225 research outputs found

    : Familias populares e institução escolar : entre autonomia e heteronomia

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    Version française de "Familias populares e institução escolar : entre autonomia e heteronomia", Educação e Pesquisa, 2010, vol. 36, n°espcial, p. 65-76International audienceL'article se propose d'analyser quelques problèmes théoriques dans l'étude des relations entre familles populaires et école, problèmes qui sont ceux que rencontre la sociologie dans l'étude des classes populaires et de leurs relations avec le monde dominant et les institutions. Il explore la possibilité de dépasser l'alternative entre une perspective strictement légitimiste qui tend à réduire les classes populaires et leurs pratiques au rapport de domination qui les aliène (hétéronomie) et la perspective relativiste qui les envisage dans une altérité radicale (autonomie) en occultant les rapports sociaux de domination. Il insiste sur l'ambivalence des logiques et des pratiques des familles populaire

    Substrate Micropatterning as a New in Vitro Cell Culture System to Study Myelination

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    Artículo de publicación ISIMyelination is a highly regulated developmental process whereby oligodendrocytes in the central nervous system and Schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system ensheathe axons with a multilayered concentric membrane. Axonal myelination increases the velocity of nerve impulse propagation. In this work, we present a novel in vitro system for coculturing primary dorsal root ganglia neurons along with myelinating cells on a highly restrictive and micropatterned substrate. In this new coculture system, neurons survive for several weeks, extending long axons on defined Matrigel tracks. On these axons, myelinating cells can achieve robust myelination, as demonstrated by the distribution of compact myelin and nodal markers. Under these conditions, neurites and associated myelinating cells are easily accessible for studies on the mechanisms of myelin formation and on the effects of axonal damage on the myelin sheath.Regenerative Medicine and Nanomedicine Initiative of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) RMF-7028 FONDECYT 1080252 CIHR Ministry of Industry of Canada Rio Tinto Alcan Molson Foundatio

    Protein 4.1B Contributes to the Organization of Peripheral Myelinated Axons

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    Neurons are characterized by extremely long axons. This exceptional cell shape is likely to depend on multiple factors including interactions between the cytoskeleton and membrane proteins. In many cell types, members of the protein 4.1 family play an important role in tethering the cortical actin-spectrin cytoskeleton to the plasma membrane. Protein 4.1B is localized in myelinated axons, enriched in paranodal and juxtaparanodal regions, and also all along the internodes, but not at nodes of Ranvier where are localized the voltage-dependent sodium channels responsible for action potential propagation. To shed light on the role of protein 4.1B in the general organization of myelinated peripheral axons, we studied 4.1B knockout mice. These mice displayed a mildly impaired gait and motility. Whereas nodes were unaffected, the distribution of Caspr/paranodin, which anchors 4.1B to the membrane, was disorganized in paranodal regions and its levels were decreased. In juxtaparanodes, the enrichment of Caspr2, which also interacts with 4.1B, and of the associated TAG-1 and Kv1.1, was absent in mutant mice, whereas their levels were unaltered. Ultrastructural abnormalities were observed both at paranodes and juxtaparanodes. Axon calibers were slightly diminished in phrenic nerves and preterminal motor axons were dysmorphic in skeletal muscle. βII spectrin enrichment was decreased along the axolemma. Electrophysiological recordings at 3 post-natal weeks showed the occurrence of spontaneous and evoked repetitive activity indicating neuronal hyperexcitability, without change in conduction velocity. Thus, our results show that in myelinated axons 4.1B contributes to the stabilization of membrane proteins at paranodes, to the clustering of juxtaparanodal proteins, and to the regulation of the internodal axon caliber

    Resilient emotionality and molecular compensation in mice lacking the oligodendrocyte-specific gene Cnp1

