• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.622-627
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• 2002

Diphtheria toxin repressor (DtxR) binds to approximately 30 to 35-bp regions containing an interrupted 9-bp inverted repeat within a 19-bp core sequence. The core sequence is fairly conserved and critical for DtxR binding. The flanking regions that are consisted of 5 to 8 more of nucleotides from the core are also required for DtxR binding. The nucleotides in both flanking regions are A-T rich. To examine whether the A-T nucleotides in both flanking regions from the core have significant roles for DtxR binding, a DNA fragment was constructed based on the diphtheria tox promoter/operator, and DNA fragments with substitution of A and T nucleotides In the flanking regions to G and C were also constructed. To assess the effect of these substitutions on binding of DtxR and repressibility by DtxR, $\beta$-galactosidase activity from lacZ fused to the region was assessed. Gel mobility shift of the region by purified DtxR was also examined. The DNA fragments containing the mutations in the flanking regions still exhibited repression and mobility shift with DtxR. The core segment with the mutation is still, therefore, recognized by DtxR. Nonetheless, the results from the assays indicated that the substitution significantly decreased repression of the operator by DtxR in vivo under high-iron condition and decreased binding of DtxR to the operator. These results suggest that A and T nucleotides fur both flanking regions are preferred for the binding of DtxR.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.150-155
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• 2005

The ethanolic extract of chestnut (Castanea crenata S. et Z., Fagaceae) inner shell (CISE) and one of its components, ellagic acid (EA), were evaluated for their protective effects against 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazine (DPPH) free radical generation and hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative DNA damage in a mammalian cell line. CISE and EA were shown to possess the free radical scavenging effect against DPPH radical generation, significantly. They were also found to strongly inhibit hydrogen peroxide-induced DNA damage from Chinese hamster lung (CHL) cell, assessed by single cell gel electrophoresis assay and 8-hydroxy -2'-deoxy guanosine (8-OH-2'dG) assay. Furthermore, topical application of CISE [$12.5\%$(w/w) cream] and ellagic acid [$1.0\%$(w/w) cream] for 14 days potently inhibited malondialdehyde (MDA) formation of mouse dorsal skin (a marker of lipid peroxidation) induced by ultraviolet B exposure. Therefore, CISE and its component, ellagic acid, may be the useful natural antioxidants by scavenging free radicals, inhibition of lipid peroxidation and protecting oxidative DNA damage when topically applied.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.139-146
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• 2000

7- Bromomethylbenz[a]anthracene is a known mutagen and carcinogen. The two major DNA adducts produced by this carcinogen, i.e., $N^2$-(benz[a]anthracen-7-yl methyl)-2'-deoxyguanosine (2, b[a]$a^2$G) and $N^6$-(benz[a]anthracen-7-ylmethyl)-2'-deoxyadenosine (4, b[a]$a^6$/A), as wel 1 as the simpler benzylated analogs,$N^2$-benzyl-2'deoxyguanosine (1, $bn^2$G) and $N^6$-benzyl-2'-deoxyadenosine (3, $bn^6$/A), were prepared by direct aralkylation of 2'-deoxyguanosine and 2'-deoxyadenosine. To determine the site-specific mutagenicity of these bulky exocyclic amino-substituted adducts, the suitably protected nucleosides were incorporated into 16-base oligodeoxyribonucleotides in place of a normal guanine or adenine residues which respectively are part of the ATG initiation codon for the lac Z' \alpha-complementation gene by using an in situ activation approach and automated phosphite triester synthetic methods. The base composition and the incorporation of the bulky adducts into synthetic oligonucleotides were characterized after purification of the modified oligonucleotides by enzymatic digestion and HPLC analysis.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.38 no.11
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• pp.1007-1012
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• 2015

EphA7 is a key molecule in regulating the development of the dien- and mesencephalon. To get insight into the mechanism of how EphA7 gene expression is regulated during the dorsal specification of the dien- and mesencephalon, we investigated the cis-acting regulatory sequence driving EphA7 to the dorsal midline of the dien- and mesencephalon. Transgenic LacZ reporter analysis, using overlapping EphA7 BACs, was used to narrow down the dorsal midline-specific enhancer, revealing the 25.3 kb genomic region as the enhancer candidate. Strikingly, this genomic DNA was located far downstream of the EphA7 transcription start site, +302.6 kb to +327.9 kb. Further enhancer mapping, using comparative genomic analysis and transgenic methods, showed that the 187 bp genomic DNA alone, approximately 305 kb downstream of the EphA7 transcription start site, was sufficient to act as the dorsal midline-specific enhancer of EphA7. Importantly, our results indicate that the 187 bp dorsal midline-specific enhancer is critically regulated by homeobox transcription factors during the development of the dien- and mesencephalon.

