• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.40 no.7
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• pp.593-600
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• 2007

Recent studies described the ${\varepsilon}4$ allele of apoE confers a two-to fourfold increased risk for late-onset Alzheimer#s disease (LOAD), but LOAD pathology does not all fit neatly around apo E. Therefore, the goal of this study was to find the association between Alzheimer and apo E4 genotype in the 107 elderly between 50 to 64 years old who visited to FHWC of Sungshin Women#s University. We conducted the questionnaire survey (general & 24 hr dietary recall), anthropometerics (BP, waist & BMI) and blood biochemistry (FBS & lipid profiles). LDL-c and HOMA-IR were calculated by Friedwald#s and Matthew#s formulas. The apo E genotyping was performed by PCR-RFLP method and subjects were divided into three allele groups (${\varepsilon}3$; wild, ${\varepsilon}2$ & ${\varepsilon}4;$ mutants). The apo E allele frequencies were 7.0% for the ${\varepsilon}2$, 83.6% for the ${\varepsilon}3$ and 9.3% for the ${\varepsilon}4$. In comparison with biochemistry characteristics by apo E genotype, FBS was significantly higher in ${\varepsilon}4(129.2{\pm}6.8)$ than that in the others (${\varepsilon}2$: $117{\pm}7.4$, ${\varepsilon}3$: $107.3{\pm}2.2)$ (p<0.01). More than forty percents of ${\varepsilon}4$ group shown the dyslipidemia [high TG (>150mg/dl) & low HDL (<40 mg/dl:male or <50 mg/dl: female)]. The cytokines levels such as IL-1 ${\beta}$, IL-6 and $TNF-{\alpha}$ were not different among three apoE alleles. After the adjusting sex, age & dietary fiber, LDL-c level was siginificantly higher in ${\varepsilon}4$ ($108.3{\pm}7.7$) than that in ${\varepsilon}2$ ($100.4{\pm}8.4$) (p<0.05). According to food intake and the recipe on the basis of 24 hr dietary recall, the elder]y with ${\varepsilon}4$ allele took higher intake frequency of the light -colored vegetable (radish, onion & cabbage) and pan-fried foods (sauteed beef and vegetables, stir-fried vienna with vegetables) than the others. We knew that the elderly with ${\varepsilon}4$ allele had been restricted the calories intakes with high dietary fiber (33.6+2.5 g/d) to maintain the normal level of FBS and LDL-c. On next study, the prevalence of Alzheimer#s disease in this population who has ${\varepsilon}4$ allele on the condition of calories restriction will be continually follow-up.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.73-78
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• 2012

We previously reported that the truncated Cel44C-$Man26A_{P558}$ ${\beta}$-glycosyl hydrolase protein exhibits multifunctional activities, including cellulase, xylanase, and lichenase. DNA shuffling of the truncated Cel44C-$Man26A_{P558}$ enzyme was performed to enhance the enzymatic activity of the multifunctional ${\beta}$-glycosyl hydrolase. Two mutant enzymes, M2Cel44C-$Man26A_{P558}$ that carries one mutation (P438A) and M21Cel44C-$Man26A_{P558}$ that carries two mutations (A273T and P438A) were obtained. The enzymatic activity of the M21Cel44C-$Man26A_{P558}$ double mutant was lower than enzymatic activity of the single mutant (M2Cel44C-$Man26A_{P558}$). However, both mutants displayed the enhancements in their enzyme activities that were ${\approx}1.3$- to 2.2-fold higher than the original enzymatic activity in Cel44C-$Man26A_{P558}$. In particular, the mutant M2Cel44C-$Man26A_{P558}$ exhibited an approximate 1.5- to 2.2-fold increase in the cellulase, xylanase, and lichenase activities in comparison with the control (Cel44C-$Man26A_{P558}$). The optimum cellulase, linchenase, and xylanase activities of ${\beta}$-glycosyl hydrolase were observed at pH 7.0, pH 7.0 and pH 6.0, respectively. These results, therefore, suggest that the amino acid residue Ala438 plays important roles in the enhancement of the activity of multifunctional ${\beta}$-glycosyl hydrolase.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.455-462
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• 2016

