• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.22-30
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• 2016

Environmental changes exert harmful effects on organisms inhabiting coastal regions. These changes are also associated with reduced production in aquaculture farms. In this study, we investigated internal and external responses of two Bivalvia species (Crassostrea gigas and Mytilus galloprovincialis) in Gamak Bay under stressful environmental conditions in aquaculture farms. We investigated external responses such as weight, size, and environment exposure time, and analyzed the expression of the HSP70 gene. C. gigas HSP70 gene expression level was significantly high in the C3 aquaculture farm site, but the weight and size of C. gigas were high in the C2 aquaculture farm site. The response of C. gigas HSP70 mRNA was associated with the environmental exposure time in each aquaculture farm. Expression of M. galloprovincialis HSP70 gene was found to be significantly higher in the M2 aquaculture farm site than in the M1 site, whereas the weight of M. galloprovincialis was observed to be higher in the M1 site. The size and environmental exposure time of M. galloprovincialis were similar between M1 and M2 sites. In addition, HSP70 sequences of C. gigas and M. galloprovincialis showed high similarity with that of another marine species. According to our results, there were differences in internal responses following environmental stress in aquaculture farms, with respect to HSP70 gene expression. The results suggest that the HSP70 gene is a useful molecular indicator for monitoring stress responses in Bivalvia species in the field.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.12
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• pp.1536-1544
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• 2018

Depression is a common, serious, and recurring mental disorder. The pathogenesis of depression involves many factors such as environmental factor, genetic factor and alteration of structure and function in neurobiological systems. Increasing evidence supports that epigenetic alteration may be associated with depression. The epigenetics is explained as the mechanisms by which environmental factor causes changes in chromatin structure and alters gene expression without changing DNA base sequence. DNA methylation and histone modification involving histone acetylation and methylation are the main epigenetic mechanisms. Animal studies have shown that stressful environment such as early life stress can leave persistent epigenetic marks in the genome, which alter gene expression and influence neural and behavioral function through adulthood. A potentially important gene in depression is brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF plays a central role in depression and antidepressant action. In studies of the rodent, exposure to stress at prenatal, postnatal, and adult stages alters BDNF expression through histone modification and DNA methylation of the BDNF gene which results in anxiety and depressive-like behavior. This review discusses recent advances in the study of the epigenetic mechanisms that contribute to depression, particularly histone modification and DNA methylation of the BDNF gene, that may help in the development of new targets for depression treatment.

• Journal of Marine Life Science
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 2022

Sea cucumber, Aposticopus japonicus, is a major invertebrate species in the coastal regions of Korea. To evaluate the short-term stress levels according to the releasing methods, this study investigated the gene expression profiles of heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. When the juvenile sea cucumbers were packed in the vinyl bag with oxygen followed by transportation for 30 min or air-exposed for 1 h, the HSP90 gene expression levels in the experimental groups were significantly increased compared to those of the control groups (transported group, p=0.001; air-exposed group, p=0.032). The experimental group at 6 h post-release by seed-spreading method and at 2~6 h post-release by underwater hose-releasing method on board a fishing boat showed that the levels of HSP90 gene expression were not statistically significant but decreased slightly compared to the control group (seed-spreading group, p=0.069; hose-releasing group, p=0.093). On the other hand, the HSP90 gene expression showed an increasing pattern as the time passed (~6 h) after underwater release of juvenile sea cucumbers by divers (p=0.061). These results suggest that HSP90 gene expression can be used to investigate short-term stress response and effective releasing methods of juvenile sea cucumbers.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.111-111
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• 2017

The development and productivity of maize (Zea mays L.) is frequently impacted by water scarcity, and consequently to increased drought tolerance in a priority target in maize breeding programs. To elucidate the molecular mechanisms of resistance to drought stress in maize, RNA-seq of the public database was used for transcriptome profiling of the seedling stage exposed to drought stress of three levels, such as moderate, severe drought stress and re-watering. In silico analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs), 176 up-regulated and 166 down-regulated DEGs was detected at moderated stress in tolerance type. These DEGs was increasing degradation of amino acid metabolism in biological pathways. Six modules based on a total of 4,771 DEGs responses to drought stress by the analysis of co-expression network between tolerance and susceptible type was constructed and showed to similar module types. These modules were discriminated yellow, greenyellow, turquoise, royalblue, brown4 and plum1 with 318, 2433, 375, 183, 1405 and 56 DEGs, respectively. This study was selected 30 DEGs to predicted drought stress response gene and was evaluated expression levels using drought stress treated sample and re-watering sample by quantitative Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR). 23 genes was shown increasing with drought stress and decreasing with re-watering. This study contribute to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of maize seedling stage responses to drought stress and could be useful for developing maize cultivar resistant to drought stress.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.379-387
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• 2004

