• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제19권6호
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• pp.779-783
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• 2006

The adiponectin gene is known to be involved in the regulation of energy homeostasis involving food intake, carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. Human adiponectin gene polymorphisms have been recently reported to be associated with obesity, insulin sensitivity and the risk of type 2 diabetes. The present study was carried out to investigate the porcine adiponectin gene as a candidate gene for fat deposition and carcass traits. A mutation of A178G of the porcine adiponectin gene that resulted in substitution of the amino acid Isoleucine to Valine was identified. AcyI PCR-RFLP was used to detect the polymorphism of the genotypes in five different pig populations (Large White, Landrace, Duroc, Chinese breeds Meishan and Qingping). The A allele frequency was significantly higher among subjects from Chinsese lard type breeds, while the G allele was the only one present in those from Western lean type breeds. To determine if there was an association of the polymorphism with phenotypic variation, the mutation was tested in 267 pigs of the "Large $White{\times}Meishan$" F2 resource population. The results of association analyses showed significant associations of the genotypes with fat deposition and carcass traits. Allele G was significantly associated with increase in loin eye height, loin eye area and lean meat percentage and bone percentage, and decrease in fat mean percentage, ratio of lean to fat, shoulder fat thickness, 6-7 rib fat thickness, thorax-waist fat thickness and buttock fat thickness. The substitution of A178G (Ile60Val) happened to be located at amino acid 60 in the collagenous domain of porcine adiponectin which might affect the association into higher-order structures, and accordingly affect the posttranslational modifications and optimal biological activity of the multimeric forms. The identified functional polymorphism provides new evidence of adiponectin as an important candidate gene affecting fat deposition and carcass traits in pigs.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• 제12권1호
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• pp.61-68
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• 2018

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to test the association between APOA5 3'-UTR variants (rs662799) and cardiometabolic traits in Koreans. SUBJECTS/METHODS: For this study, epidemiological data, Apolipoprotein A5 (APOA5) genotype information, and lymphoblastoid cell line (LCL) biospecimens from a subset of the Ansung-Ansan cohort within the Korean Genome and Epidemiology study (KoGES-ASAS; n = 7,704) as well as epidemiological data along with genomic DNA biospecimens of participants from a subset of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES 2011-12; n = 2,235) were obtained. APOA5 mRNA expression was also measured. RESULTS: APOA5 rs662799 genotype distributions in both the KoGES-ASAS and KNHANES groups were 50.6% for TT, 41.3% for TC, and 8.1% for CC, which are similar to those in previous reports. In both groups, minor C allele carriers, particularly subjects with CC homozygosity, had lower high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and higher triglyceride levels than TT homozygotes. Linear regression analysis showed that the minor C allele significantly contributed to reduction of circulating HDL cholesterol levels [${\beta}=-2.048$, P < 0.001; ${\beta}=-2.199$, P < 0.001] as well as elevation of circulating triglyceride levels [${\beta}=0.053$, P < 0.001; ${\beta}=0.066$, P < 0.001] in both the KoGES-ASAS and KNHANES groups. In addition, higher expression levels of APOA5 in LCLs of 64 healthy individuals were negatively associated with body mass index (r = -0.277, P = 0.027) and circulating triglyceride level (r = -0.340, P = 0.006) but not significantly correlated with circulating HDL cholesterol level. On the other hand, we observed no significant difference in the mRNA level of APOA5 according to APOA5 rs662799 polymorphisms. CONCLUSIONS: The C allele of APOA5 rs662799 was found to be significantly associated with cardiometabolic traits in a large Korean population from the KoGES-ASAS and KNHANES. The effect of this genotype may be associated with post-transcriptional regulation, which deserves further experimental confirmation.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제31권4호
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• pp.480-488
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• 2018

Objective: Average daily gain (ADG) is an important target trait of pig breeding programs. We aimed to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and genomic regions that are associated with ADG in the Duroc pig population. Methods: We performed a genome-wide association study involving 390 Duroc boars and by using the PorcineSNP60K Beadchip and two linear models. Results: After quality control, we detected 3,5971 SNPs, which included seven SNPs that are significantly associated with the ADG of pigs. We identified six quantitative trait loci (QTL) regions for ADG. These QTLs included four previously reported QTLs on Sus scrofa chromosome (SSC) 1, SSC5, SSC9, and SSC13, as well as two novel QTLs on SSC6 and SSC16. In addition, we selected six candidate genes (general transcription factor 3C polypeptide 5, high mobility group AT-hook 2, nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase, oligodendrocyte transcription factor 1, pleckstrin homology and RhoGEF domain containing G4B, and ENSSSCG00000031548) associated with ADG on the basis of their physiological roles and positional information. These candidate genes are involved in skeletal muscle cell differentiation, diet-induced obesity, and nervous system development. Conclusion: This study contributes to the identification of the casual mutation that underlies QTLs associated with ADG and to future pig breeding programs based on marker-assisted selection. Further studies are needed to elucidate the role of the identified candidate genes in the physiological processes involved in ADG regulation.

