• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.5929-5934
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• 2013

Background: Primary brain tumors constitute a small percent of all malignant cancers, but their etiology remains poorly understood. ${\beta}3$ integrin (ITGB3) has been recognized to play influential roles in angiogenesis, tumor growth and metastasis. Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) is a surface glycoprotein important for tumor invasion and angiogenesis. The aim of this study was to investigate whether specific genetic polymorphisms of ICAM-1 and ITGB3 could be associated with brain cancer development and progression in a Turkish population. Our study is the first to our knowledge to investigate the relationship between brain tumor risk and ICAM-1 and ${\beta}3$ integrin gene polymorphisms. Materials and Methods: The study covered 92 patients with primary brain tumors and 92 age-matched healthy control subjects. Evaluation of ${\beta}3$ integrin (Leu33Pro (rs5918)) and ICAM-1 (R241G (rs1799969) and K469E (rs5498)) gene polymorphisms was performed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Results: According to results of our research, the A allele of the ICAM-1 R241G gene polymorphism appeared to be a risk factor for primary brain tumors (p<0.001). Similarly, the frequency of the A mutant allele of ICAM-1 R241G was statistically significant in patients with brain tumors classified as glioma (p<0.001). When allele and genotype distributions of ICAM-1 K469E, ICAM-1 R241G and ${\beta}3$ integrin Leu33Pro gene polymorphisms were evaluated with age, sex, and smoking, there were no statistically significant differences. Haplotype analysis revealed that the frequencies of GAC (rs1799969-rs5498-rs5918) and GAT (rs1799969-rs5498-rs5918) haplotypes were significantly lower in patients as compared with controls (p=0.001; p=0.036 respectively). Conclusions: This study provides the first evidence that ICAM-1 R241G SNP significantly contributes to the risk of primary brain tumors in a Turkish population. In addition, our results suggest that ICAM-1 R241G in combination ICAM-1 K469E may have protective effects against the development of brain cancer.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.63 no.3
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• pp.235-241
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• 2007

Background: Airway mucus hypersecretion plays an important role in the pathogenesis of asthma, and is associated with the induction of MUC5AC expression in airway secretion. The MUC5AC gene is highly polymorphic; however, there are few studies about the association between the polymorphisms of the MUC5AC gene and asthma susceptibility or asthma phenotypes. We have investigated the association of MUC5AC promoter polymorphisms with the risk of asthma and asthma phenotypes. Methods: We determined the genotypes of the MUC5AC promoter (-1274G>A) in 78 asthma patients and in 78 age, sex-matched control individuals in the Korean population. Genomic DNAs from blood were analyzed by PCR and RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism) determination. We examined $FEV_1$, total eosinophil count, serum IgE level, $PC_{20}$ and the presence of atopy (by a skin test) in asthma patients. Results: The mean age of the patients was $47.7{\pm}16.1$ years and 38.5% were men, and the mean $FEV_1$ was $84.4{\pm}22.3%$ of predicted in the asthma patients. The -1274G>A polymorphism of the MUC5AC promoter in asthma patients was not significantly different as compared with normal individuals (GG 57.7%, AG 34.6% and AA 7.7% in asthma patients vs. GG 56.4%, AG 38.5% and AA 5.1% in control subject, p = 0.752, Cod). Several clinical parameters in asthma patients such as $FEV_1$, total eosinophil count, serum IgE level, $PC_{20}$ and the presence of atopy, were not associated with the -1274G>A polymorphism of the MUC5AC promoter. Conclusion: The -1274G>A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) frequency of the MUC5AC promoter was not associated with asthma in a Korean population.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.379-388
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• 2006

Two mesophilic trickling bed bioreactors filled with two different types of media, hydrophilic- and hydrophobic-cubes, were designed and conducted for hydrogen production under the anaerobic fermentation of sucrose. Each bioreactor consisted of the column packed with polymeric cubes and inoculated with heat-treated sludge obtained from anaerobic digestion tank. A defined medium containing sucrose was fed by the different hydraulic retention time(HRT), and recycle rate. Hydrogen concentrations in gas-phase were constant, averaging 40% of biogas throughout the operation. Hydrogen production rate was increased till $10.5\;L{\cdot}h^{-1}{\cdot}L^{-1}$ of bioreactor when influent sucrose concentrations and recycle rates were varied. At the same time, the hydrogen production rate with hydrophobic media application was higher than its hydrophilic media application. No methane was detected when the reactor was under a normal operation. The major fermentation by-products in the liquid effluent of the both trickling biofilters were acetate, butyrate and lactate. In order to run in the long term operation of both reactor filled with hydrophilic and hydrophobic media, biofilm accumulation on hydrophilic media and biogas produced should be controlled through some process such as periodical backwashing or gas-purging. Four sample were collected from each reactor on the opposite hydrogen production rate, and their bacterial communities were compared by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis of PCR products generated using bacterial 16s rRNA gene primers (8f and 926r). It was expressed a marked difference in bacterial communities of both reactors. The trickling bed bioreactor with hydrophobic media demonstrates the feasibility of the process to produce hydrogen gas. A likely application of this reactor technology can be hydrogen gas recovery from pre-treatment of high carbohydrate-containing wastewaters.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.12
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• pp.7675-7679
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• 2013

