Context dependency of Set1/COMPASS-mediated histone H3 Lys4 trimethylation

Thornton, Janet L.,Westfield, Gerwin H.,Takahashi, Yoh-hei,Cook, Malcolm,Gao, Xin,Woodfin, Ashley R.,Lee, Jung-Shin,Morgan, Marc A.,Jackson, Jessica,Smith, Edwin R.,Couture, Jean-Francois,Skiniotis, G Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press 2014 Genes & development Vol.28 No.2

<P>The stimulation of H3K4 trimethylation (H3K4me3) by H2B monoubiquitination (H2Bub) has been widely studied, and multiple mechanisms have been proposed for this form of histone cross-talk. Thornton et al. combine biochemical, structural, and in vivo approaches to provide a novel mechanism for the role of H2B ubiquitination machinery in the regulation of histone H3K4 methylation by COMPASS. This study demonstrates that the H2Bub machinery and Cps35/Swd2 function to focus the H3K4me3 activity of COMPASS at promoter-proximal regions in a context-dependent manner.</P>

Taxonomy of fungal complex causing red-skin root of Panax ginseng in China

Xiao H. Lu,Xi M. Zhang,Xiao L. Jiao,Jianjun J. Hao,Xue S. Zhang,Yi Luo,Wei W. Gao 고려인삼학회 2020 Journal of Ginseng Research Vol.44 No.3

Background: Red-skin root of Asian ginseng (Panax ginseng) significantly reduces the quality and limits theproduction of ginseng in China. The disease has long been thought to be a noninfectious physiologicaldisease, except one report that proved itwas an infectious disease. However, the causal agents have not beensuccessfully determined. In the present study, we were to reveal the pathogens that cause red-skin disease. Methods: Ginseng roots with red-skin root symptoms were collected from commercial fields in NortheastChina. Fungi were isolated from the lesion and identified based on morphological characters alongwith multilocus sequence analyses on internal transcription spacer, b-tubulin (tub2), histone H3 (his3),and translation elongation factor 1a (tef-1a). Pathogens were confirmed by inoculating the isolates inginseng roots. Results: A total of 230 isolates were obtained from 209 disease samples. These isolates were classifiedinto 12 species, including Dactylonectria sp., D. hordeicola, Fusarium acuminatum, F. avenaceum, F. solani,F. torulosum, Ilyonectria mors-panacis, I. robusta, Rhexocercosporidium panacis, and three novel speciesI. changbaiensis, I. communis, and I. qitaiheensis. Among them, I. communis, I. robusta, and F. solani had thehighest isolation frequencies, being 36.1%, 20.9%, and 23.9%, respectively. All these species isolated werepathogenic to ginseng roots and caused red-skin root disease under appropriate condition. Conclusion: Fungal complex is the causal agent of red-skin root in P. ginseng.

700-nm Zwitterionic Near-Infrared Fluorophores for Dual-Channel Image-Guided Surgery

Hyun, H.,Henary, M.,Gao, T.,Narayana, L.,Owens, E. A.,Lee, J. H.,Park, G.,Wada, H.,Ashitate, Y.,Frangioni, J. V. Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam. 2016 Molecular imaging and biology Vol.18 No.1

<P>Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop a family of 700-nm zwitterionic pentamethine indocyanine near-infrared fluorophores that would permit dual-channel image-guided surgery. Procedures: Three complementary synthetic schemes were used to produce novel zwitterionic chemical structures. Physicochemical, optical, biodistribution, and clearance properties were compared to Cy5.5, a conventional pentamethine indocyanine now used for biomedical imaging. Results: ZW700-1a, ZW700-1b, and ZW700-1c were synthesized, purified, and analyzed extensively in vitro and in vivo. All molecules had extinction coefficients >= 199,000 M-1 cm(-1), emission >= 660 nm, and stability >= 99 % after 24 h in warm serum. In mice, rats, and pigs, >= 80 % of the injected dose was completely eliminated from the body via renal clearance within 4 h. Either alone or conjugated to a tumor targeting ligand, ZW700-1a permitted dual-channel, high SBR, and simultaneous imaging with 800-nm NIR fluorophores using the FLARE (R) imaging system. Conclusions: Novel 700-nm zwitterionic NIR fluorophores enable dual-NIR image-guided surgery.</P>

중주파자극시 뇌졸중 환자의 H-reflex 의 변화에 따른 경직의 영향

김록현(R. H. Kim),서은영(E. Y. Seo),Gao Chang,Salazar Fajardo Jhosedyn,윤범철(B. C. Yoon) Korean Society for Precision Engineering 2020 한국정밀공학회 학술발표대회 논문집 Vol.2020 No.9월

