Although S-locus RNases (S-RNases) determine the specificity of pollen rejection in self-incompatible (SI) solanaceous plants, they alone are not sufficient to cause S-allele-specific pollen rejection. To identify non-S-RNase sequences that are required for pollen rejection, a Nicotiana alata cDNA library was screened by differential hybridization. One clone, designated HT, hybridized strongly ...

Rho-Rho kinase (Rho-ROCK) triggers an intracellular signalling cascade that regulates cell survival, death, adhesion, migration, neurite outgrowth and retraction and influences the generation and development of several neurological disorders. Although Fasudil, a ROCK inhibitor, effectively suppressed encephalomyelitis (EAE), certain side effects may limit its clinical use. A novel and efficient...

The airway epithelium is resistant to infection by gene transfer vectors when infected from the luminal surface. One strategy for enhancing airway epithelial gene transfer is to modify paracellular permeability, thereby permitting the diffusion of vectors to the basolateral surface, where uptake receptors are expressed. We investigated the ability of a medium-chain fatty acid known to enhance d...

The localization of viral receptors to the basolateral surface of airway epithelia is an obstacle to the effectiveness of luminal viral-mediated gene transfer to the lung. The tight junction (TJ) serves as a rate-limiting barrier to the penetration of viral vectors. We have previously identified the sodium salt of the medium chain fatty acid (MCFA) capric acid (C10) as an agent that can enhance...

Ingested fat releases CCK, causes gastric relaxation, delays gastric emptying, and limits meal size; however, the mechanistic link among these actions has not been established. Fatty acid release of CCK is chain-length sensitive; dodecanoic acid (C12) induces greater CCK release than decanoic acid (C10). The effect of C12 or C10 on tolerance to subsequent intragastric infusion of liquid was det...

Two cationic phospholipid derivatives with asymmetric hydrocarbon chains were synthesized: ethyl esters of oleoyldecanoyl-ethylphosphatidylcholine (C18:1/C10-EPC) and stearoyldecanoyl-ethylphosphatidylcholine (C18:0/C10-EPC). The former was 50 times more effective as a DNA transfection agent (human umbilical artery endothelial cells) than the latter, despite their similar chemical structure and...

BACKGROUND Of the polymethylene bismethonium congeners (C5-C12 and C18), decamethonium (C10) is the most potent neuromuscular blocking agent. We tested the hypothesis that these congeners act as straight molecules and will not bend easily in spite of the flexible connecting chain between the methonium heads. For congeners higher than C10, we also hypothesized that the relative difficulty with w...

Accumulating evidence supports a role for viruses in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Activation of dsRNA-sensing pathways by viral dsRNA induces the production of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines that trigger beta cell apoptosis, insulitis, and autoimmune-mediated beta cell destruction. This study was designed to evaluate and describe potential protective effects of ph...

disease is one of the most neglected tropical diseases in the world, affecting nearly 15 million people, primarily in Latin America. Only two drugs are used for the treatment of this disease, nifurtimox and benznidazole. These drugs have limited efficacy and frequently induce adverse effects, limiting their usefulness. Consequently, new drugs must be found. In this study, we demonstrated the in...

Poly(ethylacrylic acid) (PEAA) is a pH-sensitive polymer that undergoes a transition from a hydrophilic to a hydrophobic form as the pH is lowered from neutral to acidic values. In this work we show that pH sensitive liposomes capable of intracellular delivery can be constructed by inserting a lipid derivative of PEAA into preformed large unilamellar vesicles (LUV) using a simple one step incub...