• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.320-326
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• 2015

The clinical benefits of oncogenic BRAF inhibitor therapies are limited by the emergence of drug resistance. In this study, we investigated the role of a negative regulator of the MAPK pathway, Spry2, in acquired resistance using BRAF inhibitor-resistant derivatives of the BRAF-V600E melanoma (A375P/Mdr). Real-time RT-PCR analysis indicated that the expression of Spry2 was higher in A375P cells harboring the BRAF V600E mutation compared with wild-type BRAF-bearing cells (SK-MEL-2) that are resistant to BRAF inhibitors. This result suggests the ability of BRAF V600E to evade feedback suppression in cell lines with BRAF V600E mutations despite high Spry2 expression. Most interestingly, Spry2 exhibited strongly reduced expression in A375P/Mdr cells with acquired resistance to BRAF inhibitors. Furthermore, the overexpression of Spry2 partially restored sensitivity to the BRAF inhibitor PLX4720 in two BRAF inhibitor-resistant cells, indicating a positive role for Spry2 in the growth inhibition induced by BRAF inhibitors. On the other hand, long-term treatment with PLX4720 induced pERK reactivation following BRAF inhibition in A375P cells, indicating that negative feedback including Spry2 may be bypassed in BRAF mutant melanoma cells. In addition, the siRNA-mediated knockdown of Raf-1 attenuated the rebound activation of ERK stimulated by PLX4720 in A375P cells, strongly suggesting the positive role of Raf-1 kinase in ERK activation in response to BRAF inhibition. Taken together, these data suggest that RAF signaling may be released from negative feedback inhibition through interacting with Spry2, leading to ERK rebound and, consequently, the induction of acquired resistance to BRAF inhibitors.

• Korean Journal of Plant Tissue Culture
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.453-459
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• 2000

Three rice (Oryza sativa L. var Dong-Jin) mutants (DTR1, DTR2, DTR3) resistant to S-methyltryptophan (5MT) were selected by mutagenized M3 seeds. The frequency of chlorophyll mutations induced by the EMS (0.2%) treatment performed 2 hours after flowering is clearly higher than that induced by other treatments in M1 generation. Progeny obtained from the self-pollinating of 5MT-resistant lines segregated with 3 : 1 of resistant to sensitive ratio. Furthermore, the ratio of homozygote to heterozygote in 5MT-resistant plants of the M4 generation was 1：2. These results show that 5MT resistance was inherited as a single dominant nuclear gene. The resistance was also expressed in callus derived from seeds. Total free amino acid content in homozygous seeds of DTR1 and DTR2 showed about 1.7 fold-increased compared to the wild-type seeds. In particular, the levels of phenylalanine and Iysine were, respectively, 6.2 and 3.2 times higher than those in the wild-type seeds. However, seeds of DTR3 had lower levels of free amino acid than the wild-type seeds. This result indicate that these mutants as a significant step towards the production of new rice with balanced amino acid content.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.175-180
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• 1983

Thialysine significantly inhibited the growth of wild type strain Gondida utilis NCYC-359. In the absence of thialysine, the culture reached stationary phase after 24hr, however, in the presence of 0.5% thialysine, the culture reached stationary phase after 40hr, respectively. Effect of amino acid or vitamin was investigated on recovery of the growth of wild type strain from thialysine inhibition. Glycine, methionine, arginine and tryptophan recovered growth inhibition by thialyslne to some extent. However, vitamins were inert. Especially, lysine at one eighth concentration of thialysine recovered almost fully the growth inhibition. Thialysine resistant mutants were induced from the parent strain of Condida utilis NCYC-359 by NTG treatment. Colonies of thialysine resistant mutants were obtained on agar minimal medium supplemented with 0.1-0.5% thialysine. The frequency of thialysine resistant mutants induced by the first mutation was the highest at 0.1% The wild strain produced no appreciable lysine extracellularly. However, almost thialysine resistant mutants excreted appreciably. Lysine excretion increased after repeated mutation. Finally, of the thialysine resistant mutants induced by NTG, Condida utilis TRN-4006 was obtained. This strain excreted lysine (400$\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$) into the medium with a concomitant decrease of lysine in the intracellular pool.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.10
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• pp.1212-1219
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• 2018