• BMB Reports
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.445-453
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• 2004

We identified apoptosis as being a significant mechanism of toxicity following the exposure of HeLa cell cultures to abrin holotoxin, which is in addition to its inhibition of protein biosynthesis by N-glycosidase activity. The treatment of HeLa cell cultures with abrin resulted in apoptotic cell death, as characterized by morphological and biochemical changes, i.e., cell shrinkage, internucleosomal DNA fragmentation, the occurrence of hypodiploid DNA, chromatin condensation, nuclear breakdown, DNA single strand breaks by TUNEL assay, and phosphatidylserine (PS) externalization. This apoptotic cell death was accompanied by caspase-9 and caspase-3 activation, as indicated by the cleavage of caspase substrates, which was preceded by mitochondrial cytochrome c release. The broad-spectrum caspase inhibitor, benzyloxycarbonyl-Val-Ala-Asp-fluoromethyl ketone (zVAD-fmk), prevented abrin-triggered caspase activation and partially abolished apoptotic cell death, but did not affect mitochondrial cytochrome c release. These results suggest that the release of mitochondrial cytochrome c, and the sequential caspase-9 and caspase-3 activations are important events in the signal transduction pathway of abrin-induced apoptotic cell death in the HeLa cell line.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.387-391
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• 2005

Competitive polymerase chain reaction (cPCR) was used to develop a direct enumeration method of Listeria monocytogenes in pork meat. Pork meat was artificially inoculated with L. monocytogenes and DNA was extracted using guanidine thiocyanate-phenol-chloroform and subjected to PCR amplification. Sixteen primer sets for L. monocytogenes hlyA gene were tested for sensitive detection and the DG69/DG74 primer set was selected. The detection limit achieved with this primer set was as low as 860 colony-forming units (cfu) per 0.1 g of pork meat. When the samples were cultured at $30^{\circ}C$ for 16 hr in Brain Heart Infusion (BHI) medium, even a single bacterium could be detected with this primer set by PCR. For cPCR, the hlyA gene, which features a 148 bp-deletion, was cloned in the pGEM-4Z vector. A known amount of competitor DNA which has the same primer binding sites was co-amplified with L. monocytogenes total DNA from the artificially inoculated pork meat. The cell-number determined by cPCR was approximately equal to cfu from the Most Probable Number (MPN) method. The whole procedure took only 5 hr.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Developmental Biology Conference
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• 2005.07a
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• pp.48-48
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• 2005

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.28 no.12
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• pp.2543-2545
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• 2007

• The Microorganisms and Industry
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.2-9
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• 1991

All of four genes are cloned and DNA sequence analysis have now revealed that these four genes encode a family of proteins with similar amino acid sequence. These proteins show no extensive similarities to any known proteins (Haarer et al., 1991). Among them, CDC3 gene is fused with E. coli lacZ and trpE genes and antibodies against the CDC3 gene product are produced. These antibodies are used to check the localization of this product to the vicinity of the 10 -nm filaments in the mother-bud neck.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.376-380
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• 2011

The bacterial speck of tomato caused by Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato leads to serious economic losses especially on fruits of susceptible genotype. Thus, Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato is a plant quarantine bacterium in many countries including Korea. In this study, we developed specific PCR assays for detection of the bacterium from tomato seeds. A specific primer set is designed from the hrpZ gene for specific detection of Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato. A 501 bp PCR product corresponding to hrpZ gene was amplified only form Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato strains, but no PCR product was amplified from other tomato bacterial pathogens, such as Pseudomonas syringae pv. glycinea, P. syringae pv. maculicola, P. syringae pv. atropurpurea, P. syringae pv. morsprunorum, and from other P. syringae pathovar strains. The nested-PCR primer set corresponding to an internal fragment of the 501 bp sequence (hrpZ) gine was used to specific detection of Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato in tomato seed. A 119 bp PCR product using nested PCR primer was highly specific and sensitive to detect low level of Pseudomonas syrigae pv. tomato in tomato seeds. We believe that the PCR assays developed in this study is very useful to detect Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato from the tomato seeds.