• 유기물자원화
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• 제11권2호
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• pp.86-96
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• 2003

본 연구는 제약업종 부산물 및 폐수처리오니를 비료관리법의 비료공정규격에 퇴비원료로 활용 가능성을 조사하기 위하여 실시하였다. 공정오니의 성분함량은 퇴비의 원료기준에 전부 충족하였으나, 폐수처리오니 중 일부는 유기물 아연 구리 니켈성분에서 기준에 부적합한 것으로 나타났다. HEMs함량은 공정오니가 폐수처리오니보다 높게 나타났으며, 이는 추출이 쉽게 되는 유기물을 많이 함유하는 오니에서 HEM함량이 높은것으로 추측이 되었다. 오니의 미생물상은 세균이 가장 많이 검출되었으며 효모, 사상균 순으로 낮았으나 전반적으로 슬러지의 종류에 따라 변화의 폭이 상당이 컸다. 오니의 우점세균 동정에서 Pseudomonas 속이 많이 검출되었으며 Pseudomonas syringae, Rathayibacter rathayi 는 식물병원세균으로 분류되었다. 지렁이에 의한 생물학적 평가는 공정오니와 폐수처리오니에서 대부분 100% 생존율을 보였으나, 1개의 업체 폐수처리오니에서 생존율이 극히 낮았다.

• Toxicological Research
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• 제6권2호
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• pp.205-213
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• 1990

The regulation of neurotoxicants has usually been based upon setting reference doses by dividing a no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) by uncertainty factors that theoretically account for interspecies and intraspecies extraploation of experimental results in animals to humans. Recently, we have proposed a four-step alternative procedure which provides quantitative estimates of risk as a function of dose. The first step is to establish a mathematical relationship between a biological effect or biomarker and the dose of chemical administered. The second step is to determine the distribution (variability) of individual measurements of biological effects or their biomarkers about the dose response curve. The third step is to define an adverse or abnormal level of a biological effect or biomarker in an untreated population. The fourth and final step is to combine the information from the first three steps to estimate the risk (proportion of individuals exceeding on adverse or abnormal level of a biological effect or biomarker) as a function of dose. The primary purpose of this report is to enhance the certainty of the first step of this procedure by improving our understanding of the relationship between a biomarker and dose of administered chemical. Several factors which need to be considered include: 1) the pharmacokinetics of the parent chemical, 2) the target tissue concentrations of the parent chemical or its bioactivated proximate toxicant, 3) the uptake kinetics of the parent chemical or metabolite into the target cell(s) and/or membrane interactions, and 4) the interaction of the chemical or metabolite with presumed receptor site(s). Because these theoretical factors each contain a saturable step due to definitive amounts of required enzyme, reuptake or receptor site(s), a nonlinear, saturable dose-response curve would be predicted. In order to exemplify this process, effects of the neurotoxicant, methlenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), were reviewed and analyzed. Our results and those of others indicate that: 1) peak concentrations of MDMA and metabolites are ochieved in rat brain by 30 min and are negligible by 24 hr, 2) a metabolite of MDMA is probably responsible for its neurotoxic effects, and 3) pretreatment with monoamine uptake blockers prevents MDMA neurotoxicity. When data generated from rats administerde MDMA were plotted as bilolgical effect (decreases in hippocampal serotonin concentrations) versus dose, a saturation curve best described the observed relationship. These results support the hypothesis that at least one saturable step is involved in MDMA neurotoxicity. We conclude that the mathematical relationship between biological effect and dose of MDMA, the first step of our quantitative neurotoxicity risk assessment procedure, should reflect this biological model information generated from the whole of the dose-response curve.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제22권3호
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• pp.184-192
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• 2014