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    Altered oligodendrocyte structure and function is implicated in major psychiatric illnesses, including low cell number and reduced oligodendrocyte-specific gene expression in major depressive disorder (MDD). These features are also observed in the unpredictable chronic mild stress (UCMS) rodent model of the illness, suggesting that they are consequential to environmental precipitants; however, whether oligodendrocyte changes contribute causally to low emotionality is unknown. Focusing on 2′-3′-cyclic nucleotide 3′-phosphodiesterase (Cnp1), a crucial component of axoglial communication dysregulated in the amygdala of MDD subjects and UCMS-exposed mice, we show that altered oligodendrocyte integrity can have an unexpected functional role in affect regulation. Mice lacking Cnp1 (knockout, KO) displayed decreased anxiety- and depressive-like symptoms (i.e., low emotionality) compared with wild-type animals, a phenotypic difference that increased with age (3–9 months). This phenotype was accompanied by increased motor activity, but was evident before neurodegenerative-associated motor coordination deficits (⩽9–12 months). Notably, Cnp1KO mice were less vulnerable to developing a depressive-like syndrome after either UCMS or chronic corticosterone exposure. Cnp1KO mice also displayed reduced fear expression during extinction, despite normal amygdala c-Fos induction after acute stress, together implicating dysfunction of an amygdala-related neural network, and consistent with proposed mechanisms for stress resiliency. However, the Cnp1KO behavioral phenotype was also accompanied by massive upregulation of oligodendrocyte- and immune-related genes in the basolateral amygdala, suggesting an attempt at functional compensation. Together, we demonstrate that the lack of oligodendrocyte-specific Cnp1 leads to resilient emotionality. However, combined with substantial molecular changes and late-onset neurodegeneration, these results suggest the low Cnp1 seen in MDD may cause unsustainable and maladaptive molecular compensations contributing to the disease pathophysiology

    Real-Time CARS Imaging Reveals a Calpain-Dependent Pathway for Paranodal Myelin Retraction during High-Frequency Stimulation

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    High-frequency electrical stimulation is becoming a promising therapy for neurological disorders, however the response of the central nervous system to stimulation remains poorly understood. The current work investigates the response of myelin to electrical stimulation by laser-scanning coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) imaging of myelin in live spinal tissues in real time. Paranodal myelin retraction at the nodes of Ranvier was observed during 200 Hz electrical stimulation. Retraction was seen to begin minutes after the onset of stimulation and continue for up to 10 min after stimulation was ceased, but was found to reverse after a 2 h recovery period. The myelin retraction resulted in exposure of Kv 1.2 potassium channels visualized by immunofluorescence. Accordingly, treating the stimulated tissue with a potassium channel blocker, 4-aminopyridine, led to the appearance of a shoulder peak in the compound action potential curve. Label-free CARS imaging of myelin coupled with multiphoton fluorescence imaging of immuno-labeled proteins at the nodes of Ranvier revealed that high-frequency stimulation induced paranodal myelin retraction via pathologic calcium influx into axons, calpain activation, and cytoskeleton degradation through spectrin break-down

    A Claudin-9–Based Ion Permeability Barrier Is Essential for Hearing

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    Hereditary hearing loss is one of the most common birth defects, yet the majority of genes required for audition is thought to remain unidentified. Ethylnitrosourea (ENU)–mutagenesis has been a valuable approach for generating new animal models of deafness and discovering previously unrecognized gene functions. Here we report on the characterization of a new ENU–induced mouse mutant (nmf329) that exhibits recessively inherited deafness. We found a widespread loss of sensory hair cells in the hearing organs of nmf329 mice after the second week of life. Positional cloning revealed that the nmf329 strain carries a missense mutation in the claudin-9 gene, which encodes a tight junction protein with unknown biological function. In an epithelial cell line, heterologous expression of wild-type claudin-9 reduced the paracellular permeability to Na+ and K+, and the nmf329 mutation eliminated this ion barrier function without affecting the plasma membrane localization of claudin-9. In the nmf329 mouse line, the perilymphatic K+ concentration was found to be elevated, suggesting that the cochlear tight junctions were dysfunctional. Furthermore, the hair-cell loss in the claudin-9–defective cochlea was rescued in vitro when the explanted hearing organs were cultured in a low-K+ milieu and in vivo when the endocochlear K+-driving force was diminished by deletion of the pou3f4 gene. Overall, our data indicate that claudin-9 is required for the preservation of sensory cells in the hearing organ because claudin-9–defective tight junctions fail to shield the basolateral side of hair cells from the K+-rich endolymph. In the tight-junction complexes of hair cells, claudin-9 is localized specifically to a subdomain that is underneath more apical tight-junction strands formed by other claudins. Thus, the analysis of claudin-9 mutant mice suggests that even the deeper (subapical) tight-junction strands have biologically important ion barrier function