Enhancing the H₂O Megamaser Detection Rate Using Optical and Mid-infrared Photometry

Kuo, C. Y.,Constantin, A.,Braatz, J. A.,Chung, H. H.,Witherspoon, C. A.,Pesce, D.,Impellizzeri, C. M. V.,Gao, F.,Hao, Lei,Woo, J.-H.,Zaw, Ingyin American Astronomical Society 2018 The Astrophysical journal Vol.860 No.2

<P>Water megamasers from circumnuclear disks in galaxy centers provide the most accurate measurements of supermassive black hole masses and uniquely probe the subparsec accretion processes. At the same time, these systems offer independent crucial constraints of the Hubble constant in the nearby universe, and thus, the arguably best single constraint on the nature of dark energy. The chances of finding these golden standards are, however, abysmally low, at less than or similar to 3% overall for any level of water maser emission detected at 22 GHz and less than or similar to 1% for those exhibiting disk-like configuration. We provide here a thorough summary of the current state of detection of water megamaser disks along with a novel investigation of the likelihood of increasing their detection rates based on a multivariate parameter analysis of the optical and mid-infrared (mid-IR) photometric properties of the largest database of galaxies surveyed for 22 GHz emission. We find that galaxies with water megamaser emission tend to be associated with strong emission in all Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer mid-IR wavelengths, with the strongest enhancement in the W4 band, at 22 mu m, as well as with previously proposed and newly found indicators of active galactic nucleus strength in the mid-IR, such as red W1 - W2 and W1 - W4 colors, and the integrated mid-IR luminosity of the host galaxy. These trends offer a potential boost of the megamaser detection rates to 6%-15%, or a factor of 2-8 relative to the current rates, depending on the chosen sample selection criteria, while fostering real chances for discovering. 20 new megamaser disks.</P>

Taxonomy of fungal complex causing red-skin root of Panax ginseng in China

Lu, Xiao H.,Zhang, Xi M.,Jiao, Xiao L.,Hao, Jianjun J.,Zhang, Xue S.,Luo, Yi,Gao, Wei W. The Korean Society of Ginseng 2020 Journal of Ginseng Research Vol.44 No.3

Background: Red-skin root of Asian ginseng (Panax ginseng) significantly reduces the quality and limits the production of ginseng in China. The disease has long been thought to be a noninfectious physiological disease, except one report that proved it was an infectious disease. However, the causal agents have not been successfully determined. In the present study, we were to reveal the pathogens that cause red-skin disease. Methods: Ginseng roots with red-skin root symptoms were collected from commercial fields in Northeast China. Fungi were isolated from the lesion and identified based on morphological characters along with multilocus sequence analyses on internal transcription spacer, β-tubulin (tub2), histone H3 (his3), and translation elongation factor 1α (tef-1α). Pathogens were confirmed by inoculating the isolates in ginseng roots. Results: A total of 230 isolates were obtained from 209 disease samples. These isolates were classified into 12 species, including Dactylonectria sp., D. hordeicola, Fusarium acuminatum, F. avenaceum, F. solani, F. torulosum, Ilyonectria mors-panacis, I. robusta, Rhexocercosporidium panacis, and three novel species I. changbaiensis, I. communis, and I. qitaiheensis. Among them, I. communis, I. robusta, and F. solani had the highest isolation frequencies, being 36.1%, 20.9%, and 23.9%, respectively. All these species isolated were pathogenic to ginseng roots and caused red-skin root disease under appropriate condition. Conclusion: Fungal complex is the causal agent of red-skin root in P. ginseng.

Cloning and characterization of a thermostable H₂O-forming NADH oxidase from Lactobacillus rhamnosus

Zhang, Y.W.,Tiwari, M.K.,Gao, H.,Dhiman, S.S.,Jeya, M.,Lee, J.K. IPC Science and Technology Press ; Elsevier Scienc 2012 Enzyme and microbial technology Vol.50 No.4

