• Journal of Photoscience
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.49-50
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• 2002

N-Nitrosoproline(NPRO) is endogenously formed from proline and nitrite. NPRO has been reported to be nonmutagenic and noncarcinogenic. In this study, we have detected the direct mutagenicity of NPRO with UVA and UVB towards S. typhimurium. Formation of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG), a mutagenic lesion, was observed in calf thymus DNA treated with NPRO plus simulated sunlight. Furthermore, the treatment with NPRO and sunlight induced single strand breaks in the superhelical replicative form of phage M13mp2 DNA. An analysis using scavengers suggested that both reactive oxygen species and NO radical mediate the strand breaks. The formation of nitric oxide was observed in NPRO solution irradiated with UVA. The co-mutagenic and co-toxic actions of NPRO and sunlight merit attention as possible mechanisms increasing the carcinogenic risk from UVA irradiation.

• BMB Reports
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.140-144
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• 2006

A deoxyriboendonuclease has been purified to near homogeneity from a fast growing mycobacterium species, M. smegmatis and characterized to some extent. The size of enzyme is about 43 kDa as determined by a denaturing gel analysis. It shows optimum activity at $32^{\circ}C$ in Tris-HCl buffer (pH 7.2) containing 2.5 mM of $MgCl_2$. Both EDTA and $K^+$ but not $Na^+$ inhibit its activity. Evidences show that the enzyme is not a restriction endonuclease but catalyzes the endonucleolytic cleavage of both the double- as well as the single-strand DNA non-specifically. It has been shown that the cleavage by this enzyme generates DNA fragments carrying phosphate groups at 5' ends and hydroxyl group at the 3' ends, respectively. Analysis reveals that no endonuclease having size and property identical to our deoxyriboendonuclease had been purified from M. smegmatis before. The property of our enzymes closely matches with the deoxyriboendonucleases purified from diverse sources including bacteria.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.621-629
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• 2000

Camptothecin (CPT) is an antitumor alkaloid that has been isolated from the Chinese tree, Camptotheca acuminata. The cytotoxicity of CPT has been correlated to its inhibition of DNA topoisomerase (Topo) I by stabilizing drug-enzyme-DNA “cleavable complex" resulting in DNA single-strand breaks and DNA-protein crosslinks. This studies were designed to elucidate whether CPT regulates Topo I mediated by CPT in DNAs containing c-myc protooncogene. We have conducted experiments on Topo I purification, pUC-MYC I cloning and Topo I assay using electrophoresis, quantitative RT-PCR and Northern blotting techniques. CPT ingibited the relaxation activity of Topo I in pUC19 DNA at various concentrations (1-1000 $\mu$M), while it enhanced the cleavage of Topo I in the pUC-MYC I by forming a cleavable complex at relatively high concentrations (100-1000 $\mu$M). In HL-60 cells treated with CPT, the expression of c-myc gene was decreased over that in the control group with no changes in the expression of Topo I mRNA. Our results suggest that Topo I is the target of CPT cytotoxicity but it does not affect Topo I extression, and the suppression of c-myc mRNA expression by CPT is due to c-myc damage resulted from formation of a cleavable complex with CPT. CPT.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.409-414
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• 2007

Antimicrobial and antioxidative effects of 14 different herbal flower extracts on skin microorganisms and oxidation were tested in this research. Herbal flower extracts were prepared with 70% ethanol. Among the herbal flower extracts, roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) flower extract showed the highest antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus epidermidis as determined by a paper disc method. The seventy % ethanol extract of roselle flower was fractionated by sequential hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, n-butanol, and water fractionation. The growth of S. epidermidis, Streptomyces collinus, Streptomyces coeruleoprunus, Salmonella enteritidis, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, and Malassezia pachydermatis was most efficiently inhibited by ethyl acetate fraction of roselle flower extract as determined by a paper disc method and growth inhibition curves. In addition, the ethyl acetate fraction, water fraction and butanol fraction showed free radical scavenging and DNA cleavage inhibition activities. These results demonstrate that roselle flowers hold antimicrobial and antioxidative activities against skin microorganisms and oxidants.

