• BMB Reports
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.604-606
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• 1998

The nucleotide sequence of two hypervariable regions of the D-loop and the frequency of the 9-bp repeat in the region V of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) were investigated in the Korean population. Alignment of these sequences with the published reference revealed a unique pattern of base substitution and deletion compared with those of other races. The deletion and addition frequency of the 9-bp repeat in the region V was also distinct.

• Nutritional Sciences
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.148-154
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• 2003

Although various raw plant materials have been demonstrated to exert anti-obesity effects to a greater or lesser extent in both humans and animals when they are used to supplement the diet, it has not been shown extensively that they influence adipocyte cell differentiation involving lipid metabolic gene expressions. Using a well-established 3T3-L1 preadipocyte differentiation system, we decided to look into molecular and cellular event occurring during adipocyte differentiation when raw plant materials aye included in the process, in an effort to demonstrate the potential use of a screening system to define the functions of traditionally well-known materials. To these ends, the effects of ethanol (EtOH) or EtOH/distilled water (DW) extracts of Wax Gourd were examined using cytochemical and molecular analyses to determine whether components of the extracts modulate adipocyte differentiation of 3T3-Ll preadipocytes in vitro. The cytochemical results demonstrated that EtOH or EtOH/DW extracts did not affect lipid accumulation and cell proliferation, although the degree of lipid accumulation was influenced slightly depending on the extract. EtOH extract was highly effective in apoptotic induction during differentiation of 3T3-Ll preadipocytes (p<0.05). Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis of lipoprotein lipase (LPL), Uncoupling protein (Ucp) 2, 3 and 4 also showed that while LPL expression was not influenced, Ucp2, 3 and 4 were up regulated in the EtOH extract-treated group and down regulated in the EtOH/DW extract-treated group. These changes in gene expressions suggest that the components in different fractions of Wax Gourd extracts may modulate lipid metabolism by either direct or indirect action. Taking these results together, it was concluded that molecular and cellular analyses of adipocyte differentiation involving lipid metabolic genes should facilitate understanding of cellular events occurring during adipocyte differentiation. Furthermore, the experimental scheme and analytical methods used in this study should provide a screening system for the functional study of raw plant materials in obesity research.

• Plant Biotechnology Reports
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.179-189
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• 2008

We established an efficient plant regeneration system for Catharanthus roseus L. (G.) Don through somatic embryogenesis. Embryogenic callus was induced from hypocotyl of seed germinated in vitro. Somatic embryogenesis in Catharanthus has been categorized into three distinct stages: (1) initiation and proliferation of embryo; (2) maturation, and; (3) germination or plantlet conversion. Beside plant growth regulators, various stages of embryogenesis were screened for their response to a wide variety of factors (pH, gelrite, light, sugar alcohols, polyethyleneglycol and amino acids), which affect embryogenesis. All of the tested factors had a small to marked influence on embryogeny and eventual conversion to plantlets. The plantlets were acclimatized successfully in a greenhouse. To our knowledge, this is the first report describing a detailed study of various cultural factors which regulate embryogenesis in C. roseus. The results discussed in this paper may be used in mass propagation to produce medicinal raw material, and the embryo precursor cells could be used in genetic modification programmes that aim to improve the alkaloid yield as well.

• BMB Reports
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.191-196
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• 1995

The role of polyamines in skeletal myoblast differentiation was investigated using the polyamine metabolic inhibitor methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone)(MGBG). Concentrations of intracellular free spermidine and spermine increased 2 to 2.5-fold at the onset of myoblast fusion. The systhesis of actin, and creatine kinase activity both dramatically increased during myotube formation. However, MGBG at a concentration of 0.5 mM not only abolished the increase of intracellular free polyamines, but also reduced cell fusion to almost half the level of untreated cells, without noticeable morphological alteration. The production of actin, and creatine kinase activity were almost completely abolished by MGBG. The inhibition of myoblast fusion by MGBG was partially recovered with 0.1 mM of spermidine or spermine added externally. Results indicate that polyamines are necessary for normal myoblast differentiation. Since the first indication of myoblast differentiation is alignment of muscle cells and membrane fusion of adjacent cells, and since polyamine depletion completely inhibited the synthesis of actin, which might be associted with membranes, polyamine might be involved in myoblast differentiation through membrane reorganization events.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.315-321
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• 1995

The relationship between morphological differentiation and production of trypsin-like protease (TLP_ in streptomycetes was studied. All the Streptomyces spp.In this study produced TLP just before the onset of aerial mycelium formation. Addition of TLP inhibitor, TLCK, to the top surface of colonies inhibited aerial mycelium formation as well as TLP inhibitor, TLCK, to the top surface of colonies inhibited aerial mycelium formation as well as TLP activity. Addition of 2% glucose to the Bennett agar medium repressed both the aerial mycelium formation and TLP production in S. abuvaviensis, S. coelicolor A3(2), S exfoliatus, S. microflavus, S. roseus, s. lavendulae, and S. rochei. However the addition of glucose did not affect S. limosus, S. felleus, S. griseus, S. phaechromogenes, and S. rimosus. The glucose repression on aerial mycelium formation and production of TLP was relieved by the addition of glucose anti-metabolite (methyl .alpha.-glucopyranoside). Therefore, it was concluded that TLP production is coordinately regulated with morphological differentiation and TLP activity is essential for morphological differentiation in streptomycetes. The proposed role of TLP is that TLP participates in the degradation of substrate mycelium protein for providing nutrient for aerial mycelial growth.

