• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.1090-1097
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• 2007

Genomic analysis of Thermococcus sp. NA1 revealed the presence of a 3,927-base-pair (bp) family B-type DNA polymerase gene, TNA1_pol. TNA1_pol, without its intein, was overexpressed in Escherichia coli, purified using metal affinity chromatography, and characterized. TNA1_pol activity was optimal at pH 7.5 and $75^{\circ}C$. TNA1_pol was highly thermostable, with a half-life of 3.5h at $100^{\circ}C$ and 12.5h at $95^{\circ}C$. Polymerase chain reaction parameters of TNA1_pol such as error-rate, processivity, and extension rate were measured in comparison with rTaq, Pfu, and KOD DNA polymerases. TNA1_pol averaged one incorrect bp every 4.45 kilobases (kb), and had a processivity of 150 nucleotides (nt) and an extension rate of 60 bases/s. Thus, TNA1_pol has a much faster elongation rate than Pfu DNA polymerase with 7-fold higher fidelity than that of rTaq.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.219.1-219.1
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• 2003

RNA polymerase II (pol II) is known to cycle between hyperphosphorylated and hypophosphorylated forms during transcription cycle. These extensive phosphorylation/dephosphorylation event occurs in the C-terminal domain (CTD) of the largest subunit of pol II which consists of a tandemly repeated heptapeptide motif with consensus of YSPTSPS. (omitted)

• Environmental Mutagens and Carcinogens
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.100-105
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• 1995

The effects of DNA polymerase $\beta$ on the somatic chromosome mutations and mitotic recombinations were investigated using the transgenic Drosophila beating chimetic gene consisting of a promoter region of Drosophila actin 5C gene and rat DNA polymerase $\beta$. For detecting the somatic chromosome mutations and mitotic recombinations, the heterozygous (mwh/+) strains possessing or lacking transgene poi 13 were used. The spontaneous frequency of small mwh spots, due to deletion or nondisjunction etc., in the non-transgenic w strain and the transgenic p[pol $\beta$]-130 strain was 0.351 and 0.606, respectively. The spontaneous frequency (0.063) of large mwh spots, arises mostly from somatic recombination between the centromere and the locus mwh, in the transgenic p[pol $\beta$]-130 strain was about three times higher than that (0.021) of the non-transgenic w strain. The mutant clone frequencies of small and large mwh spots induced by N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine and ethyl methanesulfonate in the transformant p[pol $\beta$]-130 were higher than those in the host strain w. The present results suggest that rat DNA polymerase $\beta$ participate at least in the somatic chromosome mutations and mitotic recombination processes.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.631-638
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• 2008

Tandem affinity purification (TAP) method combined with LC-MS/MS is the most accurate and reliable way to study the interaction of proteins or proteomics in a genome-wide scale. For the first time, we used a TAP-tag as a mutagenic tool to disrupt protein interactions at the specific site. Although lots of commonly used mutational tools exist to study functions of a gene, such as deletional mutations and site-directed mutagenesis, each method has its own demerit. To test the usefulness of a TAP-tag as a mutagenic tool, we applied a TAP-tag to RNA polymerase II, which is the key enzyme of gene expression and is controlled by hundreds of transcription factors even to transcribe a gene. Our experiment is based on the hypothesis that there will be interrupted interactions between Pol II and transcription factors owing to the TAP-tag attached at the C-terminus of each subunit of Pol II, and the abnormality caused by interrupted protein interactions can be observed by measuring a cell-cycle of each yeast strain. From ten different TAP-tagged strains, Rpb7- and Rpb12-TAP-tagged strains show severe defects in growth rate and morphology. Without a heterodimer of Rpb4/Rpb7, only the ten subunits Pol II can conduct transcription normally, and there is no previously known function of Rpb7. The observed defect of the Rpb7-TAP-tagged strain shows that Rpb7 forms a complex with other proteins or compounds and the interruption of the interaction can interfere with the normal cell cycle and morphology of the cell and nucleus. This is a novel attempt to use a TAP-tag as a proteomic tool to study protein interactions.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.140-145
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• 2016

Genes in multicellular organisms are transcribed in development, differentiation, or tissue-specific manners. The transcription of genes is activated by enhancers, which are transcription regulatory elements located at long distances from the genes. Recent studies have reported that noncoding RNAs are transcribed from active enhancers by RNA polymerase II (RNA Pol II); these are called enhancer RNAs (eRNAs). eRNAs are transcribed bi-directionally from the enhancer core, and are capped on the 5’ end but not spliced or polyadenylated on the 3’ end. The transcription of eRNAs requires the binding of transcription activators on the enhancer and associates positively with the transcription of the target gene. The transcriptional inhibition of eRNAs or the removal of eRNA transcripts results in the transcriptional repression of the coding gene. The transcriptional procedure of eRNAs causes enhancer- specific histone modifications, such as histone H3K4me1/2. eRNA transcripts directly interact with Mediator and Rad21, a cohesin subunit, generating a chromatin loop structure between the enhancer and the promoter of the target gene. The recruitment of RNA Pol II into the promoter and its elongation through the coding region are facilitated by eRNAs. Here, we will review the features of eRNAs, and discuss the mechanism of eRNA transcription and the roles of eRNAs in the transcriptional activation of target genes.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.4183-4186
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• 2012