• BMB Reports
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.98-105
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• 2021

The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) system is a family of DNA sequences originally discovered as a type of acquired immunity in prokaryotes such as bacteria and archaea. In many CRISPR systems, the functional ribonucleoproteins (RNPs) are composed of CRISPR protein and guide RNAs. They selectively bind and cleave specific target DNAs or RNAs, based on sequences complementary to the guide RNA. The specific targeted cleavage of the nucleic acids by CRISPR has been broadly utilized in genome editing methods. In the process of genome editing of eukaryotic cells, CRISPR-mediated DNA double-strand breaks (DSB) at specific genomic loci activate the endogenous DNA repair systems and induce mutations at the target sites with high efficiencies. Two of the major endogenous DNA repair machineries are non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) and homology-directed repair (HDR). In case of DSB, the two repair pathways operate in competition, resulting in several possible outcomes including deletions, insertions, and substitutions. Due to the inherent stochasticity of DSB-based genome editing methods, it was difficult to achieve defined single-base changes without unanticipated random mutation patterns. In order to overcome the heterogeneity in DSB-mediated genome editing, novel methods have been developed to incorporate precise single-base level changes without inducing DSB. The approaches utilized catalytically compromised CRISPR in conjunction with base-modifying enzymes and DNA polymerases, to accomplish highly efficient and precise genome editing of single and multiple bases. In this review, we introduce some of the advances in single-base level CRISPR genome editing methods and their applications.

• BMB Reports
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.445-453
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• 2004

We identified apoptosis as being a significant mechanism of toxicity following the exposure of HeLa cell cultures to abrin holotoxin, which is in addition to its inhibition of protein biosynthesis by N-glycosidase activity. The treatment of HeLa cell cultures with abrin resulted in apoptotic cell death, as characterized by morphological and biochemical changes, i.e., cell shrinkage, internucleosomal DNA fragmentation, the occurrence of hypodiploid DNA, chromatin condensation, nuclear breakdown, DNA single strand breaks by TUNEL assay, and phosphatidylserine (PS) externalization. This apoptotic cell death was accompanied by caspase-9 and caspase-3 activation, as indicated by the cleavage of caspase substrates, which was preceded by mitochondrial cytochrome c release. The broad-spectrum caspase inhibitor, benzyloxycarbonyl-Val-Ala-Asp-fluoromethyl ketone (zVAD-fmk), prevented abrin-triggered caspase activation and partially abolished apoptotic cell death, but did not affect mitochondrial cytochrome c release. These results suggest that the release of mitochondrial cytochrome c, and the sequential caspase-9 and caspase-3 activations are important events in the signal transduction pathway of abrin-induced apoptotic cell death in the HeLa cell line.

• BMB Reports
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.102-107
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• 2023

Genome editing using CRISPR-associated technology is widely used to modify the genomes rapidly and efficiently on specific DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) induced by Cas9 endonuclease. However, despite swift advance in Cas9 engineering, structural basis of Cas9-recognition and cleavage complex remains unclear. Proper assembly of this complex correlates to effective Cas9 activity, leading to high efficacy of genome editing events. Here, we develop a CRISPR/Cas9-RAD51 plasmid constitutively expressing RAD51, which can bind to single-stranded DNA for DSB repair. We show that the efficiency of CRISPR-mediated genome editing can be significantly improved by expressing RAD51, responsible for DSB repair via homologous recombination (HR), in both gene knock-out and knock-in processes. In cells with CRISPR/Cas9-RAD51 plasmid, expression of the target genes (cohesin SMC3 and GAPDH) was reduced by more than 1.9-fold compared to the CRISPR/Cas9 plasmid for knock-out of genes. Furthermore, CRISPR/Cas9-RAD51 enhanced the knock-in efficiency of DsRed donor DNA. Thus, the CRISPR/Cas9-RAD51 system is useful for applications requiring precise and efficient genome edits not accessible to HR-deficient cell genome editing and for developing CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout technology.