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Biomedical subjects

Hyong Kyu Kim

Publications and source records attributed to Hyong Kyu Kim.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

Isolation and characterization of novel H3N1 swine influenza viruses from pigs with respiratory diseases in Korea.

Pigs can play an important role in the genetic reassortment of influenza viruses and as a reservoir for another lineage of influenza viruses that have the ability to reassort and be transmitted between species. In March and April 2006, novel H3N1 influenza A viruses were isolated from pigs with respiratory diseases at two different commercial swine farms in Korea. Genetic and phylogenetic analyses of the sequences of all eight viral RNA segments showed that the novel H3N1 swine influenza viruses were reassortants that acquired the hemagglutinin gene from an H3 human-like virus and other genes from swine influenza viruses that are currently circulating in Korea. Serologic and virologic tests in the infected farms suggested that pig-to-pig and farm-to-farm transmissions occurred. Clinical signs in pigs and experimentally infected mice suggest the potential to transmit the virus between swine and other mammalian hosts. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the isolation of the swine H3N1 subtype from domestic pigs under field conditions in Korea. Further surveillance will be needed to determine whether this novel subtype will continue to circulate in the swine population.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Helicobacter pylori CagA transfection of gastric epithelial cells induces interleukin-8.

To determine the effect of Helicobacter pylori CagA expression on interleukin-8 (IL-8) induction in AGS cells, cagA and five of its fragments from strains 147A and 147C that vary in the 3' repeat region were cloned into the eukaryotic expression plasmid pSP65SRalpha. IL-8, but not RANTES or IL-Ibeta, levels were increased in AGS cells transfected with 147A-cagA and to a greater extent with 147C-cagA, compared with negative controls. The 5' b fragment from the two strains had similar effects, but the 3' d and e fragments from 147C CagA had greater effects than those from 147A-CagA. When the Western CagA-specific sequence (WSS) of 147C-cagA was replaced with East Asian CagA-specific sequence (ESS) and cloned into pSP65SRalpha as an East/West chimera, there was no significant effect on IL-8 production. Use of specific inhibitors indicates that Src kinase activation, and the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase and NF-kappaB pathways are the major intermediates for CagA effects on IL-8 induction, but the p38 MAP kinase pathway has little effect. These results indicate a direct CagA effect on IL-8 induction by gastric epithelial cells, and indicate signal pathway loci that can be targeted for amelioration.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Role of Staufen in dendritic mRNA transport and its modulation.

Staufen is a double-stranded RNA-binding protein and a core component in various RNP complexes or RNA granules, and plays an important role in dendritic mRNA transport. In this study, a ribosomal marker and a dominant-negative form of Staufen (stau-RBD), containing the RNA-binding domains, but lacking a microtubule-association domain, was used to determine the role of Staufen in dendritic mRNA transport. The results showed that the overexpression of stau-RBD significantly decreased the levels of ribosomal staining in the dendrites, which was illustrated by Y10B immunostaining. In contrast, the overexpression of Staufen increased the ribosomal level. The regulatory mechanisms of the dendritic mRNA transport were examined using a GFP-tagged Staufen (GFP-Stau), which was produced by means of a Sindbis viral expression system. Depolarization increased the amount of Staufen-containing the RNP complexes and endogenous Staufen in the dendrites. This increase was independent of protein synthesis. This suggests that dendritic mRNA transport is mediated via Staufen, and is regulated by the neuronal activity.

Animals↗

Measurement of dendritic mRNA transport using ribosomal markers.

mRNA is transported to the dendritic regions by forming RNA granules, an aggregate of mRNA, ribosomal proteins, rRNA, and RNA-binding proteins such as Staufen. In this study, the dendritic transport of RNA granules was measured using the individual antibodies to ribosome-specific markers such as ribosomal L4 or S6 protein, and Y10B, a monoclonal antibody specific to rRNA. All the markers showed significant immunoreactivity in the dendritic regions of the hippocampal neurons. In addition, a GFP-tagged Staufen, a marker protein of the RNA granules, was colocalized with the Y10B and S6 signals in the dendrites. The S6 signals were also colocalized with the Y10B signals in the dendrites. Consistent with previous studies, the depolarization induced by KCl stimulation increased the ribosomal level, revealed by the S6 or Y10B immunostaining in the distal dendrites. These results demonstrate the utility of ribosomal markers for detecting the RNA granules or mRNA transport in dendrites.

Animals↗

bPAK-interacting exchange factor may regulate actin cytoskeleton through interaction with actin.

p21-activated kinase (PAK)-interacting exchange factor (PIX) is known to be involved in regulation of Cdc42/Rac GTPases and PAK activity. PIX binds to the proline-rich region of PAK, and regulates biological events through activation of Cdc42/Rac GTPase. To further investigate the role of PIX we produced monoclonal antibodies (Mab) against bPIX. Three clones; N-C6 against N-terminal half and C-A3 and C-B7 against C- terminal half of bPIX were generated and characterized. N-C6 Mab detected bPIX as a major band in most cell lines. C-A3 Mab recognizes GIT-binding domain (GBD), but it does not interfere with GIT binding to bPIX. Using C-A3 Mab possible bPIX interaction with actin in PC12 cells was examined. bPIX Mab (C-A3) specifically precipitated actin of the PC12 cell lysates whereas actin Mab failed to immunoprecipitate bPIX. Co-sedimentation of PC12 cell lysates with the polymerized F-actin resulted in the recovery of most of bPIX in the cell lysates. These results suggest that bPIX may not interact with soluble actin but with polymerized F-actin and revealed that bPIX constitutes a functional complex with actin. These data indicate real usefulness of the bPIX Mab in the study of bPIX role(s) in regulation of actin cyoskeleton.

Actin Cytoskeleton↗