• Rapid Communication in Photoscience
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.28-31
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• 2014

Loss of chlorophyll is the visible symptom of leaf senescence and staygreen refers to the delayed leaf senescence in plants. The staygreen gene (SGR) in rice (Oryza sativa L.) has been identified as its mutation maintains greenness during leaf senescence, and encodes a chloroplast protein required for the initiation of chlorophyll breakdown in plants. In this study, we isolated a rice SGR-homologous gene in creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.), and transgenic creeping bentgrass plants were obtained by introducing pCAMBIA3301 vector harboring antisense SGR gene under control of the senescence-specific SAG12 promoter. Transgenic plants were selected by herbicide resistance assays and genomic integration of the transgenes was confirmed by PCR analysis. Subsequent analyses demonstrated the staygreen phenotype of the transgenic creeping bentgrass plants with decreased chlorophyll loss during leaf senescence. These results suggest that the antisense SGR expression in creeping bentgrass delays leaf senescence, which provides a way to develop genetically engineered turfgrass varieties with the commercially useful staygreen trait.

• BMB Reports
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.220-225
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• 2017

Antisense transcripts were initially identified as transcriptional noise, but have since been reported to play an important role in the quality control of miRNA functions. In this report, we tested the hypothesis that heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein K (hnRNPK) regulates miRNA function via competitive endogenous RNAs, such as pseudogenes, long non-coding RNAs, and antisense transcripts. Based on analyses of RNA sequencing data, the knockdown of hnRNPK decreased the antisense PTOV1-AS1 transcript which harbors five binding sites for miR-1207-5p. We identified heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) mRNA as a novel target of miR-1207-5p by western blotting and Ago2 immunoprecipitation. The knockdown of hnRNPK or PTOV1-AS1 suppressed HO-1 expression by increasing the enrichment of HO-1 mRNA in miR-1207-5p-mediated miRISC. Downregulation of HO-1 by a miR-1207-5p mimic or knockdown of hnRNPK and PTOV1-AS1 inhibited the proliferation and clonogenic ability of HeLa cells. Taken together, our results demonstrate that hnRNPK-regulated PTOV1-AS1 modulates HO-1 expression via miR-1207-5p.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.341-345
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• 2009

MiRNAs are non-coding RNAs that play a role in the regulation of major processes. The inhibition of miRNAs using antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) is a unique and effective technique for the characterization and subsequent therapeutic targeting of miRNA function. Recent advances in ASO chemistry have been used to increase both the resistance to nucleases and the target affinity and specificity of these ASOs. Peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) are artificial oligonucleotides constructed on a peptide-like backbone. PNAs have a stronger affinity and greater specificity to DNA or RNA than natural nucleic acids and are resistant to nucleases, which is an essential characteristic for a miRNA inhibitor that will be exposed to serum and cellular nucleases. For increasing cell penetration, PNAs were conjugated with cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) at N-terminal. Among the tested CPPs, Tat-modified peptide-conjugated PNAs have most effective function for miRNA inhibition. PNA-based ASO was more effective miRNA inhibitor than other DNA-based ASOs and did not show cytotoxicity at concentration up to 1,000 nM. The effects of PNA-based ASOs were shown to persist for 9 days. Also, PNA-based ASOs showed considerable stability at storage temperature. These results suggest that PNA-based ASOs are more effective ASOs of miRNA than DNA-based ASOs and PNA-based ASO technology, compared with other technologies used to inhibit miRNA activity can be an effective tool for investigating miRNA functions.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.300-307
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• 2007

Previously, a chloroplast-localized Cu,Zn superoxide dismutase (chCu,ZnSOD) was isolated from lily and the sense- and antisense- sequences of the lily chCu,ZnSOD were used to transform potato plants. Two selected lines, the sense- and anti-sense strand of transgenic plants, were further characterized for resistance to Erwinia carotovora, which is a severe pathogen affecting potato plants. Only the sense-strand transgenic potato, which contained less $O_2^{.-}$ and more $H_2O_2$ than wild-type and antisense-strand transgenic plants, showed increased resistance to E. carotovora. Additional studies using $O_2^{.-}$ or $H_2O_2$ scavengers in wild-type, sense-strand, and antisense-strand transgenic plants suggest that resistance to E. carotovora is induced by reduced $O_2^{.-}$ and is not influenced by $H_2O_2$. To the best of our knowledge, this report is the first study suggesting that resistance to E. carotovora is enhanced by reduced $O_2^{.-}$, and not by increased amounts of $H_2O_2$.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.435-440
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• 1996

