• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.49-53
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• 2010

Molecular docking is a critical event which mostly forms Van der waals complex in molecular recognition. Since the majority of developed drugs are small molecules, docking them into proteins has been a prime concern in drug discovery community. Since the binding pose space is too vast to cover completely, many search algorithms such as genetic algorithm, Monte Carlo, simulated annealing, distance geometry have been developed. Proper evaluation of the quality of binding is an essential problem. Scoring functions derived from force fields handle the ligand binding prediction with the use of potential energies and sometimes in combination with solvation and entropy contributions. Knowledge-based scoring functions are based on atom pair potentials derived from structural databases. Forces and potentials are collected from known protein-ligand complexes to get a score for their binding affinities (e.g. PME). Empirical scoring functions are derived from training sets of protein-ligand complexes with determined affinity data. Because non of any single scoring function performs generally better than others, some other approaches have been tried. Although numerous scoring functions have been developed to locate the correct binding poses, it still remains a major hurdle to derive an accurate scoring function for general targets. Recently, consensus scoring functions and target specific scoring functions have been studied to overcome the current limitations.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.121-121
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• 2003

Expressed sequence tags (EST) are help to quickly identify functions of expressed genes and to understand the complexity of gene expression. To assist genetic study of the root development in Panax ginseng, which is one of the most important medicinal plant, expressed sequence tags (EST) analysis was carried out. We constructed a CDNA library using the 4-year Chunpoon root. Partial sequences were obtained from 3,841 clone. The ESTs could be clustered into 2,056 (64%) non-redundant groups. Similarity search of the non-redundant ESTs against public non-redundant databases of both protein and DNA indicated that 1,498 groups show similarity to genes of known function. These ESTs clones were divided into eighteen categories depending upon gene function. The most abundant transcripts were major latex protein (41), ribonuclease 2 (36), metallothionein 2(35). Our extensive EST analysis of genes expressed in 4-year Chunpoong root not only contributes to the understanding of the dynamics of genome expression patterns in root organ development but also adds data to the repertoire of all genomic genes.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.125-125
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• 2003

To assist genetic study of the root development in Panax ginseng, which is one of the most important medicinal plant, expressed sequence tags (EST) analysis was carried out. We constructed a cDNA library using the 14-year ginseng root. Partial sequences were obtained from 2,975 clone. The ESTs could be clustered into 1,991 (70.2%) non-redundant groups. Similarity search of the non-redundant ESTs against public non-redundant databases of both protein and DNA indicated that 1,553 groups show similarity to genes of blown function. These ESTs clones were divided into sixteen categories depending upon gene function. The most abundant transcripts were ribonuclease 1 (67) and ribonuclease 2 (65). Our extensive EST analysis of genes expressed in 14-year ginseng root not only contributes to the understanding of the dynamics of genome expression patterns in root organ but also adds data to the reperoire of all genomic genes.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.67-70
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• 2001

Medicago truncatula is a diploid legume plant related to the forage crop alfalfa. Recently, it has been chosen as a model species for genomic studies due to its small genome, self-fertility, short generation time, and high transformation efficiency. M. truncatula engages in symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing soil bacterium Rhizobium meliloti. M. truncatula mutants that are defective in nodulation and developmental processes have been generated. Some of these mutants exhibited altered phenotypes in symbiotic responses such as root hair deformation, expression of nodulin genes, and calcium spiking. Thus, the genes controlling these traits are likely to encode functions that are required for Nod-factor signal transduction pathways. To facilitate genome analysis and map-based cloning of symbiotic genes, a bacterial artificial chromosome library was constructed. An efficient polymerase chain reaction-based screening of the library was devised to fasten physical mapping of specific genomic regions. As a genomics approach, comparative mapping revealed high levels of macro- and microsynteny between M. truncatula and other legume genomes. Expressed sequence tags and microarray profiles reflecting the genetic and biochemical events associated with the development and environmental interactions of M. truncatula are assembled in the databases. Together, these genomics programs will help enrich our understanding of the legume biology.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.185-190
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• 2007

