• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.43 no.4
• /
• pp.325-330
• /
• 2007

RNase E is an essential Escherichia coli endoribonuclease that plays a major role in the decay and processing of a large fraction of RNAs in the cell and expression of N-terminal domain consisted of 1-498 amino acids (N-Rne) is sufficient to support normal cellular growth. By utilizing these properties of RNase E, we developed a genetic system to screen for amino acid substitutions in the catalytic domain of the protein (N-Rne) that lead to various phenotypes. Using this system, we identified three kinds of mutants. A mutant N-Rne containing amino acid substitution in the S1 domain (I6T) of the protein was not able to support survival of E. coli cells, and another mutant N-Rne with amino acid substitution at the position 488 (R488C) in the small domain enabled N-Rne to have an elevated ribonucleolytic activity, while amino acid substitution in the DNase I domain (N305D) only enabled N-Rne to support survival of E. roli cells when the mutant N-Rne was over-expressed. Analysis of copy number of ColEl-type plasmid revealed that effects of amino acid substitution on the ability of N-Rne to support cellular growth stemmed from their differential effects on the ribonucleolytic activity of N-Rne in the cell. These results imply that the genetic system developed in this study can be used to isolate mutant RNase E with various phenotypes, which would help to unveil a functional role of each subdomain of the protein in the regulation of RNA stability in E. coli.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
• /
• v.25 no.1
• /
• pp.79-88
• /
• 1998

This study was performed in order to apply to effective breeding of Korean native cattle on the molecular genetic level obtained from PCR and nucleotide sequencing analysis of BoLA DRB3 exon2 that has important roles in host immune defence. Genomic DNA used in this study was prepared from the blood of Korean native cattle in Korean Native Cattle Improvement Center of National Livestock Cooperation. The results obtained from this study are summarized as follows: 1. Genomic DNA extracted from the blood of Korean native cattle was subjected to electrophoresis on 1.5% agarose gel. Major band was bigger than 12.2kb, indicating that genomic DNA was well prepared for PCR. Amplified products of 284bp fragments was obtained the amplification of BoLA DRB3 exon2 gene by PCR. 2. Cloning of BoLA DRB3 exon2 of Korean native cattle with pCR2.1 vector was conformed by 300bp fragment from recombinent plasmid that restricted with enzyme digestion of EcoRI. 3. Homology of BoLA DRB3 exon2 alleles of parent was 82.0% between sire's alleles and 90.1% between dam's alleles. 4. In pedigree analysis using BoLA DRB3 exon2 gene, sequencing result of BoLA DRB3 exon2 genes showed inheritance by Mendelian mode through the parents to their offspring. 5. Taking together those experimental results, pedigree was confirmed on the basis of sequencing for the alleles of parents and offspring. This knowledge by the molecular biological approach could be served for the improvement of Korean native cattle.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.326-336
• /
• 1997

Four ice nucleation-active bacteria (INA-bacteria), Pseudomonas syringae, Xanthomonas campestris, Escherichia coli JM109/pEIN229 and Gluconobacter oxydans/pKIN230, were treated with heat, pressure and gamma-irradiation to compare viability and their ice nucleation activity (INA) after sterilization. Gamma-irradiated INA-bacteria showed the least decrease in T90 value (the temperature at which the 90% of drops are frozen). According to cumulative INA spectra, gamma-irradiated INA-bacteria showed little decrease in class A ice nuclei $(nucleate\;H_{2}O\;at\;higher\;than\;-5^{\circ}C)$, pressurized INA-bacteria showed more than 90% decrease in class A ice nuclei, and heat-treated INA-bacteria barely showed class A ice nuclei. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to examine the effect of INA-bacteria on the thermophysical properties of water at freezing temperature. Freezing peaks were appeared at about $11{\sim}15^{\circ}C$ higher on thermograms and enthalpies of phase change were decreased for the water containing INA-bacteria compared with the pure water, while melting peaks were not shifted. INA measured by DSC method were significantly correlated with INA measured by drop freezing method $(R^{2}>0.993,\;p<0.0001)$, indicating that DSC can be used as a new, simple and precise method for measuring INA.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.387-393
• /
• 1992

The fate of inoculum strain of Bradyrhizobium japonicum was studied by using genetically marked strain. RJB6 $str^rnal^rneo^r$. A spontaneous mutant of B. japonicum isolated from nodules was made to have antibiotic resistance against streptomycin and nalidixic acid. In order to make genetically marked strain, neomycine resistant gene(Tn5) was introduced into this spontaneous mutant by conjugation with E. coli containing pSUP2021. The southern hybridization was carried out to confirm the plasmid insertion. Hybridization of chromosome DNA using pSUP2021(Tn5) as a probe showed that Tn5 was located on the 4.9kb fragment of chromosome. Soybean seeds were planted into a soil previously cultivated with soybean and inoculated with different cell densities of marked strain. Fourty days after planting, the inoculation effects on nodule number, nodule fresh weight, plant height and nitrogen content in the plot inoculated with heavy cell suspension was a little better than those in the plot with low inoculation. The recovery percentage of the marked strains was about 12% in the plot inoculated with heavy density cell suspension, while 5% in the plot inoculated with low cell suspension.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.13 no.6
• /
• pp.926-936
• /
• 2003

