The present invention relates to a method of increasing resistance against fungal pathogens of the order Pucciniales, preferably the family Phacopsoraceae, in plants and/or plant cells. This is achieved by increasing the expression of an RLK1protein or fragment thereof in a plant, plant part and/or plant cell in comparison to wild type plants, wild type plant parts and/or wild type plant cells. Furthermore, the invention relates to transgenic plants, plant parts, and/or plant cells having an increased resistance against fungal pathogens, in particular, pathogens of the order Pucciniales, preferably the family Phacopsoraceae, and to recombinant expression vectors comprising a sequence that is identical or homologous to a sequence encoding an RLK1protein.

Methods and compositions for modulating repeat non-ATG protein (RAN protein) translation are provided. In some aspects, the disclosure provides methods of inhibiting RAN protein translation by contacting a cell with an effective amount of an inhibitor of eIF2 phosphorylation or an inhibitor of protein kinase R (PKR). In some embodiments, methods described by the disclosure are useful for treating diseases associated with RAN protein translation, such as certain neurodegenerative diseases.

The disclosure pertains to the field of molecular means capable of binding to, and preferably of chelating, cGMP, appropriate for use in vitro or in vivo and preferably capable of targeting specific cellular compartments. The polypeptides of the disclosure comprise a chimeric construction derived from the N terminus part of PKG-Iα and PKG-Iβ, and the two cGMP binding sites of the wild type PKG.

The present invention relates to a COPS3 inhibitor for use in treatment of an HBV infection, in particular a chronic HBV infection. The invention in particular relates to the use of COPS3 inhibitors for destabilizing cccDNA, such as HBV cccDNA. The invention also relates to nucleic acid molecules which are complementary to COPS3 and capable of reducing the level of a COPS3 mRNA. Also comprised in the present invention is a pharmaceutical composition and its use in the treatment of a HBV infection.

RNAi constructs directed to MAP4K4 that demonstrate unexpectedly high gene silencing activities, and uses thereof are disclosed. The blunt-ended constructs have a double-stranded region of 19-49 nucleotides. The constructs have selective minimal modifications to confer an optimal balance of biological activity, toxicity, stability, and target gene specificity. For example, the strands may be modified (e.g., one or both ends of the sense strand is modified by 2′-O-methyl groups), such that the construct is not cleaved by Dicer or other RNAse III, the antisense strand may also be modified by a 2′-O-methyl group at the penultimate 5′-end nucleotide to greatly reduce off-target silencing.

Methods and compositions for modulating repeat non-ATG protein (RAN protein) translation are provided. In some aspects, the disclosure provides methods of inhibiting RAN protein translation by contacting a cell with an effective amount of an inhibitor of eIF2 phosphorylation or an inhibitor of protein kinase R (PKR). In some embodiments, methods described by the disclosure are useful for treating diseases associated with RAN protein translation, such as certain neurodegenerative diseases.

The present invention relates to a method of increasing resistance against fungal pathogens of the order Pucciniales, preferably the family Phacopsoraceae, in plants and/or plant cells. This is achieved by increasing the expression of an RLK1 protein or fragment thereof in a plant, plant part and/or plant cell in comparison to wild type plants, wild type plant parts and/or wild type plant cells. Furthermore, the invention relates to transgenic plants, plant parts, and/or plant cells having an increased resistance against fungal pathogens, in particular, pathogens of the order Pucciniales, preferably the family Phacopsoraceae, and to recombinant expression vectors comprising a sequence that is identical or homologous to a sequence encoding an RLK1 protein.

The present invention relates to calcium dependent protein kinase (CORK) constructs comprising a pair of chromophores suitable for measuring real-time FRET occurrence upon conformational changes or activation of the CORK construct. Particularly, the present invention relates to CORK polypeptides comprising a variable domain (VD), a protein kinase domain (PKD), a pseudosubstrate segment (PS), and a calmodulin-like domain (OLD), said CLD comprising 4 EF-hand motifs EF1, EF2, EF3 and EF4, wherein a donor chromophore is inserted between PKD and PS and an acceptor chromophore is inserted C-terminally of EF4, or an acceptor chromophore is inserted between PKD and PS and a donor chromophore is inserted C-terminally of EF4, wherein said donor chromophore and said acceptor chromophore represent a Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) pair. The present invention further relates to polynucleotides encoding such polypeptides as well as vectors and host cells comprising such polypeptides and/or polynucleotides. Furthermore, the present invention relates to methods for measuring conformational change or activation status of a CDPK polypeptide by employing said polypeptides and to uses of said polypeptides for measuring conformational change or activation status of a CDPK polypeptide.

The disclosure pertains to the field of molecular means capable of binding to, and preferably of chelating, cGMP, appropriate for use in vitro or in vivo and preferably capable of targeting specific cellular compartments. The polypeptides of the disclosure comprise a chimeric construction derived from the N terminus part of PKG-I and PKG-I, and the two cGMP binding sites of the wild type PKG.

Methods and compositions for modulating repeat non-ATG protein (RAN protein) translation are provided. In some aspects, the disclosure provides methods of inhibiting RAN protein translation by contacting a cell with an effective amount of an inhibitor of eIF2 phosphorylation or an inhibitor of protein kinase R (PKR). In some embodiments, methods described by the disclosure are useful for treating diseases associated with RAN protein translation, such as certain neurodegenerative diseases.