Chitin and chitosan, abundant biopolymers from shellfish, crustaceans, and fungal hyphae, have diverse applications in food, biomedical, and industrial sectors. Also, insects offer a one of the chitin and chitosan source, yet research into the biological processes of chitin and chitosan within insects remains inadequate. To investigates the safety and benefits of insect-derived chitin and chitosan, we orally administered crab-derived and insect-derived chitin and chitosan to mice and compared RNA expression. NGS derived sequences were obtained and DEG and GO analyses were performed. This study displays a chance to progress the application of edible insects.

In insects, the glutathione S-transferase is initiated in both the detoxification process and the protection of cellular membranes against oxidative damage. In this study, we identified the open reading frame (ORF) sequence of GST-iso1 and 2 from Tenebrio molitor (TmGST-iso1 and 2). To investigate the expression patterrns of TmGST-iso1 and 2 in response to herbicide, 0.06, 0.6, and 6 ㎍/㎕ of butachlor (FarmHannong, Seoul, South Korea) was challenged into T. molitor larvae, resulting that the TmGST-iso1 were highly induced at 3 and 24 h-post injection. Whereas, the highest expression of TmGST-iso2 was detected at 24 h after treatment. This study may contribute to basic information about the detoxifying activities of T. molitor.

Uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) is a unique mitochondrial membranous protein expressed in brown adipose tissue (BAT) in mammals. While its expression in response to cold temperatures and adipogenic inducers is well-characterized in mammals and human infants, the molecular characterization and expression of UCP1 in fish remain unexplored. To address this gap, we analyzed UCP1 expression in response to adipogenic inducers in a fish cell line, rainbow trout gonadal cells (RTG-2), and compared it with UCP1 expression in three mammalian preadipocytes, 3T3-L1, T37i, and WT1 exposed to the Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) agonists, rosiglitazone (Rosi). In mammalian preadipocytes, UCP1 protein was highly expressed by Rosi, with an induction of adipogenesis observed in a time-dependent manner. This suggests that UCP1 plays a significant role in adipogenesis in mammals. However, RTG-2 cells showed no response to adipogenic inducers and exhibited only marginal expressions of UCP1. These results imply that RTG-2 cells may lack crucial responsive mechanisms to adipogenic signals or that the adipogenic response is regulated by other mechanisms. Further studies are needed to confirm these phenomena in fish preadipocytes when an appropriate cell line is established in future research.

The cellular communication network factor (CCN) family proteins regulate many biological events such as angiogenesis, tumor growth, placentation, implantation, and embryogenesis. The expression and function of CCN1, CCN2, and CCN3 at the maternal-conceptus interface are established in humans and rodents, but little is known about the role of CCN4 to CCN6 in the reproductive organs in any other species. Several studies in transcriptome analysis in pigs have shown that the expression of CCN4 and CCN6 increases in the endometrium during early pregnancy. However, their expression, regulation, and function in the endometrium throughout the estrous cycle and pregnancy have not been fully understood in pigs. Thus, we determined the expression, localization, and regulation of CCN4 and CCN6 during the estrous cycle and at the maternal-conceptus interface in pigs. We found that the levels of CCN4, but not CCN6, changed during the estrous cycle. The levels of CCN4 were greater during mid- to late pregnancy than in the early stage, and the levels of CCN6 were greatest on Day 15 of pregnancy. CCN4 and CCN6 were detected in conceptus tissues during early pregnancy and in chorioallantoic tissues during the later stage of pregnancy. CCN4 mRNA was mainly localized to epithelial cells, CCN6 mRNAs to epithelial and stromal cells in the endometrium. In endometrial explant cultures, CCN4 expression was increased by progesterone, and CCN6 expression by interferon-γ. These results suggest that CCN4 and CCN6 may play roles in the establishment and maintenance of pregnancy by regulating the endometrial epithelial cell functions in pigs.

