• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Embryo Transfer Conference
• /
• 2002.11a
• /
• pp.71-71
• /
• 2002

Promoters for milk proteins have been used far producing transgenic animals due to their temporal and spatial expression patterns. ${\beta}$-casein, a calcium-sensitive casein, is a major milk protein that corresponds ca. 30 per cent of total milk protein. Expression of ${\beta}$-casein is controlled by lactogenic hormones such as prolactin (PRL), composite response elements (CoREs) and transcription factors. CoREs are clusters of transcription factor binding sites containing both positive and negative regulatory elements. ${\beta}$-casein gene promoter contains various regions (CoREs) for gene transcription. We analyzed the promoter region by mutagenesis using exonuclease III and linker-scanning. Transcription control elements usually are positioned in 5'-flanking region of the gene. However, in some cases, these elements are located in other regions such as intron 1. The nucleotide sequences of ${\beta}$-casein promote. region has been reported (E12614). However, the properties of the promoter is not yet clear. In this study, we plan to investigate the properties of cis-regulating elements of porcine ${\beta}$-casein by mutation analysis and expression analysis using dual-luciferase repoter assay system.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.8
• /
• pp.3767-3772
• /
• 2014

Introduction: MicroRNAs have emerged as post-transcriptional regulators that are critically involved in tumorigenesis. This study was designed to explore the effect of miRNA 133b on the proliferation and expression of TBPL1 in colon cancer cells. Methods: Human colon cancer SW-620 cells and human colon adenocarcinoma HT-29 cells were cultured. MiRNA 133b mimcs, miRNA 133b inhibitors, siRNA for TBPL1 and scrambled control were synthesized and transfected into cells. MiR-133b levels in cells and CRC tumor tissue was measured by real-time PCR. TBPL1 mRNA was detected by RT-PCR. Cell proliferation was studied with MTT assay. Western blotting was applied to detect TBPL1 protein levels. Luciferase assays were conducted using a pGL3-promoter vector cloned with full length of 3'UTR of human TBPL1 or 3'UTR with mutant sequence of miR-133b target site in order to confirm if the putative binding site is responsible for the negative regulation of TBPL1 by miR-133b. Results: Real time PCR results showed that miRNA 133b was lower in CRC tissue than that in adjacent tissue. After miR-133b transfection, its level was elevated till 48h, accompanied by lower proliferation in both SW-620 and HT-29 cells. According to that listed in http://www.targetscan.org, the 3'-UTR of TBPL1 mRNA (NM_004865) contains one putative binding site of miR-133b. This site was confirmed to be responsible for the negative regulation by miR-133b with luciferase assay. Further, Western blotting and immunohistochemistry both indicated a higher TBPL1 protein expression level in CRC tissue. Finally, a siRNA for TBPL1 transfection obviously slowed down the cell proliferation in both SW-620 and HT-29 cells. Conclusion: MiR-133b might act as a tumor suppressor and negatively regulate TBPL1 in CRC.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
• /
• v.42 no.4
• /
• pp.496-503
• /
• 2018

Background: Korean ginseng (Panax ginseng) plays an anti-inflammatory role in a variety of inflammatory diseases such as gastritis, hepatitis, and colitis. However, inflammation-regulatory activity of the calyx of the P. ginseng berry has not been thoroughly evaluated. To understand whether the calyx portion of the P. ginseng berry is able to ameliorate inflammatory processes, an ethanolic extract of P. ginseng berry calyx (Pg-C-EE) was prepared, and lipopolysaccharide-activated macrophages and HEK293 cells transfected with inflammation-regulatory proteins were used to test the anti-inflammatory action of Pg-C-EE. Methods: The ginsenoside contents of Pg-C-EE were analyzed by HPLC. Suppressive activity of Pg-C-EE on NO production, inflammatory gene expression, transcriptional activation, and inflammation signaling events were examined using the Griess assay, reverse transcription-polymerization chain reaction, luciferase activity reporter gene assay, and immunoblotting analysis. Results: Pg-C-EE reduced NO production and diminished mRNA expression of inflammatory genes such as cyclooxygenase-2, inducible NO synthase, and tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ in a dose-dependent manner. This extract suppressed luciferase activity induced only by nuclear factor-${\kappa}B$. Interestingly, immunoblotting analysis results demonstrated that Pg-C-EE reduced the activities of protein kinase B (AKT)1 and AKT2. Conclusion: These results suggest that Pg-C-EE may have nuclear-factor-${\kappa}B$-targeted anti-inflammatory properties through suppression of AKT. The calyx of the P. ginseng berry is an underused part of the ginseng plant, and development of calyx-derived extracts may be useful for treatment of inflammatory diseases.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
• /
• v.39 no.1
• /
• pp.75-81
• /
• 2013

Chrysin (5,7-dihydroxyflavone) is a natural flavonoid found in various plants and foods such as propolis and honey. It has been reported that chrysin has various biological effects including antioxidant, anti-aging, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer. In this study, we investigated the effect of chrysin on the transcriptional activity of VDR in human epidermal keratinocytes by performing dual-luciferase assay. Chrysin significantly induced the transcriptional activity of VDR in a concentration-dependent manner. The VDR mRNA expression was investigated by quantitative real time PCR and chrysin increased the VDR mRNA expression in normal human epidermal keratinocytes. We also found that chrysin increased the expression of keratinocyte differentiation markers such as keratin 10, involucrin and filaggrin. Therefore, the results suggest that chrysin can stimulate the differentiation of human keratinocytes by increasing transcriptional activity of VDR.

