• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.12
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• pp.1707-1718
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• 2014

In this study, the phylogenetic diversities of bacterial and archaeal communities in a plant-microbial fuel cell (P-MFC) were investigated together with the environmental parameters, affecting its performance by using rice as a model plant. The beneficial effect of the plant appeared only during a certain period of the rice-growing season, at which point the maximum power density was approximately 3-fold higher with rice plants. The temperature, electrical conductivity (EC), and pH in the cathodic and anodic compartments changed considerably during the rice-growing season, and a higher temperature, reduced difference in pH between the cathodic and anodic compartments, and higher EC were advantageous to the performance of the P-MFC. A 16S rRNA pyrosequencing analysis showed that the 16S rRNAs of Deltaproteobacteria and those of Gammaproteobacteria were enriched on the anodes and the cathodes, respectively, when the electrical circuit was connected. At the species level, the operational taxonomic units (OTUs) related to Rhizobiales, Geobacter, Myxococcus, Deferrisoma, and Desulfobulbus were enriched on the anodes, while an OTU related to Acidiferrobacter thiooxydans occupied the highest proportion on the cathodes and occurred only when the circuit was connected. Furthermore, the connection of the electrical circuit decreased the abundance of 16S rRNAs of acetotrophic methanogens and increased that of hydrogenotrophic methanogens. The control of these physicochemical and microbiological factors is expected to be able to improve the performance of P-MFCs.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.394-407
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• 2011

Better understanding of the complex factors leading to human diseases will be necessary for both long term prevention and for managing short and long-term health problems. The underlying causes, leading to a global health crisis in both acute and chronic diseases, include finite global health care resources for sustained healthy human survival, the population explosion, increased environmental pollution, decreased clean air, water, food distribution, diminishing opportunities for human self-esteem, increased median life span, and the interconnection of infectious and chronic diseases. The transition of our pre-human nutritional requirements for survival to our current culturally-shaped diet has created a biologically-mismatched human dietary experience. While individual genetic, gender, and developmental stage factors contribute to human diseases, various environmental and culturally-determined factors are now contributing to both acute and chronic diseases. The transition from the hunter-gatherer to an agricultural-dependent human being has brought about a global crisis in human health. Initially, early humans ate seasonally-dependent and calorically-restricted foods, during the day, in a "feast or famine" manner. Today, modern humans eat diets of caloric abundance, at all times of the day, with foods of all seasons and from all parts of the world, that have been processed and which have been contaminated by all kinds of factors. No longer can one view, as distinct, infectious agent-related human acute diseases from chronic diseases. Moreover, while dietary and environmental chemicals could, in principle, cause disease pathogenesis by mutagenic and cytotoxic mechanisms, the primary cause is via "epigenetic", or altered gene expression, modifications in the three types of cells (e.g., adult stem; progenitor and terminally-differentiated cells of each organ) during all stages of human development. Even more significantly, alteration in the quantity of adult stem cells during early development by epigenetic chemicals could either increase or decrease the risk to various stem cell-based diseases, such as cancer, later in life. A new concept, the Barker hypothesis, has emerged that indicates pre-natal maternal dietary exposures can now affect diseases later in life. Examples from the studies of the atomic bomb survivors should illustrate this insight.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.137-144
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• 1992

Picoplankton in the size range of $0.2-2.0{\;}\mu\textrm{m}$ were enumerated in the Nakdong River estuary on 17 October, 1991 by using an epifluorescence microscope. Numerous minute cells emitting yellow to orange fluorescence at various strengths were recognized and the cells were moistly spherical in shape. Picocyanobacteria seem to comprise most of the picoplankton observed. They also occurred in very polluted water. Cell densities of picoplankton were in the range of $683-3,878{\;}cells{\cdot}ml^{-1}$ at the surface water. In vertical profiles, the Numbers were maximum at subsurface and minimum at surface layer. Percentage picoplankton biomass determined by chlorophyll ranged from undetectable levels to 5.9% of the total chlorophyll. The cell density and chlorophyll a concentrations of picoplankton were relatively low in the study area compared to those of other locations in world ocean, but the study of picoplankton may be important in understanding of microbial food web in the sea.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.669-672
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• 2013

