• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.14 no.8
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• pp.4086-4092
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• 2013

Mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs) are UV-absorbing substances, and diverse marine organisms have the evolved the capacity to diminished the direct and indirect damaging effects of environmental ultraviolet radiation by synthesis and accumulation of MAAs. In this study, we manufactured a radiofrequency (RF) generation device and applied to microalgal culture. $0.35{\pm}0.05$ mHz of RF was supplied to culture vessel for Chlamydomonas sp. and samples were harvested at the designated time intervals (1, 0.5, 1 and 2 hr). MAAs biosynthetic genes, dehydroquinate synthase homolog (DHQS-like) and nonribosomal peptide synthetase homolog (NRPS-like), were cloned from Chlamydomonas sp. and their gene expressions under the RF exposure were analyzed using qRT-PCR. DHQS-like and NRPS-like gene expressions of Chlamydomonas sp. exposed to RF were increased 1.46 and 1.19 fold at 1 hr, respectively. These results means that DHQS-like and NRPS-like genes can be good biomarker candidates for diagnosis of MAAs biosynthesis in the Chlamydomonas sp.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.22-29
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• 2018

Incorporation of unique barcodes into fission yeast gene deletion collections has enabled the identification of gene functions by growth fitness analysis. For fine tuning, it is important to examine barcode sequences, because mutations arise during strain construction. Out of 8,708 barcodes (4,354 strains) covering 88.5% of all 4,919 open reading frames, 7,734 barcodes (88.8%) were validated as high-fidelity to be inserted at the correct positions by Sanger sequencing. Sequence examination of the 7,734 high-fidelity barcodes revealed that 1,039 barcodes (13.4%) deviated from the original design. In total, 1,284 mutations (mutation rate of 16.6%) exist within the 1,039 mutated barcodes, which is comparable to budding yeast (18%). When the type of mutation was considered, substitutions accounted for 845 mutations (10.9%), deletions accounted for 319 mutations (4.1%), and insertions accounted for 121 mutations (1.6%). Peculiarly, the frequency of substitutions (67.6%) was unexpectedly higher than in budding yeast (~28%) and well above the predicted error of Sanger sequencing (~2%), which might have arisen during the solid-phase oligonucleotide synthesis and PCR amplification of the barcodes during strain construction. When the mutation rate was analyzed by position within 20-mer barcodes using the 1,284 mutations from the 7,734 sequenced barcodes, there was no significant difference between up-tags and down-tags at a given position. The mutation frequency at a given position was similar at most positions, ranging from 0.4% (32/7,734) to 1.1% (82/7,734), except at position 1, which was highest (3.1%), as in budding yeast. Together, well-defined barcode sequences, combined with the next-generation sequencing platform, promise to make the fission yeast gene deletion library a powerful tool for understanding gene function.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.241-250
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• 2011

The most part of vegetable oils is accumulated as storage lipid, triacylglycerol (TAG) in seed and used as energy source when seed is germinated. It is also used as essential fatty acids and energy source for human and animal. Recently, vegetable oils have been more and more an important resource because of the increasing demand of vegetable oils for cooking and industrial uses for bio-diesel and industrial feedstock. In order to increase vegetable oils using biotechnology, over-expressing or repressing the regulatory genes involved in the flow of carbon into lipid biosynthesis is critical during seed development. In this review, we described candidate genes may influence oil amount and investigate their potential for oil increase. Genes involved in the regulation from biosynthesis of fatty acids to the accumulation oils in seed can be classified as follows: First, genes play a role for synthesis precursor molecules for TAG. Second, genes participate in fatty acid biosynthesis and TAG assembly. Lastly, genes encodes transcription factors involved in seed maturation and accumulation of seed oil. Because factors/genes determining oil quantity in seed is complex as mentioned, recently regulation of transcription factors is being considered more favorable approach than manipulate multiple genes for increasing oil in transgenic plants. However, it should be figured out the problem that bad agricultural traits induced by the overexpression of transcription factor gene.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.694-701
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• 2017