옥수수의 내습성은 우리나라 옥수수 재배면적 확대와 자급률 향상을 위해 고려되어야 할 중요한 요소 중 하나이다. 본 연구는 내습성 옥수수 계통 개발을 위한 기초 연구로서, 토양의 표면침수조건에서 변화하는 옥수수 뿌리의 대사체를 분석하여 옥수수의 내습성 관련 생리 기작을 구명하고자 수행되었다. 우리나라 옥수수 유전자원(Zea mays L.)과 야생종 옥수수(Zea mays spp. parviglumis) 간 교배를 통하여 내습성이 향상된 계통을 개발했고, 그 중 19KT-32P를 유묘단계(V3)에 7일 동안 침수시킨 후 뿌리에서 발현되는 대사체를 탐색하고 분석하였다. 총 180개 대사체가 확인되었 고, 그 중에서 ℽ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), putrescine, citrulline, Gly, Ala 등 8개 대사체는 각각 2.5배 이상 발현이 증가 또는 감소하였다. 확인된 대사체는 식물에서 pH, 삼투압, K+/Ca++ 및 ATPase 활성을 조절하는 비생물적 스트레스와 관련이 있었다. 특히 가장 발현이 높은 GABA는 glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) 효소에 의해 축적되며, 본연구에서 분석한 결과 10개의 유전자형이 확인되었다. 특히 첫 번째 엑손은 매우 보존적이었지만, 두번째 엑손부터 많은 SNP 다형성이 확인되었다. 이러한 결과는 앞으로 내습성 옥수수 선발을 위한 분자마커로 활용되어 육종 효율을 높이는 좋은 수단으로 이용될 수 있을 것으로 생각된다.

이 논문은 보컬의 변칙리듬의 활용 방법에 대해 연구하였다. 연구목적은 노래가 포함된 곡을 만드는 작곡, 작사, 편곡, 프로듀서, 보컬 등의 뮤지션이 좀 더 다양하고 독창적인 보컬 리듬을 활용할 수 있도록 방법을 제시하는 것이다. 연구방법은 대표적인 퓨전재즈 보컬 알 자로의 앨범과 라이브 공연에서 사용된 변칙적인 리듬의 선율 및 스캣을 분석한 후 그루핑의 구조 관점으로 도 출해 본 음악의 박자와 변형된 박자의 구조를 한 눈에 비교하고 인식 할 수 있도록 하였다. 연구결 과 <Spain>과 <Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing> 그리고 <Step By Step>은 한마디 안에 4분음표가 한 박의 길이를 가진 4분의 4박자 리듬 구조의 곡에서 4분음표와 8분음표의 길이가 합쳐진 그루핑 구조를 사용하였다. <Last Night>는 4분음표와 16분음표 길이가 합쳐진 그루핑 구조를 활용하여 보컬을 제외한 모든 악기가 한마디에 네 박으로 연주하는 리듬에서 변칙적인 그루핑을 적용하여 독특한 노래와 스캣이 만들어졌음을 도출하였다.

Expression changes of stress-induced peroxidase (swpa2 and swpa4) and storage root-specific sporamin (spo-A and spo-B) genes were examined using qRT-PCR after treatment with wounding and bacterial pathogens on leaves of sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) plants. As a result of examining the expression change in the wounding treatment condition for 48 hours after treatment, which is a representative physical stress, the expression of all genes increased after 12 hours of wounding treatment, but the expression pattern of each gene group showed distinct differences thereafter. Expression levels of swpa2 and swpa4 strongly increased up to 36 or 48 hours after wounding treatment, whereas spo-A and spo-B expression levels strongly decreased after 24 or 36 hours after wounding treatment. Peroxidase and sporamin genes are involved in the early response after wounding treatment and, in particular, the peroxidase swpa2 and swpa4 genes are also involved in the late response after wounding treatment. Gene expression analysis after infection with P. chrysanthemi, which causes softness in sweetpotato, showed that the swpa2 and swpa4 genes were weakly induced after 8 hours and then strongly induced after 20 hours during pathogen infection. Expression of the spo-A gene was weakly induced in the pathogen-treated group after 20 hours, whereas spo-B showed an expression pattern similar to that of the peroxidase genes. The above results indicate that expression of the stress-induced peroxidase gene used in this study is induced not only by abiotic stress but also by biological stress caused by bacterial pathogen invasion and that peroxidase plays an important function in the initial defense response.

