• Journal of Life Science
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• v.15 no.5 s.72
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• pp.755-762
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• 2005

Biochemical amounts of RNA molecules can be synthesized in vitro, which is functionally equivalent or similar to those transcripts normally existing at extremely low levels in vivo. In this study we described a method for efficient preparation of pure T7 RNA polymerase from Escherichia coli strain BL21/pAR1219. The procedure, which used ammonium sulfate fractionation and preparative column chromatography on sephadex SP, was shown to be simple, rapid, and cost effective in comparison with other methods reported previously, Using the purified T7 RNA polymerase we were able to synthesize very long RNA transcript of 1.54 kb length, which is not feasible by conventional chemical synthesis. RNA molecule that was also synthesized by the purified T7 RNA polymerase, such as hammerhead ribozyme, retained its biochemical activity by cleaving the target RNA successfully in vitro. Thus, the procedure shown in this study can be useful to synthesize any length of RNA molecules in vitro in a simple and cost effective way for a variety of purposes.

• Proceedings of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society Conference
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• 2002.08a
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• pp.67-67
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• 2002

• BMB Reports
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.329-334
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• 2006

RNAi (RNA interference) has become a popular means of knocking down a specific gene in vivo. The most common approach involves the use of chemically synthesized short interfering RNAs (siRNAs), which are relatively easy and fast to use, but which are costly and have only transient effects. These limitations can be overcome by using short hairpin RNA (shRNA) expression vectors. However, current methods of generating shRNA expression vectors require either the synthesis of long (50-70 nt) costly oligonucleotides or multi-step processes. To overcome this drawback, we have developed a one-step short-oligonucleotides-based method with preparation costs of only 15% of those of the conventional methods used to obtain essentially the same DNA fragment encoding shRNA. Sequences containing 19 bases homologous to target genes were synthesized as 17- and 31-nt DNA oligonucleotides and used to construct shRNA expression vectors. Using these plasmids, we were able to effectively silence target genes. Because our method relies on the onestep ligation of short oligonucleotides, it is simple, less error-prone, and economical.

• Proceedings of the Korean Environmental Health Society Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.166-168
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• 2005

The induction of heme oxygenase-1(HO-1) by ultraviolet(UV) radiation provides a protective defense against oxidative stress, and has been well demonstrated in UVA-irradiated skin, but not UVB. In this study in mice, we show that the UVB(290-320nm) radiation can be attributed to the induction of cutaneous heme oxygenase-1. The expression of HO-1 mRNA was assessed in vivo by the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis, and HO-1 enzyme activity was measured in microsomal preparation from irradiated mice. The mRNA level of HO-1 increases in liver and skin from 24h to 72h after UVB($3KJ/m^3$) radiation. The results of gene expression were same pattern of HO enzyme activity in skin, but not in liver. HO-1 mRNA in liver resulted in a progressive increase to 96h after UVB radiation, but HO activity in liver increased to 48h. This finding indicates that UVB radiation is an important inducer of HO-1 and increases in HO activity may protect tissues directly or indirectly from oxidative stress.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.49-54
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• 2008

The induction of heme oxygenase-1(HO-1) by UV radiation provides a protective defence against oxidative stress, and has been well demonstrated in skin irradiated with UVA, but not UVB. In this study, we show that the induction of cutaneous HO-l can be attributed to UVB radiation. The expression of HO-1 mRNA was assessed in vivo by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis, and HO-1 enzyme activity was measured in microsomal preparation from irradiated mice. The mRNA level of HO-1 increases in liver and skin from 1d to 3d after UVB $(3KJ/m^2)$ exposure. The results of gene expression were same pattern of HO-1 enzyme activity in skin, but not in liver. HO-1 mRNA in liver resulted in a progressive increase to 4d after UVB exposure, but HO-1 activity in liver increased to 2d. This finding indicates that UVB radiation is an important inducer of HO-1 and increases in HO activity may protect tissue directly or indirectly from oxidative stress.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.10
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• pp.3767-3769
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• 2011

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.1808-1814
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• 2009

In our previous study, a new herbal preparation (HemoHIM) was developed as a functional food for the radioprotection and immunomodulatory agents. In order elucidate the mechanism involved, we examined the effect of HemoHIM on the compound 48/80-induced histamine release, and on the phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA)/calcium ionophore (A23187)-induced inflammatory cytokine secretion in HMC-1. The cell culture supernatants were harvested, and the cytokines (IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, TNF-$\alpha$, GM-CSF) in the supernatants were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The total RNA of the cells was extracted, and the cytokines or c-kit/tryptase/Fc$\varepsilon$RI's messenger RNA expressions were examined using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Under low concentrations, HemoHIM inhibited histamine release in HMC-1 stimulated compound 48/80. Furthermore HemoHIM inhibited PMA/A23187-induced inflammatory cytokines' secreation or mRNA expression in a dose-dependent manner. But IL-8 secretion was not inhibited by low concentrayion of HemoHIM, respectively. The mRNA expression of c-kit and Fc$\varepsilon$RI were also inhibited in a dose-dependent manner. Tryptase mRNA expression was only inhibited by low concentration of HemoHIM. These results indicated that HemoHIM might be an useful agent for protection against allergy as well as immune modulation, especially since it is a relatively nontoxic natural product.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.97-102
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• 2008

