• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
• /
• 제23권5호
• /
• pp.411-422
• /
• 2020

With the increasing number of children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), very early-onset IBD (VEO-IBD), defined as IBD that is diagnosed or that develops before 6 years of age, has become a field of innovation among pediatric gastroenterologists. Advances in genetic testing have enabled the diagnosis of IBD caused by gene mutations, also known as monogenic or Mendelian disorder-associated IBD (MD-IBD), with approximately 60 causative genes reported to date. The diagnosis of VEO-IBD requires endoscopic and histological evaluations. However, satisfactory small bowel imaging studies may not be feasible in this small population. Both genetic and immunological approaches are necessary for the diagnosis of MD-IBD, which can differ among countries according to the available resources. As a result of the use of targeted gene panels covered by the national health insurance and the nationwide research project investigating inborn errors of immunity, an efficient approach for the diagnosis of MD-IBD has been developed in Japan. Proper management of VEO-IBD by pediatric gastroenterologists constitutes a challenge. Some MD-IBDs can be curable by allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. With an understanding of the affected gene functions, targeted therapies are being developed. Social and psychological support systems for both children and their families should also be provided to improve their quality of life. Multidisciplinary team care would contribute to early diagnosis, proper therapeutic interventions, and improved quality of life in patients and their families.

• 한국식물학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 한국식물학회 1996년도 제10회 식물생명공학심포지움 고등식물 발생생물학의 최근 진보
• /
• pp.19-25
• /
• 1996

Three key genetic loci required for proper progression of leaf senescence were identified in Arabidopsis thaliana. Mutations in these loci cause delay in all senescence symptoms examined, including both anabolic and catabolic activities, during natural senescence and upon artificial senescence induced by various senescence-inducing treatments. The result provides a decisive evidence that leaf senescence is a genetically programmed phenomenon controlled by several monogenic loci in Arabidopsis thaliana. The result further indicates that leaf senescence caused by various senescence signals occurs, at least in part, through common pathways in Arabidopsis and that the threed genetic loci function at the common steps.

• BMB Reports
• /
• 제52권7호
• /
• pp.424-433
• /
• 2019

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental monogenic disorder with a strong genetic influence. Idiopathic autism could be defined as a type of autism that does not have a specific causative agent. Among signalling cascades, mTOR signalling pathway plays a pivotal role not only in cell cycle, but also in protein synthesis and regulation of brain homeostasis in ASD patients. The present review highlights, underlying mechanism of mTOR and its role in altered signalling cascades as a triggering factor in the onset of idiopathic autism. Further, this review discusses how distorted mTOR signalling pathway stimulates truncated translation in neuronal cells and leads to downregulation of protein synthesis at dendritic spines of the brain. This review concludes by suggesting downstream regulators such as p70S6K, eIF4B, eIF4E of mTOR signalling pathway as promising therapeutic targets for idiopathic autistic individuals.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• 제45권4호
• /
• pp.169-176
• /
• 2022

A primary cilium, a hair-like protrusion of the plasma membrane, is a pivotal organelle for sensing external environmental signals and transducing intracellular signaling. An interesting linkage between cilia and obesity has been revealed by studies of the human genetic ciliopathies Bardet-Biedl syndrome and Alström syndrome, in which obesity is a principal manifestation. Mouse models of cell type-specific cilia dysgenesis have subsequently demonstrated that ciliary defects restricted to specific hypothalamic neurons are sufficient to induce obesity and hyperphagia. A potential mechanism underlying hypothalamic neuron cilia-related obesity is impaired ciliary localization of G protein-coupled receptors involved in the regulation of appetite and energy metabolism. A well-studied example of this is melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R), mutations in which are the most common cause of human monogenic obesity. In the paraventricular hypothalamus neurons, a blockade of ciliary trafficking of MC4R as well as its downstream ciliary signaling leads to hyperphagia and weight gain. Another potential mechanism is reduced leptin signaling in hypothalamic neurons with defective cilia. Leptin receptors traffic to the periciliary area upon leptin stimulation. Moreover, defects in cilia formation hamper leptin signaling and actions in both developing and differentiated hypothalamic neurons. The list of obesity-linked ciliary proteins is expending and this supports a tight association between cilia and obesity. This article provides a brief review on the mechanism of how ciliary defects in hypothalamic neurons facilitate obesity.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
• /
• 제19권2호
• /
• pp.111-114
• /
• 2022

