Enhanced CO fixation and lipid production of Chlorella vulgaris through the carbonic anhydrase complex.

Photosynthesis of C. vulgaris shows slow growth and low lipid production due to the low solubility of CO, and it is thus necessary to increase the dissolved inorganic carbon source to solve this problem. In this study, carbonic anhydrase (CA) was fused with dockerin to form a CA complex by cohesion-dockerin interaction.

Synergistic effect of the enzyme complexes comprising agarase, carrageenase and neoagarobiose hydrolase on degradation of the red algae.

In the practice of converting red algae biomass into biofuel or valuable biomaterials, the critical step is the decomposition process of the agarose to give fermentable monomeric sugars. In this study, we selected three enzymes such as agarase, carrageenase and neoagarobiose hydrolase to inducible the simultaneous hydrolysis of the major substrates such as agar and carrageenan constituting the pretreated red algae, and expressed the chimeric enzymes and formed a complexes through optimization of addition ratio. As a result, hydrolysis by enzyme complexes showed a maximum sugar release of 679 mg L with 67.

Enhancing Fatty Acid Production of Saccharomyces cerevisiae as an Animal Feed Supplement.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is used for edible purposes, such as human food or as an animal feed supplement. Fatty acids are also beneficial as feed supplements, but S. cerevisiae produces small amounts of fatty acids.

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of adult height in East Asians identifies 17 novel loci.

Human height is associated with risk of multiple diseases and is profoundly determined by an individual's genetic makeup and shows a high degree of ethnic heterogeneity. Large-scale genome-wide association (GWA) analyses of adult height in Europeans have identified nearly 180 genetic loci. A recent study showed high replicability of results from Europeans-based GWA studies in Asians; however, population-specific loci may exist due to distinct linkage disequilibrium patterns.

Efficient enzymatic degradation process for hydrolysis activity of the Carrageenan from red algae in marine biomass.

Carrageenan is a generic name for a family of polysaccharides obtained from certain species of red algae. New methods to produce useful cost-efficiently materials from red algae are needed to convert enzymatic processes into fermentable sugars. In this study, we constructed chimeric genes cCgkA and cCglA containing the catalytic domain of κ-carrageenase CgkA and λ-carrageenase CglA from Pseudoalteromonas carrageenovora fused with a dockerin domain.

Signal amplification by a self-assembled biosensor system designed on the principle of dockerin-cohesin interactions in a cellulosome complex.

To construct a self-assembled biosensor with signal amplification, a cellulosome system, comprising type I and type II dockerin-cohesin interactions with different specificities, from the anaerobic Clostridia bacterium was applied. The self-assembled biosensor was highly sensitive and achieved 128.1-fold increase in detection levels compared to the control.

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies in East Asian-ancestry populations identifies four new loci for body mass index.

Recent genetic association studies have identified 55 genetic loci associated with obesity or body mass index (BMI). The vast majority, 51 loci, however, were identified in European-ancestry populations. We conducted a meta-analysis of associations between BMI and ∼2.

Genome-wide association study in east Asians identifies novel susceptibility loci for breast cancer.

Genetic factors play an important role in the etiology of both sporadic and familial breast cancer. We aimed to discover novel genetic susceptibility loci for breast cancer. We conducted a four-stage genome-wide association study (GWAS) in 19,091 cases and 20,606 controls of East-Asian descent including Chinese, Korean, and Japanese women.

GntR-type transcriptional regulator PckR negatively regulates the expression of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase in Corynebacterium glutamicum.

The pck (cg3169) gene of Corynebacterium glutamicum encodes a phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK). Here, a candidate transcriptional regulator that binds to the promoter region of pck was detected using a DNA affinity purification approach. An isolated protein was identified to be PckR (Cg0196), a GntR family transcriptional regulator which consists of 253 amino acids with a mass of 27 kDa as measured by peptide mass fingerprinting.

Protective role of CYP1A1*2A in the development of multiple myeloma.

We had previously reported the association of the NQO1*2/*2 polymorphism with a decreased risk for multiple myeloma (MM) in Koreans (odds ratio, OR, 0.24; 95% confidence interval, CI, 0.01-0.

Association of estrogen receptor alpha gene microsatellite polymorphism with annual changes in bone mineral density in Korean women with hormone replacement therapy.

Variation in drug response to hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may reflect genetic heterogeneity in the estrogen-related genes, possibly including estrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha) gene. However, only a few association studies of the drug response to HRT have been reported, focusing mainly on the intronic polymorphisms of the ERalpha gene. We therefore examined 284 postmenopausal women (mean age, 52.

Cyclooxygenase-2 and p53 expressions in endometrial cancer.

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) has been known to be related with various types of carcinoma, but we have insufficient knowledge about the association between COX-2 and endometrial cancer. Many have reported a close relationship between p53 expression and a poor prognosis in endometrial cancer, but it is unclear whether p53 is an independent prognostic factor. To clarify these uncertainties, we examined the expressions of COX-2 and p53 in endometrial cancer tissues.

Influence of smoking on blood cadmium concentration in university students.

Objectives: This study was performed to examine the influence of smoking on the blood cadmium concentration in university students.

Methods: The study included 300 university students. A questionnaire interview was used to collect data.

Expression of cyclooxygenase-2 in association with clinicopathological prognostic factors and molecular markers in epithelial ovarian cancer.

Objectives: This study examines whether expression of COX-2 is associated with clinicopathological features and other molecular markers of ovarian cancer.

Methods: Sixty-four paraffin-embedded tissue specimens were obtained from patients with ovarian cancer who received cytoreductive surgery and combination chemotherapy. Tissue specimens were subjected to immunohistochemical analysis using antibodies to COX-2, p53, and VEGF.

Expression of cyclooxygenase-1 and -2 associated with expression of VEGF in primary cervical cancer and at metastatic lymph nodes.

Objectives: This study examines the relationship between expression of COX-1, COX-2, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and their association with clinicopathological features in primary tumor and metastatic lymph node specimens from cervical cancer patients. The relationship between COX-2 expression and human papillomavirus (HPV) positivity was also examined.

Methods: The following samples were analyzed: 97 paraffin-embedded specimens from patients with cervical cancer (Ib-IIb), including 49 primary cervical cancer specimens without lymph node metastasis and 24 primary specimens with lymph node metastasis and their metastatic lymph nodes.

The Estimation of Breast Cancer Disease-Probability by Difference of Individual Susceptibility.

Purpose: The aims were to evaluate the main risk factors (RFs) of breast cancer and to estimate the individual disease-probability from combinations of RFs in Korean female.

Materials And Methods: We conducted case-control study of 1, 687 incident cases of invasive carcinoma and 1, 238 controls during 1996~2000. A breast cancer disease-probability model was established by a general modeling process using a multivariate logistic regression model, which included the main Korean RFs and synergistic interaction-terms.