• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.12-19
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• 2002

Purpose: The H. pylori cagA gene, vacA gene and iceA gene are considered to be important virurence factors that have been implicated in the development of gastric adenocarcinoma. It was reported that the presence of IS605 elements may be responsible for rearrangements and lead to partial or total deletions of the cag pathogenicity island (PAI) and the virulence of cag PAI may be changed. However, different results regarding the association between these virulence factors and clinical disease have been reported from different geographic regions. This study evaluated the relationship between H. pylori virulence factors such as cagA, vacA, iceA, IS605 and gastric adenocarcinoma. Materials and Methods: H. pylori isolates were obtained from 54 infected patients (24 cases of gastric adenocarcinoma, 30 cases of control). H. pylori isolates were identified by PCR with ureC gene and 16S rRNA. PCR was performed to examine cagA, vacA, iceA and IS605 genotypes. Results: Significant difference was found in the negative rates of cagA between gastric adenocarcinoma group and control ($62.5\%\;vs.\;33.3\%$ P=0.033). No significant difference was found in the prevalence of iceA, vacA between gastric adenocar cinoma and control. The genotype of cagA+ vacA s1-m1 iceA1 was predominant in H. pylori isolates irrespective of the clinical outcome. IS605 in PAI was not found in gastric adenocarcinoma gruop and control. The positive rates of IS605 in genome were $33.3\%$ in gastric adenocarcinoma group and $36.7\%$ in control (P>0.05). In gastric carcinoma, the positive rate of $cagA^{+}/IS605$ was lower than in control ($12.5\%\;vs\;40.0\%$, P=0.025) and the positive rate of cagA-/IS605 was higher than in control ($54.2\%\;vs\;23.3\%$, P=0.02). Conclusion: H. pylori virulence factors had not related significantly with gastric adenocarcinoma. Further study is needed to examine the specificity of H. pylori strains.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.166-177
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• 2013

Objectives: The genus Legionella is common in aquatic environments. Some species of Legionella are recognized as potential opportunistic pathogens for human, notably Legionella pneumophila that causes, Legionellosis. Thus, we investigated the contamination of Legionella pneumophila on water supply systems in Seoul, including cooling towers, public baths, hospitals and fountains. Methods: The existence of 16S rRNA and mip gene of L. pneumophila was confirmed in the genome of the isolated strains by PCR. Results: During the summer season of 2010 and 2011, Legionella pneumophila were detected from 163 samples (21.1%) out of 772 samples collected. Among the 163 strains of L. pneumophila, eighty one isolates belonged to serogroup 1 (57.4%), 23 isolates were serogroup 5 (16.3%), 21 isolates were serogroup 6 (14.9%), 8 isolates were serogroup 2 (5.79%), and 8 isolates were identified in serogroup 3 (5.7%). Through PFGE (pulsed-field gel electrophoresis) analysis using Sfi I, genetic types of L. pneumophila were classified into five (A to E) patterns by the band similarity with excess of 70% from public baths. Conclusions: The PFGE patterns of the serotypes showed a tendency for diversity of L. pneumophila. Our results suggest the existence of serological and genetic diversity among the L. pneumophila isolates.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.79 no.3
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• pp.165-178
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• 2016

Background: Although recent metagenomic approaches have characterized the distinguished microbial compositions in airways of asthmatics, these results did not reach a consensus due to the small sample size, non-standardization of specimens and medication status. We conducted a metagenomics approach by using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis of the induced whole sputum representing both the cellular and fluid phases in a relative large number of steroid $na{\ddot{i}}ve$ asthmatics. Methods: Induced whole sputum samples obtained from 36 healthy subjects and 89 steroid-$na{\ddot{i}}ve$ asthma patients were analyzed through T-RFLP analysis. Results: In contrast to previous reports about microbiota in the asthmatic airways, the diversity of microbial composition was not significantly different between the controls and asthma patients (p=0.937). In an analysis of similarities, the global R-value showed a statistically significant difference but a very low separation (0.148, p=0.002). The dissimilarity in the bacterial communities between groups was 28.74%, and operational taxonomic units (OTUs) contributing to this difference were as follows: OTU 789 (Lachnospiraceae), 517 (Comamonadaceae, Acetobacteraceae, and Chloroplast), 633 (Prevotella), 645 (Actinobacteria and Propionibacterium acnes), 607 (Lactobacillus buchneri, Lactobacillus otakiensis, Lactobacillus sunkii, and Rhodobacteraceae), and 661 (Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas, and Leptotrichiaceae), and they were significantly more prevalent in the sputum of asthma patients than in the sputum of the controls. Conclusion: Before starting anti-asthmatic treatment, the microbiota in the whole sputum of patients with asthma showed a marginal difference from the microbiota in the whole sputum of the controls.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.633-642
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• 2003

