• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.209-215
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• 2005

Lactoferrin is an iron-binding glycoprotein with many biological roles, including the protection against microbial and virus infection, stimulation of the immune system. We developed the transgenic Siberian ginseng (Acanthopanax senticosus) cell cultures producing the human lactoferrin (hLf) protein following Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation. A construct containing a targeting signal peptide from tobacco endoplasmic reticulum fused to hLf cDNA under the control of an oxidative stress-inducible SWPA2 promoter was engineered. Transgenic Siberian ginseng cultured cells to produce a recombinant hLf protein were successfully generated and confirmed by PCR and Southern blot analysis. ELISA and western blot analysis showed that full length-hLf protein was synthesized in the transgenic cells. The production of hLf increased proportionally to cell growth and reached a maximal (up to 3% of total soluble proteins) at the stationary phase. These results suggest that the transgenic Siberian ginseng cultured cells in this study will be biotechnologically useful for the commercial production of medicinal plant cell cultures to produce hLf protein.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.12
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• pp.1291-1300
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• 2014

Peroxiredoxins (Prxs) are a ubiquitous family of antioxidant enzymes that participate in a variety of biological processes, including $H_2O_2$-mediated signal transduction, molecular chaperoning, and mitochondrial function. In this study, we isolated and characterized a Prx 2 cDNA from abalone (Haliotis discus hannai). The abalone Prx 2 cDNA encoded a 199-amino acid polypeptide that belongs to a class of typical 2-Cys Prxs that contain peroxidatic and resolving cysteines. The deduced abalone Prx 2 protein showed strong homology (64-99%) with Prx 2 proteins from other species, including mollusk, fish, amphibians, and mammals, and it was most closely related to disk abalone (H. discus discus) Prx 2. Abalone Prx 2 mRNA was ubiquitously detected in tested tissues, and its expression was comparatively high in the mantle, gills, liver, foot, and digestive duct. The expression level of abalone Prx 2 mRNA was 106.7-fold, 51.9-fold, and 437.8-fold higher, respectively, in the gills, digestive duct, and liver than in the muscles. The expression level of abalone Prx 2 mRNA in the liver peaked at 6 hr postinfection with Vibrio parahemolyticus and decreased at 12 hr postinfection. The expression level of abalone Prx 2 mRNA in hemocytes was drastically increased at 1 hr postinfection with V. parahemolyticus. These results suggest that abalone Prx 2 is conserved through evolution and that it may play a role similar to that of its mammalian counterpart.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.42-49
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• 2016

The retinoic acid (RA) plays an important role in the growth and development of many cells, and bioactive RA concentration is regulated by several enzymes, including CYP26A1. The expression of the CYP26A1 gene is regulated by RA, and the CYP26A1 gene is one of the candidates for RA-responsive genes. Although CYP26A1 genes are cloned from several animals, cloning of the CYP26A1 gene from cows has not been reported yet. The promoter region of CYP26A1 from cows was cloned by PCR and analyzed by sequence alignment with human and mouse CYP26A1. The RA-responsive element (RARE), DR-5 (ttggg), was located in this region and was perfectly conserved. The promoter region of bovine CYP26A1, which contains DR-5, was ligated to the luciferase reporter gene on transient transfection assays. The expression of CYP26A1-Luc promoter was activated by ATRA treatment in lung-derived mtCC cells. Co-transfection with RAR-α or -β with ATRA significantly activates the expression of CYP26A1-Luc promoter; however, it was less effective with either RAR-γ or RXR-γ. In addition, the endogenous gene expressions measured by Q-RT-PCR in mtCC cells were not significantly affected by ATRA treatment for 2 days; however, the expression of the endogenous CYP26A1 gene was diminished sharply at day 3 with ATRA treatment. In conclusion, the promoter region of bovine CYP26A1 contains conserved DR-5 RARE, which functions as a binding site for RAR-α or -β, and it is involved in the regulation of CYP26A1 gene expression and the control of RA signaling in mtCC cells.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.7
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• pp.985-991
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to investigate the biological effect of obesity-induced oxidative damage on neurogenesis and early protein expression. Obesity was induced I thirty 4-week old male Sprague-Dawley rats through a high fat diet for 15 weeks. After one week of environmental adaptation, the rats were divided into 2 groups: high fat diet sedentary group (HDS, n=15) and high fat diet training group (HDT, n=15). Exercise training was performed 5 times a week for 8 weeks, with mild-intensity treadmill running for weeks 1-4 and moderate-intensity treadmill running for weeks 5-8. After the 8 week training period, we analyzed lipid profiles, serum 8-hydroxyguanosine (8-OHdG), liver tissue malondialdehyde (MDA) related to oxidative damage factors, nerve growth factor (NGF), brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), c-fos, c-jun, and extracellular signal regulated kinase (Erk) in the hippocampus. The results of this study are as follows. There were differences between HDS and HDT in triglyceride (TG) and total cholesterol (TC) (p<0.05). In high density lipoprotein (HDL-c), the HDT was higher than HDS after treadmill training (p<0.05). In 8-OHdG, the HDT was lower than HDS after treadmill training (p<0.05). Genetic expressions of c-jun, BDNF and MDA in the HDT were higher than in the HDS after treadmill training in hippocampus (p<0.05). Therefore, we conclude that 8 weeks of treadmill training can improve imbalanced lipid profiles, reduce oxidative damage, and activate neurogenesis in obese rats.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.30 no.11
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• pp.973-982
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• 2020