Four hundred and forty 1-day-old Arbor Acre broilers were fed commercial starter diets with 0, 250, 750 and 2,250 mg/kg of an alpha-amylase preparation from 1 to 21 days of age to investigate the effects of an exogenous enzyme on growth performance, activities of digestive enzymes in the pancreas and anterior intestinal contents and pancreatic amylase mRNA expression. Body weight gain (BWG) and average daily gain (ADG) increased linearly (p<0.01) with increasing levels of supplementary amylase but feed conversion ratio (FCR) was not affected. There was a negative quadratic change of protease and amylase in the small intestinal contents with the increase of supplementary amylase level. The activity of intestinal trypsin was also increased (p<0.05). Lipase was unaffected by amylase supplementation (p>0.05). The pancreatic protease, trypsin, and lipase were not affected by exogenous amylase levels. Consistent with the tendency for a linear depression of amylase activity, pancreatic ${\alpha}$-amylase mRNA was down-regulated by dietary amylase supplementation. The present study suggested that oral administration of exogenous amylase affected activities of intestinal enzymes and the production of pancreatic digestive enzymes in a dose-dependent manner.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.69-77
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• 2018

Objectives : Daesiho-tang (DSHT) has been widely used in the treatment of cerebral infarct in traditional medicine. However, there was not report on the anti-obesity-related diseases efficacy of DSHT. In this study, we investigated the effects for the new formulation of DSHT, on the adipocyte differentiation cycle in 3T3-L1 cells. Methods : 3T3-L1 cells were treated with DSHT (50, 100, $200{\mu}g/m{\ell}$) during differentiation for 6 days. Also, the inhibitory effect of DSHT against 3T3-L1 adipogenesis was evaluated in various stage of adipogenesis such as early (0-2day), intermediate (2-4day), and terminal stage (4-6day). The accumulation of lipid droplets was determined by Oil Red O staining. and, the expressions of genes related to adipogenesis were measured by RT-PCR and Western blot analyses. Results : DSHT showed inhibitory activity on adipocyte differentiation at 3T3-L1 preadipocytes without affect cell toxicity as assessed by measuring fat accumulation and adipogenesis. In addition, DSHT significantly reduced the expression levels of several adipocyte marker genes including proliferator activated $receptor-{\gamma}$ ($PPAR-{\gamma}$) and CCAAT/ enhancer-binding $protein-{\alpha}$ ($C/EBP-{\alpha}$). Also, the anti-adipogenic effect of DSHT was strongly limited in the intermediate (2-4 day), terminal stage (4-6 day) of 3T3-L1 adipogenesis. In addition, the DSHT treatment down- regulated mRNA expression levels of $PPAR-{\gamma}$,, $C/EBP-{\alpha}$ in mature 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Conclusions : These results suggest that, the ability of DSHT has inhibited overall adipogenesis and lipid accumulation in the 3T3-L1 cells. The new formulation of DSHT may be a promising medicine for the treatment of obesity and related metabolic disorders.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.209-214
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• 2011

Endometrium undergoing hormonal change plays important roles in preparation for implantation, fetal growth, and well-being. During pregnancy, cellular remodeling and hormonal changes in endometrium could change two-pore domain K$^+$ channel (K$_{2P}$) expression. This study was performed to identify whether K$_{2P}$ channel expression is changed in endometrium of pregnant Korean cattle, and whether the expression level is modulated by progesterone treatment. We investigated changes in the mRNA and protein expressions of K$_{2P}$ channel in pregnant endometrium using RT-PCR and Western blot analyses. The expression levels of all K$_{2P}$ channel mRNAs tested in this study, except that of TREK-1, were changed in the pregnant endometrium. mRNA levels of TASK-3 and TRAAK were significantly down-regulated, whereas those of TREK-2 and TRESK were up-regulated in the pregnant endometrium. In parallel with the RT-PCR results, Western blot analysis revealed up-regulations of TREK-2 (7.9-fold) and TRESK (2-fold) proteins levels in the pregnant endometrium. In addition, TREK-2 and TRESK protein levels were up-regulated in bovine endometrial cells by progesterone treatment (10 ${\mu}g$/ml). From these results, we suggest that the up-regulation of TREK-2 and TRESK by progesterone may contribute to the regulation of physiological changes during pregnancy.