Demographic and Genome Wide Association Analyses According to Muscle Mass Using Data of the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study

Gim Jeong-An,Lee Sangyeob,Kim Seung Chan,Baek Kyung-Wan,Yoo Jun-Il 대한의학회 2022 Journal of Korean medical science Vol.37 No.50

Background: Sarcopenia is commonly found in the elderly due to a decline in muscle mass. Many researchers have performed genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to find genetic risk factors of sarcopenia. Although many studies have discovered sarcopenia associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), most of them are studies targeting Caucasians. The purpose of this study was to evaluate genetic correlation according to muscle mass in middle aged Koreans using data of the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KOGES), a large population-based genomic cohort study. Methods: Baseline participants were 10,030 subjects aged 40 to 69 years who were from Ansan or Anseong in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. Among them, 9,351 subjects with laboratory data available were included in this study. To identify sarcopenia associated variants, those in the top 30% and bottom 30% of muscle mass index (MMI) were compared. A total of 7,452 people with an MMI of 30-70% were excluded. A total of 1,004 people were also excluded due to missing data. Finally, 895 people were selected for this study. The Korea Biobank Array generated 500,568 SNPs for this dataset. Results: When subjects were divided into top 30% and bottom 30% of MMI, the top 30% had 169 men and 308 women and the bottom 30% had 220 men and 198 women. In men, age, body mass index (BMI), waist and hip were significantly (P < 0.005) different between top 30% and bottom 30% MMI groups. In women, age, BMI, waist, hip, and hypertension history were significantly different between the two MMI groups. There were 13 significant SNPs in men and 14 significant SNPs in women. Genes associated with variants in men based on the single-nucleotide polymorphism database (dbSNP) were LRP1B containing rs11679458 and RGS6 containing rs11848300. A gene associated with variants in women was Pi4K2A, which contained rs1189312 as a variant. In addition, rs11189312 was associated with expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) of ZFYVE27 in skeletal muscles and other SNPs of ZFYVE27 (rs10882883, rs17108378, rs35077384) known to be associated with spastic paraplegia. The eQTL analysis revealed that rs11189312 was a variant associated with SNPs of ZFYVE27. Conclusions: In the demographic study, significant results were found in BMI, waist, hip, history of hyperlipidemia, and sedentary life status in male group, and significant results were found in BMI, waist, hip, and hypertension history in female group. Variant rs11189312 was found to be a novel variant affecting ZFYVE27 expressed in skeletal muscles, suggesting that rs11189312 might be related to sarcopenia as a novel discovery of this study. Further study is needed to determine the association between sarcopenia and ZFYVE27 known to be associated with spastic paraplegia.

Genome-Wide Analysis of DNA Methylation before- and after Exercise in the Thoroughbred Horse with MeDIP-Seq

Gim, Jeong-An,Hong, Chang Pyo,Kim, Dae-Soo,Moon, Jae-Woo,Choi, Yuri,Eo, Jungwoo,Kwon, Yun-Jeong,Lee, Ja-Rang,Jung, Yi-Deun,Bae, Jin-Han,Choi, Bong-Hwan,Ko, Junsu,Song, Sanghoon,Ahn, Kung,Ha, Hong-Seok Korean Society for Molecular and Cellular Biology 2015 Molecules and cells Vol.38 No.3

Athletic performance is an important criteria used for the selection of superior horses. However, little is known about exercise-related epigenetic processes in the horse. DNA methylation is a key mechanism for regulating gene expression in response to environmental changes. We carried out comparative genomic analysis of genome-wide DNA methylation profiles in the blood samples of two different thoroughbred horses before and after exercise by methylated-DNA immunoprecipitation sequencing (MeDIP-Seq). Differentially methylated regions (DMRs) in the pre-and post-exercise blood samples of superior and inferior horses were identified. Exercise altered the methylation patterns. After 30 min of exercise, 596 genes were hypomethy-lated and 715 genes were hypermethylated in the superior horse, whereas in the inferior horse, 868 genes were hypomethylated and 794 genes were hypermethylated. These genes were analyzed based on gene ontology (GO) annotations and the exercise-related pathway patterns in the two horses were compared. After exercise, gene regions related to cell division and adhesion were hypermethylated in the superior horse, whereas regions related to cell signaling and transport were hypermethylated in the inferior horse. Analysis of the distribution of methylated CpG islands confirmed the hypomethylation in the gene-body methylation regions after exercise. The methylation patterns of transposable elements also changed after exercise. Long interspersed nuclear elements (LINEs) showed abundance of DMRs. Collectively, our results serve as a basis to study exercise-based reprogramming of epigenetic traits.

