• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.325-335
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• 2012

The present study characterized the fast skeletal myosin light chain-2 gene (mlc2f) in the euryhaline Javanese ricefish (Oryzias javanicus: Beloniformes). Coding nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of Javanese ricefish mlc2f were well conserved in the vertebrate lineage. Javanese ricefish mlc2f showed a typical seven-exon structure, and its promoter exhibited transcription factor binding motifs common to most muscle-specific genes. However, Javanese ricefish mlc2f also displayed tandem duplications of intronic sequences in both intron 1 and intron 3. Based on quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, the mlc2f transcripts were highly predominant in skeletal muscles of adults and were differentially modulated during embryonic development. Microinjection of the mlc2f promoter-driven red fluorescent protein (RFP) reporter construct successfully exhibited heterologous expression of the fluorescent reporter, primarily in muscular areas of hatchlings, although the distribution pattern of RFP signals was not uniform due to the mosaic nature of the introduced transgene. Data from this study indicate that the Javanese ricefish mlc2f gene has undergone "intra-intronic" duplication events in a species-specific manner and that the mlc2f regulator may also be useful in heterologous expression assays of the skeletal muscles of this species.

• Mycobiology
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.193-197
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• 2014

Laccase activity of Pleurotus ostreatus is significantly increased by the addition of apple pomace. Among various conditions, the best concentration of apple pomace and cultivation time for the production of laccase by P. ostreatus was 2.5% and 9 days, respectively. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analyses of laccase isoenzyme genes, including pox1, pox3, pox4, poxc, poxa3, and poxa1b, revealed a clear effect of apple pomace on transcription induction. Our findings reveal that the use of apple pomace can be a model for the valuable addition of similar wastes and for the development of a solid-state fermenter and commercial production of oyster mushroom P. ostreatus.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.186-194
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• 2001

Scrub typhus, caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi infection, is clinically and histopathologically characterized by local as well as systemic inflammatory reactions, indicating that orientiae induce mechanisms that amplify the inflammatory response. To reveal underlying mechanisms of chemoattraction and activation of responding leukocytes, expression of chemokine and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-$\alpha$) genes in murine peritoneal macrophages after infection with the obligate intracellular bacterium Ο.tsutsugamushi was investigated. The genes that were unregulated included macrophage inflammatory proteins l$\alpha$/$\beta$(MIP-l$\alpha$/$\beta$), MIP-2, monocyte chemoattractant protein 1(MCP-1), RANTES (regulated upon activation, normal T-cell expressed and secreted), gamma-interferon-inducible protein 10(IP-10) and TNF-$\alpha$. Peak expression of these chemokines and TNF-$\alpha$ was observed between 1 and 3 h after infection. These responses returned to or approached baseline preinfection levels 6 h after challenge. Semiquantitative reverse transcription (RT)-PCR analysis revealed dramatic Increases during infection in the steady-state levels of mRNA ceding for the inhibitory subunit of NF-kB (IkB$\alpha$), whose transcription is enhanced by binding of NF-kB within the IkB$\alpha$promoter region. Thus, Ο. tsutsugamushi appears to be a stung inducer of chemokines and TNF-$\alpha$ which may significantly contribute to inflammation and tissue damage observed in scrub typhus by attracting and activating phagocytic leukocytes.

• Journal of Aquaculture
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.62-68
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• 2004

A cDNA encoding the masu salmon, Oncorhynchus masou, estrogen receptor $\alpha$ (msER$\alpha$) was cloned from the pituitary gland by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). This cDNA contains an open reading frame encoding 513 amino acid residues, and the calculated molecular weight of this protein is about 56,430 Dalton. The amino acid sequences of the DNA binding and ligand binding domains of msER$\alpha$ showed high homology to those of other fish species (84-100%). Reverse transcription PCR analysis showed that the mRNA level of msER$\alpha$ in the pituitary was slightly higher in estradiol-17$\beta$(E2) injected masu salmon than that of control fish. To test the biological activity of msER$\alpha$, the cDNA was ligated to a mammalian expression vector and transfected into a gonadotrope-derived cell line, L$\beta$T2, with a reporter plasmid including estrogen responsive element. Expression of the reporter protein, luciferase, was E2 and msER$\alpha$-dependent. The masu salmon ER$\alpha$ is structurally conserved among teleost species and functions as a transcriptional activator in the pituitary cells.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.67-74
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• 2020

The objective of this study is to investigate the skin whitening and antioxidant effects of the Anemarrhenae Rhizoma extract (ARE). Following the previously studied method, we examined the inhibitory effects of melanin synthesis and tyrosinase activity by using B16F10 cells. First, we measured the Diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay, nitrite scavenging activity, and superoxide dismutase-like activity to verifying antioxidant efficacy according to skin whitening. In addition, we confirmed the skin whitening efficacy of ARE by measuring gene expression associated with a skin whitening by the Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method in B16F10 cells. In this study, we confirmed that ARE has skin whitening and antioxidant effects at high concentrations. In particular, ARE at a concentration of 500 ㎍/ml inhibited the expression of Tyrosinase, TRP-2 (tyrosinase-related protein), and MITF (microphthalmia transcription factor) genes better than Arbutin. In conclusion, our results confirmed that ARE has the potential for development as a skin whitening efficacy substance.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.303-310
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• 2011

