[BK21 Plus Seminar]
                
                   
               ▶Subject: Application of Knockout into the Study of MicroRNAs
                 
               ▶Speaker: Prof. Young-Kook Kim

               (Department of Biochemistry, Chonnam National University Medical School)
                        
               ▶Date: 4:00PM/Dec.10(Thur.)/2015
                  
               ▶Place: Room 401, Chemisty Bldg.
                 
                       *Abctract
                    MicroRNA (miRNA) matures through nuclear processing of primary miRNA by DROSHA, nuclear export of precursor miRNA by Exportin 5 (XPO5), and cytoplasmic processing of pre-miRNA by DICER. Various technical tools have been developed to probe the functions of microRNAs (miRNAs), and yet their application has been limited due to low efficacy and/or specificity. To overcome the limitations, we employed transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) to knockout human miRNA genes. We designed and produced a library of 540 pairs of TALEN for 274 miRNA loci, focusing on potentially important miRNAs. The knockout procedure takes only 2-4 weeks, and can be applied to any cell types.
We also made knockout cell lines of DROSHA, XPO5, and DICER, to gain a deeper understanding of the contribution of each of these maturation factors. Our study reveals that DROSHA plays an essential role in canonical miRNA maturation, while the functions of XPO5 and DICER can be complemented by alternative mechanisms to varying degrees depending on miRNAs.

                 
              ▶Inquiry: Prof. Yoontae Lee (279-2354) 
          
                 * This seminar will be given in Korean.
             please refrain from taking photos during seminars. *