Objectives : Since the first human infection from avian influenza was reported in Hong Kong in 1997, many Asian countries have confirmed outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza viruses. In addition to Asian countries, the EU authorities also held an urgent meeting in February 2006 at which it was agreed that Europe could also become the next target for H5N1 avian influenza in the near future. In this paper, we provide the general and applicable information on the avian influenza in the bioinformatics field to assist future studies in preventive medicine. Methods : We introduced some up-to-date analytical tools in bioinformatics research, and discussed the current trends of avian influenza outbreaks. Among the bioinformatics methods, we focused our interests on two topics: pattern analysis using the secondary database of avian influenza, and structural analysis using the molecular dynamics simulations in vaccine design. Results : Use of the public genome databases available in the bioinformatics field enabled intensive analysis of the genetic patterns. Moreover, molecular dynamic simulations have also undergone remarkable development on the basis of the high performance supercomputing infrastructure these days. Conclusions : The bioinformatics techniques we introduced in this study may be useful in preventive medicine, especially in vaccine and drug discovery.

• Mycobiology
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.24-45
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• 2021

The occurrence of Austroboletus subflavidus and Fistulinella gloeocarpa is documented from the Dominican Republic. The latter species is reported for the first time outside its original locality in Martinique, extending the geographic range for this uncommon pinkish-spored bolete. A detailed morphological description is provided for each species and accompanied by color pictures of fresh basidiomes in habitat and line drawings of the main anatomical features. Both species represent independent lineages within their respective genera based on phylogenetic inference. In addition, A. subflavidus clusters in a sister lineage to the core Austroboletus clade (Austroboletus clade I) here named as Austroboletus clade II. In order to confirm the accuracy of species identification, their identity and relationships were subjected to multilocus phylogenetic analyses of three gene markers (ITS, nrLSU, RPB2) including genetic material already available in public databases. Austroboletus subflavidus is a widely distributed species in North and Central America, whereas F. gloeocarpa is apparently highly localized and seems to appear sparingly in the Dominican Republic, Martinque, and southern Florida. Comparisons with morphologically similar and molecularly inferred allied species are also presented and discussed.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.336-351
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• 2022

Background: Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) is a rare genetic disorder. To improve the health deterioration of PWS, investigating optimal treatment options for PWS is required. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the efficacy of pharmacotherapies compared with supportive care or placebos in patients with PWS. Methods: PubMed and EMBASE databases were used to search for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the efficacy of pharmacotherapy in PWS patients. Only RCTs that evaluating the efficacy of pharmacotherapy in PWS patients were retrieved. Results: A total of 26 studies were included to evaluate body composition, hormones, glucose levels and hyperphagia behavioral status. Pharmacological treatment group showed a significant decrease of body fat (mean difference (MD): -6.32, 95% confidence interval (CI): -10.58 to -2.06, p=0.004), a significant increase of lean body mass (LBM) (MD: 1.86, 95% CI: 1.43 to 2.30, p<0.00001) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels (MD: 241.62, 95% CI: 68.59 to 414.64, p=0.006) compared with the control group. Nevertheless, based on other outcomes evaluated by the current systematic review, pharmacological options showed different efficacy in treating PWS. Conclusion: Pharmacological therapies were effective to decrease significantly in body fat and increase significantly on LBM and IGF-1 levels in patients with PWS. However, still, individualized therapies should be considered in real-world practice in PWS treatment.

• Journal of KIISE:Software and Applications
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• v.31 no.9
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• pp.1233-1245
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• 2004

Though biometrics to authenticate a person is a good tool in terms of security and convenience, typical authentication algorithms using biometrics may not be executed on resource-constrained devices such as smart cards. Thus, to execute biometric processing on resource-constrained devices, it is desirable to develop lightweight authentication algorithm that requires only small amount of memory and computation. Also, among biological features, face is one of the most acceptable biometrics, because humans use it in their visual interactions and acquiring face images is non-intrusive. We present a new face authentication algorithm in this paper. Our achievement is two-fold. One is to present a face authentication algorithm with low memory requirement, which uses support vector machines (SVM) with the feature set extracted by genetic algorithms (GA). The other contribution is to suggest a method to reduce further, if needed, the amount of memory required in the authentication at the expense of verification rate by changing a controllable system parameter for a feature set size. Given a pre-defined amount of memory, this capability is quite effective to mount our algorithm on memory-constrained devices. The experimental results on various databases show that our face authentication algorithm with SVM whose input vectors consist of discriminating features extracted by GA has much better performance than the algorithm without feature selection process by GA has, in terms of accuracy and memory requirement. Experiment also shows that the number of the feature ttl be selected is controllable by a system parameter.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.2263-2268
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• 2015

