28 research outputs found

    Virus, bactéries et protistes pathogÚnes du phytoplancton, le rÎle insoupçonné des parasites dans le fonctionnement des écosystÚmes aquatiques

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    International audienceMicroscopiques, les parasites sont la plupart du temps invisibles, mais présents partout. Ils infectent tous les organismes du monde vivant. La derniÚre décennie a révélé une incroyable diversité chez les parasites viraux, bactériens et eucaryotes. Ceux infectant le phytoplancton pourraient avoir une importance capitale dans la dynamique des populations algales et dans le fonctionnement des écosystÚmes aquatiques, mais leur rÎle est encore trÚs largement méconnu à ce jour (Brussaard, 2004). Sur ces questions, la recherche ne fait que commencer

    Imprint of Initial Education and Loss of Ly49C/I in Activated Natural Killer Cells of TAP1-KO and C57BL/6 Wildtype Mice

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    Natural killer (NK) cells are important effectors of the innate immune system and participate in the first line of defense against infections and tumors. Prior to being functional, these lymphocytes must be educated or licensed through interactions of their major histocompatibility complex class I molecules with self-specific inhibitory receptors that recognize them. In the absence of such contacts, caused by either the lack of expression of the inhibitory receptors or a very low level of major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC class I) proteins, NK cells are hypo-reactive at baseline ( ex vivo ). After stimulation (assessed through plate-bound antibodies against activating receptors or culture in the presence of cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-2 or IL-15) however, they can become cytotoxic and produce cytokines. This is particularly the case in transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP)-deficient mice, which we investigated in the present study. Transporter associated with antigen processing transports endogenous peptides from the cytosol to the endoplasmic reticulum, where they are loaded on nascent MHC class I molecules, which then become stable and expressed at the cell surface. Consequently, TAP-KO mice have very low levels of MHC class I expression. We present a study about phenotypic and functional aspects of NK cells in two mouse strains, C57BL/6 wildtype and TAP1-KO in spleen and lung. We observed that in both types of mice, on the same genetic background, the initial pattern of education, conferred to the cells via the inhibitory receptors Ly49C/I and NKG2A, was maintained even after a strong stimulation by the cytokines interleukin-2, interleukin-12, interleukin-15 and interleukin-18. Furthermore, the percentages of activated NK cells expressing Ly49C/I and Ly49I were strongly down-modulated under these conditions. We completed our investigations with phenotypic studies of NK cells from these mice

    Predominance of the heterozygous CCR5 delta‐24 deletion in African individuals resistant to HIV infection might be related to a defect in CCR5 addressing at the cell surface

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    Introduction The chemokine receptor CCR5 is the main co-receptor for R5-tropic HIV-1 variants. We have previously described a novel 24-base pair deletion in the coding region of CCR5 among individuals from Rwanda. Here, we investigated the prevalence of hCCR5 Delta 24 in different cohorts and its impact on CCR5 expression and HIV-1 infection in vitro. Methods We screened hCCR5 Delta 24 in a total of 3232 individuals which were either HIV-1 uninfected, high-risk HIV-1 seronegative and seropositive partners from serodiscordant couples, Long-Term Survivors, or HIV-1 infected volunteers from Africa (Rwanda, Kenya, Guinea-Conakry) and Luxembourg, using a real-time PCR assay. The role of the 24-base pair deletion on CCR5 expression and HIV infection was assessed in cell lines and PBMC using mRNA quantification, confocal analysis, flow and imaging cytometry. Results and Discussion Among the 1661 patients from Rwanda, 12 individuals were heterozygous for hCCR5 Delta 24 but none were homozygous. Although heterozygosity for this allele may not confer complete resistance to HIV-1 infection, the prevalence of the mutation was 2.41% (95%CI: 0.43; 8.37) in 83 Long-Term Survivors (LTS) and 0.99% (95%CI: 0.45; 2.14) in 613 HIV-1 exposed seronegative members as compared with 0.35% (95% Cl: 0.06; 1.25) in 579 HIV-1 seropositive members. The prevalence of hCCR5 Delta 24 was 0.55% (95%CI: 0.15; 1.69) in 547 infants from Kenya but the mutation was not detected in 224 infants from Guinea-Conakry nor in 800 Caucasian individuals from Luxembourg. Expression of hCCR5 Delta 24 in cell lines and PBMC showed that the hCCR5 Delta 24 protein is stably expressed but is not transported to the plasma membrane due to a conformational change. Instead, the mutant receptor was retained intracellularly, colocalized with an endoplasmic reticulum marker and did not mediate HIV-1 infection. Co-transfection of hCCR5 Delta 24 and wtCCR5 did not indicate a transdominant negative effect of CCR5 Delta 24 on wtCCR5. Conclusions Our findings indicate that hCCR5 Delta 24 is not expressed at the cell surface. This could explain the higher prevalence of the heterozygous hCCR5 Delta 24 in LTS and HIV-1 exposed seronegative members from serodiscordant couples. Our data suggest an East-African localization of this deletion, which needs to be confirmed in larger cohorts from African and non-African countries

    Habemus gender! DĂ©construction d'une riposte religieuse

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    Depuis 2012, les mobilisations françaises contre l’ouverture du mariage et de l’adoption aux unions de mĂȘme sexe ont dĂ©frayĂ© la chronique, tant en France qu’à l’étranger. Celles-ci ont rĂ©vĂ©lĂ© l’existence d’un mouvement sans prĂ©cĂ©dent, dont l’agenda dĂ©passe largement la reconnaissance des droits des homosexuel.le.s

    "Normal", "souhaitable" ou "frauduleux"? Discours catholiques sur la sexualité dans la Belgique des années 1950-1960

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    http://www.editions-universite-bruxelles.be/fiche/view/2784Le fichier attachĂ© Ă  cette rĂ©fĂ©rence, version publiĂ©e de l’Ɠuvre, est librement accessible, sans embargo, en accord avec les Éditions de l'UniversitĂ© de Bruxellesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

    Verbaliser la sexualité quand on est femme et chrétienne

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    info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublishe
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