To study the signaling effect of insulin-like growth factor-Ⅰ(IGF-1), transgenic mice containing IGF-1 Receptor (IGF-1R) cDNA fused to metallothionein promoter were produced by DNA microinjection into the pronucleus of mouse zygote. Three founders were produced with transgenic mice containing IGF-1R gene. Transgenic mice lines contained approximately 4～20 copies of transgenes per cell and transmission of this gene into the progeny with Mendelian manner were determined. The founder mice were mated with normal mice to produce F1 mice and then F2 mice. Transmission rates of IGF-1R transgene in the progeny mice were 25～60% in F1 generation and 40～50% in F2 generation. The mRNA expression of IGF-1R transgene in liver was analyzed using RT-PCR for IGF-1R gene in liver. When body weights of transgenic pups were measured during 4, 10 and 14 weeks after birth, IGF-1R transgenic mice grew faster than non transgenic littermates. This study indicated that growth regulation by IGF-1 signaling through IGF-1R can be elucidated using IGF-1R transgenic mice.

In the present study, performances of several in vitro maturation (IVM) systems for porcine follicular oocytes were evaluated, and an efficient chemically defined IVM system for porcine oocytes was proposed. The proposed one-step culture system supplemented with polyvinylalcohol (PVA) gave competitive efficiencies in terms of oocyte maturation and blastocyst development after parthenogenetic activation and in vitro culture, compared with the conventional two-step culture system by a supplementation of porcine follicular fluid (pFF). Additionally, it is identified that the proposed chemically defined one-step culture system yielded the comparable level of blastocyst production to the conventional maturation system in porcine somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). Therefore, one can eliminate un-expected effects accompanied by supplementation of pFF. No medium replacement during whole maturation period is an additional benefit by applying this new system. Thus, these data support that the developed PVA supplemented chemically defined one-step IVM system for porcine follicular oocyte might be used in porcine SCNT program.

Hereditary dentin defects consists of dentin dysplasia(DD) and denti nogenesis imperfecta(Dr) ‘ The Dl associated with osteogenesis imperfecta has been classified as DI type 1. whereas isolated inherited defects have been categori zed as DI types II and III , However‘ whether DI type III should be considered a distinct phenotype 01' a variation of DI type 1I is debatable , Recent genetic findings have focused attention on the role of the dentin sialo phosphoprotein(DSPP) gene in the etiology of inherited defects of tooth dentin, We have identified novel mlltation( c,727G - > A, p,D243N) at the 243th codon of exon 4 of the DSPP gene in a Korean patient with DI type III The radiographic and histologic features of the patient revealed the classic phenotype of shell teeth These findings sllggest that DI type II and III are not separate diseases bllt rather the phenotypic variation 01' a s ingle disease

A novel indil‘ubin analog‘ 5’ nitro-indirubinoxime(Ol1) inhibits cell proliferation and induces apoptosis again st variolls hllman cancer cell s. ln this stlldy, we performed the microarray analysis to identify genes diffel'enti ally expressed in the KB oral sqllamollS carcinoma cells after treatment with 011 Of the 10‘ 800 genes a nalyzed , 1700 genes(15.7%) showed di fferent expression level in the 011-treated cells with respect to untreated control cel1s Arnong those‘ 263 genes(15, 5%) were down -reg띠 ated and 220 genes(12, 9%) were IIp-regulated more than 2-fold, Functionally related gene clllsters inclllde genes associated with signal transdllction(18, 1%) , especially genes re lated with a poptosis(3, 5%) and cell cycle reglllation(5. 8%) . Our application of microarray ar뻐ysis on 01l-treated 01'외 cancer cells al lows the identifi cati on of candidate genes for providing novel insights into the 011-mediated anti -tllmor actl Vl ty ,

Bone remodeling is a process controlled by the action of two major bone cells; the bone forming osteoblast and the bone resorbing osteoclast. In the process of osteoclastogenesis, stromal cells and osteoblast produce RANKL, OPG, and M-CSF, which in turn regulate the osteoclastogenesis. During the bone resorption by activated osteoclasts, extracellular Ca²+/PO₄²- concentration and degraded organic materials goes up, providing the hypertonic microenvironment. In this study, we tested the effects of hypertonicity due to the degraded organic materials on osteoclastogenesis in co-culture system. It was examined the cellular response of osteoblastic cell in terms of osteoclastogenesis by applying the sucrose, and mannitol, as a substitute of degraded organic materials to co-culture system. Apart from the sucrose, mannitol, and NaCl was tested to be compared to the effect of organic osmotic particles. The addition of sucrose and mannitol (25, 50, 100, 150, or 200 mM) to co-culture medium inhibited the number of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) positive multinucleated cells induced by 10 nM (). However, NaCl did exert harmful effect upon the cells in this co-culture system, which is attributed to DNA damage in high concentration of NaCl. To further investigate the mechanism by which hypertonicity inhibits -induced osteoclastogenesis, the mRNA expressions of receptor activator of nuclear factor (NF)-kB ligand (RANKL) and osteoprotegerin (OPG) were monitored by RT-PCR. In the presence of sucrose (50 mM), RANKL mRNA expression was decreased in a dose-dependent manner, while the change in OPG and M-CSF mRNA were not occurred in significantly. The RANKL mRNA expression was inhibited for 48 hours in the presence of sucrose (50 mM), but such a decrement recovered after 72 hours. However, there were no considerable changes in the expression of OPG and M-CSF mRNA. Conclusively, these findings strongly suggest that hypertonic stress down-regulates -induced osteoclastogenesis via RANKL signal pathway in osteoblastic cell, and may playa pivotal role as a regulator that modulates osteoclastogenesis.