• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.29 no.12
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• pp.1154-1157
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• 2006

The ermK gene from Bacillus lichenformis encodes an inducible rRNA methylase that confers resistance to the macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B antibiotics. The ermK mRNA leader sequence has a total length of 357 nucleotides and encodes a 14-amino acid leader peptide together with its ribosome binding site. The secondary structure of ermK leader mRNA and a leader peptide sequence have been reported as the elements that control expression. In this study, the contribution of specific leader peptide amino acid residues to induction of ermK was studied using the PCR-based megaprimer mutation method. ermK methylases with altered leader peptide codons were translationally fused to E. coli ${\beta}-galactosidase$ reporter gene. The deletion of the codons for Thr-2 through Ser-4 reduced inducibility by erythromycin, whereas that for Thr-2 and His-3 was not. The replacement of the individual codons for Ser-4, Met-5 and Arg-6 with termination codon led to loss of inducibility, but stop mutation of codon Phe-9 restored inducibility by erythromycin. Collectively, these findings suggest that the codons for residue 4, 5 and 6 comprise the critical region for induction. The stop mutation at Leu-7 expressed constitutively ermK gene. Thus, ribosome stalling at codon 7 appears to be important for ermK induction.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.35 no.8
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• pp.883-888
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• 2011

Laparoscopic surgery is being used in various surgical fields because it minimizes scarring. Laparoscopic operations require practical hand skills, so surgeons train on animals and via surgery training tool sets. However, these tool sets do not give the surgeon the sensation of touching real organs. A recently developed laparoscope simulator has a high friction force along the translational axis and a high gravity force along the pitch axis, and therefore it does not permit the operator to control his or her hands delecately. In the paper, the friction force along the axes is auumed to depend on the veolcity, and the gravity force on the angle and distance. We develop a compensation model that combines the gravity and friction force models.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.1043-1048
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• 2012

The COPS3 gene has stimulating effect on cell proliferation and progression of osteosarcomas and related cells. However, the features of COPS3 and its potential application as a therapeutic target in other cancers has not yet been studied. In this study, therefore, the effect of COPS3 silencing via COPS3 siRNA on lung cancer cell proliferation was examined. Expression levels of COPS3 gene in COPS3 siRNA infected cells and control siRNA infected cells were compared with real time PCR and Western blot analysis. Cell proliferation levels were comprehensively analyzed by MTT, BrdU incorporationy, and colony formation assays. For mechanistic assessment the effects of COPS3 silencing on cell cycle and apoptosis were analyzed using flow cytometry. Results showed that successful silencing of the COPS3 gene at both translational and transcriptional levels significantly reduced the proliferation and colony formation by lung cancer cells (p<0.01). Flow cytometry showed cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase after COPS3 silencing, and more importantly, apoptosis was induced as a result of COPS3 knockdown, which negatively affected cell survival. Therefore, these results provide another piece of important evidence that the COPS3 gene expressed in lung cancer cells may play a critical role in stimulating proliferation. Down-regulation of COPS3 could significantly inhibit lung cancer cell growth, which was most likely mediated via induction of cell cycle arrest in G0/G1 phase and apoptosis.

• BMB Reports
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.40-45
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• 2011

Extracellular superoxide dismutase (EC-SOD) is an antioxidant enzyme that protects cells and tissues from extracellular damage by eliminating superoxide anion radicals produced during metabolism. Two different forms of EC-SOD exist, and their different enzyme activities are a result of different disulfide bond patterns. Although only two folding variants have been discovered so far, five folding variants are theoretically possible. Therefore, we constructed five different mutant EC-SOD expression vectors by substituting cysteine residues with serine residues and evaluated their expression levels and enzyme activities. The mutant EC-SODs were expressed at lower levels than that of wild-type EC-SOD, and all of the mutants exhibited inhibited extracellular secretion, except for C195S ECSOD. Finally, we demonstrated that co-expression of wild-type EC-SOD and any one of the mutant EC-SODs resulted in reduced secretion of wild-type EC-SOD. We speculate that mutant EC-SOD causes malfunctions in systems such as antioxidant systems and sensitizes tissues to ROS-mediated diseases.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.175-182
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• 1999