When an organism is exposed to various toxicants chronically, reactive oxygen species(ROS) are accumulated and eventually result in several biological effects from gene expression to cell death. In the present study we investigated the oxidative damage of 2, 3, 7, 8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin(TCDD) and/or benzo(a)pyrene (B(a)P) in C100 cells. C100 cells treated with TCDD(30 nM) and B(a)P($3{\mu}M$) underwent diverse oxidative stress as determined through thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances(TBARS) formation, DNA fragmentation, DNA single strand break(SSB) assay, immunohistochemical staining of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine(8-OHdG), and mRNA expressions of antioxidant enzymatic genes such as Cu/Zn-SOD gene, GPx(glutathione peroxidase 5) gene, and catalase gene. Lipid peroxidation in C100 cells was determined through measuing the formation of TBARS. For theat, the cells were pretreated with TCDD(30 nM) and/or B(a)P($3{\mu}M$) for 0.5, 1, 2 and 4 days. TBARS formation was increased in TCDD(30 nM) and B(a)P($3{\mu}M$) and mixture($30nM\;TCDD+3{\mu}M\;B(a)P$) and positive control treatment groups comparing to the controls. Mixture treatment induced more DNA fragmentation than the single treatment group at day 6. Also, SSB in all treatment groups was clearly observed when compared with the negative control group. As with the expression of antioxidant enzyme, GPx 5mRNA, B(a)P alone and mixture($30nM\;TCDD+3{\mu}M\;B(a)P$) treatment were higher comparing to those of the negative control and TCDD treatment groups. Our results suggest that exposure of C100 cells to mixture of TCDD and B(a)P leads to significant oxidative damage comparing to the exposures to the individual chemicals. Mechanisms of action are discussed. Additional studies are needed to elucidate the detailed mechanism of mixture-induced toxicity.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2010.10a
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• pp.14-14
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• 2010

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is an essential component for collagen biosynthesis and also for the proper functioning of the cardiovascular system in humans. Unlike most of the animals, humans lack the ability to synthesize ascorbic acid on their own due to a mutation in the gene encoding the last enzyme of ascorbate biosynthesis. As a result, vitamin C must be obtained from dietary sources like plants. In this study, we have developed two different kinds of transgenic potato plants (Solanumtuberosum L. cv. Taedong Valley) overexpressing strawberry GalUR and mouse GLoase gene under the control of CaMV 35S promoter with increased ascorbic acid levels. Integration of the these genes in the plant genome was confirmed by PCR and Southern blotting. Ascorbic acid(AsA) levels in transgenic tubers were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography(HPLC). The over-expression of these genes resulted in 2-4 folds increase in AsA intransgenic potato and the levels of AsA were positively correlated with increased geneactivity. The transgenic lines with enhanced vitamin C content showed enhanced tolerance to abiotic stresses induced by methyl viologen(MV), NaCl or mannitol as compared to untransformed control plants. The leaf disc senescence assay showed better tolerance in transgenic lines by retaining higher chlorophyll as compared to the untransformed control plants. Present study demonstrated that the over-expression of these gene enhanced the level of AsA in potato tubers and these transgenics performed better under different abiotic stresses as compared to untransformed control. We have also investigated the mechanism of the abiotic stress tolerance upon enhancing the level of the ascorbate in transgenic potato. The transgenic potato plants overexpressing GalUR gene with enhanced accumulation of ascorbate were investigated to analyze the antioxidants activity of enzymes involved in the ascorbate-glutathione cycle and their tolerance mechanism against different abiotic stresses under invitro conditions. Transformed potato tubers subjected to various abiotic stresses induced by methyl viologen, sodium chloride and zinc chloride showed significant increase in the activities of superoxide dismutase(SOD, EC 1.15.1.1), catalase, enzymes of ascorbate-glutathione cycle enzymes such as ascorbate peroxidase(APX, EC 1.11.1.11), dehydroascorbate reductase(DHAR, EC 1.8.5.1), and glutathione reductase(GR, EC 1.8.1.7) as well as the levels of ascorbate, GSH and proline when compared to the untransformed tubers. The increased enzyme activities correlated with their mRNA transcript accumulation in the stressed transgenic tubers. Pronounced differences in redox status were also observed in stressed transgenic potato tubers that showed more tolerance to abiotic stresses when compared to untransformed tubers. From the present study, it is evident that improved to lerance against abiotic stresses in transgenic tubers is due to the increased activity of enzymes involved in the antioxidant system together with enhanced ascorbate accumulated in transformed tubers when compared to untransformed tubers. At moment we also investigating the role of enhanced reduced glutathione level for the maintenance of the methylglyoxal level as it is evident that methylglyoxal is a potent cytotoxic compound produced under the abiotic stress and the maintenance of the methylglyoxal level is important to survive the plant under stress conditions.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.475-483
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• 2019