    Human Neural Stem Cells Differentiate and Promote Locomotor Recovery in an Early Chronic Spinal coRd Injury NOD-scid Mouse Model

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    Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) results in partial or complete paralysis and is characterized by a loss of neurons and oligodendrocytes, axonal injury, and demyelination/dysmyelination of spared axons. Approximately 1,250,000 individuals have chronic SCI in the U.S.; therefore treatment in the chronic stages is highly clinically relevant. Human neural stem cells (hCNS-SCns) were prospectively isolated based on fluorescence-activated cell sorting for a CD133(+) and CD24(-/lo) population from fetal brain, grown as neurospheres, and lineage restricted to generate neurons, oligodendrocytes and astrocytes. hCNS-SCns have recently been transplanted sub-acutely following spinal cord injury and found to promote improved locomotor recovery. We tested the ability of hCNS-SCns transplanted 30 days post SCI to survive, differentiate, migrate, and promote improved locomotor recovery.hCNS-SCns were transplanted into immunodeficient NOD-scid mice 30 days post spinal cord contusion injury. hCNS-SCns transplanted mice demonstrated significantly improved locomotor recovery compared to vehicle controls using open field locomotor testing and CatWalk gait analysis. Transplanted hCNS-SCns exhibited long-term engraftment, migration, limited proliferation, and differentiation predominantly to oligodendrocytes and neurons. Astrocytic differentiation was rare and mice did not exhibit mechanical allodynia. Furthermore, differentiated hCNS-SCns integrated with the host as demonstrated by co-localization of human cytoplasm with discrete staining for the paranodal marker contactin-associated protein.The results suggest that hCNS-SCns are capable of surviving, differentiating, and promoting improved locomotor recovery when transplanted into an early chronic injury microenvironment. These data suggest that hCNS-SCns transplantation has efficacy in an early chronic SCI setting and thus expands the "window of opportunity" for intervention

    Myelin Proteomics: Molecular Anatomy of an Insulating Sheath

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    Fast-transmitting vertebrate axons are electrically insulated with multiple layers of nonconductive plasma membrane of glial cell origin, termed myelin. The myelin membrane is dominated by lipids, and its protein composition has historically been viewed to be of very low complexity. In this review, we discuss an updated reference compendium of 342 proteins associated with central nervous system myelin that represents a valuable resource for analyzing myelin biogenesis and white matter homeostasis. Cataloging the myelin proteome has been made possible by technical advances in the separation and mass spectrometric detection of proteins, also referred to as proteomics. This led to the identification of a large number of novel myelin-associated proteins, many of which represent low abundant components involved in catalytic activities, the cytoskeleton, vesicular trafficking, or cell adhesion. By mass spectrometry-based quantification, proteolipid protein and myelin basic protein constitute 17% and 8% of total myelin protein, respectively, suggesting that their abundance was previously overestimated. As the biochemical profile of myelin-associated proteins is highly reproducible, differential proteome analyses can be applied to material isolated from patients or animal models of myelin-related diseases such as multiple sclerosis and leukodystrophies

    Genomic microsatellites identify shared Jewish ancestry intermediate between Middle Eastern and European populations

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Genetic studies have often produced conflicting results on the question of whether distant Jewish populations in different geographic locations share greater genetic similarity to each other or instead, to nearby non-Jewish populations. We perform a genome-wide population-genetic study of Jewish populations, analyzing 678 autosomal microsatellite loci in 78 individuals from four Jewish groups together with similar data on 321 individuals from 12 non-Jewish Middle Eastern and European populations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We find that the Jewish populations show a high level of genetic similarity to each other, clustering together in several types of analysis of population structure. Further, Bayesian clustering, neighbor-joining trees, and multidimensional scaling place the Jewish populations as intermediate between the non-Jewish Middle Eastern and European populations.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results support the view that the Jewish populations largely share a common Middle Eastern ancestry and that over their history they have undergone varying degrees of admixture with non-Jewish populations of European descent.</p
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