Protein and peptide candidates are screened to apply therapeutic application as a drug. Ensuring that these candidates are delivered and maximized effectiveness is still challenging and a variety of studies are ongoing. As drug delivery system vehicles, cell-penetrating peptide (CPP) can deliver various kinds of cargo into the cell cytosol. In a previous study, we developed Ara27 CPP, which are a zinc knuckle family protein of Arabidopsis, and confirmed internalization in human dermal fibroblasts and human dental pulp stem cells at low concentration with short time treatment condition without any toxicity. Ara27, an amphipathic CPP, could be modified and utilized in the biomedical field excluding the risk of toxicity. Therefore, we would like to confirm the non-toxic induced penetrating ability of Ara27 in various cell lines. The purpose of this study was to screen the cell internalization ability of Ara27 in various cell lines and to confirm Ara27 as a promising core CPP structure. First, Ara27 was screened to confirm non-toxicity concentration. Then, fluorescence-labeled Ara27 was treated on human normal cell lines, cancer cell lines and animal cell lines to identify the cellular internalization of Ara27. Ara27 was well intracellular localized in all cell lines and the intensity of fluorescence was remarkably increased in time pass manner. These results indicate that Ara27 has the potential as a core structure for applications in various drug delivery systems.

Alopecia has emerged as one of the biggest interests in modern society. Many studies have focused on the treatment of alopecia, such as transplantation of hair follicles or inhibition of the androgen pathway. Hair growth is achieved through proper proliferation of the components such as keratinocytes and dermal papilla cells (DPCs), movement, and interaction between the two cells. The present study examined the effect of the hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway, which is an important and fundamental signal in the cell, on the morphology and the viability of human keratinocytes and DPCs. Upregulation of Hh signaling caused a morphological change and an increase in epithelium-mesenchymal transition-related gene expression but reduced the viability of keratinocytes, while the alteration of Hh signaling did not cause any change in DPCs. The results show the possibility that the regulation of Hh signaling can be applied for the treatment of alopecia.

In this study, we introduce the technology that provides the driver with the information related to the traffic information application such as the traffic center or T-map when the slippery situation occurs on the road by collecting the slip information by the vehicle speed on the road surface. Road surface detection technology collects road surface information by using black box and DTG which are installed in commercial vehicles and detects dangerous sections for road safety. It transmits information to a traffic center and transmits it to a rear vehicle driver It is aimed at delivering safe driving information.

Human malignant melanoma is an aggressive skin cancer which has been rising at a greater rate than any other cancers. Although various new therapeutic methods have been developed in previous studies, this disease has properties of high proliferation and metastasis rate which remain obstacles that have lead to a poor prognosis in patients. It has been reported that a specific Lactobacillus extract has anti-cancer and –metastasis effect in vitro and in vivo. However, previous research has not specified precisely what effect the Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) extract has had on human malignant melanomas. In this study, we showed that the LGG extract has anti-cancer and –metastasis effects on the human malignant melanoma cell lines, A375P and A375SM. At first, it was found that, while the LGG extract affects human neonatal dermal fibroblasts slightly, it induced the dose-dependent anti-cancer effect on A375P and A375SM by a WST-1 proliferation assay. As a result of a real-time PCR analysis, the expression patterns of several genes related to cell cycle, proliferation, and apoptosis were modulating in a manner that inhibited the growth of both malignant melanoma cell lines after the treatment of the LGG extract. Furthermore, genes related to the epithelialmesenchymal transition were down-regulated, and migration rates were also decreased significantly by the LGG extract. Our study showed that the LGG extract could be used as a potential therapeutic source.

To elucidate occurrence patterns of naturalized plants in agroecosystems, we surveyed flora in uplands, orchards and rice paddy fields in middle regions (Gyeonggi-do and Chungcheong-do) of Korea in summer and fall from 2013 to 2015. Our results showed that there are 77 species of naturalize plants in 54 genera and 20 families of vascular plants among total 420 species occurred in the agricultural areas composing 18.3% of naturalized index. Community compositions of both native and naturalized plants were different among agricultural types.We suggested that Cerastium glomeratum Thuill., Bidens frondosa L. and Erigeron philadelphicus L. are capable of dispersal to other regions based on our results with getting to broaden distribution of naturalized plants. The mean naturalized index was the highest in the upland (25.1%) followed by in the orchard (23.0%) and the paddy field (16.1%), while the mean number of naturalized species was the highest in the orchard (21.8 species) followed by in the upland (16.6 species) and paddy field (10.3 species). The numbers of naturalized plants in the orchard were increased along with increasing size of the agricultural land and decreasing ecological area rate. In addition, the number of native species was significantly correlated with the number of naturalized species in the upland. Our results would provide useful information to manage dispersion of naturalized plants in agricultural ecosystems.

