• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.575-584
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• 2015

Drought stress is a crucial environmental factor determining crop survival and productivity. The goal of this study was to clearly identify a new drought stress-tolerance gene in Brassica rapa. From KBGP-24K microarray data with the B. rapa ssp. pekinensis inbred line 'Chiifu' under drought stress treatment, a gene which was named BrDSR (B. rapa Drought Stress Resistance) was chosen among 738 drought-responsive unigenes. BrDSR function has yet to be determined, but its expression was induced over 6-fold by drought. To characterize BrDSR, the gene was isolated from B. rapa inbred line 'CT001' and found to contain a 438-bp open reading frame encoding a 145 amino acid protein. The full-length cDNA of BrDSR was used to construct an over-expression vector, 'pSL100'. Tobacco transformation was then conducted to analyze whether the BrDSR gene can increase drought tolerance in plants. The BrDSR expression level in T1 transgenic tobacco plants selected via PCR and DNA blot analyses was up to 2.6-fold higher than non-transgenic tobacco. Analysis of phenotype clearly showed that BrDSR-expressing tobacco plants exhibited more tolerance than wild type under 10 d drought stress. Taking all of these findings together, we expect that BrDSR functions effectively in plant growth and survival of drought stress conditions.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.835-840
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• 2018

Quantitative determination of the protein expression levels is one of the most important parts in assessment of the safety of foods derived from genetically modified (GM) crops. Overexpression of AtCYP78A7, a gene encoding cytochrome P450 protein, has been reported to improve tolerance to abiotic stress, such as drought and salt stress, in transgenic rice (Oryza sativa L.). In the present study, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit for diagnosing AtCYP78A7 protein including AtCYP78A7-specific monoclonal antibody was developed. GST-AtCYP78A7 recombinant protein was induced and purified by affinity column. Four monoclonal antibodies (mAb 6A7, mAb 4C2, mAb 11H6, and mAb 7E8) against recombinant protein were also produced and biotinylated with avidin-HRP. After pairing test using GST-AtCYP78A7 protein and lysate of rice samples, mAb 4C2 and mAb 7E8 were selected as a capture antibody and a detecting antibody, respectively, for ELISA kit. Product test using rice samples indicated that percentages of detected protein in total protein were greater than 0.1% in AtCYP78A7-overexpressing transgenic rice (Line 10B-5 and 18A-4), whereas those in negative control non-transgenic rice (Ilpum and Hwayoung) were less than 0.1%. The ELISA kit developed in this study can be useful for the rapid detection and safety assessment of transgenic rice overexpressing AtCYP78A7.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.35-41
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• 1995

In this study, we have tested whether the retrovirus vector system is applicable in transgenic cattle production. To overcome low infectivity of currently available retrovirus vector system we have directly microinjected retrovirus-producing cells into the perivitelline space of the day 1.5 embryos. The virus-producing cell line was designed to release replication-defective retrovirus encapsidated with Gibbon ape leukemia virus (GaLV) envelope protein. E. coli LacZ gene was used as a marker gene to facilitate evaluation of the transgene expression and X-gal staining at morula or blastocyst stage resulted in expression of E. coli LacZ gene The results in these experiments were summarized as follows : 1. The lowest concentration of polybrene necessary for efficient virus infection was Sf' g/ml. 2. Development rate from day 1.5 embryos microinjected with virus-producing cells to the morulae /blastocysts was 29%. 3. 21% of the morulae /blastocysts were LacZ+. 4. There was no evidence that the retrovirus-producing cells used in this study produced replication-competent retrovirus.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.87-95
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• 2005