• BMB Reports
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• v.49 no.7
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• pp.388-393
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• 2016

Although brown adipose tissue is important with regard to energy balance, the molecular mechanism of brown adipocyte differentiation has not been extensively studied. Specifically, regulation factors at the level of protein modification are largely unknown. In this study, we examine the changes in the expression level of enzymes which are involved in protein lysine methylation during brown adipocyte differentiation. Several enzymes, in this case SUV420H2, PRDM9, MLL3 and JHDM1D, were found to be up-regulated. On the other hand, Set7/9 was significantly down-regulated. In the case of SUV420H2, the expression level increased sharply during brown adipocyte differentiation, whereas the expression of SUV420H2 was marginally enhanced during the white adipocyte differentiation. The knock-down of SUV420H2 caused the suppression of brown adipocyte differentiation, as compared to a scrambled control. These results suggest that SUV420H2, a methyltransferase, is involved in brown adipocyte differentiation, and that the methylation of protein lysine is important in brown adipocyte differentiation.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.323-328
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• 1997

We have previously shown that chick muscle extracts contained at least 10 different ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolases (UCHs). In the present studies, one of the enzymes, called UCH-9, was purified by conventional chromatographic procedures using $^{125}l$-labeled ubiquitin-${\alpha}$NH-MHISPPEPESEEEEE HYC (Ub-PESTc) as a substrate. The purified enzyme behaved as a 27-kDa protein under both denaturing and nondenaturing conditions, suggesting that it consists of a single polypeptide chain. It was maximally active at pHs between 7 and 8.5, but showed little or no activity at pH below 6 and above 10. Lice other UCHs, its activity was strongly inhibited by sulfhydryl blocking reagents, such as iodoacetamide, and by Ub-aldehyde. In addition to Ub-PESTc, UCH-9 hydrolyzed Ub-aNH-protein extensions, including Ub-${\alpha}NH$-carboxyl extension protein of 80 amino acids and Ubo-${\alpha}NH$-dihydrofolate reductase. However, this enzyme was not capable of generating free Ub from mono-Ub-${\varepsilon}NH$-protein conjugates and from branched poly-Ub chains that are ligated to proteins through ${\varepsilon}NH$-isopeptide bonds. This enzyme neither could hydrolyze poly-His-tagged di-Ub. These results suggest that UCH-9 may play an important role in production of free Ub and ribosomal proteins from their conjugates.

• Mycobiology
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.372-378
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• 2023

Lkh1, a LAMMER kinase homolog in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, acts as a negative regulator of filamentous growth and flocculation. It is also involved in the response to oxidative stress. The lkh1-deletion mutant displays slower cell growth, shorter cell size, and abnormal DNA content compared to the wild type. These phenotypes suggest that Lkh1 controls cell size and cell cycle progression. When we performed microarray analysis using the lkh1-deletion mutant, we found that only four of the up-regulated genes in the lkh1-deletion were associated with the cell cycle. Interestingly, all of these genes are regulated by the Mlu1 cell cycle box binding factor (MBF), which is a transcription complex responsible for regulating the expression of cell cycle genes during the G1/S phase. Transcription analyses of the MBF-dependent cell-cycle genes, including negative feedback regulators, confirmed the up-regulation of these genes by the deletion of lkh1. Pull-down assay confirmed the interaction between Lkh1 and Yox1, which is a negative feedback regulator of MBF. This result supports the involvement of LAMMER kinase in cell cycle regulation by modulating MBF activity. In vitro kinase assay and NetPhosK 2.0 analysis with the Yox1T40,41A mutant allele revealed that T40 and T41 residues are the phosphorylation sites mediated by Lkh1. These sites affect the G1/S cell cycle progression of fission yeast by modulating the activity of the MBF complex.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2021

The nuclear receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) is the master transcriptional regulator in adipogenesis. PPARγ forms a heterodimer with another nuclear receptor, retinoid X receptor (RXR), to form an active transcriptional complex, and their transcriptional activity is tightly regulated by the association with either coactivators or corepressors. In this study, we identified T-cell death-associated gene 51 (TDAG51) as a novel corepressor of PPARγ-mediated transcriptional regulation. We showed that TDAG51 expression is abundantly maintained in the early stage of adipogenic differentiation. Forced expression of TDAG51 inhibited adipocyte differentiation in 3T3-L1 cells. We found that TDAG51 physically interacts with PPARγ in a ligand-independent manner. In deletion mutant analyses, large portions of the TDAG51 domains, including the pleckstrin homology-like, glutamine repeat and proline-glutamine repeat domains but not the proline-histidine repeat domain, are involved in the interaction with the region between residues 140 and 506, including the DNA binding domain, hinge, ligand binding domain and activation function-2 domain, in PPARγ. The heterodimer formation of PPARγ-RXRα was competitively inhibited in a ligand-independent manner by TDAG51 binding to PPARγ. Thus, our data suggest that TDAG51, which could determine adipogenic cell fate, acts as a novel negative regulator of PPARγ by blocking RXRα recruitment to the PPARγ-RXRα heterodimer complex in adipogenesis.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.57-68
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• 2005

Murine erythroleukemia (MEL) cells are widely used to study erythroid differentiation thanks to their ability to terminally differentiate in vitro in response to chemical induction. At the molecular level, not much is known of their terminal differentiation apart from activation of adult-type globin gene expression. We examined changes in gene expression during the terminal differentiation of these cells using microarray-based technology. We identified 180 genes whose expression changed significantly during differentiation. The microarray data were analyzed by hierarchical and k-means clustering and confirmed by semi-quantitative RT-PCR. We identified several genes including H1f0, Bnip3, Mgl2, ST7L, and Cbll1 that could be useful markers for erythropoiesis. These genetic markers should be a valuable resource both as potential regulators in functional studies of erythroid differentiation, and as straightforward cell type markers.