• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.75-79
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• 1991

The yeast L-A virus (4.6 kb dsRNA genome) encodes the major coat protein and a "gag-pol" fusion minor coat protein that separately encapsidate itself and $M_{1}$, a 1.8 kb dsRNA satellite virus encoding a secreted protein toxin (the killer toxin). The teast chromosomal SKI genes prevent viral cytopathology by lowering the virus copy number. Thus, $ski^{-}$ mutants are ts and cs for growth. We transformed a ski2-2 virus-infested mutant with a yeast bank in a high copy cloning vector and selected the rare healthy transformants for analysis. One type of transformant segregated M-O L-A-O cells with high frequency. Elimination of the DNA clone from the ski2-2 strain eliminated this phinotype and introduction of the DNA clone recovered from such transformants into the parent ski2-2 strain, or into ski3 or ski6 mutants gave the same phenotype. This killer-curing phenotype was due to the curing of the helper L-A dsRNA virus. The 6.5 kb insert only had this activity when carried on a high copy vector and in $ski^{-}$ cells (not in $SKI^{+}$ cells). This 6.5 kb insert acts as a mutagen on L-A dsRNA producing a high rate of deletion mutations.mutations.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.7
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• pp.1057-1065
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• 2002

The antagonistic activities of 30 strains of lactobacilli against Helicobacter pylori were determined and Lactobacillus helveticus CU631 has been selected as the strain which possesses the strongest inhibitory effect in the disc diffusion assay showing inhibition zone diameter of $10{\pm}1.5mm$, whereas those of L. plantarum and L. fermentum have been shown to be $4.0{\pm}0.6mm$. H. pylori G88016 revealed the highest vacuolating toxin producing activity among the 8 strains, the inhibitory activity of L. helveticus CU631 in vacuolating toxin producing activity of H. pylori manifested in the co-culture of two strains and in the 5:5 mixture of supernatant of the two strains. Both L. helveticus CU631 and cell free culture supernatant had a strong inhibitory activities in urease and cytotoxin producing activities of H. pylori NCTC11637 and CJH12. An accelerated proteolytic activity of water soluble peptides by L. helveticus CU631 during the refrigeration storage has been manifested in the cream cheese. DNA seqences of 16S-23S ribosomal RNA spacer region showed typical pattern among the various strains of L. helveticus, which could be used in the identification of L. helveticus CU 631.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.829-837
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• 1996

Clostridium perfringens has been identified as a causative organism in necrotic enteritis in chicken. The bacterium has been classified into five toxigenic types (A through E) based on the pattern of the production of major lethal toxins. Seroneutralization with mice or guinea pigs usually has been used to type the organism. Of the types, types A and C of the bacterium had been recognized as the major pathogenic types in chicken. In this experiment, we isolated nine field strains of C perfringens from chicken showing necrotic enteritis in clinical symptoms and pathologic findings and identified by biochemical tests. In order to type the organism, a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used with primers on major lethal toxin genes instead of seroneutralization. Amplification of only a toxin gene with the PCR suggested that the disease in chicken was due to type A of C perfringens in Korea. Furthermore, the PCR method can be replaced with seroneutralization to type C perfringens in future.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.289-297
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• 1991

The insecticidal protein gene in the pKL-20-1 clone derived from Bacillus thuringiensis serovar. kurstaki plasmid was subcloned in the plant shuttle vector, pGA643. The 7.3 kb fragment was cloned in the BglII and Hpal sites of pGA643 vector and expressed in E. coli S17-1, which produced insecticidal proteins killing Bombyx mori larvae. The clone was named pHL-20. The protoplast formation, calli induction and plantlet regeneration of Nicotiana tabacum was carried out. A tremendous number of mesophyll protoplasts of N. tabacum were formed, up to 7$\times$105 protoplast per ml, for 20 hours in darkness in the enzyme solution of 0.5% cellulase and 0.1% macerosin, pH 5.8. The viabilities of the protoplasts were maintained above 80% for 6 days in the media containing 2mg/1 of NAA and 1mg/1 of kinetin. Calli were induced from the protoplasts and leaves of the N. tabacum on MS medium containing 0.5mg/1 BAP. Under the culture conditions the protoplasts underwent repeated cell division into calli. Plantlets were regenerated from callus cultures derived from protoplast and leaves. Shoots were induced in a medium containing 1mg/1 of BAP.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.338-342
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• 1999

