산화적 스트레스는 세포 및 조직 손상을 통해 피부의 탄력 및 보습 기능 저하, 피부 노화 촉진 을 비롯한 다양한 피부질환을 일으킨다. 본 연구의 목적은 인간 피부각질세포 (HaCaT keratinocyte)에서 산화적 스트레스에 대한 붉은 토끼풀 추출물의 효능을 검토하여, 피부에 효과적으로 사용할 수 있는 기능 성 소재로서의 활용 여부를 확인하고자 하였다. 본 연구에서는 붉은 토끼풀 추출물이 인간 피부각질세포에 서 산화적 스트레스에 따른 세포사를 억제시키는 것을 확인하여, 이를 조절하는 보호기전을 규명하였다. 이는 붉은 토끼풀 추출물이 Caspase-3 비활성, 세포사 촉진단백질 Bax 발현 억제, 세포생존 촉진단백질 Bcl-2 발현 증가 및 MAPK 신호전달계 단백질의 인산화 억제를 통해 H2O2에 의해 유도된 산화적 스트레 스를 보호할 수 있다는 것을 확인하였다. 따라서 붉은 토끼풀 추출물은 피부의 산화적 손상을 감소시키는 유용한 소재로 평가되며, 이는 피부보호 및 미용을 위한 다양한 제품 및 산업에 활용 가능성이 높은 것으로 판단된다.

비모란 선인장 ‘Ahwang’ 품종이 2016년에 국립원예특작과 학원에서 육성되었다. 증식력이 우수한 밝은 황색 ‘Ahwang’ 품종 육성을 위해서, 황색 ‘Hwangun’품종을 모본으로, 황색 ‘0930001’ 계통을 부본으로 하여 2012년 6월 25일에 교배하였다. 어린 비모란 선인장을 2014년 이전에 삼각주에 2번 접목하여 계통을 양성하였으며 2014년부터 2016년까지 총 3회에 걸쳐 생육특성을 조사하였다. ‘Ahwang’ 품종의 모구는 편원형 모양에 황색 구색(Y9A)이다. 모구는 평균 8.6개의 능(rip)과 2.7mm의 짧은 직립형 회색 가시를 가지고 있고 혹(tubercle)이 돌출된 형태를 띠고 있다. 10개월 재배 후 ‘Ahwang’ 품종의 구직경은 44.5mm였으며 자구는 평균 26.9개가 생성되었다. ‘Ahwang’ 품종은 모구 능마다 황색의 자구가 3-4개가 착생되었다. 2016년 육성계통 평가회에서 ‘Ahwang’ 품종은 기호도 점수 3.9을 받았다. 이 품종은 2018년 5월 16일 국립종자원에 등록되었으며 식물신품종보호법에 의해 품종보호(등록번호 7193)를 받게 되었다.

계종버섯은 중국에서 맛과 향에서 최고의 버섯으로 평가받고 있으며, 본초강목에 그 효능이 기록되어 전해지고 있으나 효능과 물질연구 및 인공재배법 개발이 요구되고 있는 상황이다. 항산화 활성과 항염증 활성을 가지는 기능성 물질의 확보와 기능성식품 개발을 위한 기초자료를 확보하기 위하여 유기용매 추출물과 열수 추출물을 제조 하고, 활성이 높은 분획물을 얻고자 하였다. CH2Cl2와 MeOH 혼합용매로 추출한 다음 비극성용매와 극성용매로서 용해성에 따라 분획하고, 열수 추출로 추출물을 확보하였다. 분획물과 추출물을 이용한 항산화 활성 조사에서 는 열수 추출물(TA4)의 DPPH 라디칼 소거능에 대한 IC50값이 1.5 mg/mL로 나타났고, MeOH 분획물(TA2)에서는 IC50값이 1.93 mg/mL로 높게 나타났다. NO생성 억제율로 조사한 항염증 활성은 EtOAc 분획물(TA1)은 조추출물이지만 100 μg/mL 처리농도에서는 79% NO생성이 억제되고, 200 μg/mL 농도에서는 NO가 전혀 생성되지 않았다. TA1 물질을 2차례 TLC로 분리한 TA1-5-6물 질은 15 μg/mL 처리농도에서 대조구와 비교하여 NO생성이 86% 억제되었고, 30 μg/mL 농도에서는 NO 생성이 완전히 억제되었다. 그리고 세포독성 실험에서는 50 μg/mL 농도에서도 전혀 독성이 나타나지 않았다. MeOH 분획물 (TA2) 유래의 TA2-1-5물질은 30 μg/mL 처리농도에서 75% 이상 NO생성이 억제되었으며, 세포 독성은 50 μg/mL에서도 아주 낮게 나타났다. 선택적 용매의 선별과 추출 방법의 개발을 통하여 세포 독성이 없고, 생리활성이 뛰어난 계종버섯 분획물 확보가 가능하였고, 기능성식품 및 건강 기능성소재로서의 충분한 잠재력을 확인할 수 있었다.