Background: Many studies have reported associations of the X-ray repair cross-complementing group 3 (XRCC3) Thr241Met polymorphism with colorectal cancer (CRC) risk, but the results remained controversial. Hence, we performed the present meta-analysis with different inheritance models. Materials and Methods: We searched the PubMed and Google scholar databases for studies relating to associations between XRCC3 Thr241Met polymorphism and risk of CRC. 16 studies with 5,193 cases and 6,645 controls were finally included into the meta-analysis. Results: We found that the XRCC3 Thr241Met polymorphism was associated with increased CRC risk only under a dominant genetic model (CC+CT vs. TT: OR 0.575, 95%CI 0.498-1.665, p<0.001, $P_{heterogeneity}=0.00$, $I^2=83%$). There was a significant association between XRCC3 Thr241Met polymorphism and CRC risk in Caucasian in the overall 8 studies under only in the heterozygote genetic model (CT vs. TT: OR=0.929, 95%CI =0.806-1.070, P=0.308, $P_{heterogeneity}=0.002$, $I^2=57%$). Four studies evaluated the XRCC3 Thr241Met polymorphism and CRC risk in Asians. Two genetic models of the XRCC3 polymorphism were significantly correlated with increasing risk in Asians (dominant model: CC+CT vs. TT: OR= 0.609, 95%CI=411-0.902, P=0.013, $P_{heterogeneity}=0.54$, $I^2=0.00%$; Allele model: C vs. T: OR=0.708, 95 %=CI 0.605-0.829, p=0.000, $P_{heterogeneity}=0.000$, $I^2=92%$). The sensitivity analysis suggested stability of this meta-analysis and no publication bias was detected. Conclusions: In conclusion, this meta-analysis indicates that XRCC3 Thr241Met shows an increased CRC risk, particularly in Asians rather than Caucasians.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.3637-3643
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• 2012

Objective: Non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) is a pathway for repairing DNA double-strand breaks. Recent publications indicated that XRCC5, XRCC6 and XRCC7 genes may participate in the pathogenesis of breast cancer. The aim of this Human Genome Epidemiology (HuGE) review and meta-analysis was to investigate associations between XRCC5, XRCC6 and XRCC7 genetic polymorphisms in the NHEJ pathway and breast cancer risk. Methods: Studies focusing on the relationship between genetic polymorphisms in XRCC5, XRCC6 and XRCC7 genes and susceptibility to breast cancer were selected from the Pubmed, Cochrane library, Embase, Web of Science, Springerlink, CNKI and CBM databases. Data were extracted by two independent reviewers. The meta-analysis was performed with Review Manager Version 5.1.6 and STATA Version 12.0 software. The odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (95%CI) was calculated based on the extracted data. Results: According to the inclusion criteria, we final included seven studies with a total of 2,864 breast cancer cases and 3,060 healthy controls. Meta-analysis results showed that rs3835 (G>A) and rs828907 (G>T) in XRCC5 gene, and rs132793 (G>A) in XRCC6 gene might increase the risk of breast cancer, while rs132788 G>T and rs6002421 (A>G) might be protective factors. However, there was no relationship between XRCC7 genetic polymorphisms and the risk of breast cancer. Conclusion: This meta-analysis suggests that the rs3835 G>A and rs828907 G>T in XRCC5 gene, rs6002421 (A>G), rs132788 (G>T) and rs132793 (G>A) in XRCC6 gene might be risk factors for breast cancer, while the rs132788 (G>T) and rs6002421 (A>G) in XRCC6 gene might be protective.