• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.29-33
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• 2005

A DNA vaccine methodology using eukaryote expression vectors to produce immunizing proteins in the vaccinated hosts is a novel approach to the development of vaccine and immuno-therapeutics, and it has achieved considerable success over several infectious diseases and various cancers. To further enhance its efficiency, attempts were made to develop novel plasmid vectors containing multiple immunostimulatory CpG motifs, for rapid and strong immune response. First, a 2.9 kb compact plasmid vector (pVAC), containing CMV promoter, polycloning site, BGH poly(A) terminator, ampicillin resistance gene and pBR322 origin was constructed. A pVAC-hEPO was also constructed, which contained a human erythropoietin gene, for evaluating the transfection efficiency of naked plasmid DNA both in vitro and in vivo. To examine the adjuvant effect of multi-CpG motifs on naked plasmid DNA, 22 and 44 enriched and unmethylated CpG motifs were introduced into pVAC to generate pVAC-ISS1 and pVAC-ISS2, respectively. $100{\mu}g$ of pSecTagB, pVAC, pVAC-ISS1 or pVAC-ISS2 were each injected intramuscularly into the tibilias anterior muscle of Balb/c mice. The level of interleukin-6 induced in the mice injected with pVAC-ISS1 and pVAC-ISS2 were significantly elevated after 12 hours, which were almost 2 and 2.5 times higher than that in the mice injected with pSecTagB, respectively. These results suggest that DNA vaccine plasmids with enriched CpG motifs can induce rapid secretion of interleukin-6 by lymphocytes. In conclusion, these vectors can contribute to the development of adjuvant-free DNA vaccinations against infectious diseases and various cancers.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.70-79
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• 2014

In an attempt to develop a variety of expression vector systems for Corynebacterium glutamicum, six types of promoters, including $P_{tac}$, $P_{sod}$, $P_{sod}$ with a conserved Shine-Dalgarno (SD) sequence from C. glutamicum, $P_{ilvC}$, $P_{ilvC}$ with a conserved SD-1 ($P_{ilvC-M1}$), and $P_{ilvC}$ with a conserved SD-2 ($P_{ilvC-M2}$), were cloned into a modified shuttle vector, pCXM48. According to analysis of promoter strength by quantitative reverse transcription PCR, $P_{sod}$ and $P_{sod-M}$ were superior to tac and ilvC promoters in terms of transcription activity in C. glutamicum. All of the promoters have promoter activities in Escherichia coli, and $P_{sod-M}$ displayed the highest level of transcriptional activity. The protein expression in constructed vectors was evaluated by measuring the fluorescence of green fluorescent protein (GFP) and SDS-PAGE. C. glutamicum harboring plasmids showed GFP fluorescence with an order of activity of $P_{ilvC}$ > $P_{ilvC-M1}$ > $P_{sod}$ > $P_{ilvC-M2}$ > $P_{sod-M}$, whereas all plasmids except pCSP30 with $P_{sod}$ displayed fluorescence activities in E. coli. Of them, the strongest level of GFP was observed in E. coli with $P_{sod-M}$, and this seems to be due to the introduction of the conserved SD sequence in the translational initiation region. These results demonstrate that the expression vectors work well in both C. glutamicum and E. coli for the expression of target proteins. In addition, the vector systems harboring various promoters with different strengths, conserved SD sequences, and multiple cloning sites will provide a comfortable method for cloning and gene expression, and consequently contribute to the metabolic engineering of C. glutamicum.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.63-70
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• 2022