• Current Research on Agriculture and Life Sciences
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.119-124
• /
• 2014

Physalis alkekengi var. francheti Hort. is known as an insecticide and traditional remedy for liver related diseases. Therefore, this study investigated the chemopreventive effects of extracts and several solvent fractions (n-hexane, dichloromethane, n-butanol, water) of Physalis alkekengi var. francheti Hort. First, their cytotoxicity and NQO1 activity were measured using an MTT assay, plus a quinone reductase [NAD(P)H dehydrogenase (quinone); NAD(P)H: (quinone acceptor) oxidoreductase, EC 1.6.99.2]-inducing activity assay was performed using cultured murine hepatoma cells (Hepa1c1c7) and its mutant cells(BpRc1). The reduction of electrophilic quinones by NQO1 is an important detoxification pathway and major mechanism of chemoprevention. When compared with the other solvent soluble fractions with different polarities, the dichloromethane fraction of Physalis alkekengi var. francheti Hort. showed a higher NQO1-inducing activity that was also dose-dependent. Moreover, the dichloromethane fraction of Physalis alkekengi var. francheti Hort. induced ARE-luciferase activities in HepG2-C8 cells that were generated by transfecting the ARE-luciferase gene construct, suggesting the Nrf2-ARE-mediated induction of anti-oxidative enzymes. In conclusion, the dichloromethane-soluble fraction of Physalis alkekengi var. francheti Hort. showed a relatively strong induction of detoxifying enzymes, thereby meriting further study to identify the active components and evaluate their potential as cancer preventive agents.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• v.28 no.3
• /
• pp.265-273
• /
• 2024

This study aims to explore possible effect of RNA polymerase I subunit D (POLR1D) on proliferation and angiogenesis ability of colorectal cancer (CRC) cells and mechanism herein. The correlation of POLR1D and Yin Yang 1 (YY1) expressions with prognosis of CRC patients in TCGA database was analyzed. Quantitative realtime polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blot were applied to detect expression levels of POLR1D and YY1 in CRC cell lines and CRC tissues. SW480 and HT-29 cells were transfected with si-POLR1D or pcDNA3.1-POLR1D to achieve POLR1D suppression or overexpression before cell migration, angiogenesis of human umbilical vein endothelial cells were assessed. Western blot was used to detect expressions of p38 MAPK signal pathway related proteins and interaction of YY1 with POLR1D was confirmed by dual luciferase reporter gene assay and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP). TCGA data showed that both POLR1D and YY1 expressions were up-regulated in CRC patients. High expression of POLR1D was associated with poor prognosis of CRC patients. The results showed that POLR1D and YY1 were highly expressed in CRC cell lines. Inhibition or overexpression of POLR1D can respectively suppress or enhance proliferation and angiogenesis of CRC cells. YY1 inhibition can suppress CRC progression and deactivate p38 MAPK signal pathway, which can be counteracted by POLR1D overexpression. JASPAR predicted YY1 can bind with POLR1D promoter, which was confirmed by dual luciferase reporter gene assay and ChIP. YY1 transcription can up-regulate POLR1D expression to activate p38 MAPK signal pathway, thus promoting proliferation and angiogenesis ability of CRC cells.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.331-337
• /
• 2009

Interleukin-13 (IL-13) has been proposed as a therapeutic target for bronchial asthma as it plays crucial roles in the pathogenesis of the disease. We developed an in vitro test system measuring transcriptional downregulatory activities on IL-13 as a primary screening method to select drug candidates from natural products. The promoter region of IL-13 (-2,048 to +1) was cloned into the upstream of a luciferase gene in the plasmid pGL4.14 containing the hygromycin resistance gene as a selection marker, generating pGL4.14-IL-13. The EL-4 thymoma and RBL-2H3 mast cells transiently expressing this plasmid highly produced the luciferase activities by responding to PI (PMA and ionomycin) stimulation up to 8-fold and 13-fold compared with the control, respectively, whereas cyclosporin A, a well-known antiasthmatic agent, significantly downregulated the activities. The BF1 clone of RBL-2H3 cells constitutively expressing pGL4.14-IL-13 was established by selecting surviving cells under a constant lethal dose of hygromycin treatment. The feasibility of this system was evaluated by measuring the downregulatory activities of 354 natural products on the IL-13 promoter using the BF1 clone. An extract from Morus bombycis (named TBRC 156) significantly inhibited PI-induced luciferase activities and IL-13 mRNA expression, but not the protein expression. Fisetin (named TBRC 353) inhibited not only PI-induced luciferase activities and mRNA expression, but also the IL-13 protein secretion, whereas myricetin (named TBRC 354) could not suppress the IL-13 expression at all. Our data indicated that this in vitro test system is able to discriminate the effects on IL-13 expression, and furthermore, that it might be suitable as a simple and time-saving primary screening system to select antiasthmatic agents by measuring transcriptional activities of the IL-13 promoter.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
• /
• v.29 no.8
• /
• pp.633-644
• /
• 2006