The critical role of heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) in tumorigenesis led to the development of several first- and second-generation Hsp90 inhibitors, which have demonstrated promising responses in cancers. In this study, we found second-generation Hsp90 inhibitor BIIB021-resistant multidrug-resistant (MDR) human cancer cells, although BIIB021 was shown to be active in first-generation Hsp90 inhibitor 17-allylamino-17-demethoxygeldanamycin (17-AAG)-resistant MDR cells. MCF7-MDR and HeyA8- MDR cells were more resistant to BIIB021 than their parental counterparts, indicating that BIIB021 cannot be applicable to all cancer cells expressing MDR proteins. We revealed that dimethyl-celecoxib (DMC), one of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), potentiated cytotoxicity of BIIB021 against both BIIB021-resistant and BIIB021-sensitive MDR cells. The effectiveness of NSAIDs involving celecoxib and DMC in combination with BIIB021 led to the autophagic degradation/down-regulation of mutant p53 (mutp53) that overexpressed MDR cells and the suppression of Hsp70 induction. This resulted in sensitization of MDR cells to BIIB021. Moreover, autophagy induction by sulindac sulfide, another type of NSAID, and niclosamide, an FDA-approved anthelmintic drug, potentiated 17-AAG-mediated autophagic degradation/down-regulation of mutp53 and c-Myc, client proteins of Hsp90. Therefore, our results suggest that NSAIDs and niclosamide positively enhance the anticancer activity of Hsp90 inhibitors through an autophagic pathway. They may also be new candidates for sensitizing MDR cells to Hsp90 inhibitors.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Bioinformatics Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.277-287
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• 2003

Acetolactate synthase (ALS, EC 4.1.3.18; also referred to as acetohydroxy acid synthase) catalyzes the first common step in the biosynthesis of valine, leucine, and isoleucine in microorganisms and plants. Recently X-ray structure of yeast ALS was available. Pair-wise alignment of yeast and tobacco ALS sequences revealed 63% sequence similarity. Using Deep View and automatic modeling on Swiss model server, we have generated reliable models of tobacco ALS based on yeast ALS template with a calculated pair-wise RMSD of 0.86 Angstrom. Functional roles of four residues located on the subunit interface (H142, El43, M350, and R376) were examined by site-directed mutagenesis. Seven mutants were generated and purified, of which three mutants (H142T, M350V, and R376F) were found to be inactivated under various assay conditions. The H142k mutant showed moderately altered kinetic properties. The E143A mutant increased 10-fold in K$_m$ value while other parameters remained unchanged. The M350C mutant was strongly resistant to three tested herbicides, while the R376k mutant can bind with herbicide carder at similar affinity to that of wild type enzyme, as determined by tryptophan quenching study. Except M350V mutant, all other mutants were ate to bind with cofactor FAD. Taken together, it is likely that residues H142 and E143 are located at the active site, while residues M350 and R376 are possibly located at the overlapping region of active site and herbicide binding site of the enzyme. Our data also allows us to hypothesize that the interaction between side chains of residues M350 and R376 are probably essential for the correct conformation of the active site. It remains to be elucidated that, whether the herbicide, upon binding with enzyme, inactivates the enzyme by causing change in the active site allosterically, which is unfavorable for catalytic activity.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.90-98
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• 2003

In vivo $^31p$ Nuclear Magnetic Resonance ($^31p$NMR) and metabolic studies were carried out on an acetic acid tolerant mutant, Zymomonas mobilis $ZM4/Ac^R$, and compared to those of the parent strain, Z. mobilis ZM4, to evaluate possible mechanisms of acetic acid resistance. This investigation was initiated to determine whether or not the mutant strain might be used as a suitable recombinant host far ethanol production from lignocellulose hydrolysates containing various inhibitory compounds. $ZM4/Ac^R$ showed multiple resistance to other lignocellulosic toxic compounds such as syringaldehyde, furfural, hydroxymethyl furfural, vanillin, and vanillic acid. The mutant strain was resistant to higher concentrations of ethanol or lower pH in the presence of sodium acetate, compared to ZM4 which showed more additive inhibition. in vivo $^31p$ NMR studies revealed that intracellular acidification and de-energization were two mechanisms by which acetic acid exerted its inhibitory effect. For $ZM4/Ac^R$, the internal pH and the energy status were less affected by sodium acetate compared to the parent strain. This resistance to pH change and de-energization caused by acetic acid is a possible explanation for the development of resistance by this strain.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.266-271
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• 2005