In this study, we examined inhibition of adipocyte differentiation associated with the administration of camphor, a substance identified in extracts of the flowering plant Chrysanthemum indicum L. (CI). No camphor-mediated cytotoxicity was observed over a period of 1-10 days in studies targeting cells of the 3T3-L1 adipocyte-like line. Experiments that featured siRNA-mediated suppression of the transmembrane proteins Patched (PTCH) and Smoothened (SMO) resulted in inhibition and activation of differentiation, respectively. Interestingly, inhibition of PTCH typically activates SMO protein targeting and serves to activate hedgehog (HH)-mediated signaling. The results of our study suggest that activation of HH-mediated signaling can inhibit adipocyte differentiation. Furthermore, expression of glioma-associated oncogene homologue 1 (Gli1) was detected by flow cytometry in 62.7±1.5% of cells in response to administration of Lactobacillus rhamnosus (KCTC 3237) and in 60.4±2.2% of cells in response to camphor; these levels are higher than those detected in undifferentiated controls (24.9±3.1%). No change in the state of fermented camphor was identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), but a 15.41% quantitative increase was confirmed in KCTC 3237. Overall, we conclude that administration of camphor resulted in overexpression of SMO and modulated the differential expression of Gli1. Animal studies focused on the impact of camphor as an agent to counteract obesity might be considered in the future. Indeed, camphor and similar physiologically active compounds from fermented CI might be developed as new and effective treatments for obesity.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.143-154
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• 2012

As demand of water resources and attentions to changes in climate (e.g., due to ENSO) increase, long/short term prediction of precipitation is getting necessary in water planning. This research evaluated the ability of MM5 to predict precipitation in the Tampa Bay region over 23 year period from 1986 to 2008. Additionally MM5 results were statistically bias-corrected using observation data at 33 stations over the study area using CDF-mapping approach and evaluated comparing to raw results for each ENSO phase (i.e., El Ni$\tilde{n}$o and La Ni$\tilde{n}$a). The bias-corrected model results accurately reproduced the monthly mean point precipitation values. Areal average daily/monthly precipitation predictions estimated using block-kriging algorithm showed fairly high accuracy with mean error of daily precipitation, 0.8 mm and mean error of monthly precipitation, 7.1 mm. The results evaluated according to ENSO phase showed that the accuracy in model output varies with the seasons and ENSO phases. Reasons for low predictions skills and alternatives for simulation improvement are discussed. A comprehensive evaluation including sensitivity to physics schemes, boundary conditions reanalysis products and updating land use maps is suggested to enhance model performance. We believe that the outcome of this research guides to a better implementation of regional climate modeling tools in water management at regional/seasonal scale.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.92-103
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• 2011

