• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.59 no.4
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• pp.311-315
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• 2020

Two genera with two species of the superfamily Ichneumonoidea, Testudobracon pleuralis Ashmead 1906 and Diadromus subtilicornis Gravenhorst 1829, are reported for the first time from South Korea. Diagnosis, distribution, and illustration are provided.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.255-261
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• 2021

Sclerochilus Sars, 1866 is the most diverse genus of the family Bythocytheridae, one of the longest surviving groups of extant ostracods, and the oldest representative of the superfamily Cytheroidea. It has a worldwide distribution at various marine depths, and it includes three subgenera: Fascichilus Schornikov, 1981; Praesclerochilus Schornikov, 1981; and Sclerochilus Sars, 1866. We describe Sclerochilus(Praesclerochilus) jejuensis sp. nov. from Jeju Island, South Korea, raising the number of known Praesclerochilus species to 13. Although most species belonging to this subgenus have very similar carapace shape, the new species differs morphologically from its most similar congeners, S. (P.) mukaishimensis Okubo, 1977; S. (P.) pruniformis Schornikov, 1981; and S. (P.) ochotensis Schornikov, 1981, by the large ventral process on the hemipenis. So far, 29 Sclerochilus species have been reported from South Korea, only one of which was named, but for which no descriptive information was provided. Therefore, this is the first taxonomic report of a Sclerochilus species from South Korea.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.162-166
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• 2022

The family Gracillariidae, belonging to the superfamily Gracillarioidea, is one of the major group of leaf-miners. Among them, the genus Telamoptilia Kumata & Kuroko, 1988 has been known as a small genus with only nine described species over worldwide to date. In this study, the genus Telamoptilia Kumata & Kuroko, 1988, is reported for the first time from Korea. In addition, two species of the genus Telamoptilia, T. grewiae Liu, Wang & Li, 2015 and T. tiliae Kumata & Ermolaev, 1988, are newly recorded in Korea. All the known species are enumerated with their available information. The adults and genitalia of all species are redescribed and illustrated.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.22-28
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• 2022

Two crinoid specimens of genus Tropiometra were collected from Busan and Tongyeong by SCUBA diving on August 2010 and October 2011, respectively. The specimens were identified as Tropiometra macrodiscus (Hara, 1895), which belongs to the family Tropiometridae of superfamily Tropiometroidea. The genus Tropiometra AH Clark, 1907 comprises four species worldwide at present, and it has not been reported in Korea. Tropiometra macrodiscus was first described by Hara (1895) in Japan. It is difficult to distinguish T. macrodiscus from T. afra (Hartlaub, 1890), there has been confusion with examination of their phylogenetic positions in crinoid morphological classification. Despite this, T. macrodiscus can be distinguished from T. afra based on longer arms, stouter whole-body parts, magnificently larger numbers of cirrus, and numerous segments. The morphological characteristics of T. macrodiscus collected in Korea have been described, and DNA barcode region representing cytochrome c oxidase subunit I was obtained for its molecular phylogenetic analysis.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 1994.04a
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• pp.153-163
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• 1994

P450s are a superfamily of heme-containing monooxygenases and important in the metabolism of numerous physiological substrates and foreign compounds. It has been established that tilers are at least 30 distinct human isoforms of P450. Four families containing numerous individual P450s are mainly responsible for metabolizing foreign compounds, A cDNA expression system in which individual human P450s are synthesized in cultured human hepatoma (Hep G2) cells infected with a recombinant vaccinia virus containing human P450 cDNA has been constructed.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.33-38
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• 2023

The follicle stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR) is a glycoprotein hormone, that belongs to the GPCR superfamily. FSHR plays a major role in reproduction. The aberrant activation of FHS receptor leads to infertility and several reproductive disorders. The recently recognized roles of the FSHR in diverse extragonadal tissues is also closely related to Alzheimer's disease and cancers. Analysing the structural characteristics of the receptor is important in understanding the pathophysiology of diseases associated with the receptor. In this present study, homology modelling of FSHR-TM domain was developed using four different templates. Totally 20 models were developed using single template-based approach and selected three based on the validation of RC plot, RMSD, ProSA, QMEAN and ERRAT values. The developed models would be useful for further research on the structural characteristics and binding characteristics of the FSHR-TM domain.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.16-20
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• 2024