To elucidate occurrence patterns of C4 plants in agroecosystems, we surveyed flora inside fields and embankments in 222 sites in farming lands in summer and fall, 2013. We also observed Kranz anatomy and analyzed carbon stable isotope to classify photosynthesis types. Our study observed total 54 species of C4 plants in 33 genera and 9 families of vascular plants besides cultivated crops occurring in farming fields. The most common species was Portulaca oleracea L. followed by Digitaria ciliaris and Echinochloa crusgalli (L.) P. Beauv. var. crusgalli among the C4 plants. The ratios of C3 and C4 species number to total number of species tended to maintain constant regardless of survey times and habitat types. The proportion of C4 species to the total number of species were more influenced by the number of C3 species than those of other types in the surveyed sites. Sizes of cultivation areas did not affect the proportions of C4 plants. Increasing number of simultaneous weeding methods, especially with cutting method, appeared to decrease the number of C3 plants. On the other hand, as the number of cultivated crops increased, both C3 and C4 plants increased but the proportions of C4 species remained. We interpret our results that proportion of C4 species in agroecosystems, appear to be dependent on the number of C3 species, which in turn, appear to be affected by cultivation methods.

Skin-derived precursors (SKPs) have potential to differentiate to various cell types including osteoblasts, adipocytes and neurons. SKPs are a candidate for cell-based therapy since they are easily accessible and have multipotency. Most mammalian cells are exposed to a low oxygen environment with 1 to 5% O2 concentration in vivo, while 21% O2 concentration is common in in vitro culture. The difference between in vitro and in vivo O2 concentration may affect to the behavior of cultured cells. In this report, we investigated the effect of hypoxic condition on stemness and proliferation of SKPs. The results indicated that SKPs exposed to hypoxic condition for 5 days showed no change in proliferation. In terms of mRNA expression, hypoxia maintained expression of stemness markers; whereas, oncogenes, such as Klf4 and c-Myc, were downregulated, and the expression of Nestin, related to cancer migration, was also downregulated. Thus, SKPs cultured in hypoxia may reduce the risk of cancer in SKP cell-based therapy.

밭경작지는 건조한 환경조건과 지속적인 인간의 교란을 받는 곳으로서 국외에서 인위적 또는 자연적으로 국내에 유 입된 외래식물들이 정착하여 귀화식물이 될 수 있는 좋은 장소를 제공한다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 현재 국내 밭경작지 에 출현하는 귀화식물의 목록을 작성하고 이들의 생활형 특 성, 귀화도, 귀화시기 등을 분석하였다. 식물상은 전국을 대 상으로 2013년 5~6월과 8~9월에 전국 각 도별 4지역을 선 정하여 총 222개 필지를 대상으로 조사하였다. 그 결과, 총 103과 320속 448종 2아종 74변종 15품종을 포함하는 539 분류군의 식물종이 확인되었고 이 중 귀화식물은 23과 64속 91종 8변종으로 총 99분류군이었다. 전국 밭경작지의 도시 화지수는 30.65%이며, 귀화율은 18.37%를 나타냈다. 밭경작 지 귀화식물 중 국화과가 30분류군으로 가장 많았고, 다음으 로 벼과가 14분류군이었다. 휴면형으로 구분하면 귀화식물 99분류군 중 78분류군이 일년생식물이었다. 번식형 중 지하 기관형은 R5식물이 86분류군으로 가장 많았고, 다음으로 R3 식물이 11분류군으로 많이 출현하였다. 산포기관형은 D4를 가진 것이 63분류군으로 가장 많았고, 다음으로 D1을 가진 것이 26분류군으로 많았다. 생육형은 직립형 (e)이 26분류군 으로 가장 높게 나타났다. 상대적으로 최근에 귀화하였지만 귀화도가 높은 귀화식물을 중심으로 그들의 생활형을 분석 한 결과, 다음과 같은 특성을 가진 식물들은 국내 유입 후 정 착 및 전국적 확산 가능성이 높을 것으로 판단되었다. 그 특 성은 풍수산포형 종자를 가진 것, 종자생산력이 높은 것, 종 자의 수명이 긴 것, 종자의 발아율이 높은 것 및 휴면하지 않고 바로 발아하는 것이다. 이러한 특성을 가지는 귀화식물들 은 향후 국내에서 분포지 확산을 주의 깊게 관찰할 필요성이 있을 것이다.