Background: A missense mutation in exon 7 (R249S) of the p53 tumor suppressor gene is characteristic of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) exposure. AFB1 is believed to have a synergistic effect on hepatitis virus B (HBV) carcinogenesis. However, results of studies comparing R249S prevalence among patients are conflicting. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of the R249S mutation in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with or without positive HBsAg. Materials and Methods: Paraffin embedded liver tissues were obtained from 124 HCC patients who underwent liver resection and liver biopsy in King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) was utilized to detect the R249S mutation. Positive results were confirmed by direct sequencing. Results: Sixty four (52%) patients were positive for HBsAg and 18 (15%) were anti-HCV positive. 12 specimens tested positive by RFLP. Ten HCC patients (8.1%) were confirmed to be R249S positive by Sanger sequencing (AGG to AGT). Out of these 10, six were HBsAg positive, and out of the remaining 4, two were anti-HCV positive. The R249S prevalence among HCC patients with positive HBsAg was 9.4% compared to 6.7% for HBsAg negative samples. Patients with the R249S mutation were younger ($55{\pm}10$ vs $60{\pm}13$ year-old) and tended to have a more advanced Edmonson-Steiner grade of HCC, although differences did not reach statistical significance. Conclusions: Our study shows moderate prevalence of aflatoxin B1-related p53 mutation (R249S) in HCC with or without HBsAg. HBsAg positive status was not associated with R249S prevalence.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.160-180
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• 2012

We have studied the eukaryotic plankton species diversity to compare the community structure of fresh and brackish waters in the lower reaches of the Nakdong River using metagenomic methods. We constructed 18S rDNA clone libraries of total DNAs extracted from environmental water samples collected at Mulgeum (MG100929, fresh) and Eulsukdo bridge (ES, brackish). Through the steps of colony PCR, PCR-RFLP, sequencing and similarity analysis, we discovered the diverse species composition of eukaryotic plankton. Total 338 clones (170 at MG100929 and 168 at ES) were analyzed, and then we found 74 phylotypes (49 for MG100929 and 25 for ES). From the phylogenetic analysis, we confirmed various eukaryotic plankton of broad range of taxonomic groups, including Stramenopiles, Cryptophyta, Viridiplantae, Alveolata, Rhizaria, Metazoa, and Fungi. We also found several unreported species in Korea and candidates of new taxonomic entities at levels higher than genus. Especially, the cryptic species diversity including unreported phylotypes of Pirsonia (Stramenopiles) and Perkinsea (Alveolata) suggests that the molecular monitoring method can produce new informative biological data in monitoring the changes in the Nakdong River Mouth ecosystem.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.161-161
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• 2017

Seed endophytes are very remarkable groups of bacteria for their unique abilities of being vertically transmitted and conserved. As plants attain hybrid vigor and heterosis in the process of crossbreeding, this might also lead to the changes in the community structure and diversity of plant endophytes in the hybrid plants ultimately affecting the endophytes of the seeds. It would be interesting to characterize how seed endophyte composition change over time. The objective of this study is to gain insights into the influence of natural crossbreeding and parental lineage in the seed bacterial endophytic communities of two pure inbred lines exploring contributions of the two most important sources of plant endophytes - colonization from external sources and vertical transmission via seeds. Total genomic DNA was isolated from rice seeds and bacterial DNA was selectively amplified by PCR. The diversity of endophytic bacteria was studied through Terminal-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis. Diversity between the original parents and the pure inbred line may show significant differences in terms of richness, evenness and diversity indices. Heat maps reveal astonishing contributions of both or either parents (IR29 ${\times}$ Pokkali and AT401 ${\times}$ IR31868) in the shaping of the bacterial seed endophytes of the hybrid, FL478 and IC32, respectively. Most of the T-RFs of the subsequent pure inbred line could be traced to any or both of the parents. Comparison of common and genotype-specific T-RFs of parents and their offspring reveals that majority of the T-RFs are shared suggesting higher transmission of bacterial communities common to both parents. The parents influence the bacterial community of their offspring. Unique T-RFs of the offspring also suggest external sources of colonization particularly as the seeds are cultivated in different ecogeographical locations. This study showed that host parental lines contributed greatly in the shaping of bacterial seed endophytes of their offspring. It also revealed transmission and potential conservation of core seed bacterial endophytes that generally become the dominant microbiota in the succeeding generations of plant hosts.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.85-91
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• 2014