Objective: To investigate the expression of Twist and E-cadherin in ovarian cancer tissues as well as the role of epithelial-mesenchymal transformation (EMT) in ovarian cancer metastasis. Method: The expressions of Twist and E-cadherin in 54 cases of ovarian cancer and paracancerous tissues were detected by Western blottin g and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. We used RNA interference to silence Twist expression in human ovarian cancer cell line, and detected E-cadherin expression using Western blotting. Results: There was an increase in the relative abundance of Twist proteins and a decrease in E-cadherin in ovarian cancer compared with normal ovary tissues (P < 0.05). The expression levels of Twist and E-cadherin mRNA were $1.49{\pm}0.53$ and $0.82{\pm}0.24$ in ovarian cancer, and $1.14{\pm}0.38$ and $1.08{\pm}0.19$ in paracancerous tissues, respectively. The difference between the indicators in ovarian cancer and in paracancerous tissues was statistically significant (P < 0.05). When the Twist expression was silenced in an ovarian cancer cell line, the expression of the E-cadherin protein increased (P<0.05). Conclusion: The expression of Twist is upregulated, whereas that of E-cadherin is downregulated in ovarian cancer. EMT, mediated by Twist, may be correlated with ovarian cancer metastasis.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.57 no.4
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• pp.250-257
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• 2013

Biosimilars are important drugs in medicine and contain many glycosylated proteins. Thorough analysis of the glycosylated protein is a prerequisite for evaluation of biosimilar glycan drugs. A method to assess the diversity of N-glycosylation sites and N-glycans from biosimilar glycan drugs has been developed using two separate methods, LC-MS/MS and MALDI-TOF MS, respectively. Development of sensitive, accurate, and efficient methods for evaluation of glycoproteins is still needed. In this study, analysis of both N-glycosylation sites and N-glycans of glycoprotein was performed using the same LC-MS/MS with two different nano-LC columns, nano-C18 and nano-porous graphitized carbon (nano-PGC) columns. N-glycosylated proteins, including RNAse B (one N-glycosylation site), Fetuin (three sites), and ${\alpha}$-1 acid glycoprotein (four sites), were used, and small amounts of each protein were used for identification of N-glycosylation sites. In addition, high mannose N-glycans (one type of typical glycan structure), Mannose 5 and 9, eluted from RNAse B, were successfully identified using nano-PGC-LC MS/MS analysis, and the abundance of each glycan from the glycoprotein was calculated. This study demonstrated an accurate and efficient method for determination of N-glycosylation sites and N-glycans of glycoproteins based on high sensitive LC-MS/MS using two different nano-columns; this method could be applied for evaluation of the quality of various biosimilar drugs containing N-glycosylation groups.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.157-162
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• 2009

This study was performed to comprehend the developmental characteristics of cloned embryos knocked out (KO) of $\alpha$-1,3-galactosyltransferase (GalT) gene. Immature oocytes were collected and cultured for 40 hrs (1-step) or 20hrs (with hormone) + 20hrs (without hormone) (2-step). The embryos transferred with miniature pig ear fibroblast cell were used as control. The reconstructed embryos were cultured in PZM-3 with 5% $CO_2$ in air at $38.5^{\circ}C$ for 6 days. To determine the quality of the blstocysts, TUNEL and quantitative realtime RT-PCR were performed. The embryos were transferred to a surrogate (Landrace) at an earlier stage of the estrus cycle. The maturation rate was significantly higher in 2-step method than that of 1-step (p<0.05). The blastocyst development of GalT KO embryos was significantly lower than that of normal cloned embryos (p<0.05). The total and apoptotic cell number of GalT KO blastocysts was not different statistically from control. The relative abundance of Bax-$\alpha$/Bcl-xl ratio was significantly higher in both cloned blastocysts than that of in vivo blastocysts (p<0.05). Taken together, it can be postulated that the lower developmental potential and higher expression of apoptosis related genes in GalT KO SCNT embryos might be a cause of a low efficiency of GalT KO cloned miniature pig production.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.23-28
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• 2009

Some of the edible plants like apricot kernel, flaxseed, and cassava generate hydrogen cyanide (HCN) when cyanogenic glycosides are hydrolyzed. Rhodanese (thiosulfate: cyanide sulfurtransferases of TSTs; EC: 2.8.1.1) is a sulfide-detoxifying enzymes that converts cyanides into thiocyanate and sulfite. This enzyme exists in a liver and kidneys in abundance. The present study is to evaluate the conversion of apricot cyanogenic glycosides into thiocyanate by human hepatic (HepG2) and colonal (HT-29) cells, and the induction of the enzymes in the rat. The effects of short term exposure of amygdalin to rats have also been investigated. Cytosolic, mitochondrial, and microsomal fractions from HepG2 and HT-29 cells and normal male Spraque-Dawley rats were used. When apricot kernel extract was used as substrate, the rhodanese activity in liver cells was higher than the activity in colon cells, both from established human cell line or animal tissue. The cytosolic fractions showed the highest rhodanese activity in all of the cells, exhibiting two to three times that of microsomal fractions. Moreover, the cell homogenates could metabolize apricot extract to thiocyanate suggesting cellular hydrolysis of cyanogenic glycoside to cyanide ion, followed by a sulfur transfer to thiocyanate. After the consumption of amygdalin for 14 days, growth of rats began to decrease relative to that of the control group though a significant change in thyroid has not been observed. The resulting data support the conversion to thiocyanate, which relate to the thyroid dysfunction caused by the chronic dietary intake of cyanide. Because Korean eats a lot of Brassicaceae vegetables such as Chinese cabbage and radish, the results of this study might indicate the involvement of rhodanese in prolonged exposure of cyanogenic glycosides.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.203-211
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• 2019