Differential capacity of the parthenogenetic embryonic stem cells (PESCs) is still under controversy and the mechanisms of its neural induction are yet poorly understood. Here we demonstrated neural lineage induction of PESCs by addition of insulin-like growth factor-2 (Igf2), which is an important factor for embryo organ development and a paternally expressed imprinting gene. Murine PESCs were aggregated to embryoid bodies (EBs) by suspension culture under the leukemia inhibitory factor-free condition for 4 days. To test the effect of exogenous Igf2, 30 ng/ml of Igf2 was supplemented to EBs induction medium. Then neural induction was carried out with serum-free medium containing insulin, transferrin, selenium, and fibronectin complex (ITSFn) for 12 days. Normal murine embryonic stem cells derived from fertilized embryos (ESCs) were used as the control group. Neural potential of differentiated PESCs and ESCs were analyzed by immunofluorescent labeling and real-time PCR assay (Nestin, neural progenitor marker; Tuj1, neuronal cell marker; GFAP, glial cell marker). The differentiated cells from both ESC and PESC showed heterogeneous population of Nestin, Tuj1, and GFAP positive cells. In terms of the level of gene expression, PESC showed 4 times higher level of GFAP expression than ESCs. After exposure to Igf2, the expression level of GFAP decreased both in derivatives of PESCs and ESCs. Interestingly, the expression level of Tuj1 increased only in ESCs, not in PESCs. The results show that IGF2 is a positive effector for suppressing over-expressed glial differentiation during neural induction of PESCs and for promoting neuronal differentiation of ESCs, while exogenous Igf2 could not accelerate the neuronal differentiation of PESCs. Although exogenous Igf2 promotes neuronal differentiation of normal ESCs, expression of endogenous Igf2 may be critical for initiating neuronal differentiation of pluripotent stem cells. The findings may contribute to understanding of the relationship between imprinting mechanism and neural differentiation and its application to neural tissue repair in the future.

APETALA2/ethylene response factor (AP2/ERF) transcription factors are involved in biological and abiotic stress response, plant development, and growth. AP2/ERF genes are classified into five families (AP2, DREB, ERF, RAV, and soloist), and most genes belong to DREB and ERF families. So far, genomic analysis of DREB and ERF family genes of various plant species has been performed, and classifications based on the homology of AP2/ERF-specific DNA binding domain, arrangement of exons and introns, and similarity of group-specific conserved motifs have been conducted. These classifications provide plausible information for the prediction of AP2/ERF gene function. In this paper, an overview of the classification, structure, evolution, and function of AP2/ERF genes is described, and the functional properties and regulatory mechanisms of ERF family genes that have been identified are summarized by group according to the functional classification of Arabidopsis ERF family genes. This shows that group-specific conserved motifs of Arabidopsis ERF family genes are closely linked with group-specific functions and regulatory mechanisms, indicating that the effective functional prediction of ERF family genes through such a classification scheme can be usefully applied to the trait improvements of various plants.

In this study, we compared disease incidence rate and phyllosphere microbial community between drought resistance transgenic rice (Agb0103) and non-transgenic Ilmi (NGM) during 2011-2014 to examine an environmental risk assessment of drought resistance transgenic rice (Agb0103). As the results, major diseases such as sheath blight, brown spot, leaf blast and false smut were occurred, however, there were no significant disease incidence rate between Agb0103 and NGM. As the results of counting bacterial and fungal viable cell, the colonies were increased or decreased which affected by environmental conditions, however there were no differences between Agb0103 and NGM. Also unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic averaging (UPGMA) analysis based on polymerase chain reaction with denaturing gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) revealed that DGGE band pattern of bacterial and fungal communities were clustered by each month and there were no differences between Agb0103 and NGM. Furthermore, isolated casual agents causing sheath blight and brown spot were collected from Agb0103 and NGM, and they revealed that each of pathogens were no differences in morphology and pathogenicity. Therefore, our results suggested that Agb0103 showed no differences in disease incidence rate, characteristic of pathogens and phyllosphere community with NGM. In this way, it can be assumed that transgenic rice Agb0103 could not influence phyllosphere microorganism community and environmental conditions.