The family Curtonotidae, known as the Hunchbacked or Quasimodo fly, is a small group of acalyptrate flies belonging to the superfamily Ephydroidea. Until now, a total of 103 species under four genera have been recorded worldwide, mainly distributed in tropical and subtropical areas. Among them, only five species of the genus Curtonotum Macquart, 1843 have been recorded in the Palaearctic region, mainly in the Russian Far East, but there are still no previous reports in the Korean fanua. In this study, we firstly report the family Curtonotidae Duda, 1934 from Korea with Curtonotum maritimum Ozerov, 2007. Additionally, we provide taxonomic information and a key for the Palaearctic Curtonotum species.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.189-195
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• 2022

Kinesin-2 comprises two subfamilies of the heterotrimeric or homodimeric motors found in mammalian cells. Heterotrimeric kinesin-2 consists of kinesin superfamily proteins (KIFs) 3A and 3B and kinesin-associated protein 3 (KAP3), which is a molecular motor protein that moves along microtubules. It plays diverse roles in cargo transport, including anterograde trafficking in cilia, and interacts with many different cargoes and proteins, but their binding proteins have not yet been fully identified. In this study, the yeast two-hybrid assay was used to identify the proteins that interact with the cargo-binding domain (CBD) of KIF3A, and an interaction between KIF3A and brain expressed X-linked 2 (Bex2) was found. Bex2 bound to the CBD-containing C-terminal tail region of KIF3A but did not interact with the same region of KIF3B or KIF5A (a motor protein of kinesin-1). KIF3A interacted with another isoform, Bex1, but did not interact with Bex3. In addition, glutathione S-transferase (GST) pull-downs showed that KIF3A specifically interacts with GST-Bex1 and GST-Bex2 but not with GST alone. When co-expressed in HEK-293T cells, Bex2 co-localized with KIF3A and co-immunoprecipitated with KIF3A and KIF3B but not KIF5B. In combination, these results suggest that Bex2 is capable of binding to heterotrimeric kinesin-2 and may serve as an adaptor protein that links heterotrimeric kinesin-2 with cargo.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.9
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• pp.1100-1117
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• 2018

The Ras superfamily of small G-proteins acts as a molecular switch on the intracellular signaling pathway. Upon ligand stimulation, inactive GTPases (Ras-GDP) are activated (Ras-GTP) using guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) and transmit signals to their downstream effectors. Following signal transmission, active Ras-GTP become inactive Ras-GDP and cease signaling. However, the intrinsic GTPase activity of Ras proteins is weak, requiring Ras GTPase-activating protein (RasGAP) to efficiently convert RAS-GTP to Ras-GDP. Since deregulation of the Ras pathway is found in nearly 30% of all human cancers, it might be useful to clarify the structural and physiological roles of Ras GTPases. Recently, RasGAP has emerged as a new class of tumor-suppressor protein and a potential therapeutic target for cancer. Therefore, it is important to clarify the physiological roles of the individual GAPs in human diseases. The first RasGAP discovered was RASA1, also known as p120 RasGAP. RASA1 is widely expressed, independent of cell type and tissue distribution. Subsequently, neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) was discovered. The remaining GAPs are affiliated with the GAP1 and synaptic GAP (SynGAP) families. There are more than 170 Ras GTPases and 14 Ras GAP members in the human genome. This review focused on the current understanding of Ras GTPase and RasGAP in human diseases, including cancers.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.37-42
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• 2018

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug-activated gene-1 (NAG-1) is a transforming growth factor beta (TGF-${\beta}$) superfamily gene associated with pro-apoptotic and anti-tumorigenic activities. In the present study, we investigated if caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) derived from propolis could induce the expression of anti-tumorigenic gene NAG-1. Our results indicate that CAPE significantly induced NAG-1 expression in a time- and concentration-dependent manner in HCT116 cells. We also found that CAPE induced NAG-1 expression in a concentration-dependent manner in another human colorectal cancer cell line, LOVO. In addition, CAPE triggered apoptosis, which was detected with Western blot analysis using poly-(ADP-ribose) polymerase antibody. NAG-1 induction by CAPE was not dependent on transcription factor p53, which was confirmed with Western blot analysis using p53 null HCT116 cells. The luciferase assay results indicated that the new cis-elements candidates were located between -474 and -1,086 of the NAG-1 gene promoter. CAPE dramatically induced activating transcription factor 3 (ATF3) expression, but not cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB), which shares the same binding sites with ATF3. The co-transfection experiment with pCG-ATF3 and pCREB showed that only ATF3 was associated with NAG-1 up-regulation by CAPE, whereas CREB had no effect. In conclusion, the results suggest that CAPE could induce the expression of anti-tumorigenic gene NAG-1 mainly through ATF3.