Pseudomonas aeruginosa P-5 is an unusual organism capable of synthesizing polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) consisting of 3-hydroxyvalerate (3HV) and medium-chain-length (MCL) 3-hydroxyalkanoate (3HA) monomer units when C-odd alkanoic acids are fed as the sole carbon source. Evaluation of the substrate chain-length specificity of two P. aeruginosa P-5 PHA synthases ($PhaC1_{P-5}$ and $PhaC2_{P-5}$) by heterologous expression of $PhaC1_{P-5}$ and $PhaC2_{P-5}$ genes in Pseudomonas putida GPp104 revealed that $PhaC2_{P-5}$ incorporates both 3HV and MCL 3HAs into PHA, whereas $PhaC1_{P-5}$ favors only MCL 3HAs for polymerization. In order to obtain $PhaC2_{P-5}$ mutants with altered substrate specificity, site-specific mutagenesis for $PhaC2_{P-5}$ was conducted. Amino acid substitutions of $PhaC2_{P-5}$ at two positions (Ser326Thr and Gln482Lys) were very effective for synthesizing copolymers with a higher 3HV fraction. When recombinant P. putida GPp104 harboring double mutated $phaC2_{P-5}$ gene ($phaC2_{P-5}QKST$) was grown on nonanoic acid, 2.5-fold increase of copolymer content with 3.8-fold increase of 3HV fraction was observed. The $phaC2_{P-5}QKST$-containing Ralstonia eutropha PHB-4 supplemented with valeric acid also produced copolymers consisting of 3HV and 3-hydroxyheptanoate with a high 3HV fraction. These results suggest that recombinants containing $phaC2_{P-5}QKST$ could be useful for production of new PHA copolymers with improved material properties.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.357-364
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• 2000

Members of the glycoprotein family, which includes CG, LH, FSH and TSH, comprise two noncovalently linked $\alpha$- and $\beta$-subunits. Equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG), known as PMSG, has a number of interesting and unique characteristics since it appears to be a single molecule that possesses both LH- and FSH-like activities in other species than the horse. This dual activity of eCG in heterologous species is of fundamental interest to the study of the structure-function relationships of gonadotropins and their receptors. CG and LH $\beta$ genes are different in primates. In horse, however, a single gene encodes both eCG and eLH $\beta$ -subunits. The subunit mRNA levels seem to be independently regulated and their imbalance may account for differences in the quantities of $\alpha$ - and $\beta$-subunits in the placenta and pituitary. The dual activities of eCG could be separated by removal of the N-linked oligosaccharide on the $\alpha$-subunit Asn 56 or CTP-associated O-linked oligosaccharides. The tethered-eCG was efficiently secreted and showed similar LH-like activity to the dimeric eCG. Interestingly, the FSH-like activity of the tethered-eCG was increased markedly in comparison with the native and wild type eCG. These results also suggest that this molecular can implay particular models of FSH-like activity not LH-like activity in the eCG/indicate that the constructs of tethered molecule will be useful in the study of mutants that affect subunit association and/or secretion. A single-chain analog can also be constructed to include additional hormone-specific bioactive generating potentially efficacious compounds that have only FSH-like activity. The LH/CG receptor (LH/CGR), a membrane glycoprotein that is present on testicular Leydig cells and ovarian theca, granulosa, luteal, and interstitial cells, plays a pivotal role in the regulation of gonadal development and function in males as well as in nonpregnant and pregnant females. The LH/CGR is a member of the family of G protein-coupled receptors and its structure is predicted to of a large extracellular domain connected to a bundle of seven membrane-spanning a-helices. The LH/CGR phosphorylation can be induced with a phorbol ester, but not with a calcium ionophore. The truncated form of LHR also was down-regulated normally in response to hCG stimulation. In contrast, the cell lines expressing LHR-t631 or LHR-628, the two phosphorylation-negative receptor mutant, showed a delay in the early phase of hCG-induced desensitization, a complete loss of PMA-induced desensitization, and an increase in the rate of hCG-induced receptor down-regulation. These results clearly show that residues 632~653 in the C-terminal tail of the LHR are involved in PMA-induced desensitization, hCG-induced desensitization, and hCG-induced down-regulation. Recently, constitutively activating mutations of the receptor have been identified that are associated with familial male-precocious puberty. Cells expressing LHR-D556Y bind hCG with normal affinity, exhibit a 25-fold increase in basal cAMP and respond to hCG with a normal increase in cAMP accumulation. This mutation enhances the internalization of the free and agoinst-occupied receptors ~2- and ~17- fold, respectively. We conclude that the state of activation of the LHR can modulate its basal and/or agonist-stimulated internalization. Since the internalization of hCG is involved in the termination of hCG actions, we suggest that the lack of responsiveness detected in cells expressing LHR-L435R is due to the fast rate of internalization of the bound hCG. This statement is supported by the finding that hCG responsiveness is restored when the cells are lysed and signal transduction is measured in a subcellular fraction (membranes) that cannot internalize the bound hormone.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.265-275
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• 2002

