• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.260-275
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• 2022

Sterile alpha motif (SAM) domains bind to various proteins, lipids, and RNAs. However, these domains have not yet been analyzed as prognostic biomarkers. In this study, SAM domain containing 13 (SAMD13), a member of the SAM domain, was evaluated to identify a novel prognostic biomarker in various human cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Moreover, we identified a correlation between SAMD13 expression and immune cell infiltration in HCC. We performed bioinformatics analysis using online databases, such as Tumor Immune Estimation Resource, UALCAN, Kaplan-Meier plotter, LinkedOmics, and Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis2. SAMD13 expression in HCC samples was significantly higher than that in normal liver tissue; additionally, SAMD13 was higher in primary tumors, various stages of cancer and grades of tumor, and status of nodal metastasis. Higher SAMD13 expression was also associated with poorer prognosis. SAMD13 expression positively correlated with CD8+ T cells, CD4+ T cells, B cells, neutrophils, macrophages, and dendritic cells. In the analysis of SAMD13 co-expression networks, positively related genes of SAMD13 were associated with a high hazard ratio in different types of cancer, including HCC. In biological function of SAMD13, SAMD13 mainly include spliceosome, ribosome biogenesis in eukaryote, ribosome, etc. These results suggest that SAMD13 may serve as a novel prognostic biomarker for HCC diagnosis and provide novel insights into tumor immunology in HCC.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.31-37
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• 2010

Chitinases (EC 3.2.1.14) hydrolyze the ${\beta}$-1,4-linkages in chitin, the second most abundant polymer of N-acetyl-${\beta}$-D-glucosamine which is a structural component of protective biological matrices such as fungal cell walls and insect exoskeletons. The glycosyl hydrolases 18 family including chitinases is an ancient gene family widely expressed in archea, prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Since earthworms live in the soil with a lot of microbial activities and fungi are supposed to be a major component of the diet of earthworm, it has been reported that there would be appropriate immune system to protect themselves from microorganisms attacks. In this study, the novel chitinase, EaChi, from the midgut of earthworm, Eisenia andrei, were identified and characterized. To obtain full-length cDNA sequence of chitinase, RT-PCR and RACE-PCR analyses were carried out by using the previously identified EST sequence amongst cDNA library established from the midgut of E. andrei. EaChi, a partial chitinase gene, was composed of 927 nucleotides encoding 309 amino acids. By the multiple sequence alignments of amino acids with other different species, it was revealed that EaCHI is a member of glycosyl hydrolases 18 family, which has two highly conserved domains, substrate binding and catalytic domain.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.275-280
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• 2005

Anthrax is an infectious disease caused by the gram-positive bacterium, Bacillus anthracis. Anthrax toxin is a tripartite toxin comprising of protective antigen (PA), lethal factor (LF) and edema factor (EF). PA is the receptor-binding component, which facilitates the entry of LF or EF onto the cytosol. LF is a zinc-dependent metalloprotease, which is a critical virulence factor in cytotoxicity of infected animals. Therefore, it is of interest to develop its potent inhibitors for the neutralization of anthrax toxin. The first step to identify the inhibitors is the development of a rapid, sensitive, and simple assay method with a high-throughput ability. Much efforts have been concentrated on the preparation of powerful assays and on the screening of inhibitors using these system. In the present study, we have tried to construct anthrax lethal factor in yeast expression system to prepare cell-based high-throughput assay system. Here, we have shown the results covering the construction of a new vector system, subcloning of LF gene, and the expression of target gene. Our results are first trial to express LF gene in eukaryote and provide the basic steps in design of cell-based assay system.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.796-803
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• 2013

Property changes and bacterial characterizations by polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) were investigated during the fermentation of Makgeollies by 5 isolated yeast strains. Changes of pH were large between day 0 (pH 6) and day 2 (pH 3) and showed less variation after then. ANOVA analyses revealed that pHs were statistically different with fermentation times (p<0.001), while strains (p=0.60) did not. Acidities were changed from 0.19 to 1.04% and showed rather high increase from day 2, and fermentation times (p<0.001) and strains (p=0.006) represented statistical differences. All strains showed less than 0.150% at amino-type nitrogen contents except S strain showed 0.442% at day 8, and there were no statistical differences with fermentation times (p=0.4558) and strains (p=0.3513). Saccharinities of C strain were higher from day 4, and fermentation times (p<0.0001) and strains (p=0.007) showed statistical differences. Large variation of alcohol concentrations (%) were observed between day 0 (0%) and day 2 (10%) and showed less variation after day 2, and there was no statistical difference with strains. Dominant prokaryotes were Lactobacillus fermentum and Pediococcus pentosaceus, which producing acids and functional materials. Dominant eukaryote was Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which might be resulted from addition of yeasts.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.202-209
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• 2022

The green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a unicellular haploid eukaryote, has long been used by researchers and industries as a cell factory to produce high value-added microalgae substances using genetic modification. Microalga K01, presumed to be Chlamydomonas, was isolated from 12 freshwater samples from the Chungcheong and Jeolla regions to replace C. reinhardtii, an introduced species currently used in most basic and industrial research. The isolated K01 strain was identified as C. reinhardtii through morphological and phylogenetic studies of the 18S rDNA gene sequence (NCBI accession number KC166137). The growth and lipid content of the isolated C. reinhardtii K01 were compared with three wild and four mutant strains in TAP medium, and it was found that the K01 strain could produce 1.74×10⁷ cells/ml by the third day of culture. The growth rate of C. reinhardtii K01 was 1.5 times faster than UTEX2244, which showed the highest number of cells (1.20×10⁷ cells/ml) among the compared strains. The lipid content of the isolated C. reinhardtii K01 (20.67%) was similar to those of the wild strains, although the fatty acid oleate C18:1 was not detected in the isolated strain but was identified in the seven others. The cell density of the isolated strain increased to 0.87 g/l during a six-day culture in BG11 medium, where nitrate (NaNO₃) was introduced as a nitrogen source, while the seven acquired strains showed almost no cell proliferation.