• Molecules and Cells
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• 제45권12호
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• pp.911-922
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• 2022

A structural protein of SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2), nucleocapsid (N) protein is phosphorylated by glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)-3 on the serine/arginine (SR) rich motif located in disordered regions. Although phosphorylation by GSK-3β constitutes a critical event for viral replication, the molecular mechanism underlying N phosphorylation is not well understood. In this study, we found the putative alpha-helix L/FxxxL/AxxRL motif known as the GSK-3 interacting domain (GID), found in many endogenous GSK-3β binding proteins, such as Axins, FRATs, WWOX, and GSKIP. Indeed, N interacts with GSK-3β similarly to Axin, and Leu to Glu substitution of the GID abolished the interaction, with loss of N phosphorylation. The N phosphorylation is also required for its structural loading in a virus-like particle (VLP). Compared to other coronaviruses, N of Sarbecovirus lineage including bat RaTG13 harbors a CDK1-primed phosphorylation site and Gly-rich linker for enhanced phosphorylation by GSK-3β. Furthermore, we found that the S202R mutant found in Delta and R203K/G204R mutant found in the Omicron variant allow increased abundance and hyper-phosphorylation of N. Our observations suggest that GID and mutations for increased phosphorylation in N may have contributed to the evolution of variants.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• 제23권11호
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• pp.1089-1101
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• 2022

Immunotherapy has revolutionized and opened a new paradigm for cancer treatment. In the era of immunotherapy and molecular targeted therapy, precision medicine has gained emphasis, and an early response assessment is a key element of this approach. Treatment response assessment for immunotherapy is challenging for radiologists because of the rapid development of immunotherapeutic agents, from immune checkpoint inhibitors to chimeric antigen receptor-T cells, with which many radiologists may not be familiar, and the atypical responses to therapy, such as pseudoprogression and hyperprogression. Therefore, new response assessment methods such as immune response assessment, functional/molecular imaging biomarkers, and artificial intelligence (including radiomics and machine learning approaches) have been developed and investigated. Radiologists should be aware of recent trends in immunotherapy development and new response assessment methods.

• Molecules and Cells
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• 제27권5호
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• pp.503-513
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• 2009

Proteoglycans located in basement membranes, the nanostructures underling epithelial and endothelial layers, are unique in several respects. They are usually large, elongated molecules with a collage of domains that share structural and functional homology with numerous extracellular matrix proteins, growth factors and surface receptors. They mainly carry heparan sulfate side chains and these contribute not only to storing and preserving the biological activity of various heparan sulfate-binding cytokines and growth factors, but also in presenting them in a more "active configuration" to their cognate receptors. Abnormal expression or deregulated function of these proteoglycans affect cancer and angiogenesis, and are critical for the evolution of the tumor microenvironment. This review will focus on the functional roles of the major heparan sulfate proteoglycans from basement membrane zones: perlecan, agrin and collagen XVIII, and on their roles in modulating cancer growth and angiogenesis.

• Computers and Concrete
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• 제8권2호
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• pp.163-176
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• 2011

By virtue of chord-length density function from the field of statistical physics, this paper introduced a quantitative approach to estimate the distribution of cement paste thickness between aggregates in concrete. Dynamics mixing method based on molecular dynamics was employed to generate one model structure, then image analysis algorithm was used to obtain the distribution of thickness of cement paste in model structure for the purpose of verification. By comparison of probability density curves and cumulative probability curves of the cement paste thickness among neighboring aggregates, it is found that the theoretical results are consistent with the simulation. Furthermore, for the model mortar and concrete mixtures with practical volume fraction of Fuller-type aggregate, this analytical formula was employed to predict the influence of aggregate volume fraction and aggregate fineness. And evolution of its mean values were also investigated with the variation of volume fraction of aggregate as well as the fineness of aggregates in model mortars and concretes.

• 천문학회지
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• 제38권2호
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• pp.69-72
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• 2005

The FIMS (Far-ultraviolet IMaging Spectrograph; also known as SPEAR, Spectroscopy of Plasma Evolution from Astrophysical Radiation) is the primary payload of the STSAT-1, the first Korean science satellite, which was launched in September, 2003. The FIMS performs spectral imaging of diffuse far-ultraviolet emission with the unprecedented wide field of view and the relatively good spectral resolution. We present far-ultraviolet spectral observations of highly ionized interstellar medium including supernova remnants, superbubbles, soft X-ray shadows, and the molecular hydrogen fluorescent emission lines. The FIMS has detected He II, C III, 0 III, O IV, Si IV, O VI, and $H_2$ fluorescent emission lines. The emission lines arise in shocked or thermally heated and in photo-ionized gases. We present an overview of the FIMS instrument and its initial observational results.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• 제26권12호
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• pp.2033-2037
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• 2005