Identification and expression analysis of human endogenous retrovirus Y (HERV-Y) in various human tissues

Gim, Jeong-An,Han, Kyudong,Kim, Heui-Soo Springer-Verlag 2015 Archives of virology Vol.160 No.9

Genome-Wide Identification and Classification of MicroRNAs Derived from Repetitive Elements

Gim, Jeong-An,Ha, Hong-Seok,Ahn, Kung,Kim, Dae-Soo,Kim, Heui-Soo Korea Genome Organization 2014 Genomics & informatics Vol.12 No.4

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are known for their role in mRNA silencing via interference pathways. Repetitive elements (REs) share several characteristics with endogenous precursor miRNAs. In this study, 406 previously identified and 1,494 novel RE-derived miRNAs were sorted from the GENCODE v.19 database using the RepeatMasker program. They were divided into six major types, based on their genomic structure. More novel RE-derived miRNAs were confirmed than identified as RE-derived miRNAs. In conclusion, many miRNAs have not yet been identified, most of which are derived from REs.

Quantitative Expression Analysis of Functional Genes in Four Dog Breeds

Jeong-An Gim(김정안),Sang-Hoon Kim(김상훈),Hee-Eun Lee(이희은),Hoim Jeong(정호임),Gyu-Hwi Nam(남규휘),Min Kyu Kim(김민규),Jae-Won Huh(허재원),Bong-Hwan Choi(최봉환),Heui-Soo Kim(김희수) 한국생명과학회 2015 생명과학회지 Vol.25 No.8

가축화된 동물종 중 하나인 개는, 다양한 목적을 위해 인간에 의하여 선택적으로 육종되었다. 개는 많은 품종을 갖고 있고, 특정한 행동과 형태를 갖도록 인공적으로 선택되어 왔다. 개들은 그들의 삶을 안내, 구조 혹은 탐지등의 특수 목적에 대하여 인간에게 헌신하고 있다. 특수 목적견에게 요구되는 좋은 품성, 이를테면 온순함, 강건성, 그리고 인내심과 같은 특성은 그들의 특수 임무를 수행하는 데 필요하다. 많은 연구들이 우수한 특수 목적견의 선정을 위한 유전적 마커를 찾는 데 집중되었다. 본 연구에서는, 뇌에서 발현함으로써 기능하는 것으로 알려진 총 8개의 유전자(ABAT; 4-Aminobutyrate Aminotransferase, PLCB1; Phospholipase C, Beta 1, SLC10A4; Solute Carrier Family 10, Member 4, WNT1; Wingless-Type MMTV Integration Site Family, Member 1, BARX2;BarH-Like Homeobox 2, NEUROD6; Neuronal Differentiation 6, SEPT9; Septin 9 그리고 TBR1; T-Box, Brain, 1)들의 정량적인 발현 양상을 개의 네 품종의 뇌 조직에서 확인하였다. 특히, BARX2, SEPT9, SLC10A4, TBR1 그리고 WNT1 유전자들은 비글과 진돗개에서 많이 발현되는데 반하여, 삽살이와 세퍼드에서는 반대되는 발현 양상을 보여 주었다. 본 연구의 유전자들에 대한 Gene ontology (GO) 결정을 위하여 DAVID (Database for annotation, visualization and integrated discovery) 분석이 수행되었고, 이러한 유전자들이 뇌 발생과 개체의 지능에 중요한 기능을 제공할 것이라고 예상하였다. 결론적으로, 이러한 결과들을 통하여, 뇌에서의 기능과 관련된 인자들과 관련된 바이오마커를 발굴하는 데 중요한 단서를 제공해 줌과 동시에, 우수한 특수 목적견을 선발하는 데 도움을 줄 것이라 기대한다. One of the domesticated species; the dog has been selectively bred for various aims by human. The dog has many breeds, which are artificially selected for specific behaviors and morphologies. Dogs contribute their life to human as working dogs for guide, rescue, detection or etc. Working dogs requires good personality, such as gentleness, robustness and patience for performing their special duty. Many studies have concentrated on finding genetic marker for selecting the high-quality working dog. In this study, we confirmed quantitative expression patterns of eight genes (ABAT; 4-Aminobutyrate Aminotransferase, PLCB1; Phospholipase C, Beta 1, SLC10A4; Solute Carrier Family 10, Member 4, WNT1; Wingless-Type MMTV Integration Site Family, Member 1, BARX2; BarH-Like Homeobox 2, NEUROD6; Neuronal Differentiation 6, SEPT9; Septin 9 and TBR1; T-Box, Brain, 1) among brains tissues from four dog breeds (Beagle, Sapsaree, Shepherd and Jindo), because these genes were expressed and have functions in brain mostly. Specially, BARX2, SEPT9, SLC10A4, TBR1 and WNT1 genes were highly expressed in Beagle and Jindo, and Sapsaree and German Shepherd were vice versa. The biological significance of total genes was estimated by database for annotation, visualization and integrated discovery (DAVID) to determine a different gene ontology (GO) class. In these analyses, we suppose to these eight genes could provide influential information for brain development, and intelligence of organisms. Taken together, these results could provide clues to discover biomarker related to functional traits in brain, and beneficial for selecting superior working dogs.