Many monogenic neurodevelopmental disorders have been newly identified in recent years owing to the rapid development of genetic sequencing technology. These include variants of the epigenetic machinery - up to 300 known epigenetic factors of which about 50 have been linked to specific clinical phenotypes. Chromodomain, helicase, DNA binding 1 (CHD1) is an ATP-dependent chromatin remodeler, known to be the causative gene of the autosomal dominant neurodevelopmental disorder Pilarowski-Bjornsson syndrome. Patients exhibit various degrees of global developmental delay, autism, speech apraxia, seizures, growth retardation, and craniofacial dysmorphism. We report the first case of Pilarowski-Bjornsson syndrome in Korea, due to a de novo missense variant of the CHD1 gene (c.862A>G, p.Thr288Ala) in a previously undiagnosed 17-year-old male. His infantile onset of severe global developmental delay, intellectual disability, speech apraxia, and failure to thrive are compatible with Pilarowski-Bjornsson syndrome. We also noted some features not previously reported in this syndrome such as skeletal dysplasia and ichthyosis. Further studies are needed to discover the specific phenotypes and pathogenic mechanisms behind this rare disorder.

• 한국자기공명학회논문지
• /
• 제16권1호
• /
• pp.34-45
• /
• 2012

Melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) subtype is associated with obese humans. Especially, in a patient with severe early-onset obesity, novel heterozygous mutation in the MC4R gene was detected, resulting in an exchange of aspartic acid to asparagine in $90^{th}$ amino acid residue located in the predicted second trans-membrane domain (TM2). Mutations in the melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) gene are the most frequent monogenic causes of severe obesity which have been described as heterozygous with loss of function. In order to compare structure difference between MC4R wild type (MC4R-TM2-wt) and mutant (MC4R-TM2-D90N), we designed both MC4R-TM2-wt and MC4R-TM2-D90N construct in pET 21b vector. In this study, we optimized high-yield purification procedure for recombinant TM2-D90N. Eluted recombinant protein was resolubilized under urea condition for thrombin cleavage reaction and we conducted the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with reverse phase column under 1% acetonitrile, 0.01% TFA buffer solution. The molecular size of purified target peptide was confirmed by Tricine-SDS page analysis. To characterize MC4R-TM2-D90N, we have performed $^{15}N$-isotope labeling of peptide using M9 media and purified labeled target peptide for hetero-nuclear NMR spectroscopy.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• 제19권1호
• /
• pp.16-22
• /
• 2005

A cDNA encoding ${\gamma}-tocopherol$ methyltransferase (${\gamma}-TMT$) from Arabidopsis thaliana was overexpressed in lettuce (Latuca sativa L.) to improve the tocopherol composition. Seven lines of lettuce ($T_0$) containing the ${\gamma}-TMT$ transgene were produced by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. The inheritance and expression of the transgene were confirmed by DNA and RNA gel blot analyses as well as quantification of tocopherols and ${\gamma}-TMT$ activities. The ratio of ${\alpha}-/{\gamma}-tocopherol$ content (TR) varied from 0.6 to 1.2 in non-transformed plants, while the $T_0$ plants had ratios of 0.8 to 320. The ratio ranged from 0.4 to 544 in 41 $T_1$ progenies of the $T_0$ transgenic line gTM3, and the phenotypic segregation indicated monogenic inheritance of the transgene (i.e., 3:1 = dominant:wild-type classes). There was a tight relationship between the TR phenotype and ${\gamma}-TMT$ activity, and enzyme activities were affected by the copy number and transcript levels of the transgene. The TR phenotype was stably expressed in $T_2$ progenies of $T_1$ plants. The results from this study indicated that a stable inheritance and expression of Arabidopsis ${\gamma}-TMT$ transgene in lettuce results in a higher enzyme activity and the conversion of the ${\gamma}-tocopherol$ pool to ${\alpha}-tocopherol$ in transgenic lettuce.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
• /
• 제7권1호
• /
• pp.16-23
• /
• 2010