The use of stem cells in cell-based therapy has attracted extensive interest in the field of regenerative medicine, and it has been applied to numerous incurable diseases due to the inherent abilities of self-renewal and differentiation. However, there still exist some severe obstacles, such as requirement of cell expansion before the treatment, and low survival at the treated site. To overcome these disadvantages of stem cells, we used the carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 6 (CEACAM 6) gene, which functions to increase cell-cell interaction as well as anti-apoptosis. We first confirmed whether CEACAM 6 is expressed in various cell lines at the protein level (including in stem cells), followed by evaluating and selecting the optimal transfection conditions into stem cells. The CEACAM 6 gene was transfected into stem cells to prolong cell survival and preserve from damage by oxidative stress. After confirming the CEACAM 6 expression in transfected stem cells, the cell survival was assessed under oxidative condition by exposing to hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) to mimic the chronic environment-induced cellular damage. CEACAM 6 expressing stem cells show increased cell viability compared to the non-CEACAM 6 expressing cells. We propose that the application of the CEACAM 6 gene is a potential option, capable of expanding and enhancing the therapeutic effects of stem cells.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.64 no.4
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• pp.800-811
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• 2022

The integration of metabolomics and transcriptomics may elucidate the correlation between the genotypic and phenotypic patterns in organisms. In equine physiology, various metabolite levels vary during exercise, which may be correlated with a modified gene expression pattern of related genes. Integrated metabolomic and transcriptomic studies in horses have not been conducted to date. The objective of this study was to detect the effect of moderate exercise on the metabolomic and transcriptomic levels in horses. In this study, using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, we analyzed the concentrations of metabolites in muscle and plasma; we also determined the gene expression patterns of branched chain (alpha) keto acid dehydrogenase kinase complex (BCKDK), which encodes the key regulatory enzymes in branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) catabolism, in two breeds of horses, Thoroughbred and Jeju, at different time intervals. The concentrations of metabolites in muscle and plasma were measured by ¹H NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectroscopy, and the relative metabolite levels before and after exercise in the two samples were compared. Subsequently, multivariate data analysis based on the metabolic profiles was performed using orthogonal partial least square discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA), and variable important plots and t-test were used for basic statistical analysis. The stress-induced expression patterns of BCKDK genes in horse muscle-derived cells were examined using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to gain insight into the role of transcript in response to exercise stress. In this study, we found higher concentrations of aspartate, leucine, isoleucine, and lysine in the skeletal muscle of Jeju horses than in Thoroughbred horses. In plasma, compared with Jeju horses, Thoroughbred horses had higher levels of alanine and methionine before exercise; whereas post-exercise, lysine levels were increased. Gene expression analysis revealed a decreased expression level of BCKDK in the post-exercise period in Thoroughbred horses.

• BMB Reports
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.101-105
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• 2009

The homozygous T-DNA mutant of the AMY1 gene in Arabidopsis was identified and importantly, shown to cause an early flowering phenotype. We found that the disruption of AMY1 enhanced expression of CO and FT. The expression analyses of genes related to starch metabolism revealed that expression of the AGPase small subunit APS1 in the wild type was higher than in the amy1 mutant. However, there were no significant differences in expression levels of the AGPase large subunit genes ApL1, AMY2, or AMY3 between wild type and the amy1 mutant. Expression profiling showed that AMY1 was highly expressed in leaves, stems, and flowers, and expressed less in leafstalks and roots. Furthermore, the level of AMY1 mRNA was highly elevated with age and in senescing leaves. RT-PCR analyses showed that the expression of AMY1 was induced by heat shock, GA, and ABA, while salt stress had no apparent effect on its expression.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.16-24
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• 2016

A new strain of Pseudomonas sp. was isolated from mercury (Hg)-contaminated sites in Taiwan. This bacterium removed more than 80% of Hg present in the culture medium at 12 h incubation and was chosen for further analysis of the molecular mechanisms of Hg tolerance/removal abilities in this Pseudomonas sp. We used RNA-seq, one of the next-generation sequencing methods, to investigate the transcriptomic responses of the Pseudomonas sp. exposed to 60 mg/L of Hg²⁺. We de novo assembled 4,963 contigs, of which 10,533 up-regulated genes and 5,451 down-regulated genes were found to be regulated by Hg. The 40 genes most altered in expression levels were associated with tolerance to Hg stress and metabolism. Functional analysis showed that some Hg-tolerant genes were related to the mer operon, sulfate uptake and assimilation, the enzymatic antioxidant system, the HSP gene family, chaperones, and metal transporters. The transcriptome were analyzed further with Gene Ontology (GO) and Cluster of Orthologous Groups (COGs) of proteins and showed diverse biological functions and metabolic pathways under Hg stress.