Flavonoid biosynthesis is one of the most extensively studied areas in the secondary metabolism. Due to the study of flavonoid metabolism in diverse plant system, the pathways become the best characterized secondary metabolites and can be excellent targets for metabolic engineering. These flavonoid-derived secondary metabolites have been considerably divergent functional roles: floral pigment, anticancer, antiviral, antitoxin, and hepatoprotective. Three species have been significant for elucidating the flavonoid metabolism and isolating the genes controlling the flavonoid genes: maize (Zea mays), snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus) and petunia (Prtunia hybrida). Recently, many genes involved in biosynthesis of flavonoid have been isolated and characterized using mutation and recombinant DNA technologies including transposon tagging and T-DNA tagging which are novel approaches for the discovery of uncharacterized genes. Metabolic engineering of flavonoid biosynthesis was approached by sense or antisense manipulation of the genes related with flavonoid pathway, or by modified expression of regulatory genes. So, the use of a variety of experimental tools and metabolic engineering facilitated the characterization of the flavonoid metabolism. Here we review recent progresses in flavonoid metabolism: confirmation of genes, metabolic engineering, and applications in the industrial use.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.1383-1391
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• 2016

Anti-estrogen drugs such as tamoxifen have been used for treating patients with ER-positive, early breast cancer. However, resistance to anti-estrogen treatment is inevitable in most patients. Breast cancer anti-estrogen resistance-3 (BCAR3) has been identified as the protein responsible for the induction of tamoxifen resistance in estrogen-dependent human breast cancer. We have previously reported that BCAR3 regulates the cell cycle progression and the signaling pathway of EGF and insulin leading to DNA synthesis. In this study, we investigated the functional role of BCAR3 in regulating c-Jun transcription in non-tumorigenic human breast epithelial MCF-12A cells. A transient transfection of BCAR3 increased both the mRNA and protein of c-Jun expression, and stable expression of BCAR3 increased c-Jun protein expression. The overexpression of BCAR3 directly activated the promoter of c-jun, AP-1, and SRE but not that of $NF-{\kappa}B$. Furthermore, single-cell microinjection of BCAR3 expression plasmid in the cell cycle-arrested MCF-12A cells induced c-Jun protein expression, and co-injection of dominant negative mutants of Ras, Rac, and Rho suppressed the transcriptional activity of c-Jun in the presence of BCAR3. Furthermore, stable expression of BCAR3 increased the proliferation of MCF-12A cells. The microinjection of inhibitory materials such as anti-BCAR3 antibody and siRNA BCAR3 inhibited EGF-induced c-Jun expression but did not affect IGF-1 induced upregulation of c-Jun. Taken together, we propose that BCAR3 plays a crucial role in c-Jun protein expression and cell proliferation and that small GTPases (e.g., Ras, Rac, and Rho) are required for the BCAR3-mediated activation of c-Jun expression.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.150-158
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• 2017

Pear scab caused by Venturia nashicola has been reported as an important disease of pear resulting in lowering the quality of pear fruits. In this study, it was conducted to investigate the relationship between resistance of V. nashicola and mutation of ${\beta}$-tubulin gene and the fungicide resistance in field isolate group in benzimidazole fungicides. Responce of V. nashicola to carbendazim could be classified into 3 groups as sensitive that does not grow at all on PDA amended with $0.16{\mu}g/ml$ of carbendazim, low resistance that could not grow in $4.0{\mu}g/ml$ medium, and high resistance that can grow even at $100{\mu}g/ml$. Thirty isolates of V. nashicola collected from 3 regions as Wonju, Naju, and Okcheon were highly resistant to carbendazim. Analysis of the nucleotide sequence of ${\beta}$-tubulin gene of V. nashicola showed that there was no difference in the nucleotide sequence between the sensitive and the low-resistant isolate, but GAG at codon 198 (glutamic acid) was replaced with GCG (alanine) in the high-resistant isolate. Among 10 isolates obtained from the Okcheon, 5 isolates showed the substitution of glycine for glutamic acid, which were resistant to carbendazim, but more sensitive to the mixture of carbendazim and diethofencarb than others. Through these results, all isolates of V. nashicola isolated in pear orchard were found to be resistant to benzimidazoles. Also, mutants E198A and E198G at ${\beta}$-tubulin were found to be important mechanisms of V. nashicola resistance against benzimidazole fungicides.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.15-23
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• 2013