Mycoplasma genitalium represents the smallest genome among mono-cultivable prokaryotes. To discover and compare the orthologs (conservative genes) among M. genitalium and 14 prokaryotes that are uncultivable and have less orthologs than M. genitalium, COG (clusters of orthologous groups of protein) analyses were applied. The analyzed prokaryotes were M. genitalium, one hyperthermophilic exosymbiotic archaeon Nanoarchaeum equitans, four intracellular plant pathogenic eubacteria of Candidatus Phytoplasma genus, and nine endosymbiotic eubacteria of phloem- and xylem-feeding insects. Among 367 orthologs of M. genitalium, 284 orthologs were conservative between M. genitalium and at least one other prokaryote. All 15 prokaryotes commonly have 29 orthologs, representing the significance of proteins in life. They belong to 25 translation-related, including 22 ribosomal proteins, 3 subunits of RNA polymerase, and 1 protein-folding-related. Among the 15 prokaryotes, 40 orthologs were only found in all four Candidatus Phytoplasma. The other nine Candidatus, all endosymbionts with insects, showed only a single common COG0539 (ribosomal protein S1), representing the diversity of orthologs among them. These results might provide clues to understand conservative genes in uncultivable prokaryotes, and may be helpful in industrial areas, such as handling prokaryotes producing amino acids and antibiotics, and as precursors of organic synthesis.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.127-136
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• 1990

In this paper, the experimental study was carried out for the removal of olive oil in wastewater by the use of Biological Fluidized Bed(BFB) with the reticulated polypropylene sheets as media. The nonbiodegradable olive oil, one of the animal and vegitable oil, was used bacause of the relative simplicity of constitution. Biological degraciability and removal characteristics of emulsified olive oil were studied by batch and continuous experiments respectively. From the results of batch experiments, it was observed that the emulsified olive oli used in BFB reactor was absorbed by media and sludge in about 12 hours, and degradation of the absorbed olive oli was mostly completed for 24 hours. The functional relationship of Michaelis-Menten's Enzyme reaction equation exists between oil concentration and maximum specific rate of olive oil. From the continuous experiments for the removal of olive oil using BFB reactor, it was proved that the substrate removal rate coefficient $k=0.004d^{-1}$, which is the first order kinetics. It was apperared that oxygen utlization coefficients for synthesis(a') and endogeneous respiration(b') of microorganisms in the reactor are respectively 0.85mg $O_2/mg$ $COD_{cr}$ and 0.011mg $O_2/mg$ BVS. day.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.41 no.7
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• pp.907-913
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• 2012

Piceatannol (trans-3,4,3',5'-tetrahydroxystilbene) is a polyphenol detected in grapes, rhubarb, and sugarcane. Although recent experimental data revealed that this compound is known to exhibit immunosuppressive and antitumorigenic activities in several cell lines, the molecular mechanisms underlying anticancer activity are poorly understood. In the present study, we investigated possible further mechanisms by which piceatannol exerts its anti-proliferative action in cultured human gastric cancer AGS cells. Piceatannol treatment resulted in the inhibition of growth and G1 arrest of the cell cycle in a concentration-dependent manner, as determined by MTT assay and flow cytometry analysis. The induction of G1 arrest by piceatannol was associated with the modulation of cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks) and cyclins, up-regulation of the expression of Cdk inhibitor p21 (WAF1/CIP1) in both transcriptional and translational levels, and the inhibition of phosphorylation of retinoblastoma proteins and E2F1 expression. In addition, piceatannol treatment caused a progressive decrease in the expression levels of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 without significant changes in the levels of COX-1, which was correlated with a decrease in prostaglandin $E_2$ synthesis.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2014