많은 내분비 질환이 유전적 요소를 갖고 있다. 단일 유전자 질환에서는 유전적 요인이 주요 원인이나 다인자성 질환에서는 환경과 생활습관 등이 함께 병인으로 작용한다. 유전성 내분비 질환의 분자유전학적 병인에 대한 이해에 대하여 최근 많은 발전이 있어 왔으며 분자유전학적 기술의 응용으로 질환에 대한 이해와 이를 이용한 진단 및 유전 상담에 도움이 되고 있다. 유전학적 검사로 특정 질환의 돌연변이를 증명하는 것은 진단이 모호한 경우에서 정확한 진단과 산전 진단, 보인자 검사에 적용될 수 있다. 그러나 유전자 검사만으로 임신 중절과 관련된 산전 진단에 이용하는 데에는 신중을 기해야 한다.

• 식물조직배양학회지
• /
• 제25권4호
• /
• pp.225-229
• /
• 1998

상추의 종자 무균발아후 4일된 자엽조직을 GUS 유전자가 도입된 A. tumefaciens LBA 4404와 2일간 공동배양한 다음 0.1mg/L NAA, 1.0mg/L 2ip, 50mg/L kanamycin, 500mg/L carbenicillin이 첨가된 MS 배지에 배양하여 식물체를 재분화시켰다. PCR 분석결과 GUS 유전자가 형질전환된 식물체의 게놈상에 삽입되어 있음을 확인하였다. 해부학적 GUS 활성을 분석하여 형질전환된 식물체의 줄기, 잎 그리고 뿌리에서 GUS 유전자의 발현을 확인하였다. 형질전환체로 확인된 식물체를 자가수정시켜 얻어진 종자의 GUS 활성을 분석하여 GUS 유전자가 발현되는 것을 확인하였다.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
• /
• 제7권2호
• /
• pp.119-124
• /
• 2010

약 7,000 여개의 단일유전자질환이 보고되어 있지만 보고된 질환의 절반도 아직 원인 유전자가 밝혀지지 못한 상황이다. 그리고 기존에 밝혀진 원인 유전자의 돌연변이형들은 대부분 단백질을 코딩하는 부위의 돌연변이에 의하여 발생하고 있어서 인간 유전체에서 단백질을 코딩하는 엑손 부위만을 선별적으로 분리하여 염기서열을 분석하는 엑솜 염기서열 분석 방법은 희귀한 유전질환의 신규 원인 유전자 발굴을 위한 매우 효과적인 유전 분석법이 될 것이다. 엑솜은 전체 유전체의 약 1.5% 정도를 차지하고 있어서 매우 경제적으로 분석이 가능하다. 그리고 엑솜 염기서열 분석 방법은 엑솜 부위를 선별하는 기술과 대용량 염기서열 분석기술로 수행된다. Freeman-Sheldon 증후군의 원인 유전자를 엑솜 염기서열 분석 방법으로 발굴한 이후로 단일유전자질환의 원인 유전자 발굴을 위한 표준 분석법으로 엑솜 염기서열 분석방법이 사용되고 있다. 향후에는 엑솜 염기서열 분석 방법이 다양한 복합질병의 유전분석에도 활용되어 개인 맞춤의학의 실현을 앞당기는데 크게 기여할 것으로 기대된다.