Overexpression of human Bcl-2 protein in recombinant Chinese hamster ovary (rCHO) cells producing humanized antibody (SH2-0.32) considerably suppressed sodium butyrate (NaBu)-induced apoptosis during batch culture by using commercially available serum-free medium, which extended the culture longevity. Due to the extended culture longevity provided by the anti-apoptotic effect of Bcl-2 overexpression, the final antibody concentration of 14C6-bcl-2 culture (Bcl-2 high producer, $23\;\mu\textrm{g}\;ml^{-1}$) was 2 times higher than that of the $SH2-0.32-{\Delta}bcl-2$ culture (cells transfected with bcl-2-deficient plasmid, $10.5\;\mu\textrm{g}\;ml^{-1}$) in the presence of NaBu. To determine the effect of NaBu/Bcl-2 overexpression on the molecular integrity of protein products, antibodies purified from 14C6-bcl-2 and $SH2-0.32-{\Delta}bcl-2$ cultures in the presence of NaBu were characterized by using various molecular assay systems. For comparison, antibody purified from the parental rCHO cell culture (SH2-0.32) in the absence of NaBu was also characterized. No significant changes in molecular weight of antibodies could be observed by SDS-PAGE. From GlycoSep-N column analysis, it was found that the core oligosaccharide structure ($GlcNAc_2Man_3GlcNAc_2$) was not affected by NaBu/Bcl-2 overexpression, while the microheterogeneity of N-linked oligosaccharide structure was slightly affected. Compared with the antibody produced in the absence of NaBu, the proportion of neutral oligosaccharides was increased from 10% (14C6-bcl-2) to 16% ($SH2-0.32-{\Delta}bcl-2$) in the presence of NaBu, which was accompanied by the reduced proportion of acidic oligosaccharides, especially of monosialylated and disialylated forms. The changes in microheterogeneous oligoformal structures of antibody in turn affected the mobility of antibody isoforms in isoelectric focusing (IEF), resulting in the occurrence of some more basic antibody isoforms produced in the presence of NaBu. However, the antigen-antibody binding properties were not changed by alteration of glycosylation pattern. The competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) showed that the antibody produced by NaBu/Bcl-2 overexpression maintained its antigen-antibody binding properties with binding affinity of about $2.5{\times}10^9{\;}M^{-1}$. Taken together, no significant effects of NaBu/Bcl-2 overexpression on the molecular integrity of antibodies, produced by using serum-free medium, could be observed by the molecular assay systems.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.46 no.2
• /
• pp.102-110
• /
• 2018

A bacterial strain capable of metabolizing myo-inositol (MI) and converting to other substances was isolated from soil of orchard. The isolate, named YB-46, was grown on minimal medium supplemented with MI as the sole carbon source and was presumed to belonging to genus Enterobacter according to the 16S rDNA sequence. Escherichia coli transformant converting MI into unknown metabolites was selected from a metagenomic library prepared with fosmid pCC1FOS vector. Plasmid was isolated from the transformant, and the inserted gene was partially sequenced. From the nucleotide sequence, an iolG gene was identified to encode myo-inositol dehydrogenase (IolG) consisting of 336 amino residues. The IolG showed amino acid sequence similarity of about 50% with IolG of Enterobacter aerogenes and Bacillus subtilis. The His-tagged IolG (HtIolG) fused with hexahistidine at C-terminus was produced and purified from cell extract of recombinant E. coli. The purified HtIolG showed maximal activity at $45^{\circ}C$ and pH 10.5 with the highest activity for MI and D-glucose, and more than 90% of maximal activity for D-chiro-inositol, D-mannitol and D-xylose. $K_m$ and $V_{max}$ values of the HtIolG for MI were 1.83 mM and $0.724{\mu}mol/min/mg$ under the optimal reaction condition, respectively. The activity of HtIolG was increased 1.7 folds by $Zn^{2+}$, but was significantly inhibited by $Co^{2+}$ and SDS.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.13 no.8
• /
• pp.4031-4036
• /
• 2012