We characterized a cytoplasmic actin gene locus in greenling Hexagrammos otakii (Scorpaeniformes). Genomic clones isolated from the greenling DNA library contained two homologous cytoplasmic actin gene copies (HObact2.1 and HObact2.2) in a tail-to-head orientation. Their gene structure is characterized by six translated exons and one non-translated exon. Exon-intron organization and the nucleotide sequences of the two actin gene isoforms are very similar. However, only the HObact2.1 isoform contains microsatellite-like, dinucleotide repeats in the 5'-flanking region (named HOms2002) and intron 1 following the non-translated exon 1 (named HOms769). One microsatellite locus (HOms769) was highly polymorphic while the other (HOms2002) was not. Based on bioinformatic analysis, different transcription factor binding motifs are related to stress and immune responses in the two actin isoforms. Semiquantitative and real-time reverse transcription-PCR assays showed that both isoform transcripts were detectable ubiquitously in all the tissues examined. However, the basal expression levels of each isoform varied across tissues. Overall, the two isoforms showed a similar, but not identical, expression pattern. Our data suggest that the cytoplasmic actin genes may be the result of a recent duplication event in the greenling genome, which has not experienced significant subfunctionalization in their housekeeping roles.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.836-843
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• 2004

Nontypeable H. influenzae (NTHi), a Gram-negative obligate human pathogen, causes pneumonia, chronic bronchitis, and otitis media, and the respiratory epithelium is the first line of defense that copes with the pathogen. In an effort to identify transcriptional responses of human respiratory epithelial cells to infection with NTHi, we examined its differential gene expression using high density cDNA microarrays. BEAS-2B human bronchial epithelial cells were exposed to NTHi for 3 hand 24 h, and the alteration of mRNA expression was analyzed using microarrays consisting of 8,170 human cDNA clones. The results indicated that approximately 2.6% of the genes present on the microarrays increased in expression over 2-fold and 3.8% of the genes decreased during the 24-h infection period. Upregulated genes included cytokines (granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor 2, granulocyte chemotactic protein 2, IL-6, IL-10, IL-8), transcription factors (Kruppel-like factor 7, CCAAT/enhancer binding protein $\beta$, E2F-1, NF-$\kappa$B, cell surface molecules (CD74, ICAM-1, ICAM-2, HLA class I), as well as those involved in signal transduction and cellular transport. Selected genes were further confirmed by reverse-transcription-PCR. These data expand our knowledge of host cellular responses during NTHi infection and should provide a molecular basis for the study of host-NTHi interaction.

• Mycobiology
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.322-330
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• 2014

The aim of this study was to identify and characterize new Flammulina velutipes laccases from its whole-genome sequence. Of the 15 putative laccase genes detected in the F. velutipes genome, four new laccase genes (fvLac-1, fvLac-2, fvLac3, and fvLac-4) were found to contain four complete copper-binding regions (ten histidine residues and one cysteine residue) and four cysteine residues involved in forming disulfide bridges, fvLac-1, fvLac-2, fvLac3, and fvLac-4, encoding proteins consisting of 516, 518, 515, and 533 amino acid residues, respectively. Potential N-glycosylation sites (Asn-Xaa-Ser/Thr) were identified in the cDNA sequence of fvLac-1 (Asn-454), fvLac-2 (Asn-437 and Asn-455), fvLac-3 (Asn-111 and Asn-237), and fvLac4 (Asn-402 and Asn-457). In addition, the first 19~20 amino acid residues of these proteins were predicted to comprise signal peptides. Laccase activity assays and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analyses clearly reveal that $CuSO_4$ affects the induction and the transcription level of these laccase genes.

• The Korean Journal of Zoology
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.196-203
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• 1995

The c-myc proto-oncogene, one of the immediately earlY genes, is expressed in various mammalian cell types and heavily involved in the regulation of cell proliferation and differentiation. To determine endogeneous expression pattern of c-myc gene in preimpBantation mouse embwos, we employed a reverse transcription coupled to polvrnerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Transcript of c-myc was detected at fertilized embryos as a maternal transcript. At the early two-cell stave, transcript of c-myc gene was hardly detected, bu, appeared at late two-cell embryos as a zygotic transcript. The level of c-myc expresion was increased at later stases and peaked at blastocvst stage. To examine the functional role of promoter region for c-myc gene transcription, we fused the 5'upstream region (1.8 kb) including econ 1 of c-myc genomic DNA with E. coli lacE gene fnamed as pcMYC-laczl. pcMYC-lacZ was microiniected into the pronscleus of mouse one-cell embryovs, and p·salactosidase activity was determined tv histochemical staining with X-gal at different stases. f-galactosidase activity was detected only at blastocyst, but not at the earlier stage embryos. This result indicates that c-myc gene is transcriptionallv active during mouse preimplantation development.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.799-811
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• 2005

This study was carried out to examine the potency of the three surface compo- nents from Porphyromonas gingivalis to stimulate the murine macrophage cell line RAW264.7 to synthesize the pro-inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor alpha($TNF-{\alpha}$) and nitric oxide (NO). Lipopolysaccharide(LPS). lipid A-associated proteins(LAP) and saline-extractable surface -associated material(SAM) were isolated from P. gingivalis 381. $TNF-{\alpha}$ release into culture supernatants was determined by two-site ELISA. NO production was assayed by measuring the accumulation of nitrite in culture supernatants. Western blot analysis of iNOS and analysis of reverse transcription(RT)-PCR products were carried out. The surface components extracted from this bacterium were almost equally potent in stimulating release of $TNF-{\alpha}$ and NO by RAW264.7 cells. $TNF-{\alpha}$ that was being measured immunologically was due to activation of $TNF-{\alpha}$ gene transcription. The present study clearly shows that P. gingivalis surface components fully induced iNOS expression in RAW264.7 cells in the absence of other stimuli. The ability of P. gingivalis surface components to promote the production of $TNF-{\alpha}$ and NO may be important in the pathogenesis of inflammatory periodontal disease.