Background: Ovarian cancer is the number one killer among all the gynecological cancers. We undertook association study to identify potential alterations in the genomic DNA of a DNA repair gene, DNA polymerase beta ($pol{\beta}$), involved in base excision repair (BER), in ovarian carcinomas of patients from Haldia, India. Mutations, splice variants have been reported earlier in different tumors other than ovarian tumors. Aim: In this study we explored the possibility of association of any mutation of $pol{\beta}$ (Exon 8) with prognosis in 152 ovarian cancer samples. Results: Alteration in the exon 8 region (Exon 8:468, $A{\rightarrow}C$; 15.1%) was noted among fifty seven polymorphism positive samples. Alteration in the intervening sequence 8 (IVS8, -25, $A{\rightarrow}C$; 3.9%) was also noted. All alterations are heterozygous in nature. Conclusions: We found no significant association among the samples from serous type, stage IV, and the $pol{\beta}$ mutations ($P{\leq}0.01$). Only a slight tendency of association was evident between IVS8, -25, A to C; and stage III. Further analysis with a larger number of samples is needed.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.307-314
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• 2004

Xenotransplantation of porcine organs has the potential to overcome the severe. shortage of human tissues and organs available for human transplantation. The swine represents an ideal source of such organs because of their plentiful supply and their numerous anatomical and physiological similarities to the human. However, this procedure also carries with a number of safety issues relating to the zoonotic infections. Porcine endogenous retrovinJses(PERVs), \Wich are germ line transmitted and persist without symptoms in the pigs, are most concerning zoonotic viroses. In order to analyze the prevalence of PERV in domestic pigs, four kinds of pigs'(Landrace, Berkshire, Yorkshire, and Duroc) genomic DNA were isolated from their hair follicles. PCR analysis was carried out for detection of PERVs using subgroup A/B/C and E pol sequence primers. All pigs (20 heads) tested had high copy number of PERVs within genomes. Subgroup A/B/C and E pol gene sequences from 20 isolates were determined by direct sequencing. Sequence analysis showed pol sequences are highly conserved among intra- and inter-subspecies(99.l and 98.8%, respectively). As a first report of PERV prevalence in Korea pigs, our data would be the basic concepts of PERV transmission study in xenotransplantation.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.304-312
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• 2013

The thermotolerant methylotrophic yeast Hansenula polymorpha is attracting interest as a potential strain for the production of recombinant proteins and biofuels. However, only limited numbers of genome engineering tools are currently available for H. polymorpha. In the present study, we identified the HpPOL3 gene encoding the catalytic subunit of DNA polymerase ${\delta}$ of H. polymorpha and mutated the sequence encoding conserved amino acid residues that are important for its proofreading 3'${\rightarrow}$5' exonuclease activity. The resulting $HpPOL3^*$ gene encoding the error-prone proofreading-deficient DNA polymerase ${\delta}$ was cloned under a methanol oxidase promoter to construct the mutator plasmid pHIF8, which also contains additional elements for site-specific chromosomal integration, selection, and excision. In a H. polymorpha mutator strain chromosomally integrated with pHIF8, a $URA3^-$ mutant resistant to 5-fluoroorotic acid was generated at a 50-fold higher frequency than in the wild-type strain, due to the dominant negative expression of $HpPOL3^*$. Moreover, after obtaining the desired mutant, the mutator allele was readily removed from the chromosome by homologous recombination to avoid the uncontrolled accumulation of additional mutations. Our mutator system, which depends on the accumulation of random mutations that are incorporated during DNA replication, will be useful to generate strains with mutant phenotypes, especially those related to unknown or multiple genes on the chromosome.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.26-30
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• 2015

nc886 (=vtRNA2-1, pre-miR-886, or CBL3) is a newly identified non-coding RNA (ncRNA) that represses the activity of protein kinase R (PKR). nc886 is transcribed by RNA polymerase III (Pol III) and is intriguingly the first case of a Pol III gene whose expression is silenced by CpG DNA hypermethylation in several types of cancer. PKR is a sensor protein that recognizes evading viruses and induces apoptosis to eliminate infected cells. Like viral infection, nc886 silencing activates PKR and induces apoptosis. Thus, the significance of the nc886:PKR pathway in cancer is to sense and eliminate pre-malignant cells, which is analogous to PKR's role in cellular innate immunity. Beyond this tumor sensing role, nc886 plays a putative tumor suppressor role as supported by experimental evidence. Collectively, nc886 provides a novel example how epigenetic silencing of a ncRNA contributes to tumorigenesis by controlling the activity of its protein ligand.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.610-616
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• 2000

The DPB11 gene, which genetically interacts with DNA polymerase II ($\varepsilon$) encoded by POL2 and DPB2, is required for DNA replication and the S phase checkpoint in Saccharomyces cerevusiae. The transcripts of DPB11 did not fluctuated as evidently as DPB2 and POL2 genes during cell cycle. To identify the physical interaction between Dpb2 and Dpb11, we examined the interaction by two-hybrid system. The interaction between Dpb2 and Dpb11 was detected in a two-hybrid assay. These results suggest that the amount of the Dpb2-Dpb11 complex may peak at the G1/S boundary. Therefore, we strongly suggest the involvement of the Dpb2-Dpb11 complex in a progression of DNA replication and S-phase checkpoint.