The effect of benzalkonium chloride on skin permeability of partially modified antisense phosphorothioate oligonucleotides (PS-ODN), which are designed as scar formation inhibitor, was investigated using Franz Diffusion Cell. When the concentration ratio of PS-ODN-quarternary ammonium salt complex is more than 1:100, the apparent partition coefficient (APC) of each complex was increased in the following order; tetraphenyl phosphonium chloride (TPP) < cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide(CTAB) < benzalkonium chloride (BZ). The permeability of PS-ODN through the rat skin increased in the presence of BZ. The fluxs of PS-ODN with BZ were increased by addition of Pluronic F 68 or Triton X-100 to phosphate buffered saline (PBS), respectively. When the mole ratio of PS-ODN to BZ is 1:10, the fluxs penetrated of PS-ODN with BZ was greatest. The increase of the permeability in the presence of BZ might be due to the formation of lipophilic ion-pair complex between PS-ODN and BZ. By regulation of mole ratio of PS-ODN to BZ, the development of topical dosage forms using PS-ODN as scar formation inhibitor will be possible with minimal systemic exposure.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.367-373
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• 2000

In the present study we determined if NELL2, a neural tissue-specific protein containing 6 epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like repeat domains, plays an important role in the regulation of puberty initiation in the rat hypothalamus. We origin811y found that NELL2 is a new estrogen-responsive gene in hypothalami derived from estrogen-sterilized and control rats using a PCR differential display. In the 40-day-old female rat hypothalamus, NELL2 was up-regulated by neonatal estrogen treatment. In situ hybridization histochemistry showed that NELL2 is very abundant in the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus that is responsible for the control of sex behavior. NELL2 mRNA level in the medial basal hypothalamus showed a dramatic increase before female puberty onset, which suggests that NELL2 may be involved in the process regulating female puberty onset. We attemped to block NELL2 synthesis with intracerebroventricular injection of an antisense oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) to the NELL2 mRNA, and examined its effect on the puberty onset of the female rat. The antisense ODN significantly delayed puberty initiation determined by vaginal opening. In summary, NELL2 may play an important role in the regulation of female puberty onset.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.15-24
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• 2004

The present work was undertaken to investigate the anatomical and chemical characteristics of transgenic poplar down-regulated with antisense OMT gene. Also the distribution of lignin in transgenic poplar trees was investigated at cellular level. No visible abnormal phenotype was observed in the fibers and vessel elements of transgenic poplar. Any marked differences in the staining intensities of Wiesner and Mäule color reaction were not identified in the transgenic poplar. TEM micrographs did not show any staining intensities in the cell walls stained with KMnO₄. Interestingly, the UV spectroscopy of semi-thin sections exhibited a distinct decrease of lignin absorption at 280 nm in the vessel walls, indicating transgenic poplar wood with lower amount of guaiacyl lignin in vessel elements. Chemical composition of antisense OMT poplar was almost identical to that of wild-type poplar. Klason lignin content of transgenic poplar did not show any significant difference from that of the controls. The solid state NMR spectra revealed the transgenic poplar with only slightly more syringyl lignin than the control. The present work showed that antisense OMT gene constructed in the poplar was not enough to reduce the overall content of Klason lignin, and suggested that the expression of transformation was confined to vessel walls.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.277-283
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• 2007

Embryogenic calluses derived from shoot apical meristem explants of sweetpotato were subjected to particle bombardment to generate transgenic plants for antisense expression of cDNAs encoding two different AGPase small subunit (ibAGP1 and ibAGP2). Plants were generated via somatic embryogenesis. PCR and Southern analysis demonstrated that the incorporation of ibAGP1 and ibAGP2 into the genome in an antisense orientation. Immunoblot analysis confirmed reduced levels of AGPase small subunit in transgenic plant leaves. Plants with both ibAGP1 and ibAGP2 produced a lower level of the protein than plants with ibAGP1 alone. iodine test demonstrated that transgenic plant leaves and storage root accumulated reduced amounts of starch. Iodine staining of leaf tissues indicated that transgenic plants accumulated less amount of starch than control. In accordance with western blot analysis, plants with both ibAGP1 and ibAGP2 accumulated a lower amount of starch than plants with ibAGP1 alone. Both transgenic plants exhibited a severely retarded growth, resulting in bare survival. It is suggested that disrupted expression of the gene encoding AGPase small subunit is lethal to the growth of sweetpotato contrast to other species including potato.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Potoscience Conference
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• 2002.06a
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• pp.41-41
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• 2002

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Sericultural Science Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.145-146
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• 2003

Overproduction of transforming growth factor (TGF)-$\beta$l has been implicated in the pathogenesis of fibrotic diseases. TGF-$\beta$l plays a crucial role in the accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) in human and experimental glomerular diseases. However, it remains unclear whether inhibition of TGF- $\beta$l overproduction would suppress TGF- $\beta$l induced ECM accumulation. To inhibit the overproduction of TGF- $\beta$l in experimental glomerulonephritis induced by anti-Thy 1.1 antibody, we introduced antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (ODN) fur TGF- $\beta$l into the nephritic kidney by the HVJ-liposome-mediated gene transfer method. (omitted)