In the present study, the underlying mechanisms for diabetic functional derangement and insulin effect on diabetic cardiomyopathy were investigated with respect to sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) $Ca^{2+}-ATPase$ and phospholamban at the transcriptional and translational levels. The maximal $Ca^{2+}$ uptake and the affinity of $Ca^{2+}-ATPase$ for $Ca^{2+}$ were decreased in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rat cardiac SR, however, even minimal amount of insulin could reverse both parameters. Levels of both mRNA and protein of phospholamban were significantly increased in diabetic rat hearts, whereas the mRNA and protein levels of SR $Ca^{2+}-ATPase$ were significantly decreased. In case of phospholamban, insulin treatment reverses these parameters to normal levels. Minimal amount of insulin could reverse the protein levels; however, it could not reverse the mRNA level of SR $Ca^{2+}-ATPase$ at all. Thus, the decreased SR $Ca^{2+}$ uptake appear to be largely attributed to the decreased SR $Ca^{2+}-ATPase$ level, which is further impaired due to the inhibition by the increased level of phospholamban. These results indicate that insulin is involved in the control of intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ in the cardiomyocyte through multiple target proteins via multiple mechanisms for the decrease in the mRNA for both SR $Ca^{2+}-ATPase$ and phospholamban which are unknown and needs further study.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.199-205
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• 2009

HSP70 has widely been induced in in vivo hyperthermia conditions in various organisms to study gene regulation and recently neuroprotectve roles of the induced gene expression under varying conditions. We investigated different responses among various tissues in zebrafish under heat shock to evaluate whether spatial and temporal expression pattern of zebrafish (z) hsp70 in transcriptional and translational level under heat shock stress in different brain regions. Heat shock groups were given for 1 h at $37^{\circ}C$ after recovery by transferring the treated animals back to $28^{\circ}C$ for 1, 2 and 24 h for recovery, respectively. Control (CTRL) group was kept at $28^{\circ}C$. At the end of treatments, five animals were collected and used for isolation of total RNAs and peptides from the corresponding tissues. Expression of zhsp70 mRNA showed different patterns in recovery periods in the tissues including the brain, eye, intestines, muscles, heart and testis by RT-PCR. Unlike the RT-PCR analysis, Northern blot analysis demonstrated nearly 30-fold increase in zhsp70 at 1 h heat shock, suggesting that RT-PCR may not be appropriate in unmasking regulation of the time-dependent zhsp70 expression. In the experiment involving different brain regions, the cerebellum showed gradual activation at 1 h to R1h and decreases in R2h and R24h, while the medulla oblongata and optic tectum showed gradual increase at R1h and decrease at R24h, indicating that different brain tissues respond specifically to heat shock in inducing zhsp70 and recovering from the heat shock status. Western blot analysis also demonstrated that the intracellular levels of zHSP70 in three different brain regions including the cerebellum, medulla oblongata and optic tectum are differently induced and recovered to normal state. These results clearly demonstrate that different regions of the body and the brain tissues are responding differently to heat shock in the aspects of its level of expression and speed of recovery.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.28-35
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• 2008

