• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.207-212
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• 2012

T cell immunoglobulin mucin domain (TIM)-3 is an immunomodulatory molecule and upregulated in T cells by several cytokines. TIM-3 also influences mast cell function but its transcriptional regulation in mast cells has not been clarified. Therefore, we examined the transcript level and the promoter activity of TIM-3 in mast cells. The TIM-3 transcript level was assessed by real-time RT-PCR and promoter activity by luciferase reporter assay. TIM-3 mRNA levels were increased in HMC-1, a human mast cell line by TGF-${\beta}1$ stimulation but not by stimulation with interferon (IFN)-${\alpha}$, IFN-${\lambda}$, TNF-${\alpha}$, or IL-10. TIM-3 promoter -349~+144 bp region relative to the transcription start site was crucial for the basal and TGF-${\beta}1$-induced TIM-3 promoter activities in HMC-1 cells. TIM-3 promoter activity was increased by over-expression of Smad2 and Smad4, downstream molecules of TGF-${\beta}1$ signaling. Our results localize TIM-3 promoter activity to the region spanning -349 to ＋144 bp in resting and TGF-${\beta}1$ stimulated mast cells.

• Integrative Medicine Research
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.67-73
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• 2014

Background: The transcription factor signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (Stat3)is constitutively activated in many human cancers. It promotes tumor cell proliferation,inhibits apoptosis, induces angiogenesis and metastasis, and suppresses antitumor hostimmune responses. Therefore, Stat3 has emerged as a promising molecular target for cancertherapies. In this study, we evaluated the Stat3-suppressive activity of 38 herbal medicinestraditionally used in Korea.Methods: Medicinal herb extracts in 70% ethanol were screened for their ability to suppressStat3 in the A549 human lung cancer cell line. A Stat3-responsive reporter assay system wasused to detect intracellular Stat3 activity in extract-treated cells, and Western blot analyseswere performed to measure the expression profiles of Stat3-regulated proteins.Results: Fifty percent of the 38 extracts possessed at least mild Stat3-suppressive activities(i.e., activity less than 75% of the vehicle control). Ethanol extracts of Bupleurum falcatumL., Taraxacum officinale Weber, Solanum nigrum L., Ulmus macrocarpa Hance, Euonymus alatusSieb., Artemisia capillaris Thunb., and Saururus chinensis (Lour.) Baill inhibited up to 75% of thevehicle control Stat3 activity level. A549 cells treated with these extracts also had reducedBcl-xL, Survivin, c-Myc, and Mcl-1 expression.Conclusion: Many medicinal herbs traditionally used in Korea contain Stat3 activity-suppressing substances. Because of the therapeutic impact of Stat3 inhibition, these resultscould be useful when developing novel cancer therapeutics from medicinal herbs.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.1977-1988
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• 2015

β-1,3-glucanosyltransferases play essential roles in cell wall biosynthesis in yeast. Kluyveromyces lactis has six putative β-1,3-glucanosyltransferase genes. KlGAS1-1 and KlGAS1-2 are homologs of Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene GAS1. RT-qPCR indicated the transcription level of KlGAS1-1 was significantly reduced while heterologous protein (thermostable xylanase B) secretion was enhanced during medium optimization. To evaluate if these two events were related, and to improve xylanase B secretion in K. lactis, we constructed KlGAS1-1 and KlGAS1-2 single deletion strains and double deletion strain, respectively. KlGAS1-1 gene deletion resulted in the highest xylanase B activity among the three mutants. Only the double deletion strain showed morphology similar to that of the GAS1 deletion mutant in S. cerevisiae. The two single deletion strains differed in terms of cell wall thickness and xylanase B secretion. Transcription levels of β-1,3-glucanosyltransferase genes and genes related to protein secretion and transport were assayed. The β-1,3-glucanosyltransferase genes displayed transcription complementation in the cell wall synthesis process. KlGAS1-1 and KlGAS1-2 affected transcription levels of secretion- and transport-related genes. Differences in protein secretion ratio among the three deletion strains were associated with changes of transcription levels of secretion- and transport-related genes. Our findings indicate that KlGAS1-1 deletion is an effective tool for enhancing industrial-scale heterologous protein secretion in K. lactis.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.236-244
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• 2014

The plant pathogen Fusarium graminearum causes Fusarium head blight in cereal crops and produces mycotoxins that are harmful to animals and humans. For the initiation and spread of disease, asexual and sexual reproduction is required. Therefore, studies on fungal reproduction contribute to the development of new methods to control and maintain the fungal population. Screening a previously generated transcription factor mutant collection, we identified one putative $C_2H_2$ zincfinger transcription factor, pcs1, which is required for both sexual and asexual reproduction. Deleting pcs1 in F. graminearum resulted in a dramatic reduction in conidial production and a complete loss of sexual reproduction. The pathways and gene ontology of pcs1-dependent genes from microarray experiments showed that several G-protein related pathways, oxidase activity, ribosome biogenesis, and RNA binding and processing were highly enriched, suggesting that pcs1 is involved in several different biological processes. Further, overexpression of pcs1 increased conidial production and resulted in earlier maturation of ascospores compared to the wild-type strain. Additionally, the vegetative growth of the overexpression mutants was decreased in nutrient-rich conditions but was not different from the wild-type strain in nutrient-poor conditions. Overall, we discovered that the pcs1 transcription factor positively regulates both conidiation and sexual reproduction and confers nutrient condition-dependent vegetative growth.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.536-544
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• 2017