${\beta}$-lapachone is a naturally occurring quinone that selectively induces apoptotic cell death in a variety of human cancer cells in vitro and in vivo; however, its mechanism of action needs to be further elaborated. In this study, we investigated the effects of ${\beta}$-lapachone on the induction of apoptosis in human gastric carcinoma AGS cells. ${\beta}$-lapachone significantly inhibited cellular proliferation, and some typical apoptotic characteristics such as chromatin condensation and an increase in the population of sub-G1 hypodiploid cells were observed in ${\beta}$-lapachone-treated AGS cells. Treatment with ${\beta}$-lapachone caused mitochondrial transmembrane potential dissipation, stimulated the mitochondria-mediated intrinsic apoptotic pathway, as indicated by caspase-9 activation, cytochrome c release, Bcl-2 downregulation and Bax upregulation, as well as death receptor-mediated extrinsic apoptotic pathway, as indicated by activation of caspase-8 and truncation of Bid. This process was accompanied by activation of caspase-3 and concomitant with cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase. The general caspase inhibitor, z-VAD-fmk, significantly abolished ${\beta}$-lapachone-induced cell death and inhibited growth. Further analysis demonstrated that the induction of apoptosis by ${\beta}$-lapachone was accompanied by inactivation of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling pathway. The PI3K inhibitor LY29004 significantly increased ${\beta}$-lapachone-induced apoptosis and growth inhibition. Taken together, these findings indicate that the apoptotic activity of ${\beta}$-lapachone is probably regulated by a caspase-dependent cascade through activation of both intrinsic and extrinsic signaling pathways, and that inhibition of the PI3K/Akt signaling may contribute to ${\beta}$-lapachone-mediated AGS cell growth inhibition and apoptosis induction.

• 생명과학회지
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• 제25권5호
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• pp.533-538
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• 2015

경상남도 고성군 거류면 용산리 신은저수지 수계 4곳과 정촌 저수지 1곳 수계에서 어류 다양성 분석을 실시하였다. 인위적 교란과 환경변화에 따른 집단조절을 유도하는 밀도 의존성을 평가하였다. SMATR freeware를 사용하여 어류 밀도에 영향을 미치는 환경 요인 분석을 실시하였다. 2012년에 4과 8속 9종 158개체가 동정되었다. 비교적 풍부한 어종은 참붕어(Pseudorasbora parva)로 빈도는 33.1%였다. 그 다음은 송사리(Oryzias latipes)로 28.8%였다. 2012년에는 4곳에서 밀도 효과가 감소하였다. 신은저수지의 Shannon-Weaver의 다양도 지수(H’)는 정촌 저수지의 다양도와 유사하였다. 종 다양도는 0.645에서 2.105로 다양하게 나타났다. 상류지역의 다양도(H’)는 중류와 하류지역보다 높았다. 풍부도 지수 역시 상류가 하류보다 높았다. 강의 하류 두 지점을 제외한 최대 가능성 분석을 이용하면 한 지점에서 다른 지점으로 이동한 5종의 가능성은 평균 0.623이였다. 특히 신은저수지와 정촌저수지 간 이동 가능성은 높았다(평균 0.681). 이는 두 저수지간 지리적으로 짧은 탓에 기인한다(50 m). 나머지 4종에 대한 최대 이동가능성은 유의성이 없어 지점간 유사함을 시사한다.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 한국균학회 2014년도 추계학술대회 및 정기총회
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• pp.15-15
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• 2014

Fusarium graminearum (teleomorph Gibberella zeae) is an important plant pathogen that causes head blight of major cereal crops such as wheat, barley, and rice, as well as causing ear and stalk rot on maize worldwide. Plant diseases caused by this fungus lead to severe yield losses and accumulation of harmful mycotoxins in infected cereals [1]. Fungi utilize spore production as a mean to rapidly avoid unfavorable environmental conditions and to amplify their population. Spores are produced sexually and asexually and their production is precisely controlled. Upstream developmental activators consist of fluffy genes have been known to orchestrate early induction of condiogenesis in a model filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans. To understand the molecular mechanisms underlying conidiogenesis in F. graminearum, we characterized functions of the F. graminearum fluffy gene homologs [2]. We found that FlbD is conserved regulatory function for conidiogenesis in both A. nidulans and F. graminearum among five fluffy gene homologs. flbD deletion abolished conidia and perithecia production, suggesting that FlbD have global roles in hyphal differentiation processes in F. graminearum. We further identified and functionally characterized the ortholog of AbaA, which is involved in differentiation from vegetative hyphae to conidia and known to be absent in F. graminearum [3]. Deletion of abaA did not affect vegetative growth, sexual development, or virulence, but conidium production was completely abolished and thin hyphae grew from abnormally shaped phialides in abaA deletion mutants. Overexpression of abaA resulted in pleiotropic defects such as impaired sexual and asexual development, retarded conidium germination, and reduced trichothecene production. AbaA localized to the nuclei of phialides and terminal cells of mature conidia. Successful interspecies complementation using A. nidulans AbaA and the conserved AbaA-WetA pathway demonstrated that the molecular mechanisms responsible for AbaA activity are conserved in F. graminearum as they are in A. nidulans. F. graminearum ortholog of Aspergillus nidulans wetA has been shown to be involved in conidiogenesis and conidium maturation [4]. Deletion of F. graminearum wetA did not alter mycelial growth, sexual development, or virulence, but the wetA deletion mutants produced longer conidia with fewer septa, and the conidia were sensitive to acute stresses, such as oxidative stress and heat stress. Furthermore, the survival rate of aged conidia from the F. graminearum wetA deletion mutants was reduced. The wetA deletion resulted in vigorous generation of single-celled conidia through autophagy-dependent microcycle conidiation, indicating that WetA functions to maintain conidia dormancy by suppressing microcycle conidiation in F. graminearum. In A. nidulans, FlbB physically interacts with FlbD and FlbE, and the resulting FlbB/FlbE and FlbB/FlbD complexes induce the expression of flbD and brlA, respectively. BrlA is an activator of the AbaA-WetA pathway. AbaA and WetA are required for phialide formation and conidia maturation, respectively [5]. In F. graminearum, the AbaA-WetA pathway is similar to that of A. nidulans, except a brlA ortholog does not exist. Amongst the fluffy genes, only fgflbD has a conserved role for regulation of the AbaA-WetA pathway.

