• Title/Summary/Keyword: Molecular techniques

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Emerging Genomics Technologies in Nutritional Sciences: Applications to obesity and hypertension research

  • Mouss, Naima-Moustaid;Sumithra Urs;Kim, Suyeon;Heo, Young-Ran
    • Proceedings of the Korean Nutrition Society Conference
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    • 2002.05a
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    • pp.29-41
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    • 2002
  • While the sequencing of several genomes was underway, several advanced techniques in genetics, molecular biology and protein chemistry emerged. Within the nutritional sciences, while the focus on nutrition education, epidemiology and public health aspects remains essential; it is crucial to incorporate the new advances in gene and protein discovery in nutritional studies. Nutrition is a discipline that has always integrated social, biochemical and physiological sciences from the studies at the molecule level to studies at the population level. For this reason, nutritionists are in a prime position to readily incorporate the current genomics approaches in nutrition research, All the available analytical techniques can and should be used in modern nutritional sciences. These include genetics, genomics, proteomics and metabolomics which also require integration and use of bioinformatics and computational methods for data analysis and management. These applications will be briefly reviewed with a primary focus on what the genomics and genetics approaches offer to nutritionists. We will use one of our research focus areas to illustrate uses of some of these applications in obesity-hypertension research. Our central hypothesis is that adipose tissue is an endocrine organ that plays a major role in obesity and related hypertension. We are primarily studying the renin angiotensin system (RAS). We provide evidence from our own studies and others for the paracrine as well as endocrine role of adipocyte-derived angiotensin II in adipocyte gene expression, adiposity and blood pressure regulation. Both cell culture studies as well as knockout and transgenic mice models are used to test our hypothesis. Genomics and proteomics technologies are currently developed to complement our physiological and molecular studies on the RAS and for a fine analysis of this system and its function in health and disease.

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Emerging Genomics Technologies in Nutritional Sciences : Applications to Obesity and Hypertension Research

  • Moustaid-Moussa;Sumithra Urs;Kim, Suyeon;Heo, Young-Ran
    • Proceedings of the Korean Nutrition Society Conference
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    • 2002.06a
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    • pp.598-603
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    • 2002
  • While the sequencing of several genomes was underway, several advanced techniques in genetics, molecular biology and protein chemistry emerged. Within the notritional sciences, while the focus on nutrition education, epidemiology and public health aspects remains essential; it is crucial to incorporate the new advances in gene and protein discovery in nutritional studies. Nutrition is a discipline that has always integrated social, biochemical and physiological sciences from the studies at the molecule level to studies at the population level. for this reason, nutritionists are in a prime position to readily incorporate the current genomics approaches in nutrition research. All the available analytical techniques can and should be used in modem nutritional sciences. These include genetics, genomics, proteomics and metabolomics which also require integration and use of bioinformatics and computational methods for data analysis and management. These applications will be briefly reviewed with a primary focus on what the genomics and genetics approaches offer to nutritionists. We will use one of our research focus areas to illustrate uses of some of these applications in obesity-hypertension research. Our central hypothesis is that adipose tissue is an endocrine organ that plays a major role in obesity and related hypertension. We are primarily studying the renin angiotensin system (RAS). We provide evidence from our own studies and others for the paracrine as well as endocrine role of adipocyte-derived angiotensin II in adipocyte gene expression, adiposity and blood pressure regulation. Both cell culture studies as well as knockout and transgenic mice models are used to test our hypothesis. Genomics and proteomics technologies are currently developed to complement our physiological and molecular studies on the RAS and for a fine analysis of this system and its function in health and disease.

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Mesoscale Simulation of Polymeric Membranes for Energy and Environmental Application (에너지-환경 분야용 분리막의 Mesoscale Simulation 동향 연구)

  • Park, Chi Hoon;Nam, Sang Yong
    • Membrane Journal
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    • v.27 no.2
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    • pp.121-128
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    • 2017
  • Mesoscale simulation is a type of molecular simulation techniques where groups of atoms are defined as a single bead for calculations, and accordingly, is possible to simulate longer time ($ns{\sim}{\mu}s$) and bigger size ($nm{\sim}{\mu}m$). There are two types of mesoscale simulations : (1) particle-based mesoscale which simulates the system by calculating the movement of the particles themselves and (2) field theory which simulates the system by calculating changes in the chemical potential filed or density field. Mesoscale simulations are powerful tools to study the macroscopic properties of polymers for various applications of energy and environment. In this review, we report the trends and useful information in mesoscale simulation and provide an opportunity for membrane researchers working in the energy-environment field to understand mesoscale simulation techniques.

