• BMB Reports
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.140-144
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• 2006

A deoxyriboendonuclease has been purified to near homogeneity from a fast growing mycobacterium species, M. smegmatis and characterized to some extent. The size of enzyme is about 43 kDa as determined by a denaturing gel analysis. It shows optimum activity at $32^{\circ}C$ in Tris-HCl buffer (pH 7.2) containing 2.5 mM of $MgCl_2$. Both EDTA and $K^+$ but not $Na^+$ inhibit its activity. Evidences show that the enzyme is not a restriction endonuclease but catalyzes the endonucleolytic cleavage of both the double- as well as the single-strand DNA non-specifically. It has been shown that the cleavage by this enzyme generates DNA fragments carrying phosphate groups at 5' ends and hydroxyl group at the 3' ends, respectively. Analysis reveals that no endonuclease having size and property identical to our deoxyriboendonuclease had been purified from M. smegmatis before. The property of our enzymes closely matches with the deoxyriboendonucleases purified from diverse sources including bacteria.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.78 no.3
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• pp.293-296
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• 2015

Mycobacterium malmoense is a very rare cause of lung disease in South Korea. We reported the first case of lung disease caused by M. malmoense in an immunocompetent patient. The patient was successfully treated with a 14-month course of antibiotics.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.69 no.1
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• pp.39-42
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• 2010

Mycobacterium massiliense is newly identified rapid-growing nontuberculous mycobacterium, but there are no reports of this mycobacterium species being the cause of human illness. We describe one case of Mycobacterium massiliense infection presenting as antibiotic-resistant acute pneumonia that resulted in surgical treatment.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.79 no.3
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• pp.134-142
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• 2016

In recent years, in spite of medical advancement, tuberculosis (TB) remains a worldwide health problem. Although many laboratory methods have been developed to expedite the diagnosis of TB, delays in diagnosis remain a major problem in the clinical practice. Because of the slow growth rate of the causative agent Mycobacterium tuberculosis, isolation, identification, and drug susceptibility testing of this organism and other clinically important mycobacteria can take several weeks or longer. During the past several years, many methods have been developed for direct detection, species identification, and drug susceptibility testing of TB. A good understanding of the effectiveness and practical limitations of these methods is important to improve diagnosis. This review summarizes the currently-used advances in non-molecular and molecular diagnostics.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.77 no.5
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• pp.227-229
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• 2014

Segniliparus species is a novel genus that is reported to be the new emerging respiratory pathogens. Here, we report a very rare case of S. rugosus pulmonary infection in an immunocompetent patient with non-cystic fibrosis. The organism was identified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The patient was successfully treated with antibiotics.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.136-145
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• 2010

Natural killer T (NKT) cell is a special type of T lymphocytes that has both receptor of natural killer (NK) cell (NK1.1, CD161c) and T cell (TCR) and express a conserved or invariant T cell receptor called $V{\alpha}14J{\alpha}18$ in mice or Va24 in humans. Invariant NKT (iNKT) cell recognizes lipid antigen presented by CD1d molecules. Marine-sponge-derived glycolipid, ${\alpha}-galactosylceremide$ (${\alpha}-GalCer$), binds CD1d at the cell surface of antigen-presenting cells and is presented to iNKT cells. Within hours, iNKT cells become activated and start to secrete Interleukin-4 and $interferon-{\gamma}$. NKT cell prevents autoimmune diseases, such as type 1 diabetes, experimental allergic encephalomyelitis, systemic lupus erythematous, inflammatory colitis, and Graves' thyroiditis, by activation with ${\alpha}-GalCer$. In addition, NKT cell is associated with infectious diseases by mycobacteria, leshmania, and virus. Moreover NKT cell is associated with asthma, especially CD4+ iNKT cells. In this review, I will discuss the characteristics of NKT cell and the association with inflammatory diseases, especially asthma.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.236-240
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• 1996

Rifampin is the most powerful drug for treating leprosy and tuberculosis today. It inhibits initiation and elongation of RNA transcription by binding to $\beta$-subunit of RNA polymerase, leading to kill mycobacteria. We isolated one variant strain of Mycobacterium leprae from 24 Korean leprosy patients who are less susceptible to rifampin or have suffered from relapse by polymerase chain reaction and single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) of the rpoB gene. Direct sequencing of the rpoB region of M. leprae variant revealed missense mutations which altered the amino acids sequenceof RpoB to Ser-464, Arg-465, Arg-467 and Ala-468. This is the first finding on rpoB gene mutation of M. leprae from Korean patients ; moreover the mutant type was found to be different from the previously reported cases in other countries.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.172-176
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• 1997

The Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates in Korea, showing different drug resistances, were analyzed by comparing large restriction fragment (LRF) patterns produced y digestion of genomic DNA with infrequent-cutting endonucleases of SpeI, AsnI and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). SpeI and AsnI allowed with AsnI and SpeI, strains yielded an absolutely identical pattern for Korean type's mycobacteria even though they showed different drug resisstance. However, when three M. tuberculosis strains, showing drug resistance, were digested with XbaI, patterns were different from those of the other M. tuberculosis strians which are susceptible to drugs. This stuyd reveals that the comparison of chromosomal restriction patterns is very useful as an additional aid for the differentiation and identification of M. tuberculosis strains showing drug resistances.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.10
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• pp.1506-1521
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• 2019

Tuberculosis, which is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), is among the most pressing worldwide problems. Mtb uniquely interacts with innate immune cells through various pattern recognition receptors. These interactions initiate several inflammatory pathways that play essential roles in controlling Mtb pathogenesis. Although the TLR signaling pathways have essential roles in numerous host's immune defense responses, the role of TLR signaling in the response to Mtb infection is still unclear. This review presents discussions on host-Mtb interactions in terms of Mtb-mediated TLR signaling. In addition, we highlight recent discoveries pertaining to these pathways that may help in new immunotherapeutic opportunities.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.45-56
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• 2003

Background : Mycobacterium abscessus is the most common respiratory pathogen in rapidly growing mycobacteria and is resistant to all of the first-line antituberculosis drugs. This report describes the clinical and radiographic characteristics in patients with pulmonary disease caused by M. abscessus. Materials and Methods : Twelve patients with pulmonary disease caused by M. abscessus who fulfilled the 1997 American Thoracic Society diagnostic criteria for a nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary infection were observed over a five-and-a-half year period. The clinical characteristics and chest radiographic findings were analyzed, retrospectively. Results : The patients were predominantly female(11/12, 92%) and nonsmokers(12/12, 100%). Coughing (10/12, 83%), sputum(10/12, 83%) and hemoptysis(10/12, 83%) were the common symptoms and they had prolonged periods from the onset of symptoms to the diagnosis of their disease(median 6.5 years). Eleven (92%) patients had a previous history of being treated for pulmonary tuberculosis. The sputum specimens were acid-fast bacilli smear-positive in all patients. All patients were administered antituberculosis drugs. Six (50%) patients were treated with second-line antituberculosis drugs on account of persistent smear-positive sputum specimens. The chest radiographs showed that reticulonodular opacities(11/12, 92%) were the most common pattern of abnormality, followed by cavitary lesions(5/12, 42%). The computed tomography findings suggested bronchiolitis from the centrilobular nodules with a tree-in-bud appearances(9/10, 90%) and bronchiectasis (9/10, 90%) were the most common, followed by well-defined nodules smaller than 10-mm in diameter(7/10, 70%). Conclusions : M. abscessus pulmonary disease should be recognized as a cause of chronic mycobacterial lung disease, and respiratory isolates should be assessed carefully.