Preserving intact genetic material and delivering it to the next generation are the most significant tasks of living organisms. The integrity of DNA sequences is under constant threat from endogenous and exogenous factors. The accumulation of damaged or incompletely-repaired DNA can cause serious problems in cells, including cell death or cancer development. Various DNA damage detection systems and repair mechanisms have evolved at the cellular level. Although the mechanisms of these responses have been extensively studied, the global RNA expression profiles associated with genomic instability are not well-known. To detect global gene expression changes under different DNA damage and hypoxic conditions, we performed RNA-seq after treating human cervical cancer cells with ionizing radiation (IR), hydroxyurea, mitomycin C (MMC), or 1% O2 (hypoxia). Results showed that the expression of 184–1037 genes was altered by each stimulus. We found that the expression of 51 genes changed under IR, MMC, and hypoxia. These findings revealed damage-specific genes that varied differently according to each stimulus and common genes that are universally altered in genetic instability.

The prevalence of cancer in companion dogs is growing nowadays with the increasing worldwide population of domestic dogs. Since there is a less established standard of care in veterinary medicine, investigational treatments, such as the development of biomarkers can be considered as a therapeutic intervention for early diagnosis. Despite the enormous efforts that have been invested in the search of biomarkers, still, there is a need for easy detection of significant biological markers for predicting canine cancers at an early stage. In this study, we have analyzed the expression pattern of previously reported 46 canine cancer-associated candidate genes in blood specimens using real-time qPCR. We hypothesized that analysis of gene expression in blood would provide preliminary evidence of local or systemic immunogenic response which further contribute to the easy and early diagnosis of canine cancer from blood specimen as an analytical tool. The datasets included a total of 22 blood samples collected from different breeds of dogs diagnosed with cancer and five from healthy normal dogs. RT-qPCR analysis was performed by employing the SYBR Green PCR mix to assess the expression of these 46 genes in a total of 27 samples. From our result, a total of nine genes (ROS1, C1QA, CD48, IL1b, TLR2, IL2R, CHI3L1, CTSS, and TLR7) were found to be significantly up-regulated (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01) in the cancer samples compared to non-cancer samples. The relative expression level of ROS1, C1QA, CD48, IL1b, TLR2, IL2R, CHI3L1, CTSS, and TLR7 genes was 5.74, 4.78, 3.94, 2.94, 2.57, 2.53, 2.50, 2.04, and 2.57, respectively, in cancer samples compared to non-cancer samples. Thus, our results reveal several highly expressed cancer genes that can be therapeutic target genes for further testing in canine cancers.

Colon cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors, but there are still a few validated biomarkers of colon cancer. Exosome-mediated microRNAs (miRNAs) have been recognized as potential biomarkers in cancers, and miRNAs can regulate a variety of genes. Recently, Fusobacterium nucleatum was discovered in the tissues of human colon cancer patients. Its role in colon cancer was highlighted. F. nucleatum may contribute to the progression of colon cancer through the mechanism of exosome-mediated miRNAs transfer. However, the exosomal miRNAs regulation mechanism by F. nucleatum in colon cancer is not well known. Thus, we performed next-generation sequencing to investigate the overall pattern of exosomal miRNAs expression in the colon cancer cell culture supernatant. We have confirmed the alterations of various exosomal miRNAs. In addition, to investigate the function of exosomal miRNAs, a Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis was performed on the target genes of changed miRNAs. Potential target genes were associated with a variety of signaling pathways, and one of these pathways was related to colorectal cancer. These findings suggested that F. nucleatum can alter exosomal miRNAs released from colorectal cancer cells. Furthermore, exosomal miRNAs altered by F. nucleatum could be potential biomarkers for the diagnosis and therapy of colon cancer.