Identification and Expression of Equine MER-Derived miRNAs

Gim, Jeong-An,Kim, Heui-Soo Korean Society for Molecular and Cellular Biology 2017 Molecules and cells Vol.40 No.4

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are single-stranded, small RNAs (21-23 nucleotides) that function in gene silencing and translational inhibition via the RNA interference mechanism. Most miRNAs originate from host genomic regions, such as intergenic regions, introns, exons, and transposable elements (TEs). Here, we focused on the palindromic structure of medium reiteration frequencies (MERs), which are similar to precursor miRNAs. Five MER consensus sequences (MER5A1, MER53, MER81, MER91C, and MER117) were matched with paralogous transcripts predicted to be precursor miRNAs in the horse genome (equCab2) and located in either intergenic regions or introns. The MER5A1, MER53, and MER91C sequences obtained from RepeatMasker were matched with the eca-miR-544b, eca-miR-1302, and eca-miR-652 precursor sequences derived from Ensembl transcript database, respectively. Each precursor form was anticipated to yield two mature forms, and we confirmed miRNA expression in six different tissues (cerebrum, cerebellum, lung, spleen, adrenal gland, and duodenum) of one thoroughbred horse. MER5A1-derived miRNAs generally showed significantly higher expression in the lung than in other tissues. MER91C-derived miRNA-5p also showed significantly higher expression in the duodenum than in other tissues (cerebellum, lung, spleen, and adrenal gland). The MER117-overlapped expressed sequence tag generated polycistronic miRNAs, which showed higher expression in the duodenum than other tissues. These data indicate that horse MER transposons encode miRNAs that are expressed in several tissues and are thought to have biological functions.

Identification and Expression Analyses of Equine Endogenous Retroviruses in Horses

Gim, Jeong-An,Kim, Heui-Soo Korean Society for Molecular and Cellular Biology 2017 Molecules and cells Vol.40 No.10

Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) have been integrated into vertebrate genomes and have momentously affected host organisms. Horses (Equus caballus) have been domesticated and selected for elite racing ability over centuries. ERVs played an important role in the evolutionary diversification of the horse genome. In the present study, we identified six equine ERV families (EqERVs-E1, I1, M2, P1, S1, and Y4), their full-length viral open reading frames (ORFs), and elucidated their phylogenetic relationships. The divergence time of EqERV families assuming an evolutionary rate of 0.2%/Myr indicated that EqERV-S3 (75.4 million years ago; mya) on chromosome 10 is an old EqERV family and EqERV-P5 (1.2 Mya) on chromosome 12 is a young member. During the evolutionary diversification of horses, the EqERV-I family diverged 1.7 Mya to 38.7 Mya. Reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) amplification of EqERV pol genes showed greater expression in the cerebellum of the Jeju horse than the Thoroughbred horse. These results could contribute further dynamic studies for horse genome in relation to EqERV gene function.

Draft genome of Semisulcospira libertina, a species of freshwater snail

Gim, Jeong-An,Baek, Kyung-Wan,Hah, Young-Sool,Choo, Ho Jin,Kim, Ji-Seok,Yoo, Jun-Il Korea Genome Organization 2021 Genomics & informatics Vol.19 No.3

Semisulcospira libertina, a species of freshwater snail, is widespread in East Asia. It is important as a food source. Additionally, it is a vector of clonorchiasis, paragonimiasis, metagonimiasis, and other parasites. Although S. libertina has ecological, commercial, and clinical importance, its whole-genome has not been reported yet. Here, we revealed the genome of S. libertina through de novo assembly. We assembled the whole-genome of S. libertina and determined its transcriptome for the first time using Illumina NovaSeq 6000 platform. According to the k-mer analysis, the genome size of S. libertina was estimated to be 3.04 Gb. Using RepeatMasker, a total of 53.68% of repeats were identified in the genome assembly. Genome data of S. libertina reported in this study will be useful for identification and conservation of S. libertina in East Asia.