In this study, four soluble homo- and co-polyimides using 5-(2,5-dioxotetrahydrofuryl)-3-methyl-3-cyclohexene-1,2-dicarboxylic anhydride (DOCDA) and 4,4'-diaminodiphenyl ether (ODA) monomers were synthesized to develop the gas separation membrane with good $CO_2/CH_4$ separation properties. To prepare the copolyimides, 20 mol% of three dianhydrides - (4,4'-(hexafluoroisoproplidene)diphthalic anhydride (6FDA), 4,4'-biphthalic anhydride (BPDA), 3,3',4,4'-benzophenone tetracarboxylic dianhydride (BTDA) - were added in DOCDA-ODA monomer mixture, respectively. All the synthesized homo- and co-polyimides were characterized by FT-IR. Their thermal properties were analyzed with differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). Dense membranes were prepared from these copolyimides to check their gas permeation properties for $CO_2$ and $CH_4$ gases using a time-lag method. The permeation testing results are as follows; DOCDA/ODA homopolymer showed 1.71 barrer of $CO_2$ permeability and 74.35 of $CO_2/CH_4$ selectivity. The three polyimide copolymers (DOCDA/6FDA-ODA, DOCDA/BPDA-ODA, DOCDA/BTDA-ODA) showed lower $CO_2/CH_4$ selectivities and higher $CO_2$ permeabilities than the homopolymer (DOCDA-ODA). DOCDA/6FDA-ODA showed twice times higher $CO_2$ permeabilities without severe $CO_2/CH_4$ selectivity loss than the DOCDA-ODA.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.18 no.12
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• pp.1700-1704
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• 2008

Rheum undulatum L. has been commonly used as a cure for hematemesis, dropsy, and haematuria in the Oriental medicine for a long time. The main constituents of R. undulatum are chrysophanol and emodin, which are an antioxidative substance that has an anthraquinone structure. In the present study, to develop a new anti-aging agent, we examined the antioxidant activity and the inhibitory effect of the R. undulatum extract on the synthesis of MMP-1 in UVA-irradiated human dermal fibroblasts and MMP-1 activity. The R. undulatum extract was found to scavenge 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals and superoxide radicals in the xanthine/ xanthine oxidase system by a dose-dependent manner, respectively. UVA-induced MMP-1 expression was reduced about 79.5% by 1 ${\mu}g$/ml of the R. undulatum extract and also inhibited MMP-1 activity in a dose-dependent manner. In conclusion, it was observed that the R. undulatum extract has the antioxidant activity, regulation of UVA-induced MMP-1 production, and inhibition of MMP-1 activity. Therefore, these results suggest that the R. undulatum extract can be developed as a new anti-aging component of cosmetics.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.18 no.12
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• pp.1679-1685
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• 2008

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a naturally occurring compound found in dairy and beef products. It has been shown to suppress cancer cells and to induce apoptosis. Practically, there is emerging evidence that CLA can inhibit chemically induced carcinogenesis in various tissues. However, the molecular mechanisms of CLA on human MCF-7 breast cancer cells have not been clearly explained yet. In this report, we investigated the anti-cancer activity of CLA in MCF-7 cells. It was found that CLA could inhibit the growth of the MCF-7 cells and induce apoptosis, through modulating AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). AMPK acts as a cellular fuel gauge and responds to decreased cellular energy status by inhibiting ATP-consuming pathways and increasing ATP-synthesis. CLA treatment with variable concentrations and different time of same-dose CLA on MCF-7 cells resulted in a strong activation of AMPK and an inhibition of COX-2 expression. It supports that CLA induces apoptosis in CLA-treated MCF 7 cells. Therefore, the effects of CLA induced COX-2 expression via activating AMPK can provide new possibility into the understanding the molecular mechanisms of anti-cancer component.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.433-439
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• 2012

In this study, a cationic surfactant BHMAS (N,N-bis-(3'-n-dodecyloxy-2'-hydroxypropyl)-N-methyl-2-hydroxyethylammonium methyl sulfate) having two lauryl and three hydroxyl groups was synthesized by the reaction of n-dodecyl glycidyl ether and 2-aminoethanol followed by the quarternization with dimethyl sulfate. The structure of the product was elucidated by $^{1}H-NMR$ and FT-IR. The CMC (critical micelle concentration) and surface tension of BHMAS at CMC condition were found to be $9.12\;{\times}\;10^{-4}$ mol/L and 28.71 mN/m respectively. Dynamic surface tension measurements using a maximum bubble pressure tensiometer indicated that a relatively long time was required to saturate the interface between air and aqueous surfactant solution. The interfacial tension measured between 1 wt% surfactant solution and n-decane reached an equilibrium value of 0.045 mN/m in 5 min. The adsorption capacity of the synthesized surfactant was observed to be excellent, which suggests that the surfactant can be used as a softening agent during a laundry process.