NADH oxidase (Nox) catalyzes the conversion of NADH to NAD<SUP>+</SUP>. A previously uncharacterized Nox gene (LrNox) was cloned from Lactobacillus rhamnosus and overexpressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3). Sequence analysis revealed an open reading frame of 1359bp, capable of encoding a polypeptide of 453 amino acid residues. The molecular mass of the purified LrNox enzyme was estimated to be ∼50kDa by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and 100kDa by gel filtration chromatography, suggesting that the enzyme is a homodimer. The enzyme had optimal activity at pH 5.6 and temperature 65<SUP>o</SUP>C, and k<SUB>cat</SUB>/K<SUB>m</SUB> of 3.77x10<SUP>7</SUP>s<SUP>-1</SUP>M<SUP>-1</SUP>, the highest ever reported. Heat inactivation studies revealed that LrNox had high thermostability, with a half-life of 120min at 80<SUP>o</SUP>C. Molecular dynamics simulation studies shed light on the factors contributing to the high activity of LrNox. Although the properties of Nox from several microorganisms have been reported, this is the first report on the characterization of a recombinant H<SUB>2</SUB>O-forming Nox with high activity and thermostability. The characteristics of the LrNox enzyme could prove to be of interest in industrial applications such as NAD<SUP>+</SUP> regeneration.

Multiphysics Simulation of Thermal-Fluid Behavior in Laser Powder Bed Fusion of H13 Steel: Influence of Layer Thickness and Energy Input

K. W. Shao,W. H. Zhou,K. Gao,X. G. Zhu,P. Jia,Y. Li 대한금속ᆞ재료학회 2023 METALS AND MATERIALS International Vol.29 No.2

Catastrophic brittle failure prevents the application of bulk metallic glasses (BMGs).The brittle La69Co17Al14BMG showslarge compressive plasticity when compressed in constrained conditions. Here the compressive plasticity of this BMG wassystematically studied by decreasing aspect ratio (height/diameter) of the samples in uniaxial compression and the brittleductiletransition occurs at an aspect ratio of 0.36. With the increase of the plasticity (decrease of the aspect ratio), the hardnessdecreases firstly and then increases, however, the relaxation enthalpy indicating its structure increases monotonically. Our findings provide a powerful experimental support for the application of brittle La-based BMGs.

Suppression of miRNA-708 by Polycomb Group Promotes Metastases by Calcium-Induced Cell Migration

Ryu, S.,McDonnell, K.,Choi, H.,Gao, D.,Hahn, M.,Joshi, N.,Park, S.M.,Catena, R.,Do, Y.,Brazin, J.,Vahdat, Linda T.,Silver, Randi B.,Mittal, V. Cell Press 2013 Cancer cell Vol.23 No.1

The progression of cancer to metastatic disease is a major cause of death. We identified miR-708 being transcriptionally repressed by polycomb repressor complex 2-induced H3K27 trimethylation in metastatic breast cancer. miR-708 targets the endoplasmic reticulum protein neuronatin to decrease intracellular calcium level, resulting in reduction of activation of ERK and FAK, decreased cell migration, and impaired metastases. Ectopic expression of neuronatin refractory to suppression by miR-708 rescued cell migration and metastasis defects. In patients with breast cancer, miR-708 expression was decreased in lymph node and distal metastases, suggesting a metastasis-suppressive role. Our findings uncover a mechanistic role for miR-708 in metastasis and provide a rationale for developing miR-708 as a therapeutic agent against metastatic breast cancer.

Oxidative stress increases the risk of pancreatic <i>β</i> cell damage in chronic renal hypertensive rats

Gao, Shan,Park, Byung M.,Cha, Seung A.,Bae, Ui J.,Park, Byung H.,Park, Woo H.,Kim, Suhn H. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2016 Physiological reports Vol.4 No.16

<P><B>Abstract</B></P><P>Hypertension often occurs in conjunction with insulin resistance. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether sustained renal hypertension increases the risk of diabetes mellitus in rats, and to define the underlying mechanisms. Two‐kidney, one‐clip hypertensive (2K1C) rats received captopril (50 mg/kg/day), <I>α</I>‐lipoic acid (100 mg/kg/day), or vehicle treatment for 3 months after surgery. Blood pressure was measured by tail cuff plethysmography. Oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), immunohistochemistry, and western blotting were performed. In addition, insulin secretion from islet cells was measured. OGTT yielded abnormal results, and the number of islet cells and the size of pancreatic <I>β</I>/<I>α</I> cells were decreased in 2K1C rats. Basal insulin levels were also reduced in the plasma. Insulin secretion from pancreatic islet cells in response to high glucose was also attenuated in 2K1C rats compared with sham rats. The levels of oxidative stress markers, including 8‐hydroxydeoxyguanosine and NADPH oxidase‐4, were increased in pancreatic tissue and pancreatic islets in 2K1C rats. The abnormalities observed in 2K1C rats were improved by captopril or <I>α</I>‐lipoic acid treatment. These findings indicate that sustained renal hypertension may lead to pancreatic dysfunction, increasing oxidative stress in pancreatic islets.</P>