In this study, we analyzed the phylogenetic characterization of root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) in soils from fruits and vegetables greenhouses in Korea. Soil samples were collected from 12 greenhouse fields in which tomato, cucumber, watermelon, and Oriental melon were being cultivated. Meloidogyne spp. were detected in all the soil samples at an average number of $72{\pm}6$ nematodes/300 g of soil to $2,898{\pm}468$ nematodes/300 g of soil. Phylogenetic analysis using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism was attempted for the second-stage juveniles (J2) of Meloidogyne spp. collected from the greenhouse soils. Twelve Meloidogyne spp. from the greenhouse soils were classified into two groups by using HinfI digestion of mitochondrial DNA, resulting in 900, 410, 290, and 170 bp fragments (group A) and 900, 700, and 170 bp fragments (group B). Phylogenetic analysis based on mitochondrial DNA sequences (1,483-1,521 bp) showed that nine group A isolates were identified as Meloidogyne incognita (99.73-99.93%) and three group B isolates showed 99.54-99.73% similarity to Meloidogyne arenaria.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.175-182
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• 2007

Two fruit moths of the oriental fruit moth, Grapholita molesta (Busck), and the peach fruit moth, Carposina sasakii (Matsumura), infest apples in Korea by internally feeding behavior. C. sasakii is a quarantine insect pest from some other countries importing Korean apples. G. molesta is not a quarantine insect pest, but can be incorrectly identified as C. sasakii especially when it is found inside apple fruits at its larval stages because it is not easy to identify the two species by morphological characters alone. This incomplete identification results in massive economical loss by fruits needlessly destroyed or turned away at border inspection stations of the importing nations. This difficulty can be overcome by molecular DNA markers. Several polymorphic regions of mitochondrial DNA of both species were sequenced and used for developing specific striction sites and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers. Based on these sequences, three diagnostic PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) sites were detected and validated for their practical uses. Also, species-specific PCR primers were devised to develop diagnostic PCR method for identifying the internal feeders.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.61-61
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• 2006

Objectives : This study was performed to understand the influence of the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR C677T and A1298C) genotypes on the spontaneously aborted embryos. Methods : DNA was extracted from tissue samples of 95 spontaneously aborted embryos and 100 samples of normal children randomly and 449 samples of normal adults were selected as the controls. MTHFR genotypes were determined by a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assay. Results : The aborted embryo group had higher frequency of MTHFR 677CC type (p=0.014) and lower 677CT type (p=0.063) than the controlled child group. The frequency of MTHFR 677CT type was drastically lower than that of controlled adult group (p=0.032). In the MTHFR C677T/A1298C combination, 677CC/1298AC genotype of the aborted embryo was significantly higher (p=0.034) than that of controlled child group, but it was not statistically significant in controlled adult group (p=0.063). Conclusion : MTHFR 677CC and MTHFR 677CC/1298AC genotypes may represent genetic markers for the risk of spontaneously aborted embryos at least in Koreans.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.18 no.9
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• pp.1207-1211
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• 2008

The pro-inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-$\alpha$ (TNF-$\alpha$) is an important mediator of the immune response in hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Since the production of TNF-$\alpha$ is mostly regulated at the transcriptional level and polymorphisms in the TNF-$\alpha$ promoter alter its expression, TNF-$\alpha$ promoter polymorphisms could affect the pathogenesis of chronic HBV infection. In this study, we investigated the potential association of TNF-$\alpha$ promoter polymorphisms with chronic HBV infection. The study included 181 patients with chronic HBV infection, 201 persons who had been spontaneously recovered from hepatitis B, and 170 unrelated healthy controls. The -308G/A and -238G/A polymorphisms in the TNF-$\alpha$ promoter were analyzed by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism. The distribution of both the -308 and -238 genotypes in the patient group was not statistically different from that in the spontaneous recovery and control groups (p>0.05). There was also no significant difference in the allele frequency between the groups (p>0.05). The results suggest that the TNF-$\alpha$ -308 and -238 promoter polymorphisms are not associated with the development of chronic HBV infection in the Korean population.