• Interdisciplinary Bio Central
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• 제3권1호
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• pp.5.1-5.5
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• 2011

Introduction: Many signal transduction pathways mediate cell's behavior by regulating expression level of involved genes. Abnormal behavior indicates loss of regulatory potential of pathways, and this can be attributed to loss of expression regulation of downstream genes. Therefore, function of pathways should be assessed by activity of a pathway itself and relative activity between a pathway and downstream genes, simultaneously. Results and Discussion: In this study, we suggested a new method to assess pathway's function by introducing concept of 'responsiveness'. The responsiveness was defined as a relative activity between a pathway itself and its downstream genes. The expression level of a downstream gene as a function of an upstream pathway activation characterizes disease status. In this aspect, by using the responsiveness we predicted potential progress in cancer development. We applied our method to predict primary and metastatic status of melanoma cancer. The result shows that the responsiveness-based approach achieves better performance than using gene or pathway information alone. The mean of ROC scores in the responsiveness-based approach was 0.90 for GSE7553 data set, increased more than 40% compared to a gene-based method. Moreover, identifying the abnormal regulatory patterns between pathway and its downstream genes provided more biologically interpretable information compared to gene or pathway based approaches.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• 제33권2호
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• pp.125-132
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• 2006

연구 목적: 본 연구진은 초기 난포 발달 과정의 각 발달 단계별 난포를 분리하여 cDNA microarray를 이용한 유전자 발현 목록을 보유하고 있다. 본 연구는 이들 유전자 중에서 전사인자들의 목록에 주목하여 이들의 하위표적유전자를 생명정보학적 기법을 이용해 동정함으로써 이 후 초기난포발달의 조절 기전 연구를 위한 중요한 전사인자를 결정하고자 실시하였다. 재료 및 방법: 26개의 전사인자들에 대해서 Gene Ontology, MGI, 그리고 Entrez Gene 등의 유전자 데이터베이스 검색을 통해 전사인자들을 구성하는 도메인을 확인하였고, 전사인자 데이터베이스 ($TRANSFAC^{(R)}$ 6.0)와 진핵세포 프로모터 데이터베이스 검색을 실시하여, 전사인자의 cis-acting 및 trans-acting 하위표적유전자를 분석하였다. 결과: 26개 전사인자들에 대해서 DNA 결합 도메인과 단백질 상호작용 도메인을 확인하였다. 또 전사인자 데이터베이스와 프로모터 데이터베이스 검색으로부터 하위표적유전자에 대한 정보를 얻었다. 위와 같은 생명정보학적 분석 결과로부터 흥미로운 하위표적유전자를 갖는 3개의 전사인자로 목표를 압축할 수 있었다. 그 중에서 HNF4는 MPF 억제 조절자로 알려져 있는 Wee1 단백질 인산화 효소의 유사 유전자 프로모터 부위에 결합하는 전사인자이며, TBX2는 cdk 억제자 유전자의 발현을 억제하는 전사인자로 알려져 있어, 초기 난포발달 과정의 MPF 기능조절에 매우 중요한 역할을 할 것으로 사료된다. 결론: 본 연구는 생명정보학적 분석을 통하여 전사인자의 하위표적인자를 알아내고, 이를 이용하여 26개 전사인자 중에서 다음 연구를 위한 목표를 결정하는 접근방법을 제시했다는데 의미가 있다고 사료된다. 실제로 이렇게 결정된 전사인자들이 초기난포발달을 조절하는 분자생물학적 기전에 어떻게 관여하는지를 연구하기 위해서는 EMSA 등과 같은 실험적 증명을 통한 확인과 보충 연구가 필요할 것으로 사료된다.

• Molecules and Cells
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• 제25권2호
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• pp.196-204
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• 2008

Despite increasing awareness of the importance of WRKY genes in plant defense signaling, the locations of these genes in the Capsicum genome have not been established. To develop WRKY-based markers, primer sequences were deduced from the conserved sequences of the DNA binding motif within the WRKY domains of tomato and pepper genes. These primers were derived from upstream and downstream parts of the conserved sequences of the three WRKY groups. Six primer combinations of each WRKY group were tested for polymorphisms between the mapping parents, C. annuum 'CM334' and C. annuum 'Chilsung-cho'. DNA fragments amplified by primer pairs deduced from WRKY Group II genes revealed high levels of polymorphism. Using 32 primer pairs to amplify upstream and downstream parts of the WRKY domain of WRKY group II genes, 60 polymorphic bands were detected. Polymorphisms were not detected with primer pairs from downstream parts of WRKY group II genes. Half of these primers were subjected to $F_2$ genotyping to construct a linkage map. Thirty of 41 markers were located evenly spaced on 20 of the 28 linkage groups, without clustering. This linkage map also consisted of 199 AFLP and 26 SSR markers. This WRKY-based marker system is a rapid and simple method for generating sequence-specific markers for plant gene families.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• 제42권3호
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• pp.194-199
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• 2004