Two small cryptic plasmids, pHG1 and pHG2, were isolated from Levilactobacillus zymae (formerly Lactobacillus zymae) GU240 and characterized. pHG1 is 1,814 bp in size with a GC content of 37.4% and contains two open reading frames. orf1 can potentially encode a protein of 101 amino acids (aa) with 99% identity with the copy number control protein of Lacticaseibacillus paracasei. orf2 can potentially encode a protein of 230 aa with 99% identity with a replication protein from multiple species. Six inverted repeats (IR I-VI) and six direct repeats (DR I-VI) were found in pHG1. pHG2 is 2,864 bp in size, with a GC content of 39.6%. pHG2 has two orfs. orf1 might encode a protein with 99% identity with the TrsL transmembrane protein. orf2 might encode a protein with 99% identity with plasmid recombination proteins from lactic acid bacteria. Both pHG1 and pHG2 may be useful as frames for constructing lactic acid bacteria-Escherichia coli shuttle vectors.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.22 no.8
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• pp.903-908
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• 2001

The gene aeg-46.5, which is expressed under anaerobic condition, has putative triple -10 regions and four transcription start sites. The mRNA transcription level and its start point change depending on the aerobic/anaerobic growth condition. RNA polymerase and its regulatory proteins must choose which of three -10 region to use. The putative triple 10 region was mutated to make only one of them function with consensus -10 region sequence (TATAAT) and the other two as non-functional region. The results show that the second and third -10 regions are used for the aerobic/anaerobic expression. The third -10 region is responsible for the high aerobic to anaerobic switch ratio. This suggests that only the last two of the putative triple -10 region have functions on aeg-46.5 gene expression switch control. The phenotype of the mutated promoter was tested in the wild type cell and narL - cell. The results indicate that the control by NarL is independent from the selection of -10 region. The expression patterns on multi-copy plasmids and on single-copy chromosome were compared. These results show that the aerobic/anaerobic switch control of aeg-46.5 is through the choice of -10 region. The mechanism of choosing different -10 region remains to be seen.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.195-201
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• 1996

Ninety-six isolates of Edwardsiella tarda recovered from outbreaks of Edwardsiellosis in cultured eels(Anguilla japonica) in Kunsan, were examined for drug susceptibility, distribution and transferabilities of R plasmid. All of the E. tarda isolates examined were sensitive to gentamicin(GM), streptomycin(SM), norfloxacin(NF), and amikacin(AK). But most isolates were resistant to sulfadimethoxine(SD, 86 strains), ampicillin(AM, 84 strains), penicillin G(PM, 80 strains), nalidixic acid (NA, 67 strains), oxytetracycline(OT, 44 strains), and oxolinic acid(OA, 37 strains). Twenty different combinations of drug resistance patterns were observed : the frequently encountered pattern was SD-AM-PM-NA-OA(16 strains), SD-AM-PM-NA(14 strains), SD-AM-PM-NA-OT-OA(12 strains), SD-AM-PM-OT(10 strains), and SD-AM-PM-NA-OT(8 strains). Transferable R plasmids were found out to be carried in 78 out of 94 resistant strains, indicating that these isolates carry conjugally transferable R plasmids associated with single or multiple drugs. The frequently observed transferarble R plasmids were AM(8 strains), AM-PM-NA(8 strains), Am-SD(6 strains), PM(6 strains), and SD(6 strains) These results suggest that high dose of various antibacterials might have already been introduced to eel culture system leading to the acquirement of multi-drug resistance to wide range of antibacterials.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.497-500
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• 1998

A new strain of Bacillus capable of growing upto pH 11 was isolated from a local pond polluted with detergents. This strain elicited unimpaired growth in media supplemented with heavy metals such as As, Cu, Cd, Hg, Ni and Zn. A MIC value of 200, 3, 1.60, 2.25, 7.50 and 3.70 mM was noticed for As, Cu, Cd, Hg, Ni and Zn respectively. Analysis of total DNA revealed the presence of a plasmid of 26 kb. This plasmid was lost by acriflavine treatment to the cultures. Such cured strains were found sensitive to heavy metals. Our findings suggest that incidence of heavy metal resistance is widely distributed and resistant strains could be isolated from heavy metal unpolluted sites.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.599-606
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• 1994

