Korea University · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
Professor Eun-Jin Lee's research lab focuses on bacterial stress responses, particularly the regulatory roles of sigma factors and non-coding RNAs in pathogenic and soil-dwelling bacteria such as *Streptomyces coelicolor* and *Salmonella enterica*. The lab investigates how transcriptional regulators like sigmaB and antisense RNAs such as AmgR fine-tune virulence, differentiation, and survival under stress conditions, including osmotic stress and low magnesium. A central theme is the molecular mechanism of gene regulation via translational coupling, riboswitch-like structures, and tRNA-mediated sensing, especially in host-pathogen interactions. The lab also explores neuroprotective mechanisms in neurodegenerative diseases, linking microbial stress pathways to host immune responses and neuroinflammation.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
The differentiating bacterium Streptomyces coelicolor harbours some 66 sigma factors, which support its complex life cycle. sigma(B), a functional homologue of sigma(S) from Escherichia coli, controls both osmoprotection and differentiation in S. coelicolor A3(2). Microarray analysis revealed sigma(B)-dependent induction of more than 280 genes by 0.2 M KCl. These genes encode several sigma factors, oxidative defence proteins, chaperones, systems to provide osmolytes, cysteine, mycothiol, and gas
Genome-wide transcriptome analyses of several bacterial species have recently uncovered a hitherto unappreciated amount of antisense transcription. However, the physiological role, regulation and significance of such antisense transcripts are presently unclear. We now report the identification of a cis-encoded 1.2 kb long antisense RNA - termed AmgR - that is complementary to the mgtC portion of the mgtCBR polycistronic message from Salmonella enterica. The mgtCBR mRNA specifies the MgtC protein
The mgtCBR operon from Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium specifies the virulence protein MgtC, the Mg(2+) transporter MgtB and the regulatory peptide MgtR. The mgtCBR transcript includes a long leader region harbouring two short open reading frames (ORFs). Translation of these ORFs is anticipated to impact the formation of particular stem-loop structures and control transcription of the coding region by an attenuation-like mechanism. We previously reported that ORF mgtM enables Salmonella
The intracellular pathogen Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium requires the mgtC gene to cause disease. The mgtC transcript includes a long leader region that harbors a short proline codon-rich ORF--termed mgtP--the translation of which is predicted to favor formation of one of two alternative stem-loop structures. We now report that the mgtP proline codons are critical for expression of the mgtC coding region inside host cells, for Salmonella survival inside macrophages, and for virulence i
sigmaB, a homolog of stress-responsive sigmaB of Bacillus subtilis, controls both osmoprotection and differentiation in Streptomyces coelicolor A3 (2). Its gene is preceded by rsbA and rsbB genes encoding homologs of an anti-sigma factor, RsbW, and its antagonist, RsbV, of B. subtilis, respectively. Purified RsbA bound to sigmaB and prevented sigmaB-directed transcription from the sigBp1 promoter in vitro. An rsbA-null mutant exhibited contrasting behavior to the sigB mutant, with elevated sigBp
Machine learning systems can provide outstanding results, but their black-box nature means that it’s hard to understand how the conclusion has been reached. Understanding how the results are determined is especially important in military and security contexts due to the importance of the decisions that may be made as a result. In this work, the reliability of LIME (Local Interpretable Model Agnostic Explanations), a method of interpretability, was analyzed and developed. A simple Convolutional N
In retinitis pigmentosa (RP), the death of cones normally follows some time after the degeneration of rods. Recently, surviving cones in RP have been studied and reported in detail. These cones undergo extensive remodeling in their morphology. Here we report an extension of the remodeling study to consider possible modifications of spatial-distribution patterns. For this purpose we used S334ter-line-3 transgenic rats, a transgenic model developed to express a rhodopsin mutation causing RP. In th
Doublecortin is 40 kDa microtubule-associated phosphoprotein required for neuronal migration and differentiation in various regions of the developing central nervous system. We have investigated the expression and cellular localization of doublecortin in the developing rat retina using immunocytochemistry and Western blot analysis. The expression of doublecortin was high from embryonic day 18 (E18) until E20 and was low during the postnatal period. The doublecortin immunoreactivity first appeare
Bacteria utilize two-component regulatory systems to sense and respond to their surroundings. Unlike other two-component systems that directly sense through a sensory domain in the histidine kinase (HK), the PhoB/PhoR two-component system requires additional proteins, including the PstSCAB phosphate transporter and the PhoU protein, to sense phosphate levels. Although PhoU is involved in phosphate signaling by connecting the PstSCAB transporter and PhoR histidine kinase, the mechanism by which P
Disabled 1 (Dab1) is an adapter molecule in a signaling pathway, stimulated by Reelin, which controls cell positioning in the developing brain. It has been localized to AII amacrine cells in the mouse and guinea pig retinas. This study was conducted to identify whether Dab1 is commonly localized to AII amacrine cells in the retinas of other mammals. We investigated Dab1-labeled cells in human, rat, rabbit, and cat retinas in detail by immunocytochemistry with antisera against Dab1. Dab1 immunore
Bacteria use flagella to move toward nutrients, find its host, or retract from toxic substances. Because bacterial flagellum is one of the ligands that activate the host innate immune system, its synthesis should be tightly regulated during host infection, which is largely unknown. Here, we report that a bacterial leader mRNA from the <i>mgtCBR</i> virulence operon in the intracellular pathogen <i>Salmonella enterica</i> serovar Typhimurium binds to the <i>fljB</i> coding region of mRNAs in the
Bacterial ribosome requires elongation factor P to translate fragments harbouring consecutive proline codons. Given the abundance of ORFs with potential EF-P regulated sites, EF-P was assumed to be constitutively expressed. Here, we report that the intracellular pathogen Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium decreases efp mRNA levels during course of infection. We determined that the decrease in efp mRNA is triggered by low levels of charged tRNA<sup>Pro</sup> , a condition that Salmonella exp
Each year, 40% to 60% of smokers try to quit, but smoking cessation success rate for 1 year was 1% to 9% without professional help and 7% to 40% with professional help. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of group counseling with auricular acupressure on smoking cessation and tobacco withdrawal symptoms. This study is a randomized controlled trial. This study was performed at a university in South Korea. Fifty-five smokers were randomly assigned to 3 groups: group 1 (auricular a
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