In last couple of decades the use of natural compounds like flavonoids as chemopreventive agents has gained much attention. Our current study focuses on identifying chemopreventive flavonoids and their mechanism of action on human prostate cancer cells. Human prostate cancer cells (PC3), stably transfected with activator protein 1 (AP-1) luciferase reporter gene were treated with four main classes of flavonoids namely flavonols, flavones, flavonones, and isoflavones. The maximum AP-1 luciferase induction of about 3 fold over control was observed with $20\;{\mu}M$ concentrations of quercetin, chrysin and genistein and $50\;{\mu}M$ concentration of kaempferol. At higher concentrations, most of the flavonoids demonstrated inhibition of AP-1 activity. The MTS assay for cell viability at 24 h showed that even at a very high concentration $(500\;{\mu}M)$, cell death was minimal for most of the flavonoids. To determine the role of MAPK pathway in the induction of AP-1 by flavonoids, Western blot of phospho MAPK proteins was performed. Four out of the eight flavonoids namely kaempferol, apigenin, genistein and naringenin were used for the Western Blot analysis. Induction of phospho-JNK and phospho-ERK activity was observed after two hour incubation of PC3-AP1 cells with flavonoids. However no induction of phospho-p38 activity was observed. Furthermore, pretreating the cells with specific inhibitors of JNK reduced the AP-1 luciferase activity that was induced by genistein while pretreatment with MEK inhibitor reduced the AP-1 luciferase activity induced by kaempferol. The pharmacological inhibitors did not affect the AP-1 luciferase activity induced by apigenin and naringenin. These results suggest the possible involvement of JNK pathway in genistein induced AP-1 activity while the ERK pathway seems to play an important role in kaempferol induced AP-1 activity.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
• /
• 2003.11a
• /
• pp.89-89
• /
• 2003

Exposure of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) causes a variety of biological and toxicology effects, most of which are mediated by aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR). The ligand-bound AhR as a heterodimer with AhR nuclear translocator (ARNT) binds to its specific DNA recognition site, the dioxin-responsive element (DRE), and it results in increased transcription of CYP1A1 gene. Retinoic acid (RA) regulates the transcription of various genes for several essential functions through binding to two classes of nuclear receptors, the retinoic acid receptor (RAR) and retinoid X receptor (RXR). Constitutive androstane receptor (CAR) also regulates the transcription of gene. In this study, we have examined how RAR, RXR and CAR regulated CYP1A1 in rainbow trout hepatoma cell (RTH 149) using luciferase reporter gene assay system. We did transient transfection with CYP1A1 luciferase reporter gene and treated with TCDD, all-trans RA, 9-cis RA and phenobarbital. Treatment of all-trans RA, 9-cis RA or phenobarbital decreased the TCDD induced transcription of CYP1Al. When we did transient cotransfection with CYP1A1 luciferase reporter gene and RXR, as increase of RXR concentration, the TCDD induced transcription of CYP1A1 was decreased. Transfection with CAR also decreased the TCDD induced transcription of CYP1A1 in RTH 149 cells.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Environmental Toocicology Conference
• /
• 2003.10a
• /
• pp.179-179
• /
• 2003

Exposure of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) causes a variety of biological and toxicology effects, most of which are mediated by aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR). The ligand-bound AhR as a heterodimer with AhR nuclear translocator (ARNT) binds to its specific DNA recognition site, the dioxin-responsive element (DRE), and it results in increased transcription of CYP1A1 gene. Retinoic acid (RA) regulates the transcription of various genes for several essential functions through binding to two classes of nuclear receptors, the retinoic acid receptor (RAR) and retinoid X receptor (RXR). Constitutive androstane receptor (CAR) also regulates the transcription of gene. In this study, we have examined how RAR, RXR and CAR regulated CYP1A1 in rainbow trout hepatoma cell (RTH 149) using luciferase reporter gene assay system. We did transient transfection with CYP1A1 luciferase reporter gene and treated with TCDD, all-trans RA, 9-cis RA and phenobarbital. Treatment of all-trans RA, 9-cis RA or phenobarbital decreased the TCDD induced transcription of CYP1A1. When we did transient cotransfection with CYP1A1 luciferase reporter gene and RXR, as increase of RXR concentration, the TCDD induced transcription of CYP1A1 was decreased. Transfection with CAR also decreased the TCDD induced transcription of CYP1A1 in RTH 149 cells.