Genetic diversity and population structure of three dog breeds through microsatellite loci analysis

Hoim Jeong(정호임),Bong-Hwan Choi,Jungwoo Eo,Yun-Jeong Kwon,Hee-Eun Lee,Yuri Choi,Jeong-An Gim,Tae-Hun Kim,Hwan-Hoo Seong,Dong-Hoon Lee,Ji-Hong Ha,Kook-Il Han,Heui-Soo Kim 한국실험동물학회 2014 한국실험동물학회 학술발표대회 논문집 Vol.2014 No.8

우수 마 선택을 위한 최신 전략

김정안(Jeong-An Gim),김희수(Heui-Soo Kim) 한국생명과학회 2016 생명과학회지 Vol.26 No.7

말은 인류에 의해 상대적으로 일찍 가축화된 종 중 하나로써, 경주능력, 강건성 및 항병성 등과 같은 능력을 위해 인공적으로 선택되었다. 그 결과, 현재 경주마로 많이 쓰이고 있는 서러브레드의 게놈은 운동 능력에 특화된 유전자형을 많이 갖고 있다. 최근 NGS 기술의 도래와 함께 전장게놈을 대상으로 경주마의 우수한 유전형질을 찾는 연구가 유전체학의 관점에서 진행되고 있다. 그 결과 말의 게놈에 대해서도 GWAS (Genome-wide Association study)가 적용되고 있고, 우수 경주능력을 나타내는 유전자 마커가 발굴되고 있다. 아울러, 특정 샘플의 전장 전사체를 NGS 기법으로 분석할 수 있는 RNA-Seq 기법 역시 활용되고 있는데, 이를 통하여 각 개체별, 운동 전후, 한 개체의 조직별 특정 유전자의 발현 양상과 함께 전사체의 서열 등을 확인할 수 있다. DNA 서열의 변화 없이 유전자 발현을 조절하는 강력한 인자로써 DNA methylation이 주목받고 있다. 말의 게놈에 있어서도 운동 특이적 또는 개체 특이적 DNA methylation 패턴을 보여 주었고, 이는 우수 개체 선정을 위한 마커 개발에 좋은 단서를 제공해 줄 것이다. 유전자 발현을 억제하는 miRNA와, 포유동물의 유전체 내 절반 정도를 차지하고 있는 이동성 유전인자는 기능유전체 연구에 있어서 중요한 인자들이다. 이들은 인간의 게놈에서 많이 연구가 되어 왔으나, 말에서의 연구는 현재 미미한 실정이다. 하지만, 현재까지 말에서 되어 있는 위의 두 인자에 대한 연구현황을 알아보고, 차후 우수 마 선별 연구에 적용될 가능성을 제시하였다. 기능유전체 및 후성유전체 분석 기법이 발전함에 따라 말에서도 본 연구에서 소개된 여러 가지 분석 기법이 적용되고, 우수한 경주마를 선정하는 데 많은 도움을 줄 것으로 기대하고 있다. 이에 현재까지의 우수한 경주마를 선택하기 위한 많은 연구들 및, 말 연구에 대한 앞으로의 발전 가능성에 대해 고찰하고 토의하였다. The horse is relatively earlier domesticated animal species. Domesticated horses have been selected for their ability of racing, robustness, and disease-resistance. As a result, the thoroughbred horse genome has been condensed many genotypes related to exercise ability. In recent years, with the advent of NGS technologies, many studies were concentrated on finding superior genetic species in the horse genome in terms of genomics. Consequently, GWAS (Genome-wide Association study) is applied to horse genome, then genetic marker is revealed for superior racing ability. In addition, RNA-Seq is utilized as a method for analyze of whole transcript profiling in specific samples. By using this approach, specific gene expression patterns and transcript sequences can be revealed in various samples such as each individual, before and after exercise state, and each tissue. DNA methylation, a strong factor that regulate gene expression without the change of DNA sequence, have got a lot of attention. In horse genome, exercise- or individual-specific DNA methylation patterns were detected, and could be useful to develop selective marker of superior horses. MicroRNAs inhibit gene expression, and transposable elements accounted for half of the mammalian genome. These two elements are the crucial factors in functional genomics, and could be applied to the selection of superior horses. As the functional genomics and epigenomics advance, then these technologies introduced in this paper were applied to select superior horses. In this paper, the studies for selection of superior horses through genetic technologies, and development possibilities of these studies were discussed.