Modification of Rubbers through Chemical Reactions including Controlled/"living" Radical Polymerization Techniques (리빙라디칼 중합법을 포함한 화학적 방법에 의한 고무의 개질)

  • Joo, Sang-Il;Cho, Hyun-Chul;Lee, Seong-Hoon;Hong, Sung-Chul
    • Elastomers and Composites
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    • v.44 no.2
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    • pp.122-133
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    • 2009
  • Rubbers, such as natural rubber, polybutadiene, styrene-butadiene rubber, nitrile-butadiene rubber, chlorinated rubber and EPDM, have been continuously improved in response to a heavy demand and a new property requirement from industry. One of the best ways to realize the improvement is the modification of rubbers through chemical reactions, which produce materials with novel properties. In this review, chemical modification reactions of rubbers that contain carbon-carbon double bond units either in their main backbone or as a side group were briefly summarized. The chemical reactions introduce functional groups or functional polymer chains to polymer backbone, which transform a classical rubber to a highly functional material. Especially, we focused on a controlled/"living" radical polymerization techniques, with which a revolutionary broadening of the spectrum of the materials with well defined molecular weight, molecular weight distribution, chain end-functionality and architectures become possible.

Detection of Colletotrichum spp. Resistant to Benomyl by Using Molecular Techniques

  • Dalha Abdulkadir, Isa;Heung Tae, Kim
    • The Plant Pathology Journal
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    • v.38 no.6
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    • pp.629-636
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    • 2022
  • Colletotrichum species is known as the major causal pathogen of red pepper anthracnose in Korea and various groups of fungicides are registered for the management of the disease. However, the consistent use of fungicides has resulted in the development of resistance in many red pepper-growing areas of Korea. Effective management of the occurrence of fungicide resistance depends on constant monitoring and early detection. Thus, in this study, various methods such as agar dilution method (ADM), gene sequencing, allele-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) were applied for the detection of benzimidazole resistance among 24 isolates of Colletotrichum acutatum s. lat. and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides s. lat. The result of the ADM showed that C. gloeosporioides s. lat. was classified into sensitive and resistant isolates to benomyl while C. acutatum s. lat. was insensitive at ≥1 ㎍/ml of benomyl. The sequence analysis of the β-tubulin gene showed the presence of a single nucleotide mutation at the 198th amino acid position of five isolates (16CACY14, 16CAYY19, 15HN5, 15KJ1, and 16CAYY7) of C. gloeosporioides s. lat. Allele-specific PCR and PCR-RFLP were used to detect point mutation at 198th amino acid position and this was done within a day unlike ADM which usually takes more than one week and thus saving time and resources that are essential in the fungicide resistance management in the field. Therefore, the molecular techniques established in this study can warrant early detection of benzimidazole fungicide resistance for the adoption of management strategies that can prevent yield losses among farmers.

Current- voltage (I-V) Characteristics of the Molecular Electronic Devices using Various Organic Molecules

  • Koo, Ja-Ryong;Pyo, Sang-Woo;Kim, Jun-Ho;Kim, Jung-Soo;Gong, Doo-Won;Kim, Young-Kwan
    • Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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    • v.6 no.4
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    • pp.154-158
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    • 2005
  • Organic molecules have many properties that make them attractive for electronic applications. We have been examining the progress of memory cell by using molecular-scale switch to give an example of the application using both nano scale components and Si-technology. In this study, molecular electronic devices were fabricated with amino style derivatives as redox-active component. This molecule is amphiphilic to allow monolayer formation by the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) method and then this LB monolayer is inserted between two metal electrodes. According to the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics, it was found that the devices show remarkable hysteresis behavior and can be used as memory devices at ambient conditions, when aluminum oxide layer was existed on bottom electrode. The diode-like characteristics were measured only, when Pt layer was existed as bottom electrode. It was also found that this metal layer interacts with organic molecules and acts as a protecting layer, when thin Ti layer was inserted between the organic molecular layer and Al top electrode. These electrical properties of the devices may be applicable to active components for the memory and/or logic gates in the future.

Orphan Nuclear Receptor Nurr1 as a Potential Novel Marker for Progression in Human Prostate Cancer

  • Wang, Jian;Yang, Jing;Zou, Ying;Huang, Guo-Liang;He, Zhi-Wei
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.14 no.3
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    • pp.2023-2028
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    • 2013
  • A number of studies have indicated that Nurr1, which belongs to a novel class of orphan nuclear receptors (the NR4A family), is important for carcinogenesis. Here we investigated expression of Nurr1 protein in benign and malignant human prostate tissues and association with clinicopathologic features using immunohistochemical techniques. Moreover, we also investigated the ability of Nurr1 to influence proliferation, migration, invasion and apoptosis of human prostate cancer cells using small interfering RNA silencing. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that the expression of Nurr1 protein was higher in prostate cancer tissues than in benign prostate tissue (P<0.001), levels being positively correlated with tumor T classification (P = 0.003), N classification (P = 0.017), M classification (P = 0.011) and the Gleason score (P = 0.020) of prostate cancer patients. In vitro, silencing of endogenous Nurr1 attenuated cell proliferation, migration and invasion, and induced apoptosis of prostate cancer cells. These results suggest that Nurr1 may be used as an indicator for prostate cancer progression and be useful for novel potential therapeutic strategies.

