• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.6261-6265
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• 2013

Background: Recent studies have suggested that expression of the RAS protein activator like-1 gene (RASAL1) is decreased in gastric carcinoma tissues and cell lines, indicated a role in tumorigenesis and development of gastric cancer. Reduced expression of RASAL1 could result in aberrant increase of activity of RAS signaling pathways in cancer cells. However, the exact mechanism which induces down-regulation of the RASAL1 gene remains unclear. This study aimed to determine the methylation status and regulation of RASAL1 in gastric cancer. Materials and Methods: Using the methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP), the methylation status of CpG islands in the RASAL1 promoter in gastric cancers and paired adjacent non-cancerous tissues from 40 patients was assessed and its clinicopathological significance was analyzed. The methylation status of RASAL1 in gastric cancer lines MKN-28, SGC-790l, BGC-823, as well as in normal gastric epithelial cell line GES-l was also determined after treatment with a DNA methyltransferase inhibitor, 5-aza-2'-doexycytidine (5-Aza-CdR). RAS activity (GAS-GTP) was assessed through a pull-down method, while protein levels of ERK1/2, a downstream molecule of RAS signaling pathways, were determined by Western blotting. Results: The frequencies of RASAL1 promoter methylation in gastric cancer and paired adjacent non-cancerous tissues were 70% (28/40) and 30% (12/40) respectively (P<0.05). There were significantly correlations between RASAL1 promoter methylation with tumor differentiation, tumor size, invasive depth and lymph node metastasis in patients with gastric cancer (all P<0.05), but no correlation was found for age or gender. Promoter hypermethylation of the RASAL1 gene was detected in MKN-28, SGC-790l and BGC-823 cancer cells, but not in the normal gastric epithelial cell line GES-1. Elevated expression of the RASAL1 protein, a decreased RAS-GTP and p-ERK1/2 protein were detected in three gastric cancer cell lines after treatment with 5-Aza-CdR. Conclusions: Aberrant hypermethylation of the RASAL1 gene promoter frequently occurs in gastric cancer tissues and cells. In addition, the demethylating agent 5-Aza-CdR can reverse the hypermethylation of RASAL1 gene and up-regulate the expression of RASAL1 significantly in gastric cancer cells in vivo. Our study suggests that RASAL1 promoter methylation may have a certain relationship with the reduced RASAL1 expression in gastric cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.10
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• pp.4281-4287
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• 2014

Background: Methylation of tumor suppressor genes has been investigated in all kinds of cancer. Tumor specific epigenetic alterations can be used as a molecular markers of malignancy, which can lead to better diagnosis, prognosis and therapy. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the association between gene hypermethylation and expression of fragile histidine triad (FHIT), glutathione S-transferase P1 (GSTP1) and p16 genes and various clinicopathologic characteristics in primary non-small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC). Materials and Methods: The study included 28 primary non-small cell lung carcinomas, where an additional 28 tissue samples taken from apparently normal safety margin surrounding the tumors served as controls. Methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP) was performed to analyze the methylation status of FHIT, GSTP1 and p16 while their mRNA expression levels were measured using a real-time PCR assay with SYBR Green I. Results: The methylation frequencies of the genes tested in NSCLC specimens were 53.6% for FHIT, 25% for GSTP1, and 0% for p16, and the risk of FHIT hypermethylation increased among patients with NSCLC by 2.88, while the risk of GSTP1 hypermethylation increased by 2.33. Hypermethylation of FHIT gene showed a highly significant correlation with pathologic stage (p<0.01) and a significant correlation with smoking habit and FHIT mRNA expression level (p<0.05). In contrast, no correlation was observed between the methylation of GSTP1 or p16 and smoking habit or any other parameter investigated (p>0.05). Conclusions: Results of the present study suggest that methylation of FHIT is a useful biomarker of biologically aggressive disease in patients with NSCLC. FHIT methylation may play a role in lung cancer later metastatic stages while GSTP1 methylation may rather play a role in the early pathogenesis.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SD
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.1-9
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• 2009