Ginseng has been used as a general tonic agent to invigorate human body. In the present study, we isolated novel glycolipoproteins from ginseng that activate $Ca^{2+}$-activated $Cl^-$ channel (CaCC) in Xenopus oocytes and transiently increase intracellular free $Ca^{2+}$ concentration ($[Ca^{2+}]_i$) in mouse Ehrlich ascites tumor cells. We named the active ingredients as gintonin. Gintonin exists in at least six different forms. The native molecular weight of gintonin is about 67 kDa but its apparent molecular weight is about 13 kDa, indicating that gintonin might be a pentamer. Gintonin is rich in hydrophobic amino acids. Its main carbohydrates are glucose and glucosamine. Its lipid components are linoleic, palmitic, oleic, and stearic acids. Gintonin actions were blocked by U73122, a phospholipase C inhibitor, 2-aminoethxydiphenyl borate, an inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor antagonist, or bis (o-aminophenoxy) ethane-N,N,N0,N0-tetracetic acid acetoxymethyl ester, a membrane permeable $Ca^{2+}$ chelator. In the present study, we for the first time isolated novel gintonin and showed the signaling pathways on gintonin-mediated CaCC activations and transient increase of $[Ca^{2+}]_i$. Since $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ as a second messenger plays a pivotal role in the regulation of diverse $Ca^{2+}$-dependent intracellular signal pathways, gintonin-mediated regulations of $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ might contribute to biological actions of ginseng.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.858-864
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• 2015

Developmental changes in the vocal signals of serotine bats (Eptesicus serotinus) during their infancy were examined in this study. The analysis was conducted on 4 infant serotine bats from 1 to 40 days after their birth. Pulse duration (PD), pulse interval (PI), peak frequency (PF), maximum frequency ($F_{MAX}$), minimum frequency ($F_{MIN}$), and bandwidth (BW) were measured. As the bats grew, their vocalizations became increasingly consistent and similar to those of adults. For infant bats, PD and PI decreased as they grew older, whereas PF, $F_{MAX}$, $F_{MIN}$, and BW increased. The greatest change in vocalizations was observed between the $10^{th}$ and $20^{th}$ days after birth. Also, PF, $F_{MAX}$, $F_{MIN}$ and BW, which describe sound frequency, increased dramatically during the period between the $10^{th}$ and the $20^{th}$ days. In contrast, the greatest change in PD occurred between the $30^{th}$ and $40^{th}$ days after birth. The results collected in this study suggest that frequency increased as the contraction ability of the muscles developed by around 20 days of age. Muscle relaxation ability, which is related to PD, was found to develop significantly at 30 to 40 days of age. According to the results of this study, although 40 day-old infant bats are not yet able to fly, their vocal signals were similar to those of adults. This indicates that vocal development and flying activity develop separately in young bats.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.31-39
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• 2003

The antioxidative activities and biological properties in the EtOAc extracts and purified extracts of Orostachys japonicus were measured by assay of DPPH, xanthine/xanthine oxidase and mammalian cells(2-12). Scavenging of DPPH radical and inhibition of xanthine/xanthine oxidase of EtOAc extracts were showed the highest activity in the arable land and in September. The S-4 fraction showed the highest activity among the silica-gel column chromatography fractions. LH-4 fraction showed higher activity than the other fractionsins in assay of DPPH and xanthine/xanthine oxidase. Fatty acids and phenolic compounds were identified by GC/MS and main compounds were 1,2,3-benzenetriol, alpha-androsta-7,14-diene in LH-4 fraction. The activities of POD and SOD in samples havested on different habitats were high such as arable land> intermountain> seashore. That of POD and SOD in crude extracts of late stage were higher than early stage. Isozyme bands of crude extracts samplinged in all habitats and all growing stages showed two bands and the signal intensity showed strongly according to passage of growing stage. The purified extracts of LH-4 fraction showed excellent inhibition effect in proliferation of HL-60 cells and markedly suppressed colony formation in mouse fibroblast cells. Dose response between partially purified extracts(400ppm) and negative control did not produced statistically significant reduction in colony formation.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.36 no.3B
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• pp.275-286
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• 2011

As the 21st century paradigm of healthcare service changes from post-therapeutic treatment to disease prevention and management in advance, the M2M-based u-healthcare application service is increasingly important. M2M-based u-healthcare application service uses mobile handsets equipped with sensors to measure vital information, and the medical staff in remote locations can manage the health of the patient or the public in real time. In this paper, IEEE/HL7 translation gateway, utilizing the gateway based on M2M u-healthcare application service structure, which is based on international standards, has been designed and implemented. Specifically, the gateway between ISO/IEEE 11073 standards and ANSI HL7 has been developed. The former defines the protocol for the exchange of information between the agent device and the manger devices for measuring and handling biological signal, and the latter defines the application layer protocol for the exchange of various healthcare information systems. Finally, in order to demonstrate the functionality of the proposed architecture, the M2M-based U-healthcare application service based on IEEE/HL7 translation gateway, utilizing the gateway, has been developed which can measure, collect and process a variety of vital signs such as ECG or SpO2.