Background: The negative signaling provided by interactions of the co-inhibitory molecule, programmed death-1 (PD-1), and its ligands, B7-H1 (PD-L1) and B7-DC (PD-L2), is a critical mechanism contributing to tumor evasion; blockade of this pathway has been proven to enhance cytotoxic activity and mediate antitumor therapy. Here we evaluated the anti-tumor efficacy of AAV-mediated delivery of the extracellular domain of murine PD-1 (sPD-1) to a tumor site. Material and Methods: An rAAV vector was constructed in which the expression of sPD-1, a known negative regulator of TCR signals, is driven by human cytomegalovirus immediate early promoter (CMV-P), using a triple plasmid transfection system. Tumor-bearing mice were then treated with the AAV/sPD1 construct and expression of sPD-1 in tumor tissues was determined by semi quantitative RT-PCR, and tumor weights and cytotoxic activity of splenocytes were measured. Results: Analysis of tumor homogenates revealed sPD-1 mRNA to be significantly overexpressed in rAAV/sPD-1 treated mice as compared with control levels. Its use for local gene therapy at the inoculation site of H22 hepatoma cells could inhibit tumor growth, also enhancing lysis of tumor cells by lymphocytes stimulated specifically with an antigen. In addition, PD-1 was also found expressed on the surfaces of activated CD8+ T cells. Conclusion: This study confirmed that expression of the soluble extracellular domain of PD-1 molecule could reduce tumor microenvironment inhibitory effects on T cells and enhance cytotoxicity. This suggests that it might be a potential target for development of therapies to augment T-cell responses in patients with malignancies.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.16 no.14
• /
• pp.6073-6080
• /
• 2015

Background: Melanoma differentiation-associated gene-7 (MDA-7)/interleukin-24 (IL-24), a unique tumor suppressor gene, has killing activity in a broad spectrum of cancer cells. Herein, plasmids producing mda-7 proteins fused to different RGD peptides (full RGD4C and shortened RGD, tRGD) were evaluated for apoptosis induction with a hepatocellular carcinoma cell line, Hep-G2. The study aim was to improve the apoptosis potency of mda-7 by tethering to RGD peptides. Materials and Methods: Three plasmids including mda-7, mda-7-RGD and mda-7-tRGD genes beside a control vector were transfected into Hep-G2 cells. After 72 hours incubation, cell viability was evaluated by MTT assay. In addition, the rate of apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry using PI/annexin staining. To detect early events in apoptosis, 18 hours after transfection, expression of the BAX gene was quantified by real time PCR. Modeling of proteins was also performed to extrapolate possible consequences of RGD modification on their structures and subsequent attachment to receptors. Results and Conclusions: In MTT assays, while all mda-7 forms showed measurable inhibition of proliferation, unmodified mda-7 protein exhibited most significant effect compared to control plasmid (P<0.001). Again, flow cytometry analysis showed a significant apoptosis induction by simple mda-7 gene but not for those RGD-fused mda-7 proteins. These findings were also supported by expression analysis of BAX gene (P<0.001). Protein modelling analysis revealed that tethering RGD at the end of IL-24/Mda7 disrupt attachment to cognate receptor, IL-20R1/IL-20R2. In conclusion, fusion of RGD4C and shortened RGD peptides to carboxyl terminal of mda7, not only reduce apoptosis property in vitro but also disrupt receptor attachment as demonstrated by protein modelling.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.205-209
• /
• 2008

This study was carried out to develop knock-in vector for EGFP (enhanced green fluorescent protein) expression in porcine $\beta$-casein locus. For construction of knock-in vector using porcine $\beta$-casein gene, we cloned the $\beta$-casein genome DNA from porcine fetal fibroblast cells, EGFP and SV40 polyA signal using PCR. The knock-in vectors consisted of a 5-kb fragment as the 5' recombination arm and a 2.7-kb fragment as the 3' recombination arm. We used the neomycin resistance gene ($neo^{r}$) as a positive selectable marker and the diphtheria toxin A (DT-A) gene as a negative selectable marker. To demonstrate EGFP expression from knock-in vector, we are transfected knock-in vector that has EGFP gene in murine mammary epithelial cell line HC11 cells with pSV2 neo plasmid. The EGFP expression was detected in HC11 cells transfected knock-in vector. This result demonstrates that this knock-in vector may be used for the development of knock-in transgenic pig.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.27 no.5
• /
• pp.507-512
• /
• 2005

This research focuses on the development and application of a method for the detection of m-toluate in soils using a genetically engineered bioluminescent bacteria, Pseudomonas putida mt-2 KG1206. KG1206 produces light by direct (m-toluate and benzoate) and indirect (toluene analogs) inducers. For detection of m-toluate in soil system, 9.9 mL strain was amended with 0.1 mL soil ethanol extractant. A high correlation ($r^2>0.97$) was observed between bioluminescence and m-toluate concentration. The unknown concentrations of m-toluate in soil samples were pre-determined using a method developed based on bioluminescence activity of strain with extracted inducers. Values between by LC analysis and bioluminescence activity show moderate statistical results. These results demonstrate the feasibility of recombinant bioluminescent microorganism, engineered to generate a quantifiable bioluminescence signal in response to specific pollutants, may serve as combined sensing and reporting tools in environmental monitoring.