Twenty three strains of Escherichia (E) coli O157 : H7 isolated from Korea, Japan, USA were analyzed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) of XbaI-digested chromosomal DNA and multiplex polymerase chain reaction. Various PFGE patterns of E. coli O157 : H7 were found on the same farm. Most of the E, coli O157 : H7 strains had shiga-like toxin (slt) II gene only (43.5%) or both slt I and slt II genes(30.4%). eaeA gene was highly conserved in the E. coli O157 : H7. There was no correlation between PFGE and slt gene patterns. The results indicate that various genotypes of E. coli O157 : H7 have spread throughout the country and genomic DNA patterns generated by PFGE are highly specific for different strains and have significant value in epidemiologic investigations of infectious disease outbreaks.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.173-186
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• 2003

The transition metal cadmium is a serious occupational and environmental toxin. To inhibit cadmium-induced damage, cells respond by increasing the expression of genes that encode stress-responsive proteins. The metal-regulatory transcription factor 1 (MTF-1) is a key regulator of heavy-metal induced transcription of metallothionein-I and II and other genes in mammals and other metazoans. Transcriptional activation of genes by MTF-1 is mediated through binding to metal-responsive elements in the target gene promoters. Phosphorylation of MTF-1 plays a critical role in the cadmium-inducible transcriptional activation of metallothionein and other responses. Studies using inhibitors indicate that multiple kinases and signal transduction cascades, including those mediated by protein kinase C, tyrosine kinase and casein kinase II, are essential for cadmium-mediated transcriptional activation. In addition, calcium signaling is also involved in regulating metal-activated transcription. In several species, cadmium induces heat shock genes. Recently much progress has been made in elucidating the cellular machinery that regulates this metal-inducible gene expression. This review summarizes these recent advances in understanding the role of some known cadmium-responsive genes and the molecular mechanisms that activate metal-responsive transcription factor, MTF-1.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.99-104
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• 2018

Streptococcus pneumoniae is one of the major pathogens in community-acquired diseases, and it contains several factors that promote its pathogenesis, including pneumolysin (PLY). PLY is a member of the cholesterol-dependent cytolysin family, which attacks cholesterol-containing membranes, thereby forming ring-shaped pores. Thus, it is a major key target for vaccines against pneumococcal disease. We cloned the PLY gene from S. pneumoniae D39 and inserted it into the pQE-30 vector. Recombinant PLY (rPLY) was overexpressed in Escherichia coli M15 and purified by $Ni^{2+}$ affinity chromatography. Similarly, a PLY-EGFP fusion gene was produced by inserting the EGFP gene at the 3' end of the PLY gene in the same vector, and the recombinant protein was purified. Sodium dodecyl sulfate - polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) showed that both recombinant proteins were purified. rPLY exhibited significant hemolytic activity against 1% human red blood cells (RBCs). Complete hemolysis was obtained at 500 ng/ml, and 50% hemolysis was found with a 240 ng/ml concentration. In contrast, rPLY-EGFP did not show hemolytic activity. However, rPLY-EGFP did bind the RBC membrane, indicating that rPLY-EGFP lost hemolytic activity via EGFP fusion, while retaining its membrane-binding ability. These data suggest that PLY's C terminus is important for its hemolytic activity. Therefore, these two recombinant proteins can be extremely useful for investigating the toxin mechanism of PLY and cell damage during pneumonia.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.38 no.sup2
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• pp.317-324
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• 2008