Bacillus stearothermomophilus, a strong xylan degrader, was confirmed to express multiple esterase activities in addition to the major xylanolytic enzymes. One of the genes encoding the esterases was isolated from the genomic library of B. stearothermophilus constructed with EcoRl restriction endonuclease and pBR322 plasmid. Three recombinant plasmids showing the tributyrin degrading activity were selected from approximately 7, 000 E. coli HB101 transformants, and were found to have the same insert of a 3.2 kb DNA fragment. Restriction mapping and hybridization studies revealed that the gene(estII) on the hybrid plasmid (pKMG7) had originated from the B. stearothermophilus chromosome, and was distinct from the estl, another esterase gene of B. stearothermophilus isolated in the previous work. The E. coli cells harboring pKMG7 produced an acetylxylan esterase that exibited similar substrate specificity to the esterase encoded by the estI gene.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.115-121
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• 1999

MIC test of 16 chemotherapeutic agents was performed on 24 isolates of Edwardsiella tarda collected from flounders. They revealed resistance against combinations of ampicillin, amoxicillin, erythromycin, flumequine, doxycycline(DOXY), nalidixic acid, novobiocin, oxolinic acid, oxytetracycline(OTC), thiamphenicol(TP) and sulfonamide. Two strains carried transferable R plasmid encoding Otc Kanamycin Tp and Otc chloramphenicol Doxy Tetracycline Tp, respectively. The R plasmids were not similar each other on the basis of their digestion pattern of restriction endonuclease, suggesting distribution of different transferable R plasmid among E. tarda from flounders.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.621-629
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• 2022

Bacterial outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) typically contain multiple immunogenic molecules that include antigenic proteins, making them good candidates for vaccine development. In animal models, vaccination with OMVs has been shown to confer protective immune responses against many bacterial diseases. It is possible to genetically introduce heterologous protein antigens to the bacterial host that can then be produced and relocated to reside within the OMVs by means of the host secretion mechanisms. Accordingly, in this study we sought to develop a novel platform for recombinant OMV (rOMV) production in the widely used bacterial expression host species, Escherichia coli. Three different lipoprotein signal peptides including their Lol signals and tether sequences-from Neisseria meningitidis fHbp, Leptospira interrogans LipL32, and Campylobactor jejuni JlpA-were combined upstream to the GFPmut2 model protein, resulting in three recombinant plasmids. Pilot expression studies showed that the fusion between fHbp and GFPmut2 was the only promising construct; therefore, we used this construct for large-scale expression. After inducing recombinant protein expression, the nanovesicles were harvested from cell-free culture media by ultrafiltration and ultracentrifugation. Transmission electron microscopy demonstrated that the obtained rOMVs were closed, circular single-membrane particles, 20-200 nm in size. Western blotting confirmed the presence of GFPmut2 in the isolated vesicles. Collectively, although this is a non-optimized, proof-of-concept study, it demonstrates the feasibility of this platform in directing target proteins into the vesicles for OMV-based vaccine development.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.4453-4458
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• 2012

Angiogenesis plays a significant role in colorectal cancer (CRC) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) appears to be involved with multiple aspects of CRC angiogenesis. Our aim was to investigate the inhibitory effects of Tan II-A (Tanshinone II-A, Tan II-A) on tumor growth in mice, as well as alteration of expression of COX-2 and VEGF in CRC. We established the mice xenograft model of C26 CRC cell line, and injected 0.5, 1, 2mg/kg of Tan II-A and 1mg/kg of 5-FU in respectively in vivo. Then, we assayed tumor weight and volume, and evaluated microvascular density and expression of VEGF. COX-2 promoter and COX-2 plasmids were transfected into HCT-116 cells, followed by detection of COX-2 promoter activity by chemiluminescence, and detection of COX-2 mRNA expression by fluorescence quantitative PCR. Taken together, the results showed Tan II-A could inhibit tumor growth and suppress the VEGF level in vivo. HCT-116 cell experiments showed marked inhibitory effects of Tan II-A on COX-2 and VEGF in a dose-dependent manner. The results indicate that Tan II-A can effectively inhibit tumor growth and angiogenesis of human colorectal cancer via inhibiting the expression level of COX-2 and VEGF.