Phalaenopsis ‘Blanc Rouse’ 품종은 국립원예특작과학원에서 2013년도에 육성한 신품종이다. 이 품종은 2007년에 백색 바탕에 분홍색의 소형 P. ‘KV 600’ 품종을 모본으로 하고 진한 핑크색의 P. ‘Kang 1’ 품종을 부본으로 교배시킨 후대 계통 중에서 선발하였다. 2010년에 화색, 초장, 화경 및 식물체의 생육상태 등을 고려하여 1차 선발 후 2013년에 2차 특성검정을 통하여 품종의 안정성과 균일성을 확인하고 ‘Blanc Rouse’로 명명하였다. 이 품종은 흰색바탕에 자주색 순판을 가졌으며 꽃 가운데 분홍색의 줄무늬가 크게 형성되어 있는 품종이다. 화형은 꽃잎과 꽃받침이 평편한 모양이고 꽃의 길이와 폭은 4.3cm, 4.8cm로 소형이다. 꽃대가 평균 2개 발생하며 복총상 화서로 화서당 꽃 수가 39.4개로 볼륨이 있어 소형분화에 적합하다. 자연 개화시기는 11월 하순으로 개화가 빠른 조생종 이다. 잎의 길이와 폭은 각각 17.3, 6.2cm이며 엽형은 수평이다. 기내 증식력이 높고 변이가 거의 없으며 내병성이 강하여 재배관리가 용이하다.

The objective of this study is to analyze the behavior and failure mode of the brackets that support middle slabs in the double-deck tunnels by conducting laboratory experiments. In the double-deck tunnels, the middle slabs are supported by the brackets connecting to the tunnel lining. The brackets are subjected to the loads due to the weight of middle slabs and traffic moving on the middle slabs. Since the damages of brackets are directly associated with the safety problems such as falling down of middle slabs, the appropriate design of brackets is one of the most important factors when designing double-deck tunnels. In this study, the reinforcement design of concrete bracket was performed based on the concrete structure design guide, and the load capacity was evaluated by conducting laboratory loading tests. A small scale concrete bracket specimen was fabricated using the scale factor of 0.5. The reaction wall is normally needed to simulate the tunnel lining in this kind of test; however, two brackets were attached symmetrically to a column, which was assumed to be tunnel lining, to be able to conduct the tests without using the reaction wall. When the bracket specimen was fabricated, the lining part was fabricated first and after curing of the lining part, two brackets were fabricated at the same time at both sides of the lining part. In the tests, the loads were applied to both brackets simultaneously using a loading frame and the displacements were measured at different locations. The main behaviors of the bracket systems such as the vertical displacements of brackets and the displacements at the interfaces between the brackets and lining were measured and the horizontal displacements of the specimen were also measured at the bottom of the lining part to confirm if there was any slip or rotation of the specimen during the tests. The experimental analysis results showed that the initial damage of the specimen was observed at the interface between the bracket and lining with appearing the gap and the failure of the specimen was reached with cracking in the brackets. The load capacity (safety factor) of the bracket specimen to the initial damage based on the design load was 2.5 and to the failure was 3.3.