Investigation of the expression of the riboflavin (rib) genes, which are found immediately downstream of luxG in the lux operon in Photobacterium phosphoreum, provides more information relevant to the evolution of bioluminescence, as well as to the regulation of supply of flavin substrate for bacterial bioluminescence reactions. In order to answer the question of whether or not the transcriptions of lux and rib genes are integrated, a transcriptional termination assay was performed with P. phoxphoreum DNA, containing the possible stem-loop structures, located in the intergenic region of luxF and luxE ($\Omega$$\_$A/), of luxG and ribE ($\Omega$$\_$B/), and downstream of ribA ($\Omega$$\_$c/). The expression of the CAT (Chloram-phenicol Acetyl Transferase) reporter gene was remarkably decreased upon the insertion of the stem-loop structure ($\Omega$$\_$c/) into the strong lux promoter and the reporter gene. However, the insertion of the structure ($\Omega$$\_$B/) into the intergenic region of the lux and the rib genes caused no significant change in expression from the CAT gene. In addition, the single stranded DNA in the same region was protected by the P. phosphoreum mRNA from the Sl nuclease protection assay. These results suggest that lux genes and rib genes are part of the same operon in P. phosphoreum.

• 생명과학회지
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• 제22권10호
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• pp.1359-1370
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• 2012

애기장대에서 AtERF71/HRE2는 핵에서 전사인자로 작용하여 하위 유전자의 발현을 증가시키는 역할을 수행함으로써 저산소와 삼투 스트레스 반응에 관여할 것으로 여겨지는 유전자이다. 본 연구에서는 AtERF71/HRE2에 의해 직, 간접적으로 발현이 조절되는 하위 유전자를 알아보기 위해 AtERF71/HRE2 과발현체를 대상으로 마이크로어레이 실험을 수행하였다. 야생형에 비해 AtERF71/HRE2 과발현체에서 발현이 2배 이상 증가한 기능이 알려진 유전자는 AtERF71/HRE2 자신을 제외하고 161개였다. 161개 유전자 중 전사인자와 DNA-결합 단백질 등과 같은 전사조절자가 24개로 확인되어, AtERF71/HRE2는 하위 전사조절 유전자의 발현 조절을 통해 더 많은 유전자의 발현을 조절하는 상위 전사인자로서의 기능을 가질 것으로 추정되었다. 161개 유전자 중 15개 유전자를 대상으로 RT-PCR을 수행하여 마이크로어레이 결과의 신뢰성을 검증하였다. Genevestigator 데이터베이스 분석 결과, 161개 유전자 중 51개 유전자는 저산소 및 삼투 스트레스에 의해 발현이 증가하는 것으로 확인되었다. RT-PCR 분석 결과 AtERF71/HRE2 과발현체에서 발현이 증가한 15개 유전자 중 3개 유전자가 저산소에 의해 발현이 증가하였고, 다른 3개 유전자가 삼투 스트레스에 의해 발현이 증가하였으며, 이러한 결과는 이들 유전자가 AtERF71/HRE2에 의해 매개되는 저산소 또는 고염 스트레스 신호전달의 하위 유전자일 수 있음을 의미한다. 또한 본 연구의 마이크로어레이 분석 결과는 AtERF71/HRE2가 저산소 및 삼투 스트레스 반응뿐만 아니라 다른 환경 스트레스 반응과 식물 발달 조절에도 관여할 수 있음을 시사한다.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제13권5호
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• pp.2235-2240
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• 2012

c-Src is one member of non-receptor tyrosine kinase protein family that has over expression and activation in many human cancer cells. It has been shown that c-Src is implicated in various downstream signaling pathways associated with EGFR-dependent signaling such as MAPK and STAT5 pathways. Transactivation of EGFR by c-Src is more effective than EGFR ligands. To inhibit the c-Src expression, we used c-Src antisense oligonucleotide complexed with PAMAM Denderimes. The effect of c-Src antisense oligonucleotide on HT29 cell proliferation was determined by MTT assay. Then, the expression of c-Src, EGFR and the genes related to EGFR-depended signaling with P53 was applied by real time PCR. We used western blot analysis to elucidate the effect of antisense on the level of c-Src protein expression. The results showed, c-Src antisense complexed with PAMAM denderimers has an effective role in decrease of c-Src expression and EGFR-dependent downstream genes.