Purpose: The nitric oxide (NO) release by inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) is the key events in macrophage response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) which is suggested to be a crucial mediator for inflammatory and innate immune responses. NO is an important mediator involved in many host defense action and may also lead to a harmful host response to bacterial infection. However, given the importance of iNOS in a variety of pathophysiological conditions, control of its expression and signaling events in response to LPS has been the subject of considerable investigation. Materials and Methods: The Raw264.7 macrophage cell line was used to observe LPS-stimulated iNOS expression. The expression of iNOS is observed by Western blot analysis and real-time RT-PCR. Protein kinase C $(PKC)-{\alpha}$ overexpressing Raw264.7 cells are established to determine the involvement of $PKC-{\alpha}$ in LPS-mediated iNOS expression. $NF-{\kappa}B$ activity is measured by $I{\kappa}B{\alpha}$ degradation and $NF-{\kappa}B$ luciferase activity assay. Results: We found that various PKC isozymes regulate LPS-induced iNOS expression at the transcriptional and translational levels. The involvement of $PKC-{\alpha}$ in LPS-mediated iNOS induction was further confirmed by increased iNOS expression in $PKC-{\alpha}$ overexpressing cells. $NF-{\kappa}B$ dependent transactivation by LPS was observed and $PKC-{\alpha}$ specific inhibitory peptide abolished this activation, indicating that $NF-{\kappa}B$ activation is dependent on $PKC-{\alpha}$. Conclusion: Our data suggests that $PKC-{\alpha}$ is involved in LPS-mediated iNOS expression and that its downstream target is $NF-{\kappa}B$. Although $PKC-{\alpha}$ is a crucial mediator in the iNOS regulation, other PKC isozymes may contribute LPS-stimulated iNOS expression. This finding is needed to be elucidated in further study.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.155-161
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• 2005

Proteomics is a useful approach to know protein expression, post-translational modification and protein function. We investigated the protein expression pattern and identity in chickens fed with the tissue culture medium waste after harvest of Korean wild ginseng (TCM-KWG) (Panax ginseng). Two groups (n=60/group) of day old broiler chickens were administered with 0 (control) and 0.8% (treatment) TCM-KWG through drinking water. After 5 weeks, we examined the protein expression pattern of fibularis longus and superficial pectoral muscle by Two-dimensional electrophoresis analysis. Interestingly, TCM-KWG treatment significantly increased five spot's density, and markedly reduced five spot's density in the muscles. We identified 10 proteins (desmin, myosin light chain 1, heat shock 25 kDa protein, collapsin response mediator protein-2A, alpha enolase, vimentin, actin alpha 1, my023 protein, pyruvate kinase and troponin T) by the matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight (MALDI-TOF).

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2018.10a
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• pp.444-447
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• 2018

Baculovirus expression systems have many known advantages including fast and cost-effective methods to generate large amounts of recombinant proteins in comparison to bacterial expression systems, particularly those requiring complex post-translational modifications. Especially, recombinant baculoviruses can transfer their vectors and express their recombinant proteins in a wide range of mammalian cell types. In this study, baculoviral vectors which were reconstructed from pcDNA3.1 vector, were recombined with cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter,uroplakin II promoter, polyhedron promoter, vesicular stomatitis virus G (VSVG), enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP), and protein transduction domain (PTD). These recombinant vectors were infected with various cells and cell lines. The baculovirus vector thus developed was analyzed by comparing the metastasis and expression of the recombinant genes with conventional vectors. These results suggest that the baculovirus vector has higher efficiency in metastasis and expression than the control vector.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.38 no.8
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• pp.723-728
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• 2015

Smurf2, a member of the HECT domain E3 ligase family, is well known for its role as a negative regulator of TGF-${\beta}$ signaling by targeting Smads and TGF-${\beta}$ receptor. However, the regulatory mechanism of Smurf2 has not been elucidated. Arginine methylation is a type of post-translational modification that produces monomethylated or dimethylated arginine residues. In this report, we demonstrated methylation of Smurf2 by PRMT1. In vitro methylation assay showed that Smurf2, not Smurf1, was methylated by PRMT1. Among the type I PRMT family, only PRMT1 showed activity for Smurf2. Transiently expressed Smurf2 was methylated by PRMT1, indicating Smurf2 is a novel substrate of PRMT1. Using deletion constructs, methylation sites were shown to be located within amino acid region 224-298 of Smurf2. In vitro methylation assay following point mutation of putative methylation sites confirmed the presence of Arg232, Arg234, Arg237, and Arg239. Knockdown of PRMT1 resulted in increased Smurf2 expression as well as inhibition of TGF-${\beta}$-mediated reporter activity. Although it is unclear whether or not increased Smurf2 expression can be directly attributed to lack of methylation of arginine residues, our results suggest that methylation by PRMT1 may regulate Smurf2 stability and control TGF-${\beta}$ signaling.