도시 생활권 내 수목병해충 관리의 필요성이 증가하고 있으나, 전문화된 생활권 수목의 진료체계는 부족한 실정이다. 산림청에서는 관련 법령인 산림보호법 일부개정법률이 공포(2016.12.27.)됨에 따라 생활권 수목의 전문적 진료체계를 구축하는 한편, 수목진료 저변확대를 위한 수목진단센터 운영 및 민간컨설팅을 실시하고 있다. 생활권 수목병해충 관리 강화를 위한 정책의 기본방향은 나무의사 제도 도입 등 전문화된 수목진료 기반을 구축하고, 생활권 수목진료 민간컨설팅 지원을 통해 진단･처방서비스를 제공하며, 국･공립나무병원의 내실화 및 지역거점 수목진료 체계를 구축하는 것이다. 현재 산림청에서는 나무의사 자격시험 및 나무병원 제도 시행을 위하여 하위법령과 행정규칙을 마련 중(2018.6.28. 공포 예정)이며, 수목진료 전문화, 청년일자리 창출 등 나무의사 제도 조기정착을 위한 대국민 사전홍보에도 힘을 쏟고 있다.

DNA methylation is the most common and well-characterized epigenetic change in human cancer. Recently, the association between GATA-binding protein 5 (GATA5) methylation and carcinogenesis of various types of tumors was investigated. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of GATA5 methylation status on clinicopathological features and prognosis in primary non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) patients with a long-term follow-up period. The GATA5 methylation status was determined for 171 human bladder specimens (eight normal controls [NCs] and 163 primary NMIBC patients) using quantitative pyrosequencing analysis. The primary NMIBC tissues were obtained from patients who underwent transurethral resection (TUR) for histologically diagnosed transitional cell carcinomas between 1995 and 2012 at Chungbuk National University Hospital. GATA5 methylation was significantly higher in NMIBC patients than in NCs and was significantly associated with higher grade and more advanced stage of cancer. Kaplan-Meier estimates showed significant differences in tumor recurrence and progression according to GATA5 methylation status (each p<0.05). Our results show that increased methylation of GATA5 was significantly associated with not only aggressive characteristics but also poor prognosis in primary NMIBC patients. Alteration of GATA5 methylation might be used as a biomarker for prognosis of NMIBC patients. However, prospective and functional investigations are necessary to clarify the role of GATA5 methylation in future clinical management of patients with NMIBC.

The bumblebee, Bombus ignitus (Hymenoptera: Apidae), is a valuable natural resource that is widely utilized for greenhouse pollination in South Korea. Understanding the magnitude of genetic diversity and geographic relationships is of fundamental importance for long term preservation and utilization. As a first step, we sequenced a partial COI gene of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) corresponding to the “DNA barcode” region and the complete internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) of nuclear ribosomal DNA from 88 individuals collected in nine South Korean localities. The complete ITS2 sequences were longest among known insects, ranging in size from 2,034 bp ~ 2,052 bp, harboring two duplicated 112-bp long repeats. The 658-bp long mtDNA sequences provided only six haplotypes with a maximum sequence divergence of 0.61% (4 bp), whereas the ITS sequences provided 84 sequence types with a maximum sequence divergence of 1.02% (21 sites). The combination of the current COI data with those of published data suggest that the B. ignitus in South Korea and China are genetically a large group, but those in Japan can be roughly separated into another group. Overall, a very high per generation migration ratio, a very low level of genetic fixation, and no discernable hierarchical population were found to exist among the South Korean populations of B. ignitus, which suggests panmixia. This finding is consistent with our understanding of the dispersal capability of the species.