• BMB Reports
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• 제37권2호
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• pp.139-143
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• 2004

The antioxidant responsive element (ARE) is a cis-acting regulatory element of genes encoding phase II detoxification enzymes and antioxidant proteins, such as NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase 1, glutathione S-transferases, and glutamate-cysteine ligase. Interestingly, it has been reported that Nrf2 (NF-E2-related factor 2) regulates a wide array of ARE-driven genes in various cell types. Nrf2 is a basic leucine zipper transcription factor, which was originally identified as a binding protein of locus control region of ss-globin gene. The DNA binding sequence of Nrf2 and ARE sequence are very similar, and many studies demonstrated that Nrf2 binds to the ARE sites leading to up-regulation of downstream genes. The function of Nrf2 and its downstream target genes suggests that the Nrf2-ARE pathway is important in the cellular antioxidant defense system. In support of this, many studies showed a critical role of Nrf2 in cellular protection and anti-carcinogenicity, implying that the Nrf2-ARE pathway may serve as a therapeutic target for neurodegenerative diseases and cancers, in which oxidative stress is closely implicated.

• 대한의생명과학회지
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• 제17권1호
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• pp.1-5
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• 2011

Previously, we have identified 14 putative downstream target genes of Hoxc8 homeoprotein in F9 murine embryonic teratocarcinoma cells through proteomics analysis. Among those, we tested a possibility of a DNA-k type molecular chaperone, Grp78, as a direct downstream target of Hoxc8, by cloning a 2.4 kb upstream region of murine Grp78 into a reporter plasmid and by testing if Hoxc8 can regulate its expression. We observed that Hoxc8 proteins could transactivate the reporter gene, which was affected by small interference RNAs (siRNAs) against to Hoxc8, suggesting that Grp78 is a novel downstream target of Hoxc8 in vivo.

• 대한의생명과학회지
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• 제14권1호
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• pp.47-53
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• 2008

Hox genes are known to be transcription factors controlling vertebrate pattern formation along the anteroposterior body axis by regulating many target gene expressions during vertebrate embryogenesis. In order to isolate in vivo Hox responsive target genes, ChIP-cloning technique has been applied using Hoxc8 antibody. Here murine embryo of day 11.5 post coitum (E11.5) highly expressing Hoxc8 gene was used after removing head and tail portions where Hoxc8 is rarely expressing. After fixation with formaldehyde, the chromatin DNAs harboring bound proteins were isolated. After sonication, about 0.5- to 1 Kb chromatin DNAs were immunoprecipitated with anti Hoxc8 antibody. After removing the bound proteins with proteinase K, DNAs were isolated, cloned into the pBluescsript II SK vector, and then sequenced. Total 33 random clones sequenced were anlalyzed to be located at 12 different genomic regions. Among these, 8 turned out to be introns and 4 were intergenic regions localized in random chromosomes. The base composition of total cloned genomic sequences (6608 bp) were AT-rich, i.e., 40% GC. When the Hoxc8 core binding sites, such as TAAT, ATTA, TTAT, and ATAA were analyzed total number of 55, 45, 54, and 55 were found, respectively, which are than twice as many as expected number of 26. Although this in silico analysis does not mean that the ChIP-cloned sequence is real Hoxc8 regulatory element in vivo, these results strongly imply that the DNA fragments cloned through chromatin immunoprecipitation could be very much likely the putative Hoxc8 downstream target genes.

• Journal of Photoscience
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• 제11권1호
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• pp.41-45
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• 2004

The key riboflavin synthesis genes are located immediately downstream of luxG in the lux operon from Photobacterium leiognathi. It is of interest that a site capable of forming a rho-independent terminator does not appear to be present between luxG and ribE in our previous data. These results raise the question of whether the transcription of lux and rib genes is integrated or not. In order to answer the question, in vivo transcriptional assay and Southern blot were examined. These studies demonstrate that neither transcriptional terminator nor promoter site is present in the intergenic region between of lux and rib genes as well as that the riboflavin genes are single copy in a chromosome of Photobacterium leiognathi.