The tomato ripening associated membrane protein (TRAMP) (Fray et al., 1994) is a member of the major intrinsic protein (MIP) family, defined as channels facilitating the passage of water and small solutes through membranes. During normal fruit ripening the TRAMP mRNA levels were increased whereas the expression levels of TRAMP in low ethylene ACO1-sense suppressed lines, Nr and rin fruits, were lower than at the breaker stage of wild type fruit. TRAMP mRNA is inhibited by $LaCl_3$, which is an inhibitor of $Ca^{2+}$-stimulated responses, treatment but drought condition did not affect TRAMP expression. The levels of TRAMP mRNA transcripts were substantially higher in the dark treated seedlings and fruits. These suggest that TRAMP function as a water channel may be doubted because of several reasons; no water content was changed during ripening in wild type, antisense and overexpression lines, TRAMP expression under light condition was lower than dark condition and TRAMP expression was not changed in drought condition. Co-suppression plant, 3588 was one of sense suppression lines, which contain CaMV 35S promoter and sense pNY507 cDNA, produced small antisense RNA, approximately 21-25 nucleotides in length, mediated post-transcriptional gene silencing. Therefore, TRAMP expression was inhibited by small antisense and multiple copies might induce gene silencing without any production of double strand RNA. Total seven selected volatile productions, isobutylthiazole, 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one, hexanal, hexenal methylbutanal, hexenol, and methylbutanol, were highly reduced in sense line whereas total volatile production was increased in TRAMP antisense line. These results suggested TRAMP might change volatile related compounds.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.21-24
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• 2006

A series of cytotoxic activities $(ED_{50})$ in vitro against six human cancers (lung cancer, uterine cancer, skin cancer, brain cancer, colon cancer and adenocarcinoma) and their seventeen cell lines of 3,6-bis(2'-pyridyl)pyridazine, 1, 3,6-bis-(6'-methyl-2'-pyridyl)pyridazine, 2 and their transition metal, Ni(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II) complexes, $3{\sim}6$ were measured. Particularly, the results revealed that the cytotoxic activities against the brain cancer cell line (SNB-19) and the colon cancer cell line (SW62) of bis- [3,6-bis-(6'-methyl-2'-pyridyl)pyridazine-$k^2N^2,N^3$]chlorocopper(II)perchlorate, 4 were shown to be higher than that of the first generation anticancer agent, Cis-platin.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.18
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• pp.7785-7792
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• 2014

Background: Valproic acid (VPA) is a potent anticancer and antiangiogenic agent. However, design and synthesis of chemical derivatives with improved antiangiogenic and anticancer activities are still necessary. In this study a library of novel derivatives of VPA was synthesized and tested. Methods: A human liver cancer cell line (HepG2) and a human normal embryonic kidney cell line (HEK 293) were exposed to various concentrations of VPA derivatives for 24 hours and cell viability was checked by MTT colorimetric assay. Anti-angiogenic properties were evaluated in transgenic zebrafish embryos. Results: N-valproylglycine derivatives suppressed survival almost 70% (p value 0.001) in HepG2 cells but only 10-12% in HEK 293 cells (p value 0.133). They also suppressed angiogenic blood vessel formation by 80% when used between $2-20{\mu}M$ in zebrafish embryos. Valproic acid hydrazides showed moderate level of anticancer activity by affecting 30-50% (p value 0.001) of cell viability in HepG2 cells and 8-10% in HEK293 cells (p value 0.034). Conclusion: The majority of compounds in this study showed potent and stronger antiangiogenic and anticancer activity than VPA. They proved selectively toxic to cancer cells and safer for normal cells. Moreover, these compounds inhibited developmental angiogenesis in zebrafish embryos. Based on the fact that liver is a highly vascularized organ, in case of liver carcinoma these compounds have the potential to target the pathological angiogenesis and could be an effective strategy to treat hepatocellular carcinoma.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.89-94
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• 2001

In vitro plant regeneration of inbred breeding line of hot pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) was established using leaf and petiole segments as explants. About 28 days old plants were excised and cultured on MS medium supplemented with TDZ and NAA or in combination with Zeatin. In all of the media compositions tested, combination of TDZ 0.5 mg/L, Zeatin 0.5 mg/L, and NAA 0.1 mg/L was found to be the best medium for shoot bud initiation. Young petiole was the most appropriate explant type for the plant regeneration as well as genetic transformation in hot pepper. In this study, HpMADS1 gene isolated from hot pepper was introduced using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation system. Based on the analysis of Southern blot and RT-PCR, HpMADS1 gene was integrated in the hot pepper genome. It has been known that floral organ development is controlled by a group of regulatory factors containing the MADS domain. Morphological characteristics in these transgenic plants, especially flowering habit, however, were not significantly altered, indicating this MADS gene, HpMADS1 may be non-functional in this case.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.10
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• pp.551-558
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• 2017