Acteoside acts as an anti-oxidative activity and anti-apoptosis in the cells. But, it has been not studied on maturation and development of porcine oocytes. The aims of the present study were to examine the effects of acteoside on the morphological progress of meiosis, developmental competence, and ROS in porcine oocytes. Oocytes were matured in tissue culture medium-199, supplemented with acteoside at various concentrations: 0 (control), 10, 30 and 50 μM. The oocytes maturation rates of groups supplemented with acteoside were no significantly different (81.13, 85.96, 82.95 and 83.68%, respectively). Level of ROS was significantly decreased in acteoside treated group. Furthermore, the parthenogenetic blastocyst rate was significantly improved in 10 μM acteoside treated group compared with control group (44.83 vs. 27.75%). And we investigated effect of acteoside on the oocytes condition represented by cytoplasmic maturation by homogeneous distribution and formation of cytoplasmic organelles and regulation of apoptosis-related genes. In the results. during IVM, 10 μM acteoside treated oocytes showed that the mitochondria and lipid droplet were smaller and homogeneous distribution in cytoplasm compare with control oocytes. And reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR) of parthenogenetic blstocysts revealed that acteoside increased the anti-apoptotic genes (Mcl-1, Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL), whereas reduced the expression of pro-apoptotic genes (Bax and Bak). In conclusion, based on the results, the effect of acteoside on IVM was not attractive. However, in acteoside treated group, cytoplasmic maturation seemed to be improved with morphologically uniform distribution of cytoplasmic organelles. Furthermore, embryonic development in acteoside treated group was significantly highly increased than that of non-treated group. Our results represents that addition of acteoside to the IVM medium has a beneficial effect in physiology of porcine oocytes, providing a improved method for porcine oocytes in vitro. * This work was supported by a grant (Code# PJ008148) from BioGreen21 Program, Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea.

This study was undertaken to evaluate the relationship between in vitro maturation and plasminogen activators (PAs) activity on porcine cumulus-oocytes complexes (COCs) exposed to oxidative stress. When COCs were cultured in maturation medium with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), the proportion of the germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) and oocytes maturation were decreased with addition of H2O2, and were significantly (p<0.05) lower in medium with 0.1 mM H2O2 than control group. Also, the rate of degenerated oocytes was increased in as H2O2 concentration increased. When COCs were cultured for 48 h, three plasminogen-dependent lytic bands were observed: tissue-type PA (tPA); urokinase-type PA (uPA); and tPA-PA inhibitor (tPA-PAI). PA activity was quantified using SDS-PAGE and zymography. When H2O2 concentration was increased, tPA and tPA-PAI activities also increased in porcine oocytes cultured for 48 h, but not uPA. In other experiment, embryos were divided into three groups and cultured in (1) control medium, (2) control medium with 1.0 mM H2O2 and (3) control medium with 1.0 mM H2O2 along with catalase in concentrations of 0.01, 0.1, and 1.0 mg/ml, respectively. H2O2 decreased the rate of GVBD and maturation in porcine COCs but catalase revealed protective activity against oxidative stress caused by H2O2. In this experiment, tPA and tPA-PAI activities were higher in media with 1.0 mM H2O2 alone. Increasing concentration of catalase decreased tPA and tPA-PAI activities in porcine oocytes. These results indicate that the exposure of porcine follicular oocytes to ROS inhibits oocytes maturation to metaphase-II stage and increase the oocytes degeneration. Also, we speculated that increased ROS level may trigger tPA and tPA-PAI activities in porcine oocytes matured in vitro.