Diatom growth is affected by associated bacteria that probably provide useful substances like vitamins. In the present study, we analysed the variation of vitamins $B_1$, $B_7$ and $B_{12}$ on the growth stages of the marine diatom Cyclotella meneghiniana and assessed putative vitamin-producing bacteria (e.g., ${\alpha}$- and ${\gamma}$-proteobacteria). HPLC analysis showed that total amounts of vitamins $B_1$ and $B_{12}$ decreased with cell growth, whereas vitamin $B_7$ increased gradually on the growth stages. $B_1$ and $B_{12}$ measured 0.5% and 0.18% at the stationary phase, following 0.25% and 0.72% at the lag phase. They considerably increased to 0.75% and 0.77% at the death stage. 16S pyrosequencing showed relatively high ratios of ${\alpha}$- and ${\gamma}$-proteobacteria in all the growth stages of the C. meneghiniana. In addition, we detected previously-reported vitamin-producing bacteria, such as Marinobacter, in high numbers. The species was dorminant in the lag (relative abundance 72%) and exponetial (72%) stages, whareas it decreased in the stationary (49%) and death (48%) stages. These results suggest that vitamins $B_1$ or $B_{12}$ may be necesaary for diatom growth and that associated bacteria, including Marinobacter, may produce these substances for the cell growth of C. meneghiniana.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.269-275
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• 2022

Blood type in dogs is based on the antigen present on the red blood cell surface. Dog erythrocyte antigen 1 is a crucial red blood cell antigen in dogs, whereas the dog erythrocyte antigen 7 has been studied in limited dog breeds worldwide. To assess the prevalence of dog erythrocyte antigens 1 and 7 in 11 breeds in the Republic of Korea, 624 dog blood samples were examined for antigen detection. Overall, 520 dogs (83.3%) showed dog erythrocyte antigen 1 expression. The distribution varied from 50.0~100.0% according to the breed. Dog erythrocyte antigen 1-positive blood type was the highest in Chihuahua (100%), followed by Jindo dog (98.5%), and Sapsaree (95.3%). Dog erythrocyte antigen 7 was positive in 125 dogs (20.0%), and the positivity varied from 5.0~42.9% according to the breed. Dog erythrocyte antigen 7-positive blood type was the highest in Beagle (42.9%), followed by Chihuahua (37.5%), and Jindo dog (27.8%). The high prevalence of dog erythrocyte antigen 1 is because of the high proportion of Jindo dog and Sapsaree breeds that were mostly positive for the antigen. The high abundance of these breeds could be due to inbreeding and local breeding in the Republic of Korea. To our best knowledge, this study is the first to report on the prevalence of dog erythrocyte antigens 1 and 7 among various canine breeds in the Republic of Korea. The prevalence data obtained from this study may contribute to baseline information on veterinary transfusion medicine in small animal practice.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.20-29
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• 2023

This study analyzed the relationship between harmful cyanobacterial abundance and environmental factors in order to figure out the causes of the recent increase of cyanobacteria in Lake Dukdong from 2019 to 2021. Lake Dukdong, which is used as a drinking water source for Gyeongju City, has an algae alert system in place. Lake Dukdong has maintained good water quality, but algae alert level 1 (over 1,000 cells/mL) has been issued in recent years. As a result of Pearson correlation analysis (from May to Oct.), the cell density of Microcystis and Aphanizomenon, which form part of the most harmful cyanobacteria genus, were significantly positively correlated with the water temperature and water storage volume. T-test was performed to compare the data from 2016-2018 and 2019-2021 (from May to Oct.). The average density of harmful cyanobacteria cells increased about six-fold from 54 to 344 cells/mL. There were significant differences in water temperature, pH, total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), TN/TP ratio, water storage volume, and cyanobacterial cell density. Water temperature increased from 19.2 to 22.8 ℃. TP concentration increased from 0.017 to 0.028 mg/L. The main cause of the recent increase of harmful cyanobacteria in Lake Dukdong is thought to be the increase in water temperature, TP concentration, and water storage volume from 2019 and 2021, resulting in more favorable conditions for cyanobacterial growth.