Members of the Ste20 and NDR protein kinase families are important for normal cell differentiation and morphogenesis in various organisms. We characterized POD6 (NCU02537.2), a novel member of the GCK family of Ste20 kinases that is essential for hyphal tip extension and coordinated branch formation in the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa. pod-6 and the NDR kinase mutant cot-1 exhibit indis...

Pod dehiscence (shattering) is essential for the propagation of wild plant species bearing seeds in pods but is a major cause of yield loss in legume and crucifer crops. Although natural genetic variation in pod dehiscence has been, and will be, useful for plant breeding, little is known about the molecular genetic basis of shattering resistance in crops. Therefore, we performed map-based cloni...

Peptide for ocular delivery (POD) is a novel cationic cell-penetrating peptide (CPP) which, when conjugated with polyethylene glycol (PEG-POD), can deliver plasmid DNA to the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) of adult murine retina. PEG-POD nanoparticles containing an expression cassette for glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (PEG-POD~GDNF) were investigated for their ability to inhibit...

As in other organ systems, gene and drug delivery to ocular tissues such as the retina and cornea is hampered by inefficient penetration of therapeutic molecules across the plasma membrane. We describe the use of a novel peptide for ocular delivery (POD) with protein transduction properties, for delivery of small and large molecules across the plasma membrane. POD enters cells within 5 minutes ...

BACKGROUND An alternative to embolization or external pelvic fixation (EPF) in patients with multiple pelvic fractures and hemorrhage is a pelvic orthotic device (POD), which may easily be placed in the resuscitation area. Little published information is available about its effectiveness. This study evaluated the efficacy of the POD compared with EPF in patients with life-threatening pelvic fra...

OBJECTIVE Postoperative delirium (POD) is a highly prevalent complex neuropsychiatric syndrome in elderly patients. However, its pathophysiology is currently unknown. Early detection and prevention of POD is important; therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the link between preoperative insulin growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels in the serum and POD in the Chinese elderly patients. M...

The changes in the activity of peroxidase (POD) extracted from the cell wall and the level of H(2)O(2) of rice seedling roots treated with abscisic acid (ABA) and their correlation with root growth were investigated. Increasing concentrations of ABA from 3 to 18 µM progressively reduce root growth and increase POD activities (using guaiacol or ferulic acid as a substrate) extracted from the cel...

PURPOSE To evaluate the effects of metoclopramide on metalloproteinases (MMP) and interleukins (IL) gene expression in colonic anastomoses in rats. METHODS Eighty rats were divided into two groups for euthanasia on the 3rd or 7th postoperative day (POD), then into two subgroups for sepsis induction or not, and then into subgroups to receive either metoclopramide or saline solution. Left colon...

Seed lost due to easy pod dehiscence at maturity (pod shatter) is a major problem in several members of Brassicaceae family. We investigated the level of pod shatter resistance in Ethiopian mustard (Brassica carinata) and identified quantitative trait loci (QTL) for targeted introgression of this trait in Ethiopian mustard and its close relatives of the genus Brassica. A set of 83 accessions of...

Soluble peroxidases (SP), and ionically (IBP) and covalently (CBP) bound peroxidases were extracted from leaves and edible part of artichoke heads (heart). The peroxidase (POD) forms showed a characteristic electrophoretic pattern; in particular SP and IBP forms showed nearly the same pattern, while CBP was quite different. Several basic and acid POD isoforms were present in SP and CBP forms, w...