In eukaryotic cells, various proteins are anchored to the plasma membrane through glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI). To study the biosynthetic pathways and modifications of GPI, various mutant cells have been isolated from the cells of Chinese hamster ovaries (CHO) supplemented with several exogenous genes involved in GPI biosynthesis using aerolysin, a toxin secreted from gram-negative bacterium Aeromonas hydrophila. Alpha toxin from Gram-positive bacterium Clostridium septicum is homologous to large lobes (LL) of aerolysin, binds GPI-anchored proteins and possesses a cell-destroying mechanism similar to aerolysin. Here, to determine whether alpha toxins can be used as an isolation tool of GPI-mutants, like aerolysin, CHO cells stably transfected with several exogenous genes involved in GPI biosynthesis were chemically mutagenized and cultured in a medium containing alpha toxins. We isolated six mutants highly resistant to alpha toxins and deficient in GPI biosynthesis. By genetic complementation, we determined that one mutant cell was defective of the second subunit of dolichol phosphate mannose synthase (DPM2) and other five cells were of a putative catalytic subunit of inositol acyltransferase (PIG-W). Therefore, C. septicum alpha toxins are a useful screening probe for the isolation of various GPI-mutant cells.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.23-29
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• 2008

This study was performed to develop mutant strain using a combination of UV irradiation procedures with protoplast mutagenesis in order to achieve an effective kasugamycin production from Streptomyceskasugaensis. Whenlessthan 1.0g/lof Linoleic acid was used, the cell growth was not inhibited. On the other hand, the cell growth was greatly inhibited when more than 1.6 g/l of linoleic acid was used. Among the various mutant strains, SK-12 was obtained in medium containing 1.6g/l of linoleic acid, showing the highest rate of both cell growth and kasugamycin production. In order to compare kasugamycin production with the SK-12 and the parent strain using soybean oil, cultures were performed in a flask. The production of kasugamycin was increased with the increase time. The maximum kasugamycin concentration was 1.2g/l after 6 days of culture. The product yield from soybean oil was 0.05g/l/g consumed carbon source, which was roughly 5.0 fold higher than the parent strain. These results show that it was effective method for obtaining a mutant resistant to linoleic acid for the effective production of kasugamycin from soybean oil.

• BMB Reports
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.27-32
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• 2018

Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is commonly caused by a mutation in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and subsequent aberrant EGFR signaling with uncontrolled kinase activity. A deletion mutation in EGFR exon 19 is frequently observed in EGFR gene mutations. We designed a DNAzyme to suppress the expression of mutant EGFR by cleaving the mutant EGFR mRNA. The DNAzyme (named Ex19del Dz) specifically cleaved target RNA and decreased cancer cell viability when transfected into gefitinib-resistant lung cancer cells harboring EGFR exon 19 deletions. The DNAzyme decreased EGFR expression and inhibited its downstream signaling pathway. In addition to EGFR downregulation, Ex19del Dz containing CpG sites activated Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) and its downstream signaling pathway via p38 kinase, causing an immunostimulatory effect on EGFR-mutated NSCLC cells. Thus, dual effects of this DNAzyme harboring the CpG site, such as TLR9 activation and EGFR downregulation, leads to apoptosis of EGFR-mutated NSCLC cells.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.488-492
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• 2003

Yeast cell wall mutant, Saccharomyces cerevisiae IS2 was screened by the NTG treatment of Saccharomyces cerevisiae KCTC 7911. The mutant was highly resistant to zymolase, which specifically degrades ${\beta}$-1,3-D-glucose chain of ${\beta}$-glucan and mechanical disruption by glass beads. These phenomena demonstrate that the yeast mutant has cell wall structure different from the wild-type. The ${\beta}$-glucan of yeast mutant and wild-type strains was recovered by sequential extraction with NaOH. The injection of ${\beta}$-glucan into the abdominal cavity of mouse resulted in an increase in the number of peritoneal immune cells, NO (nitric oxide) production, and phagocytic activity of macrophage. The number of immune cells was found to be $3.90{\times}10^6\;cells/10\;mL$ and $5.48{\times}10^6\;cells/10\;mL$ with the wild-type and mutant ${\beta}$-glucan, respectively. The effect on the NO production and phagocytic activity of mutant ${\beta}$-glucan were 1.69 and 1.43-fold higher than those of wild-type. These results indicate that the immuno-stimulating activity of alternated ${\beta}$-glucan from mutant yeast is higher than that of wild-type.