In this paper, a small area 12-bit 300MSPS CMOS Digital-to-Analog Converter(DAC) is proposed for display systems. The architecture of the DAC is based on a current steering 6+6 segmented type, which reduces non-linearity error and other secondary effects. In order to improve the linearity and glitch noise, an analog current cell using monitoring bias circuit is designed. For the purpose of reducing chip area and power dissipation, furthermore, a noble self-clocked switching logic is proposed. To verify the performance, it is fabricated with $0.13{\mu}m$ thick-gate 1-poly 6-metal N-well Samsung CMOS technology. The effective chip area is $0.26mm^2$ ($510{\mu}m{\times}510{\mu}m$) with 100mW power consumption. The measured INL (Integrated Non Linearity) and DNL (Differential Non Linearity) are within ${\pm}3LSB$ and ${\pm}1LSB$, respectively. The measured SFDR is about 70dB, when the input frequency is 15MHz at 300MHz clock frequency.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.323-330
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• 2009

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are a major cause of opportunistic infections in immunocompromised patients, making the reliable and rapid identification of NTM to the species level very important for the treatment of such patients. Therefore, this study evaluated the usefulness of the novel target genes tuf and tmRNA for the identification of NTM to the species level, using a PCRrestriction fragment length polymorphism analysis (PRA). A total of 44 reference strains and 17 clinical isolates of the genus Mycobacterium were used. The 741 bp or 744 bp tuf genes were amplified, restricted with two restriction enzymes (HaeIII/MboI), and sequenced. The tuf gene-PRA patterns were compared with those for the tmRNA (AvaII), hsp65 (HaeIII/HphI), rpoB (MspI/HaeIII), and 16S rRNA (HaeIII) genes. For the reference strains, the tuf gene-PRA yielded 43 HaeIII patterns, of which 35 (81.4%) showed unique patterns on the species level, whereas the tmRNA, hsp65, rpoB, and 16S rRNA-PRAs only showed 10 (23.3%), 32 (74.4%), 19 (44.2%), and 3 (7%) unique patterns after single digestion, respectively. The tuf gene-PRA produced a clear distinction between closely related NTM species, such as M. abscessus (557-84-58) and M. chelonae (477-84-80-58), and M. kansasii (141-136-80-63-58-54-51) and M. gastri (141-136-117-80-58-51). No difference was observed between the tuf-PRA patterns for the reference strains and clinical isolates. Thus, a diagnostic algorithm using a tuf gene-targeting PRA is a promising tool with more advantages than the previously used hsp65, rpoB, and 16S rRNA genes for the identification of NTM to the species level.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.33 no.8
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• pp.813-823
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• 2000

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the nutrition therapy and drug(simvastatin) treatment on the levels of blood lipids for the hyperlipidemic patients according to genetic polymorphism of apo CIII. Subjects of the study consisted of 43(male: 9, female: 34 )hyperlipidemic patients registered to Kyung Hee Medical Center, Intakes of nutrients for the subjects were determined by 24-hr recall method through a personal interviews. The subjects were instructed to take the hypolipidemic and hypocholesterolemic diets. Compliance was monitored through food records, personal interview, and body-weight measurements. The patients changed their basal diet containing 40. 1g fat(182.7mg cholesterol./day) to a diet containing 30.7g fat(139.2mg cholesterol/day) after 12 weeks of nutrition therapy. The distribution of genotypes for apo CIII by Msp I was 32.5% of TT, 50.0% of TC, and 17.5% of CC. aT the beginning of the study, the level of blood triglyceride was the highest for patients with TT and TC. Following the nutrition therapy, patients with CC exhibited the largest drop of blood triglyceride. Following simvastatin treatment with nutrition therapy, blood LDL-cholesterol decreased in most of the patiens with TT. Meanwhile the distribution of genotypes for apo CII by the Fok I was 10.0% of TT, 47.5% of TC, and 42.5% of CC. The level of blood triglyceride was the highest for patients with CC. Following the nutrition therapy, patients with TC exhibited a significant drop for the blood triglyceride. Following simvastatin treatment with nutrition therapy the level of blood LDL-cholesterol decreased in most of the patients with CC. We concluded that dietary habits and food have been changed by nutrition therapy. And blood lipid levels have been decreased by the restriction of intakes of energy, fat and cholesterol. There was variation in the levels of blood lipids according to apo CII polymorphisms. The level of blood lipids responded to nutrition therapy and drug treatment in different was according to genetic polymorphisms. Accordingly, the choice of individualized therapy based on the patient\\`s genetic polymorphism is very important for effective therapy(Korean J Nutrition 33(8) : 813-823, 2000)