Purpose: Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans was associated with localized aggressive periodontitis, endocarditis, meningitis, and osteomyelitis. The cytolethal distending toxin (CDT) of A. actinomycetemcomitans was considered as a key factor of these diseases is composed of five open reading frames (ORFs). Among of them, An enzymatic subunit of the CDT, CdtB has been known to be internalized into the host cell in order to induce its genotoxic effect. However, CdtB can not be localized in host cytoplasm without the help of a heterodimeric complex consisting of CdtA and CdtC. So, some studies suggested that CdtC functions as a ligand to interact with GM3 ganglioside of host cell surface. The precise role of the CdtC protein in the mechanism of action of the holotoxin is unknown at the present time. The aim of this study was to generate recombinant CdtC proteins expression from A. actinomycetemcomitans, through gene cloning and protein used to investigate the function of Cdt C protein in the bacterial pathogenesis. Materials and Methods: The genomic DNA of A. actinomycetemcomitans Y4 (ATCC29522) was isolated using the genomic DNA extraction kit and used as template to yield cdtC genes by PCR. The amplifed cdtC genes were cloned into T-vector and cloned cdt C gene was then subcloned to pET28a expression vector. The pET28a-cdtC plasmid expressed in BL21 (DE3) Escherichia coli system. Diverse conditons were tested to opitimize the expression and purification of functional CdtC protein in E. coli. Results: In this study we reconstructed CdtC subunit of A. actinomycetemcomitans Y4 and comfirmed the recombinant CdtC expression by SDS-PAGE and Western Blotting. The expression level of the recombinant CdtC was about 2% of total bacterial proteins. Conclusion: The lab condition of procedure for the purification of functionally active recombinant CdtC protein is established. The active recombinant CdtC protein will serve to examine the role of CdtC proteins in the host recognition and enzyme activity of CDT and investigate the pathological process of A. actinomycetemcomitans in periodontal disease.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.112-112
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• 2001

2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) is an environmental toxin that activates the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) and disrupts multiple endocrine signaling pathways by enhancing ligand metabolism, altering hormone synthesis, down regulating receptor levels, and interfering with gene transcription. And TCDD-mediated gene transactivation via the AhR has been shown to be dependent upon estrogen receptor (ER) expression in human breast cancer cells. In the present study, we have examined the effect of natural estrogen, phytoestrognes and environmental estrogens on the regulation of CYP1A1 gene expression in MCF-7 human breast cancer cell line. that ER and AhR are co-expressed. pCYP1A1 -luc reporter gene was transiently transfected into MCF-7 cells. These cells were treated with various chemicals and then luciferase assay was carried out. 17be1a-estradiol significantly inhibited TCDD stimulated luciferase activity dose dependently and this inhibition was partially recovered by concomitant treatment of tamoxifen. 17beta-estradiol metabolites, 2-hydroxyestradiol and 16alpha-estriol resulted in less potent inhibitory effect than estradiol and synthetic estrogen, diethylstilbestrol (DES) showed no effect on CYP1A1 gene expression. This study demonstrated that estrogen down-regulated TCDD stimulated CYP1A1 expression via ER mediation. And we have found out that several flavonoids such as genistein, kaempferol, daidzein, naringenin, and alkylphenols such as nonylphenol, 4-octylphenol and resveratrol also inhibited TCDD induced CYP1A1 expression like estrogen.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.33-42
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• 2014

Nivalenol (NIV) and deoxynivalenol (DON) are predominant Fusarium-producing mycotoxins found in grains, which are mainly produced by Fusarium asiaticum and F. graminearum. NIV is found in most of cereals grown in Korea, but the genetic basis for NIV production by F. asiaticum has not been extensively explored. In this study, 12 genes belonging to the trichothecene biosynthetic gene cluster were compared at the transcriptional level between two NIV-producing F. asiaticum and four DON-producing F. graminearum strains. Chemical analysis revealed that time-course toxin production patterns over 14 days did not differ between NIV and DON strains, excluding F. asiaticum R308, which was a low NIV producer. Both quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Northern analysis revealed that the majority of TRI gene transcripts peaked at day 2 in both NIV and DON producers, which is 2 days earlier than trichothecene accumulation in liquid medium. Comparison of the gene expression profiles identified an NIV-specific pattern in two transcription factor-encoding TRI genes (TRI6 and TRI10) and TRI101, which showed two gene expression peaks during both the early and late incubation periods. In addition, the amount of trichothecenes produced by both DON and NIV producers were correlated with the expression levels of TRI genes, regardless of the trichothecene chemotypes. Therefore, the reduced production of NIV by R308 compared to NIV or DON by the other strains may be attributable to the significantly lower expression levels of the TRI genes, which showed early expression patterns.