A pain is the symptom which defends against noxious stimulus about a human body, it is known that if the periphery of perceptive nerve were stimulated by a physical or chemical factors, the stimulation is induced by transmission to pain center in the cerebral cortex according to pain conduction tract. The treatment of pain is to decrease a stimulus that causes a pain or block off a nerve transmitting a stimulus or puts on a way to calm down pain center, but It is for adjustment of a pain to be the most representative in acupuncture among various ways to cure a pain in Oriental medicine. However, the analgesic effect of an individual response to acupuncture stimulation shows marked individual variations, so these days genetic a few approach is attempted. On this the author determined that the responding group was appointed those whose tail flick latency (TFL) responding time delayed the minimum of 30 % comparing with basal reaction time. For those whose TFL time had shorter than 30 % was grouped as a non-responding group. And then the hypothalamus of each group was dissected and RNA was further purified. After synthesizing cDNA using oligo dT primer, products were finally applied to the PCR. The results were as follows; The ratio of responding group to non-responding group was 6:4. Ach T (acetylcholinesterase T subunit), BF-I (Brain factor-I), DBH (Dopamine β-hydroxylase) and PNM (Phosphotidylethanolamine N-Methyltransferase) were revealed significantly in the responding group. Cathepsin B and Tau were revealed significantly in the non-responding group. The PCR results show that Ach T, BF-I, DBH and PNM are expressed abundantly in the responding group, where as cathepsin B and tau are abundant in the non-responding group. These results suggest that the analgesic effect on acupuncture stimulation is related to regulation of neurotransmitter as well as neurodegeration of cerebrum.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.522-531
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• 2020

The aim of this study was to establish the optimal medium composition for enhancing L(+)-lactic acid (LLA) production using response surface methodology (RSM). Lactobacillus paracasei SRCM201474 was selected as the LLA producer by productivity analysis from nine candidates isolated from kimchi and identified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Plackett-Burman design was used to assess the effect of eleven media components on LLA production, including carbon (glucose, sucrose, molasses), nitrogen (yeast extract, peptone, tryptone, beef extract), and mineral (NaCl, K₂HPO₄, MgSO₄, MnSO₄) materials. Glucose, sucrose, molasses, and peptone were subsequently chosen as promising media for further optimization studies, and a hybrid design experiment was used to establish their optimal concentrations as glucose 15.48 g/l, sucrose 16.73 g/l, molasses 39.09 g/l, and peptone 34.91 g/l. The coefficient of determination of the equation derived from RSM regression for LLA production was mathematically reliable at 0.9969. At optimum parameters, 33.38 g/l of maximum LLA increased by 193% when compared with MRS broth as unoptimized medium (17.66 g/l). Our statistical model was confirmed by subsequent validation experiments. Increasing the performance of LLA-producing microorganisms and establishing an effective LLA fermentation process can be of particular benefit for bioplastic technologies and industrial applications.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.10
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• pp.1438-1443
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• 2009

Renal fibrosis is a final common manifestation of every type of chronic kidney disease. Plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI)-1 is induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and is known to play an essential role in the progress of renal fibrosis. In this paper, we found that an isoprenoid antibiotic, ascofuranone (AF), suppresses expression of profibrotic factors, PAI-1 and promoter activity of PAI-1 induced by LPS in rat kidney fibroblast cells. We therefore investigated signaling pathway mediated inhibitory effects of LPS-induced PAI-1 by AF in rNRK-49F cells. PAI-1 expression is suppressed by treatment with kinase inhibitors for MEK-1/2, as it isin inhibition of PAI-1 expression by AF, and AF inhibits phosphorylation of ERK-1/2. This study suggest that AF suppresses expression of PAI-1 through the inhibition of an ERK-1/2-dependent signal transduction pathway. The data indicates the possibility that AF can be used to prevent the development and progression of renal fibrosis.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.557-562
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• 2011

The study was performed to investigate microbial and physicochemical properties of domestic liquid eggs during cold storage. The liquid eggs used in the experiment were whole liquid, liquid egg yolks, and liquid egg whites. All samples were analyzed in summer and winter. The aerobic microorganisms were 1,270-83,300 CFU/g from non-sterilized liquid eggs produced in summer and their numbers increased from those produced in winter (ND, ~4,330 CFU/g). Total coliforms were not observed in non-sterilized whole liquid and non-sterilized liquid egg yolk regardless of season. Total coliforms from nonsterilized products were not detected in liquid egg whites during cold storage. Salmonella sp. was not observed in any of the liquid egg products. However, Pseudomonas sp., Pseudomonas geezennei, Pseudomonas otitidis, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were identified by 16S rRNA from non-sterilized whole liquid eggs produced in summer. The pH and viscosity of whole liquid eggs and liquid egg whites were not different between the sterilized and non-sterilized treatments during cold storage. These results suggest that managing cross-contamination is necessary when non-sterilized liquid eggs are processed in summer.