The Characterization of Anti-HER-2/neu Monoclonal Antibody using Different in vivo Imaging Techniques

  • Moon, Cheol;Kim, Eun Jung;Choi, Dan Bee;Kim, Byoung Soo;Kim, Sa Hyun;Choi, Tae Hyun
    • Biomedical Science Letters
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    • v.21 no.1
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    • pp.23-31
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    • 2015
  • Recently, specific antibodies have been used extensively to diagnose and treat various diseases. It is essential to assess the efficacy and specificity of antibodies, especially the in vivo environment. Anti-HER-2/neu mAb was evaluated as a possible transporting agent for radioimmunotherapy. The monoclonal antibody was successfully radio-labeled with $^{131}I$. In vitro binding assays were performed to confirm its targeting ability using another radio-iodine, $^{125}I$. Binding percentage of $^{125}I$ labeled anti-HER-2/neu mAb in HER-2/neu expressing CT-26 cells was found to be 4.5%, whereas the binding percentage of $^{125}I$ labeled anti-HER-2/neu mAb in wild-type CT-26 was only 0.45%. In vivo images were obtained and analyzed through $\gamma$-camera and an optical fluorescent modality, IVIS-200. $\gamma$-camera images showed that $^{131}I$ labeled anti-HER-2/neu mAb accumulated in HER-2/neu CT-26 tumors. Optical imaging based on near infrared fluorescence labeled anti-HER-2/neu mAb showed higher fluorescence intensities in HER-2/neu CT-26 tumors than in wild-type CT-26 tumors. Anti-HER-2/neu mAb was found to specifically bind to its receptor expressing tumor. Our study demonstrates that in vivo imaging technique is a useful method for the evaluation of an antibody's therapeutic and diagnostic potentials.

Augmenting Plant Immune Responses and Biological Control by Microbial Determinants (새로운 생물적 방제 전략: 미생물 인자 유래 식물면역 유도)

  • Lee, Sang Moo;Chung, Joon-hui;Ryu, Choong-Min
    • Research in Plant Disease
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    • v.21 no.3
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    • pp.161-179
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    • 2015
  • Plant have developed sophisticated defence mechanisms against microbial pathogens. The recent accumulated information allow us to understand the nature of plant immune responses followed by recognition of microbial factors/determinants through cutting-edge genomics and multi-omics techniques. However, the practical approaches to sustain plant health using enhancement of plant immunity is yet to be fully appreciated. Here, we overviewed the general concept and representative examples on the plant immunity. The fungal, bacterial, and viral determinants that was previously reported as the triggers of plant immune responses are introduced and described as the potential protocol of biological control. Specifically, the role of chitin, glucan, lipopolysaccharides/extracellular polysaccharides, microbe/pathogen-associated molecular pattern, antibiotics, mimic-phytohormones, N-acyl homoserine lactone, harpin, vitamins, and volatile organic compounds are considered. We hope that this review stimulates scientific community and farmers to broaden their knowledge on the microbial determinant-based biological control and to apply the technology on the integrated pest management program.

Gene Expression Profile of Zinc-Deficient, Homocysteine-Treated Endothelial Cells

  • Kwun, In-Sook;Beattie, John H.
    • Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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    • v.8 no.4
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    • pp.390-394
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    • 2003
  • In the post-genome period, the technique for identifying gene expression has been progressed to high throughput screening. In the field of molecular nutrition, the use of screening techniques to clarify molecular function of specific nutrients would be very advantageous. In this study, we have evaluated Zn-regulated gene expression in Zn-deficient, homocystein-treated EA.hy926 cells, using cDNA microarray, which can be used to screen the expression of many genes simultaneously. The information obtained can be used for preliminary assessment of molecular and signaling events modulated by Zn under pro-atherogenic conditions. EA.hy926 cells derived from human umbilical vein endothelial cells were cultured in Zn-adequate (control, 15 $\mu$M Zn) or Zn-deficient (experimental, 0 $\mu$M Zn) Dulbecco's MEM media under high homocysteine level (100 $\mu$M) for 3 days of post-confluency. Cells were harvested and RNA was extracted. Total RNA was reverse-transcribed and the synthesized cDNA was labeled with Cy3 or Cy5. Fluorescent labeled cDNA probe was applied to microarray slides for hybridization, and the slide was then scanned using a fluorescence scanner. The expression of seven genes was found to be significantly decreased, and one significantly increased, in response to treatment of EA.hy926 cells with Zn-deficient medium, compared with Zn-supplemented medium. The upregulated genes were oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes, cell cycle-related genes and transporter genes. The down-regulated gene was RelB, a component of the NF-kappaB complex of transcription factors. The results of this study imply the effectiveness of cDNA microarray for expression profiling of a singly nutrient deficiency, namely Zn. Furthur study, using tailored-cDNA array and vascular endothelial cell lines, would be beneficial to clarify the molecular function of Zn in atherosclerosis, more in detail.