• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.754-762
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• 2021

Background: Ginsenoside Rh2, a major saponin derivative in ginseng extract, is recognized for its anti-cancer activities. Compared to coding genes, studies on long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) that are regulated by Rh2 in cancer cells, especially on competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) are sparse. Methods: LncRNAs whose promoter DNA methylation level was significantly altered by Rh2 were screened from methylation array data. The effect of STXBP5-AS1, miR-4425, and RNF217 on the proliferation and apoptosis of MCF-7 breast cancer cells was monitored in the presence of Rh2 after deregulating the corresponding gene. The ceRNA relationship between STXBP5-AS1 and miR-4425 was examined by measuring the luciferase activity of a recombinant luciferase/STXBP5-AS1 plasmid construct in the presence of mimic miR-4425. Results: Inhibition of STXBP5-AS1 decreased apoptosis but stimulated growth of the MCF-7 cells, suggesting tumor-suppressive activity of the lncRNA. MiR-4425 was identified to have a binding site on STXBP5-AS1 and proven to be downregulated by STXBP5-AS1 as well as by Rh2. In contrast to STXBP5-AS1, miR-4425 showed pro-proliferation activity by inducing a decrease in apoptosis but increased growth of the MCF-7 cells. MiR-4425 decreased luciferase activity from the luciferase/STXBP5-AS1 construct by 26%. Screening the target genes of miR-4425 and Rh2 revealed that Rh2, STXBP5-AS1, and miR-4425 consistently regulated tumor suppressor RNF217 at both the RNA and protein level. Conclusion: LncRNA STXBP5-AS1 is upregulated by Rh2 via promoter hypomethylation and acts as a ceRNA, sponging the oncogenic miR-4425. Therefore, Rh2 controls the STXBP5-AS1/miR-4425/RNF217 axis to suppress breast cancer cell growth.

• Bioinformatics and Biosystems
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 2007

Shot interfering RNA (siRNA) can be used to silence specific gene expression and have many potential therapeutic applications. However, how to design an effective siRNA is still not clear. Highly effective siRNA has sequence-specific properties which are low G/C content, low internal stability at the sense strand 3'-terminus, sense strand base bias(position 1 is G/C, position 19 is /AU). Recently, mRNA secondary structure playsan important role in RNAi. Target site of siRNA in high-ordered structure (i.e hairpin loop, multi loop) or base pair of many hydrogen bonds dramatically reduce function of siRNA mediated gene silencing. Possible off-target effects of siRNA is detecting from BLAST search.

• Journal of Plant Biology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.325-332
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• 1994

The effects of polyamines on the activities of elongation factors EF-1 and EF-2, phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase, and tRNA were investigated. The activities of EF-1 and EF-2 were mostly stimulated by spermidine among three kinds of polyamines. The activities of EF-1 and EF-2 were investigated in the presence of spermidine by 230 and 181%, respectively. The activity of phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase was slightly increased in the presence of polyamines. The effect of spermine on the synthetase was higher than that of the other polyamines. The tRNA activity in the presence fo polyamines was increased by 206% with spermidine, by 144% with spermine, and by 114% with putrescine. According to these results, it is concluded that polyamines in higher plants stimulate the protein biosynthesis by promoting the activities of elongation factors EF-1 and EF-2, aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, and tRNAs, but the effects of polyamines on the various components for protein biosynthesis are different in according to the kind of polyamines.

• Journal of Plant Biology
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.265-271
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• 1996

Full-length cDNA for RNA2 of cucumber mosaic virus strian Kor (Kor-CMV) was cloned downstream of synthetic T7 promoter by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The clone could generate a full-length transcript corresponding to RNA1 in size when synthesized by T7 RNA polymerase. The complete nucleotide sequence has shown that the RNA2 is composed of 3,049 nucleotides and contains one functional open reading frame (ORF) of 2,574 nucleotides encoding 2a protein. The deduced translation product of the 2,574 nucleotides contains GDD motif which is a characteristic of RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). The amino acid sequence analysis of the 2a protein has shown that the homology is found in decreasing order with O-CMV (98.8%), Y-CMV (98.7%), Fny-CMV (98.3%), KCMV (94.9%), Ix-CMV (91.9%), and Q-CMV (74.9%). Kor-CMV is suggested to belong to subgroup Ⅰ in the aspect of nucleotide sequence homology of RNA2.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.65 no.2
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• pp.121-124
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• 2021

RNA molecules which bind to the G-rich sequence in the 5'-UTR RNA which plays an important role in expression of N-ras, were selected. The secondary structures of five selected RNA aptamers including primer sequence were found by the CLC RNA workbench ver. 4.2 program (www.clcbio.com) and investigated with RNA structural probes such as RNase T1 which has specificity for a G in single-stranded region, RNase V1 specific for double strand and nuclease S1 specific for single strand. The generalized secondary structure model was proposed and characterized. It was composed of a central long double strand region flanked by single strand region at both end sides. The double strand region had an internal single-strand region and bulges. The single strand loop in the right side was composed of four or five nucleotides.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.377-380
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• 2014

RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated transcriptional knock-down of Crassostrea gigas big defensin 1 and 2 genes (Cg-BigDef1 and Cg-BigDef2) was investigated. The cDNA sequences of Cg-BigDef1 and Cg-BigDef2 were identical, excluding an additional fragment of 20 nucleotides in Cg-BigDef1; thus, a long double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) targeting the mRNA of Cg-BigDef2 effectively downregulated both Cg-BigDef2 and Cg-BigDef1. In addition, long dsRNA targeting green fluorescent protein (GFP) did not affect transcription of the two big defensin genes. These results suggest that the transcriptional downregulation of Cg-BigDef1 and Cg-BigDef2 was mediated by sequence-specific RNA interference (RNAi). Despite injection of long dsRNA targeting Cg-BigDef2 into only the adductor muscle, knock-down of Cg-BigDef1 and Cg-BigDef2 was observed in the adductor muscle, hemocytes, mantle, and gills, suggestive of systemic spread of RNAi in C. gigas. Furthermore, the inhibitory effect of dsRNA persisted until 72 h post-injection, indicative of a long-lasting RNAi-mediated knock-down of target genes.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.383-387
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• 2016

In fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the cdc31 gene encodes a member of the conserved $Ca^{2+}$-binding centrin/CDC31 family, which is a component of spindle pole body. Here, we demonstrate that the S. pombe cdc31p is also a component of TREX-2 complex, which influences mRNA export from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. Repression of the cdc31 gene expression caused growth defect with accumulation of $poly(A)^+$ RNA in the nucleus. On the other hand, over-expression of cdc31 exhibited no defects of both growth and bulk mRNA export, but showed somewhat longer cell morphology. Yeast two-hybrid analysis showed that Cdc31 interacted with Sac3 and Pci2, the subunits of TREX-2 complex. These results suggest that S. pombe Cdc31 is also involved in mRNA export as a component of TREX-2 complex.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.87-91
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• 1997

Effects of divalent cations such as $Mg^{2+}$, $Mn^{2+}$, $Ca^{2+}$, and $Zn^2$ on splicing activity of phage T4 thymidylate synthase intron RNA have been investigated. At the concentration of 0.5 mM, $Mn^{2+}$ in the absence of $Mg^{2+}$, a very small amount of pre-RNA was cleaved into ligation products (El-E2) but no circular or linear intron was produced. As the concentration of $Mn^{2+}$ was increased from 1 to 5 mM the pre-RNA was completely hydrolyzed. In the presence of 5 mM $Mg^{2+}$, both the linear intron and circular intron were produced but no El-E2 ligation product was produced. At both 3 and 5 mM $Mn^{2+}$ the RNA was hydrolyzed completely as observed with no $Mg^2+$ being present. In the case of $Zn^{2+}$, even at 0.5 mM concentration, the pre-RNA was completely hydrolyzed. This observation suggested that $Zn^{2+}$ facilitates RNA hydrolysis more rapidly than $Mn^{2+}$ does. at 5mM $Ca^{2+}$, the RNA was not hydrolyzed and remained intact as a primary transcript.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.247-254
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• 2007

Improvement in the pharmacokinetic properties of short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) is a prerequisite for the therapeutic application of RNA interference technology. When injected into mice as unmodified siRNAs complexed to DOTAP/Chol-based cationic liposomes, all 12 tested siRNA duplexes caused a strong induction of cytokines including interferon ${\alpha}$, indicating that the immune activation by siRNA duplexes is independent of sequence context. When modified by various combinations of 2'-OMe, 2'-F, and phosphorothioate substitutions, introduction of as little as three 2'-OMe substitutions into the sense strand was sufficient to suppress immune activation by siRNA duplexes, whereas the same modifications were much less efficient at inhibiting the immune response of single stranded siRNAs. It is unlikely that Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) signaling is involved in immune stimulation by siRNA/liposome complexes since potent immune activation by ds siRNAs was induced in TLR3 knockout mice. Together, our results indicate that chemical modification of siRNA provides an effective means to avoid unwanted immune activation by therapeutic siRNAs. This improvement in the in vivo properties of siRNAs should greatly facilitate successful development of siRNA therapeutics.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Pathology Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.117.3-118
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• 2003

We tested for the presence of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) mycovirus in 827 Fusarium graminearum isolated from diseased barley and maize. dsRNA mycoviruses with various sizes were isolated. Of them, it was previously reported that dsRNA from DK2l isolate had pronounced morphological changes, including reduction in mycelial growth, increased to red pigmentation, reduced virulence and sporulation. (Chu et al., Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 2002). For better understanding of this hypovirulence associated with DK2l dsRNA virus, we determined the complete nucleotide sequence of dsRNA genome and named Fusarium hypovirus DK2l strain (Fhv-DK2l ). Genomic RNA of Fhv-DK2l was determined to be 6625 nucleotides in length excluding the poly (A) tail and contained three putative open reading frame. RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) and helicase domain were expected in ORF A, 54 to 4709 nucleotide position. ORE B, 4752 to 5216 nucleotide position, and ORF C, 5475 to 6578 nucleotide position, were predicted to encode 16.7kDa and 41.3kDa protein respectively each. We could not detect any conserved domains from these two proteins. Phylogenetic analysis showed Fhv-DK2l was related to Cryphonectria hypovirus 3. Ten additional isolates were found that were infected with dsRNA mycoviruses. These mycoviruses contain 2 to 4 different segments of dsRNAs with the size range of approximately 1.7 to 10-kbp in length. The presence of dsRNAs isolates did not affect colony morphology and were transmissible through conidia and ascospore with incidence of 30-100％. These results indicate that there is genomic diversity of dsRNA mycoviruses that infect F. graminearum isolates and that impact of virus infection on host's morphology and virulence is determined by the interaction between dsRNAs and the fungal host, not by the mere presence of the dsRNAs