• Spatial Information Research
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.147-160
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• 1997

"The "Map Algebra", beeing recognized as a viable theoretical framework for GIS (Geographica Infonnation System), models map layers as "operands" which are the basic unit of geo-processing, and a variety of GIS commands as "operators." In this paper, we attempt at lifting some limitations of map algebras proposed in GIS literature. First, we model map layer as "function" such that we may employ the notion of meta operator (or, higher-order funtion) available in the functional programming paradigm. This approach provides map algebraic language with "programmability" needed in GIS user language. Second, we extend the semantics of, and improve on the sytactic structure of map algebraic language. Mer the data model and language associated with map algebra are formalized, we proceed to design and implement a prototype of map algebraic processor. The parser of the language in our prototype plays the role of transforming the native and heterogeneous user language of current GISs into a canonical map algebraic language. The prototype, named "MapSee" is a proof-of-concept system for the ideas we propsed in this paper. We believe that the uniform interface based on the map algebraic language will make promising infrastructure to support "Internet GIS." This is because the uniform but powerful interface through the Web clients allow access to both geo-data and geo-processing resources distributed over the network.to both geo-data and geo-processing resources distributed over the network.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.15-20
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• 2008

Three isolates of Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) were isolated from weed hosts showing typical mosaic symptoms, and some properties of the viruses were investigated. CMV isolates, designated as Is-CMV, Jd-CMV and Pla-CMV from Isodon inflexus, Jeffersonia dubia and Phryma leptostachya var. asiatica, respectively, were identified and characterized by biological reaction in several host plants, serological property, dsRNA analysis, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), restriction fragment-length polymorphism (RFLP). All isolates systemically infected in Nicotiana benthamiana, Cucurbita pepo cv. Black beauty and Cucumis sativus, and did not reveal any differences in these host plants between the isolates. However, remarkable difference in the symptoms was found between the CMVs in Capsicum annuum. Is-CMV induced an asymptomatic symptoms, while Jd-CMV and Pla-CMV produced severe mosaic symptoms in C. annuum plants. In dsRNA analysis, all isolates revealed four major bands with estimated molecular size of 3.4, 3.2, 2.1 and 1.0 kbp. The cDNAs of coat protein gene of the isolates were amplified by RT-PCR using a genus-specific single pair primers that designed to amplify a DNA fragment of approximately ranging from 938 to 966 bp. By restriction mapping analysis using RFLP of the RT-PCR products as well as by serological properties of gel diffusion test, the CMV isolates belong to a typical members of CMV subgroup IA. This is the first report on the occurrence of CMV in the three weed hosts.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.802-811
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• 2023

Marine spatial planning (MSP) is a crucial element for rational allocation and sustainable use of marine areas. Particularly, Fishing Activity Protected Areas constitute essential zones accounting for 45.6% designated for sustainable fishing activities. However, the current assessment of these zones does not adequately consider future demands and potential values, necessitating appropriate evaluation methods and predictive tools for long-term planning. In this study, we selected key fish species (Scomber japonicus, Trichiurus lepturus, Engraulis japonicus, and Larimichthys polyactis) within the Fishing Activity Protected Area to predict their distribution and compare it with the current designated zones for evaluating the ability of the prediction tool. Employing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 6th Assessment Report scenarios (SSP1-2.6 and SSP5-8.5), we used species distribution models (such as MaxEnt) to assess the movement and distribution changes of these species owing to future variations. The results indicated a 30-50% increase in the distribution area of S. japonicus, T. lepturus, and L. polyactis, whereas the distribution area of E. japonicus decreased by approximately 6-11%. Based on these results, a species richness map for the four key species was created. Within the marine spatial planning boundaries, the overlap between areas rated "high" in species richness and the Fishing Activity Protected Area was approximately 15%, increasing to 21% under the RCP 2.6 scenario and 34% under the RCP 8.5 scenario. These findings can serve as scientific evidence for future evaluations of use zones or changes in reserve areas. The current and predicted distributions of species owing to climate change can address the limitations of current use zone evaluations and contribute to the development of plans for sustainable and beneficial use of marine resources.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.108-121
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• 2001