To study and validate tissue-specific promoters and vectors, it is important to develop cell culture systems that retain the tissue and species specificity. Such systems are attractive alternatives to transgenic animal models. This study established a line of porcine mammary gland epithelial cells (PMECs) from a primary culture based on the cellular morphology and mRNA levels of porcine beta-casein (CSN2). The selected PMECs were stained with the cytokeratin antibody, and were shown to express milk protein genes (CSN2, lactoferrin, and whey acidic protein). In addition, to confirm the acini structure of PMEC932-7 in 3D culture, live cells were stained with SYTO-13 dye, which binds to nucleic acid. The acini of these PMECs on matrigel were formed by the aggregation of peripheral cells and featured a hollow lumens. The system was demonstrated by testing the effects of the culture conditions to cell culture including cell density and matrigel methods of the PMECs. These results suggest that PMECs possess the genetic and structural features of mammary epithelial cells.

• Plant Biotechnology Reports
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.277-283
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• 2009

One of the limitations to conducting maize Agrobacterium-mediated transformation using explants of immature zygotic embryos routinely is the availability of the explants. To produce immature embryos routinely and continuously requires a well-equipped greenhouse and laborious artificial pollination. To overcome this limitation, an Agrobacterium-mediated transformation system using explants of type II embryogenic calli was developed. Once the type II embryogenic calli are produced, they can be subcultured and/or proliferated conveniently. The objectives of this study were to demonstrate a stable Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of maize using explants of type II embryonic calli and to evaluate the efficiency of the protocol in order to develop herbicide-resistant maize. The type II embryogenic calli were inoculated with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain C58C1 carrying binary vector pTF102, and then were subsequently cultured on the following media: co-cultivation medium for 1 day, delay medium for 7 days, selection medium for $4{\times}14$ days, regeneration medium, and finally on germination medium. The T-DNA of the vector carried two cassettes (Ubi promoter-EPSPs ORF-nos and 35S promoter-bar ORF-nos). The EPSPs conferred resistance to glyphosate and bar conferred resistance to phosphinothricin. The confirmation of stable transformation and the efficiency of transformation was based on the resistance to phosphinothricin indicated by the growth of putative transgenic calli on selection medium amended with $4mg\;1^{-1}$ phosphinothricin, northern blot analysis of bar gene, and leaf painting assay for detection of bar gene-based herbicide resistance. Northern blot analysis and leaf painting assay confirmed the expression of bar transgenes in the $R_1$ generation. The average transformation efficiency was 0.60%. Based on northern blot analysis and leaf painting assay, line 31 was selected as an elite line of maize resistant to herbicide.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.123-126
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• 2007

We isolated a lignan, kobusin from Geranium thunbergii and studied its effect on the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) gene in a monocyte/macrophage cell line, RAW264.7 cells. Kobusin inhibited lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated NO production and the expression of iNOS in a concentration-dependent manner. To identify the mechanistic basis for its inhibition of iNOS induction, we examined the effect of kobusin on both the luciferase reporter activity using $NF-{\kappa}B$ minimal promoter and the nuclear translocation of p65. Kobusin suppressed the reporter gene activity and the LPS-induced movement of p65 in to nucleus. $NF-{\kappa}B$ activation is controlled by the phosphorylation and subsequent degradation of $I-{\kappa}B{\alpha}$, and in the present study, we found that $I-{\kappa}B{\alpha}$ phosphorylation was also inhibited by kobusin. Our findings indicate that kobusin may provide a developmental basis for an agent against inflammatory diseases.