pathway leading to attenuation of depressive-like behaviors can be a novel therapeutic mechanism for treating depression.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.219-229
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• 2010

Background: N-myc downstream regulated gene 2 (NDRG2) is a member of the NDRG gene family. Our previous report indicated a possible role for NDRG2 in regulating the cytokine, interleukin-10 (IL-10), which is an important immunosuppressive cytokine. Several pathways, including p38-MAPK, NF-${\kappa}B$, and JAK/STAT, are used for IL-10 production, and the JAK/STAT pathway can be inhibited in a negative feedback loop by the inducible protein, SOCS3. In the present study, we investigated the effect of NDRG2 gene expression on IL-10 signaling pathway that is modulated via SOCS3 and STAT3. Methods: We generated NDRG2-overexpressing U937 cell line (U937-NDRG2) and treated the cells with PMA to investigate the role of NDRG2 in IL-10 production. U937 cells were also transfected with SOCS3- or NDRG2-specific siRNAs to examine whether the knockdown of SOCS3 or NDRG2 influenced IL-10 expression. Lastly, STAT3 and SOCS3 induction was measured to identify the signaling pathway that was associated with IL-10 production. Results: RT-PCR and ELISA assays showed that IL-10 was increased in U937-mock cells upon stimulation with PMA, but IL-10 was inhibited by overexpression NDRG2. After PMA treatment, STAT3 phosphorylation was decreased in a time-dependent manner in U937-mock cells, whereas it was maintained in U937-NDRG2 cells. SOCS3 was markedly reduced in U937-NDRG2 cells compared with U937-mock cells. IL-10 production after PMA stimulation was reduced in U937 cells when SOCS3 was inhibited, but this effect was less severe when NDRG2 was inhibited. Conclusion: NDRG2 expression modulates SOCS3 and STAT3 activity, eventually leading to the inhibition of IL-10 production.

• BMB Reports
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.578-583
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• 2001

As a prototypic Thl vs Th2 cytokine, IFN-$\gamma$ and IL-4 activate distinct STAT proteins, STAT1 and STATE, respectively. In cytokine-producing Jurkat T cells, IL-4 is effectively rescued from cell death that is induced by dexamethasone, but IFN-$\gamma$ failed to do so. Since the Ras/MAPK pathway is known to play an important role in cytokine-induced cell survival, we investigated the mechanism of T cell survival through the analysis of functional cross-talk between Ras/MAPK and distinct STAT proteins that are activated by IL-4 and IFN-$\gamma$. Although IL-4 and IFN-$\gamma$ each induced the activation of STATE and STATI. in Jurkat T cells, respectively, only IL-4 was capable of inducing MAPK. Along with tyrosine kinase inhibitors, MEK/MAPK inhibitors also caused a significant suppression of the IL-4-induced STATE activity. This suggests a positive regulation of STATE by MAPK during IL-4 signal transduction. Furthermore, transfection studies with dominant active (da) vs dominant negative (dn) Ras revealed that daRas, but not dnRas, selectively up-regulated the expression and activity of STATE with a concomitant increase in MAPK activity. These results, therefore, suggest that there is a functional cross-talk between the Ras/MAPK and Jak/STAT6 pathways, which may have a role in the IL-4-induced T cell survival.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.12
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• pp.1629-1635
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• 2012

Previously, we demonstrated that the erythropoietin receptor (EpoR) is present on fibroblasts, where it regulates focal contact. Here, we assessed whether this action of EpoR is involved in the reduced cell adhesion observed in colonocytes exposed to Clostridium difficile toxin A. EpoR was present and functionally active in cells of the human colonic epithelial cell line HT29 and epithelial cells of human colon tissues. Toxin A significantly decreased activating phosphorylations of EpoR and its downstream signaling molecules JAK-2 (Janus kinase 2) and STAT5 (signal transducer and activator of transcription 5). In vitro kinase assays confirmed that toxin A inhibited JAK 2 kinase activity. Pharmacological inhibition of JAK2 (with AG490) abrogated activating phosphorylations of EpoR and also decreased focal contacts in association with inactivation of paxillin, an essential focal adhesion molecule. In addition, AG490 treatment significantly decreased expression of occludin (a tight junction molecule) and tight junction levels. Taken together, these data suggest that inhibition of JAK2 by toxin A in colonocytes causes inactivation of EpoR, thereby enhancing the inhibition of focal contact formation and loss of tight junctions known to be associated with the enzymatic activity of toxin A.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.10
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• pp.1855-1866
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• 2017

The synergistic activation mediator (SAM) system can robustly activate endogenous gene expression by a single-guide RNA. This transcriptional modulation has been shown to enhance gene promoter activity and leads to epigenetic changes. Human $interferon-{\gamma}$ is a common natural glycoprotein involved in antiviral effects and inhibition of cancer cell growth. Large quantities of high-purity $interferon-{\gamma}$ are important for medical research and clinical therapy. To investigate the possibility of employing the SAM system to enhance endogenous human $interferon-{\gamma}$ with normal function in innate immunity, we designed 10 single-guide RNAs that target 200 bp upstream of the transcription start sites of the $interferon-{\gamma}$ genome, which could significantly activate the $interferon-{\gamma}$ promoter reporter. We confirmed that the system can effectively and highly activate $interferon-{\gamma}$ expression in several humanized cell lines. Moreover, we found that the $interferon-{\gamma}$ induced by the SAM system could inhibit tumorigenesis. Taken together, our results reveal that the SAM system can modulate epigenetic traits of non-immune cells through activating $interferon-{\gamma}$ expression and triggering JAK-STAT signaling pathways. Thus, this strategy could offer a novel approach to inhibit tumorigenesis without using exogenous $interferon-{\gamma}$.

• 한국약용작물학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.09a
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• pp.274-275
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• 2011

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.153-164
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• 1998

Cytokines regulate proliferation, differentiation and functions of haemotopoietic cells. Each cytokine possesses a variety of activities on various target cells (pleiotropy) and various cytokines have similar and overlapping activities on the same target cells (redundancy). The nature of these cytokine activities predicts unique feature of cytokine receptors, namely, cytokine has multiple receptors, different cytokines share a common receptor, and different cytokine receptors are linked to common signaling pathways. cDNA cloning of genes for cytokine receptors revealed distinct sets of receptor family with different structural features. The cytokine receptor superfamily consists of a largest family, and contains more than twenty cytokine receptor subunits. This receptor has common structural features in both extracellular and intracellular regions without tyrosine kinase domain. Another striking feature of the receptor is to share common subunit of multiple cytokines, which partly explains the redundancy of activities of some cytokines. Recent studies revealed detailed signaling events of the cytokine receptor, the primary activation of JAK and subsequent phosphorylation of tyrosine residues of receptor, and various cellular proteins. Many SH2 containing adapter proteins play an important role in cytokine signals, and this system has similarities with tyrosine kinase receptor signal transduction. STAT may mainly account for cytokine specific functions as suggested by knockout mice studies. It is of importance to note that cytokine activates multiple signaling pathways and the balance and combination of related signaling events may determine the specificity of functions of cytokines.