Background : The $p16^{INK4a}$ (p16) twnor suppressor gene is frequently inactivated in hwnan non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs), predominantly through homozygous deletion or in association with aberrant promotor hypermethylation. Death-associated protein kinase (DAPK) gene influences interferon $\gamma$-induced apoptotic cell death and has important role in metastasis of lung cancer in animal model. Hypermethylation of promoter region of DAP kinase gene may suppress the expression of this gene. Methods : This study was performed to investigate the aberrant methylation of p16 or DAP kinase in 35 resected primary NSCLCs by methylation-specific PCR (MSP), and demonstrated frequency, diagnostic value and clinical implication of aberrant methylation of two genes. Results : Thirty-two cases were male patients, and 3 cases were female patients with an average age was 57. $8{\pm}10.5$ years. The histologic types of lung cancer were 22 of squamous cell carcinoma, 12 of adenocarcinoma, 1 of large cell carcinoma. Pathologic stages were 11 cases of stage I (1 IA, 10 IB), 13 cases of stage II (1 IIA, 12 IIB), and 11 cases of stage III (9 IIIA, 2 IIIB). Regarding for the cancer tissue, p16 aberrant methylation was noted in 13 case of 33 cases (39.4%), DAP kinase in 21 cases of 35 cases (60%). Age over 55 year was associated with p16 aberrant methylation significantly (p<0.05). Methylation status of two genes was not different by smoking history, histologic type, size of tumor, lymph node metastasis and disease progression of lung cancer. There was no correlation between p16 and DAP kinase hypermethylation. Conclusion: This investigation demonstrates that aberrant methylation of p16 tumor suppressor gene or DAP kinase showed relatively high frequency (74.3%) in NSCLCs, and that these genes could be a biologic marker for early detection of lung cancer.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.298-302
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• 2006

An isolate of Cucumber mosaic virus(CMV), called as Can-CMV, was originally isolated from Canna generalis showing typical streak mosaic foliar symptoms, and its properties were investigated in this study. Whereas all known isolates of CMV could induce symptoms on their systemic hosts(four kinds of Nicotiana spp and a zucchini squash), Can-CMV induced no symptoms on its systemic hosts tested. Replication and movement of the virus on upper leaves as well as inoculated leaves-were confirmed by RT-PCR suggesting that Can-CMV could only infect systemically on N. benthamiana and N. glutinosa. Size of local lesions on the Can-CMV-inoculated leaves of Chenopodium amaranticolor was much smaller than that of Fny-CMV. Whereas Fny-CMV and LS-CMV could induce distinct necrotic local lesions on Vigna unguiculata 2 to 3 days postinoculation(dpi), chlorotic spots symptom was expressed by Can-CMV 4 to 5 dpi. Virus-specific 4 kinds of dsRNAs were isolated from leaves of N. benthamiana infected with Can-CMV, and these dsRNAs corresponded to the viral genomic RNAs and subgenomic RNAs and their patterns were indistinguishable to those of Fny-CMV and LS-CMV. By restriction mapping analysis of 950 bp of RT-PCR amplified products of coat protein gene of the virus as well as by serological analysis of gel diffusion test, Can-CMV belongs to a typical member of CMV subgroup IA. These results suggest that the Can-CMV isolated from C. generalis possesses unique pathological properties to understand further insight into the various interactions between virus and host.