• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 1997.04a
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• pp.81-81
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• 1997

We previously demonstrated an enhancer-like positive regulatory element within a 259-bp sequence (-2352 to-2094 bp) of the human CYP1A2 gene in HepG2 cells. Three protein binding sites were identified by DNase I footprint analyses within the 259-bp sequence: protected region A PRA ( -2283 to-2243 bp), PRB (-2218 to-2187 bp), and PRC (-2124 to-2098 bp) (I. Chung and E. Bresnick, Mol. Pharmacol. 47, 677-685, 1995). In the present study, the functional significance of those protected regions was examined. Transfection experiments with deletion and substitution mutants defined the PRB and PRC as containing positive and negative regulatory elements, respectively. Human breast carcinoma MCF-7 cells were cotransfected with a hepatocyte nuclear factor-1 (HNF-1) expression vector and CYP1A2 promoter-or thymidine kinase promoter-luciferase remoter gene constructs. HNF-1, which contributes to the liver specificity of genes, enhanced reporter gene activity in a PRC sequence-dependent manner. These results suggested that PRC could exist bound to a repressor which was displaceable by other transcription factors such as HNF-1. Results obtained by transfection of HepG2 hepatoma cells with various PRB substitution mutant-luciferase gene fusion constructs indicated that the entire sequence of PRB was necessary for promoter activity. Consequently, the regulation of CYP1A3 expression is very complex, requiring a number of both positive and negative regulatory factors.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.353-359
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• 2008

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is known as the causative agent of blood transmitted hepatitis. Two viral proteins, E2 and NS5A, are known to exert interferon resistance of HCV via PKR pathway. Here, we report a third protein, the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (NS5B) of HCV, induced interferon resistance inhibiting p56 pathway. p56 was shown to interact with p48 subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor 3 (eIF3). This interaction inhibited formation of ternary complex in translation initiation. Using dual reporter assay system, we observed that the translation decreased when interferon alpha was added to the culture. But, in the presence of HCV NS5B, the translation partly recovered. NS5B and p48 subunit of eIF3 were shown to interact. This interaction seems to inhibit the interaction between p48 and p56. This is the first report that a virus exerts interferon resistance via p56 pathway.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.98-103
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• 2009

The potential utility of the rockbream (Oplegnathus fasciatus) $\beta$-actin 5'-upstream sequence as a regulatory element for DNA vaccination was evaluated based on in vitro and in vivo heterologous expression assays. In the in vitro transfection experiment, the efficacy of the rockbream $\beta$-actin promoter to drive the expression of a downstream lacZ gene was significantly higher (more than fourfold) than that of the human cytomegalovirus (hCMV) promoter in two fish cell lines (grunt Haemulon plumierii fin and bluegill Lepomis macrochirus fry cell lines). In contrast, the functional activity of the rockbream $\beta$-actin promoter was hardly detectable in a mammalian mouse embryonic fibroblast cell line. Rockbream skeletal muscles injected in vivo with a GFP reporter construct driven by the $\beta$-actin promoter displayed the significantly higher expression of a GFP protein (more than threefold) than did those injected with hCMV promoter driven construct. Data from this study suggest that the homologous rockbream $\beta$-actin promoter could be used as a potential regulator for DNA vaccination in this species.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.447-453
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• 2013

Osteoblastic activity of nectandrin A was examined in C2C12 cells. Nectandrin A enhances the BMP-induced osteoblastic differentiation and mineralization, manifested by the up-regulation of differentiation markers (alkaline phosphatase and osteogenic genes) and increased calcium contents. In C2C12 cells co-transfected with expression vector encoding Smad4 and Id1-Luc reporter, nectandrin A increased Id1 luciferase activity in a concentration-dependent manner, when compared to that in BMP-2 treated cells, indicating that Smad signaling pathway is associated with nectandrin A-enhanced osteoblastic differentiation in C2C12 cells. In addition, nectandrin A activated p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) in time- and concentration-dependent manners, and phosphorylated form of pSmad1/5/8 and alkaline phosphatase activity were both decreased when the cells were pretreated with SB203580, a p38 MAPK inhibitor, suggesting that p38 MAPK might be an upstream kinase for Smad signaling pathway. Taken together, nectandrin A enhances the BMP-induced osteoblastic differentiation and mineralization of C2C12 cells via activation of p38 MAPK-Smad signaling pathway, and it has a therapeutic potential for osteoporosis by promoting bone formation.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.23
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• pp.10181-10185
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• 2015

Background: MicroRNAs, small noncoding RNA molecules, can regulate mammalian cell growth, apoptosis and differentiation by controlling the expression of target genes. The aim of this study was to investigate the function of miR-323-5p in the glioma cell line, U251. Materials and Methods: After over-expression of miR-323-5p using miR-323-5p mimics, cell growth, apoptosis and migration were tested by MTT, flow cytometry and cell wound healing assay, respectively. We also assessed the influence of miR-323-5p on the mRNA expression of IGF-1R by quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase PCR (qRT-PCR), and on the protein levels by Western blot analysi. In addition, dual-luciferase reporter assays were performed to determine the target site of miR-323-5p to IGF-1R 3'UTR. Results: Our findings showed that over-expression of miR-323-5p could promote apoptosis of U251 and inhibit the proliferation and migration of the glioma cells. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that increased expression of miR-323-5p might be related to glioma progression, which indicates a potential role of miR-323-5p for clinical therapy.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.160-164
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• 2019

Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg), Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (Aa), Tannerella forsythia (Tf), Prevotella intermedia (Pi), and Fusobacterium nucleatum (Fn) are major periodontal pathogens. Lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) from periodontal bacteria play an important role in periodontal pathogenesis by stimulating host cells to produce inflammatory cytokines. In this study, highly pure LPSs from the five major periodontopathogens were prepared, and their monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)-inducing activities were compared in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and THP-1 macrophagic cells, respectively. In HUVECs, LPSs from Aa and Fn were potent stimulators for MCP-1 induction; however, LPSs from Pg, Pi, and Tf were much weaker MCP-1 inducers. In THP-1 cells, LPSs from Pg, Aa, and Fn were relatively strong inducers of TNF-α, whereas LPSs from Pi and Tf produced little activity. The Toll-like receptor (TLR)2/TLR4 dependency of various LPSs was also determined by measuring NF-κB reporter activity in TLR2- or TLR4-expressing 293 cells. LPSs from Aa, Fn, and Tf stimulated only TLR4; however, LPSs from Pg and Pi stimulated both TLR2 and TLR4. These results suggest that LPSs from major periodontal bacteria differ considerably in their cell-stimulating activity.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.208-211
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• 2000

The recombinant fluorescent chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line was developed and optimized through this study for biomonitoring system. This cell line, called KFC-A10, contains recombinant plasmid(pKCFG) constructed in this study for detecting toxic conditions (Mitomicyn C, EDCs, ${\gamma}-ray$, etc.). It is known that c-Fos is involved in proliferation and differentiation of the signal transduction and overexpression of this gene can lead cell to death under the toxic conditions including apoptosis status. Therefore, pKCFG which has the c-fosSRE::GFP is induced by toxic chemicals, especially DNA damage agents and apoptotic chemicals, and produces green fluorescence protein(GFP) under these toxic conditions. Through the characterization of KFC-A10 using fluorescent assays of GFP, it was shown that KFC-A10 cell line had a manifest GFP expression pattern due to various toxicants especially mitomycin C, ${\gamma}-ray$ and bisphenol A. Therefore this study proved the possibility of using GFP as a reporter for detecting various toxicants

• Korean Journal of Plant Tissue Culture
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.55-58
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• 1994

Agrobacterium tumefaciens LABA4404 harboring plant binary vector, pBI121, was used for genetic transformation of lettuce (Lactuca sativa t.). Cotyledon segments were infected with A. tumefaciens LBA4404 by cocultivation method and regenerated. Regenerated letture was subject to molecular analyses for integration into plant nuclear genome and expression of ${\beta}$-glucumnidase (GUS) gene. Southern and Northern blot analyses demonstrated that GUS gene was integrated into plant nuclear genome and expressed into its mRNA. The expression of GUS gene into its protein was confirmed by specetrophotometric assay of GUS activity.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 2002.07a
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• pp.238-238
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• 2002

We studied whether kinase pathways are involved in TCDD-induced gene expression by treating specific kinase inhibitors ncluding MEK1 inhibitor PD98059, p38 inhibitor SB202190, PI-3 kinase inhibitor Wortmannin or LY294002 or protein tyrosine kinase inhibitor Genestein and then tested the effects of individual inhibitors on TCDD-induced gene expression of cytochromelAl gene (CYPlAl). Our results show that PD98059, MEK-1 inhibitor reduces dioxin-inducible transcription of CYPlAl. p44/p42MAPK, that is phosphorylated by Mek-1, are phosphorlylated by treatment of TCDD, peaking at lnM, 30min treatments. Overexpressions of p44/p42 MAPK dominant negative mutants suppress dioxin dependent transcription of DRE-driven reporter gene in a dose-dependent manner. Our results demonstrate that p44/p42 MAPK is essential for transcriptional activity of AHR/ARNT heterodimer. We found that PD98059 dose-dependently blocks TCDD-induced DRE binding of the AHR/ARNT heterodimer, thereby it reduces TCDD-induced gene expression. Therefore, our results indicate that Mek-1/p44/p42 MAPK pathway is involved in TCDD-induced gene expression, [This study was supported by a grant from Korean Research Foundation Grant (X01529)to H. Park]

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.556-561
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• 2012

Steroid sulfatase (STS) is responsible for the conversion of estrone sulfate to estrone that can stimulate growth in endocrine-dependent tumors such as prostate cancer. Although STS is considered as a therapeutic target for the estrogen-dependent diseases, cellular function of STS are still not clear. Previously, we found that tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-${\alpha}$ significantly enhances steroid sulfatase expression in PC-3 human prostate cancer cells through PI3K/Akt-dependent pathways. Here, we studied whether bacterial lipopolysaccharides (LPS) which are known to induce TNF-${\alpha}$ may increase STS expression. Treatment with LPS in PC-3 cells induced STS mRNA and protein in concentration- and time-dependent manners. Using luciferase reporter assay, we found that LPS enhanced STS promoter activity. Moreover, STS expression induced by LPS increased PC-3 tumor cell migration determined by wound healing assay. We investigated that LPS induced IL-6 expression and IL-6 increased STS expression. Taken together, these data strongly suggest that LPS induces STS expression through IL-6 pathway in human prostate cancer cells.