In vitro selection was used to isolate $Mg^{2+}$-dependent self-cleaving ribozymes with cis-cleavage activity from a pre-tRNA library having 40-mer random sequences attached to 5'-end of E. coli $tRNA^{Phe}$. After 8 rounds of SELEX (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment), RNA molecules which can self-cleave at the high concentration of $Mg^{2+}$ were isolated. The selected ribozymes can carry out the self-cleavage reaction in the presence of 100 mM $Mg^{2+}$ but not in 10 mM $Mg^{2+}$. The cleavage sites of the ribozymes are located at +3 and +4 of $tRNA^{Phe}$, compared with +1 position of 5'-end cleavage site of pre-tRNA by RNase P. New RNA constructs deprived of its D stem-loop, anticodon stem-loop, variable loop and T stem-loop, respectively showed the cleavage specificity identical to a ribozyme having the intact tRNA structure. Also, the new ribozyme fused with both a ribozyme and $tRNA^{Leu}$ showed the cleavage activities at the various sites within its sequences, different from two sites of position +3 and +4 observed in the ribozyme with $tRNA^{Phe}$. Our results suggest that the selected ribozyme is not structural-specific for tRNA.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• 제5권1호
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• pp.13-24
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• 1989

본 연구는 한국의 침엽수에 기생하는 응애과에 대한 분류학적 검토를 위하여 실시되었다. 전국 16개 지역에서 19종의 송백류로부터 채집된 표본을 정리한 결과 다음과 같이 7종의 응애가 동정되었다. 1. Panonychus citri(McGregor) 귤응애, 2. Oligonychus clavatus(Ehara) 소나무응애(신칭), 3. O.hondoensis(Ehara) 삼나무응애(신칭), 4. O. pustu-losus(Ehara) 혹등삼응애(신칭), 5. O.Karamatus(Ehara) 낙엽송잎응애, 6. O.perditus Pritchard and Baker 향나무잎응애, 7. O.ununguis(Jacobi) 전나무잎응애. 그중 소나무응애, 삼나무응애, 혹등삼응애는 한국 미기록종이었다.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• 제19권2호
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• pp.297-304
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• 2003

Mitochondrial cytochrome b 유전자를 이용하여 한국에서 채집된 5종을 포함한 올빼미과(Strigidae)의 12속 31종의 계통분석을 하였다. Maximum likelihood 분석과, Kimura two-parameter와 p-distance를 이용하여 유전적 근연 관계를 측정하였다. 본 연구에 이용된 959개의 염기서열 가운데, 459개의 서열에서 변이를 확인하였고, 398개의 서열은 계통학적 정보를 가졌다. 올빼미과는 Clade I (Aegolius) , Clade II (Athene, Micrathene, Glaucidium, Surnia), 그리고 Clade III(Bubo, Nyctea, Pulsatrix, Strix, Otus, Ptilopsis, Ninox) 등 세 개의 그룹으로 나뉘어졌다. 또한 Otus속은 지리적으로 다른 두 개의 그룹으로 분리되는 것이 확인되었다.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제23권7호
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• pp.833-847
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• 2010

In the past decade, there have been many advances in whole-genome sequencing in domestic animals, as well as the development of "next-generation" sequencing technologies and high-throughput genotyping platforms. Consequently, these advances have led to the creation of the high-density SNP array as a state-of-the-art tool for genetics and genomics analyses of domestic animals. The emergence and utilization of SNP arrays will have significant impacts not only on the scale, speed, and expense of SNP genotyping, but also on theoretical and applied studies of quantitative genetics, population genetics and molecular evolution. The most promising applications in agriculture could be genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and genomic selection for the improvement of economically important traits. However, some challenges still face these applications, such as incorporating linkage disequilibrium (LD) information from HapMap projects, data storage, and especially appropriate statistical analyses on the high-dimensional, structured genomics data. More efforts are still needed to make better use of the high-density SNP arrays in both academic studies and industrial applications.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제55권2호
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• pp.175-183
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• 2017

Codon usage bias (CUB) is a unique property of genomes and has contributed to the better understanding of the molecular features and the evolution processes of particular gene. In this study, genetic indices associated with CUB, including relative synonymous codon usage and effective numbers of codons, as well as the nucleotide composition, were investigated in the Clonorchis sinensis tyrosinase genes and their platyhelminth orthologs, which play an important role in the eggshell formation. The relative synonymous codon usage patterns substantially differed among tyrosinase genes examined. In a neutrality analysis, the correlation between $GC_{12}$ and $GC_3$ was statistically significant, and the regression line had a relatively gradual slope (0.218). NC-plot, i.e., $GC_3$ vs effective number of codons (ENC), showed that most of the tyrosinase genes were below the expected curve. The codon adaptation index (CAI) values of the platyhelminth tyrosinases had a narrow distribution between 0.685/0.714 and 0.797/0.837, and were negatively correlated with their ENC. Taken together, these results suggested that CUB in the tyrosinase genes seemed to be basically governed by selection pressures rather than mutational bias, although the latter factor provided an additional force in shaping CUB of the C. sinensis and Opisthorchis viverrini genes. It was also apparent that the equilibrium point between selection pressure and mutational bias is much more inclined to selection pressure in highly expressed C. sinensis genes, than in poorly expressed genes.