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.377-384
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• 2012

The importance of biological resources has been gradually increasing, and mollusks have been utilized as main fishery resources in terrestrial ecosystems. But little is known about genomic and transcriptional analysis in mollusks. This is the first report on the transcriptomic profile of Meretrix lusoria. In this study, we constructed cDNA library and determined 542 of distinct EST sequences composed of 284 singletons and 95 contigs. At first, we identified 180 of EST sequences that have significant hits on protein sequences of the exclusive Mollusks database through BLASTX program and 343 of EST sequences that have significant hits on NCBI NR database. We also found that 211 of putative sequences through local BLAST (blastx, E < e-10) search against KOG database were classified into 16 functional categories. Some kinds of immune response related genes encoding allograft inflammatory factor 1 (AIF-1), B-cell translocation gene 1 (BTG1), C-type lectin A, thioester-containing protein and 26S proteasome regulatory complex were identified. To determine phylogenetic relationship, we identified partial sequences of four genes (COX1, COX2, 12S rRNA and NADH dehydrogenase) that significantly matched with the mitochondrial genomes of 3 species-Ml (Meretrix lusoria), Mp (Meretrix petechialis) and Mm (Meretrix meretrix). As a result, we found that there was a little bit of a difference between sequences of Korean isolates and other known isolates. This study will be useful to develop breeding technology and might also be helpful to establish a classification system.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.159-159
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• 2017

Drought, a common environmental constraint, induces a range of physiological, biochemical and molecular changes in plants, and can cause severe reductions in crop yield. Consequently, understanding the molecular mechanisms of drought tolerance is an important step towards crop biotechnology. Here, we report that the rice (Oryza sativa) homeodomain-leucine zipper class IV transcription factor gene, ${\underline{R}ice}$ ${\underline{o}utermost}$ ${\underline{c}ell-specific}$ gene 10 (Roc10), enhances drought tolerance and grain yield by increasing lignin accumulation in ground tissues. Overexpression of Roc10 in rice significantly increased drought tolerance at the vegetative stages of growth and promoted both more effective photosynthesis and a reduction in water loss rate, compared with non-transgenic controls or RNAi transgenic plants. Importantly, Roc10 overexpressing plants had a higher drought tolerance at the reproductive stage of growth and a higher grain yield compared with the controls under field-drought conditions. Roc10 is mainly expressed in outer cell layers including the epidermis and the vasculature of the shoots, which coincides with areas of cell wall lignification. Roc10 overexpression elevated the expression levels of lignin biosynthetic genes in shoots, with a concomitant increase in the accumulation of lignin, while the overexpression and RNAi lines showed opposite patterns of lignin accumulation. We identified downstream target genes of Roc10 by performing RNA-seq and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)-seq analyses of shoot tissues. Roc10 was found to directly bind to the promoter of PEROXIDASEN/PEROXIDASE38, a key gene in lignin biosynthesis. Together, our findings suggest that Roc10 confers drought stress tolerance by promoting lignin biosynthesis in ground tissues.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.350-350
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• 2017

The study was conducted to evaluate differences of growth characteristics of rice cultivated in two different regions (Cheonan and Jeonju). It focused on nutritional composition and anti-nutritional factors of rice straw produced from 21 rice varieties including GM rice (Iksan 483). The range of general nutrition ingredient is that crude was 0.97 ~ 3.2 %, carbohydrate was 67.45 ~ 80.01 %, crude protein was 1.46 ~ 4.81 %, crude ash was 6.52 ~ 18.96 %, crude fiber was 25.77 ~ 40.02 %, NDF was 51.84 ~ 67.77 %, ADF was 27.11 ~ 40.44 %, calcium was 0.49 ~ 5.18 mg/g and phosphorous was 0.26 ~ 2.77 mg/g. The general nutritional contents of GM rice were included above range. The range of phytic acid of rice straws cultivated in Cheonan and Jeonju was 0 ~ 0.056 mg/ml and 0 ~ 0.059 mg/ml, respectively. The phytic acid content of GM was 0.033 mg/ml, which was in the range of the content of rice straw in Cheonan and Jeonju. The range of trypsin inhibitor of rice straws cultivated in Cheonan and Jeonju was 0.061 ~ 0.461 TIU/mg and 0 ~ 1.278 TIU/mg, respectively. The trypsin acid content of GM was 0.461 TIU/mg, which was in the range of the content of rice straw in Cheonan and Jeonju. In addition, we investigated microbial community from each soil sample by using metagenomics sequencing based on rRNA microbial diversity in order to inspect indirect changes of soil environment with cultivation of GM rice. Metagenomics analysis was carried out using soil samples cultivated with GM and non-GM rice for before transplanting, young panicle differentiation stage, heading stage, and ripening stage. Beta diversity of microbial community in both soil environments were calculated by using Bray-Curtis distance method and showed low value with an average of 0.24 (dissimilarity = 1). As a result, it was confirmed that the cultivation of GM does not give a significant effect on the change of microbial composition in soil. Therefore, Our study demonstrates that there is no difference in the composition of soil microorganism due to GM and non-GM rice.