Abeliophyllum distichum Nakai is deciduous shrubs of flowering plant in Oleaceae. It is important plant resources and consists of one species in the world. Also the endemic plant of A. distichum has been protected and designed endangered plant in Korea. For this reason, study on the immature seeds of A. distichum (ADS) hasn't progressed. In the present study, we evaluated the antioxidant activity and inhibitory effects on proteins and mRNA levels were related in the whitening effect in B16F10 cells. ADS was effective for reaction oxygen species (ROS). ROS causes various diseases such as aging, inflammation, cancer, and etc. Antioxidant properties were evaluated DPPH, ABTS radical scavenging activity and Reducing power. Plants were known that contained phenolic compounds were related in antioxidant activity. Phenolic compounds were phytochemicals commonly named natural polyphenols. These are secondary metabolites of plants involved in the defense against different types of stresses. In results, ADS suppressed the expression and transcription of Tyrosinase, TRP-1, TRP-2, and Microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF). Tyrosinase, tyrosinase-related protein 1 (TRP-1), tyrosinase-related protein 1 (TRP-2) are known to play an important role in melanin biosynthesis. MITF regulated the expression and transcription of Tyrosinase, TRP-1, and TRP-2. In conclusion, ADS was effective in both antioxidant activities and whitening effects. Also, they were associated with the content of phenolic compounds. We suggested that ADS can be use antioxidants and skin-whitening functional cosmetics material derived from natural plant resources.

• Proceedings of the Zoological Society Korea Conference
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• 2000.10a
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• pp.239.3-240
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• 2000

No Abstract, See Full Text

• Proceedings of the Korea Environmental Mutagen Society Conference
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.99-99
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• 2004

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Life Science Conference
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• 2001.02a
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• pp.79-79
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• 2001

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Embryo Transfer Conference
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• 2002.11a
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• pp.117-117
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• 2002

The oocytes from most of animal species accumulate genetic information and other necessary materials during oogenesis for the later use in the early development. Over the years oocyte maturation has been studied extensively both in vitro and in vivo. Particularly, maturation of follicular oocyte in vitro becomes one of the important tools for the studies of basic cell biology, the in vitro technology of animal production, and in particular, the somatic cell cloning by nuclear transfer. We examined meiotic maturation and cumulus expansion in the presence of translation or transcription inhibitors for varying periods of in viかo maturation (IVM) of pig oocyte. In Experiment 1, the results revealed that translation and transcription inhibitors inhibited cumulus expansion and meiotic maturation during 35h of IVM. However, 50 to 60% of the oocytes underwent nuclear maturation without cumulus expansion during 75h of IVM. The rest of the oocytes were arrested at metaphase I (40-50%) in the presence of the inhibitors. In Experiment II, the OCCs were exposed to the drugs only for 15h to examine translation and transcription inhibitors on cumulus expansion and meiotic maturation. Transcription inhibitors for 15h did not arrest meiotic maturation when the oocytes were cultured for subsequent, necessary period of IVM, whereas cumulus expansion was completely inhibited, suggesting that initial 15h is critical transcription activity far cumulus expansion. Translation inhibitors for 15h exposure did not alter cumulus expansion and meiotic maturation during subsequent culture in the absence of the drugs. In Experiment III, the OCCs were exposed to the drugs only for later 30h to examine the influence of transcription and translation inhibitors on oocyte maturation. Interestingly, all meiotic maturation underwent normally with full expansion of cumulus. Similar results were obtained from Experiment IV where 5h of exposure from 15 to 20h of IVM culture to the drugs was performed and subsequently cultured for same period in fresh medium. Taken there results together, both transcription and translation are necessary for nuclear maturation and cumulus expansion, and first 15h IVM for cumulus expansion is critical. The arrested oocytes by the drugs were still capable of undergoing nuclear maturation, although cumulus expansion was affected.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.335-347
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• 2016

Multiple interferon tau (IFNT) genes exist in bovine. An antiluteolytic substance secreted by the bovine conceptus and primarily responsible for maternal recognition of pregnancy is bovine trophoblast protein 1 (bIFNT1), a new type I interferon tau (IFNT) genes. The objectives of this research were to investigate whether multiple, distinct gene encode bIFNT1 and other type I bIFNT gene in the bovine genome and to examine expression of bIFNT1 and other bIFNTc1 mRNAs during conceptus development. These transcrips could be regulated through caudal-related homeobox-2 (CDX2) and ETS2 and/or AP1 (JUN) expression, a transcription factor implicated in the control of cell differentiation in the trophectoderm. The presence of mRNAs encoded by bIFNT1 and type I bIFNTc1 genes were examined quantitatively via reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis of total cellular RNA (tcRNA) extracted from on day 17, 20 and 22 bovine conceptuses. The expression level of bIFNT1 was higher on day 17 transcripts were gradually weakly detectable on day 20 and 22. However, the other bIFNTc1 gene examined transcripts was highly expressed on day 20 and transcripts were weakly detectable on day 17 and 22 bovine conceptuses. Furthermore, human choriocarcinoma JEG3 was co-transfected with an -1kb-bIFNT1/c1-Luc constructs and several transcription factor expression plasmids. Compared to each -1kb-bIFNT1/c1-Luc increased when this constructs were co-transfected with, ETS2, AP1(JUN), CREBBP and/or CDX2. Also, bIFNTc1 gene was had very effect on activity by alone ETS2, and AP1 (JUN) expression factors in choriocarcinoma JEG3 cell. However, bIFNT1 gene expression of the upstream region was not identified. We demonstrated that the activities of bIFN genes are regulated by differential, tissue-specific and developmental competence during pregnancy.