These study was to investigate the in vitro fertilization and viability of fresh and vitrified oocytes. Also, the developmental capacity of IVF and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) oocytes were investigated. Then vitrification was performed with the use of 20% ethylene glycol + 20% DMSO + 0.5 M sucrose + 10% FCS + TCM-199 medium. Vitrification immature oocytes are cultured in vitrification solution for 10 min afterwards transferred to expose at room temperature for 5 min. and transferred to the ice water for 5 min. The oocytes were sealed in a 1.0 mm straw and placed in a LN2 container. Frozen oocytes were rapidly thawed in a water bath at 30～35℃, and then placed in TCM-199 medium containing 0.5 M sucrose for 5 min each, respectively, at 38℃. After being washed for 2～3 times, using fresh medium the oocytes were cultured in TCM-199 medium supplemented with 5% FCS at 38℃ in 5% CO2 and air. The normal morphology of fresh and vitrified-thawed oocytes were 87.1±2.1% and 54.8±2.5%, respectively. The viability rates of fresh and vitrified-thawed oocytes were 70.0±2.2% and 41.9±2.6%, respectively. Viability rates of vitrified-thawed oocytes were lower than that of fresh follicular oocytes (p<0.05). The in vitro maturation rates of fresh and vitrified oocytes were 45.1±3.6% and 28.9±4.4%, respectively. The IVF rates of fresh follicular and vitrified-thawed oocytes were 34.0±2.2% and 20.2±2.6%, respectively. The in vitro maturation and fertilization rates of vitrified-thawed oocytes were lower than those of the fresh follicular oocytes (p<0.05). A total of 350 oocytes were fixed and stained after co-incubation with spermatozoa, of which 88 had identifiable nuclear material. After IVF for 20 hrs, 25.1±3.4% of the oocytes found to have been penetrated by spermatozoas. Oocytes were fixed and stained after ICSI, and 105 oocytes contained identifiable nuclear material. After IVF and ICSI for 20 hrs, 34.3±3.4% and 59.0±2.0% of the oocytes were found to have been penetrated by spermatozoas. The developmental rates upon ICSI were significantly higher than those of the IVF method (p<0.05).

The genomic structure and phylogenetic relationships of HSP88 genes from P. tenuipes Jocheon-1, P. tenuipes, C. militaris and C. pruinosa are described. The HSP88 genomic DNA from P. tenuipes Jocheon-1, P. tenuipes and C. militaris all contain 5 introns and 6 exons with the length of 13, 62, 32, 1438, 306, 288 bp, encoding 713 amino acid residues. C. pruinosa HSP88 genomic DNA contains 4 introns and 5 exons encoding 713 amino acids. The length of each exon of C. pruinosa HSP88 is 13, 62, 32, 1744, 288 bp and the length of exon 4 is identical to the total length of exon 4 and exon 5 of HSP88 of P. tenuipes Jochoen-1, P. tenuipes, and C. militaris. The deduced amino acid sequence of P. tenuipes Jocheon-1 HSP88 showed 99% identity with the P. tenuipes, 97% identity with the Cordyceps militaris, and 98% identity with the C. pruinosa. Phylogenetic analysis confirmed that the P. tenuipes Jocheon-1, P. tenuipes, C. militaris and C. pruinosa HSP88 are placed together within the ascomycetes group of fungal clade.

In this study, a full-length heat shock protein88 complementary DNA (cDNA) of Paecilomyces tenuipes Jocheon-1 was obtained by screening of P. tenuipesJocheon-1 Uni-Zap cDNA library and 5' RACE polymerase chain reaction. The Paecilomyces tenuipes Jocheon-1 heat shock protein88 cDNA contains an open reading frame of 2,139 bp encoding 713 amino acid residues. The deduced amino acid sequence of the P. tenuipes Jocheon-1 HSP88 cDNA showed 77% identity to N. haematococca HSP88 and 45-76% identity to other fungi HSP88. Phylogenetic analysis and BLAST program analysis confirmed that the deduced amino acid sequences of the P. tenuipes Jocheon-1 HSP88 gene belonged to the ascomycetes group within the fungal clade and P. tenuipes Jocheon-1 HSP88 also contains the conserved ATPase domain at the N-terminal. The cDNA encoding P. tenuipes Jocheon-1 HSP88 was expressed as a 88 kDa polypeptide in baculovirus-infected insect Sf9 cells. Under different stress conditions, mRNA expression of P. tenuipes Jocheon-1 HSP88 were quantified by real-time PCR and the result showed that heat shock stress affected the mRNA expression levels of P. tenuipes Jocheon-1 HSP88.