AprE51 from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens CH51 is a 27 kDa subtilisin-like protease with fibrinolytic activity. AprE51-6 showing increased catalytic activity was produced previously. To enhance the thermostability of AprE51-6, 2 residues, Gly-166 and Asn-218 based on B. subtilis subtilisin E were mutated by site-directed mutagenesis. The results of the mutational analysis showed that substitution of arginine for Gly-166 (AprE51-7) increased the fibrinolytic activity 1.8-fold. An N218S mutant (AprE51-8) also increased the fibrinolytic activity up to 4.5-fold in a fibrin plate assay. Purified AprE51-7 and AprE51-8 mutants had a 1.9- and a 2.5-fold higher $k_{cat}$, respectively, and a 2.1-1.9-fold lower $K_m$, respectively. This resulted in a 3.8- and a 4.7-fold increase in catalytic efficiency ($k_{cat}/K_m$), respectively, relative to that of wild-type AprE51. AprE51-8 had a broader pH range than AprE51-6 and nattokinase, especially at an alkaline pH value. In addition, AprE51-8 showed higher thermostability than AprE51-6 at $60^{\circ}C$. The half-lives of AprE51-7 and AprE51-8 at $50^{\circ}C$ were 21.5 and 27.3 min, respectively, which are 2.0 and 2.6 times longer, respectively, than that of the wild-type AprE51.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.156-162
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• 1995

This study was carried out to select the useful mutants among 20 lines treated with mutagen, gamma ray. These materials were treated with 15, 20, 25 and 30Krads, respectively and sowed at experimental field of College of Agriculture on 27th May, 1995. Items surveyed were germination rate and loss of chlorophyll at seedling stages, abnormal reproductive organs, discordance of flowering times and stem and ear height at ripening stages. The germination rate of lines treated with 15 Krad was different. The germination rate of the IK1, IK2 and Sinki lines were high, while the IK3, A632 and FR140 lines were very low. At same dose level, the germination rate of both IK1/H26 and Puyo synthetic variety were different; the germination rate of the IK1/H26 was high as above 70% at all treatments, while that of the Puyo synthetic variety was very poor at above 20 Krad. Generally stem adn ear height of the IK1/H26 were gradually decreased as the dose of mutagen increased, but there was no difference in stem and ear height of the IK1/H26 when this line was treated with 20Krad. The stem and ear height of lines treated with 15 Krad were shown to be decreased than those of check with non-treatment. The number of tiller of tillering lines were not greatly affected by ${\gamma}$-ray treatment.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 2014.10a
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• pp.9-9
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• 2014

Null mutants generated by targeted gene replacement are frequently used to reveal function of the genes in fungi. However, targeted gene deletions may be difficult to obtain or it may not be applicable, such as in the case of redundant or lethal genes. Constitutive expression system could be an alternative to avoid these difficulties and to provide new platform in fungal functional genomics research. Here we developed a novel platform for functional analysis genes in Magnaporthe oryzae by constitutive expression under a strong promoter. Employing a binary vector (pGOF1), carrying $EF1{\beta}$ promoter, we generated a total of 4,432 transformants by Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation. We have analyzed a subset of 54 transformants that have the vector inserted in the promoter region of individual genes, at distances ranging from 44 to 1,479 bp. These transformants showed increased transcript levels of the genes that are found immediately adjacent to the vector, compared to those of wild type. Ten transformants showed higher levels of expression relative to the wild type not only in mycelial stage but also during infection-related development. Two transformants that T-DNA was inserted in the promotor regions of putative lethal genes, MoRPT4 and MoDBP5, showed decreased conidiation and pathogenicity, respectively. We also characterized two transformants that T-DNA was inserted in functionally redundant genes encoding alpha-glucosidase and alpha-mannosidase. These transformants also showed decreased mycelial growth and pathogenicity, implying successful application of this platform in functional analysis of the genes. Our data also demonstrated that comparative phenotypic analysis under over-expression and suppression of gene expression could prove a highly efficient system for functional analysis of the genes. Our over-expressed transformants library would be a valuable resource for functional characterization of the redundant or lethal genes in M. oryzae and this system may be applicable in other fungi.