• 한국응용곤충학회지
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• 제40권4호
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• pp.301-307
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• 2001

솔잎혹파리가 새로운 지역에 침입하여 극심한 피해를 일으킨 후 회복하는 과정에서 솔잎혹파리와 천적 기생봉의 상호작용을 분석하였다. 솔잎혹파리 확산 선단지 26개 지점에서 1975년부터 1997년까지 조사된 솔잎혹파리 충영형성율, 기생봉 밀도 및 기생율 자료를 분석한 결과, 솔잎혹파리 침입초기인 1975년의 충영형성율은 평균 34.8% 이었으나 1980년 이후 크게 감소하여 밀도가 안정화되었다. 기생봉의 기생율은 침입초기에는 1.9%로서 낮았으나 시간이 진행됨에 따라 기생율이 증가하여 솔잎혹파리에 의한 피해가 만성적으로 발생하는 1990년대에는 12% 이상으로 크게 증가하였다. 충영형성율과 기생봉 미도와의 관계는 초기에는 서로 상관성이 매우 낮았으나 솔잎혹파리의 침입후 약 10년 이후에는 충영형성율 증가에 따라 기생봉의 밀도도 점근적으로 증가하는 양상을 나타내었다. 또한 충영형성율에 따른 기생율도 초기에는 명확한 경향성이 없었지만 솔잎혹파리 침입 10년 후에는 보다 명확한 밀도역의존적 특성을 나타내었다. 이러한 결과는 솔잎혹파리와 기생봉의 상호작용이 설정되어 있지 않지만 침입 후 약 10년경부터 기주-기생자간의 전형적인 상호작용 양상을 보이며, 기생봉의 밀도조절 능력은 솔잎혹파리 피해가 많은 발생초기에는 미약하지만 솔잎혹파리 밀도가 낮은 피해회복지역에서는 높은 밀도조절 능력을 가지고 있다는 것을 제시하였다.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• 제39권2호
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• pp.107-114
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• 2014

Taste is an important sense in survival and growth of animals. The growth and maintenance of taste buds, the receptor organs of taste sense, are under the regulation of various neurotrophic factors. But the distribution aspect of neurotrophic factors and their receptors in distinct taste cell types are not clearly known. The present research was designed to characterize mRNA expression pattern of neurotrophic factors and their receptors in distinct type of taste cells. In male 45-60 day-old Sprague-Dawley rats, epithelial tissues with and without circumvallate and folliate papillaes were dissected and homogenized, and mRNA expressions for neurotrophic factors and their receptors were determined by RT-PCR. The mRNA expressions of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neurotrophin-3 (NT3), receptor tyrosine kinase B (TrkB), exclusion of nerve growth factor (NGF), neurotrophin-4/5 (NT4/5), receptor tyrosine kinase A (TrkA), receptor tyrosine kinase C (TrkC), and p75NGFR were observed in some population of taste cell. In support of this result and to characterize which types of taste cells express NT3, BDNF, or TrkB, we examined mRNA expressions of NT3, BDNF, or TrkB in the $PLC{\beta}2$ (a marker of Type II cell)-and/or SNAP25 (a marker of Type III cell)-positive taste cells by a single taste cell RT-PCR and found that the ratio of positively stained cell numbers were 17.4, 6.5, 84.1, 70.3, and 1.4 % for $PLC{\beta}2$, SNAP25, NT3, BDNF, and TrkB, respectively. In addition, all of $PLC{\beta}2$-and SNAP25-positive taste cells expressed NT3 mRNA, except for one taste bud cell. The ratios of NT3 mRNA expressions were 100% and 91.7% in the SNAP25-and $PLC{\beta}2$-positive taste cells, respectively. However, two TrkB-positive taste cells co-expressed neither $PLC{\beta}2$ nor SNAP 25. The results suggest that the most of type II or type III cells express BDNF and NT3 mRNA, but the expression is shown to be less in type I taste cells.