The university of the 21st century: political and social trends of globalization – challenges for higher education

Globalization is intensifying economic differences and social and cultural divisions. Democratic principles, rather than the laws of the market, need to be used to guide human behaviour and economic policies. ‘It is foolish to confuse value with price’, wrote the great poet Antonio Machado. Those in power have been foolish and have irresponsibly abandoned the ideologies and ideals that the university community has striven so hard to preserve through the years. The world is in a deplorable state: the democracy embodied in the United Nations, designed by Roosevelt, has been replaced by a plutocracy (G7/G8) and a hegemonic power. Furthermore, states have been weakened by the transfer of much of their power to big multinational companies that do as they please, with total impunity, at a supranational level. They are involved in all kinds of trafficking (arms, capital, patents, drugs and even people) and make use of tax havens. They invest more than US$3 billion per day in arms (not counting the missile defence shield that the US government wants to implement in contravention of the 1988 treaties), while more than 60,000 people die of hunger. Universities can remain silent no longer. The functions of training, assessmentand production are now more important than ever. Daring to know, and k nowing how to dare. Universities – with European leadership – must be a beacon and watchtower in the 21st century. "I hold with what has been said: Justice must be done, despite law and customs, despite money and alms".(Pedro Casaldáliga, 2006)Peer Reviewe

La universidaddel siglo XXI. Tendencias políticas y sociales de la globalización: desafíos para la educación superior

La globalización está intensificando las diferencias económicas y las divisiones sociales y culturales. Es necesario partir de los principios democráticos para que guíen la conducta humana y las políticas económicas, en lugar de las leyes de mercado. «Es de necio confundir valor y precio», escribió el gran poeta Antonio Machado. Han sido necios y han dedicado irresponsablemente de las ideologías e ideales que los universitarios tanto se han esforzado en preservar a través de los tiempos. La situación en el mundo es deplorable: la democracia que significaban las Naciones Unidas diseñadas por Roosevelt ha sido sustituida por una plutocracia (G-7/G-8) y un poder hegemónico. Por otra parte, los estados se han debilitado al transferir buena parte de su poder a grandes compañías multinacionales que campan a sus anchas, en completa impunidad, en el espacio supranacional: tráficos de toda índole (armas, capitales, patentes, drogas, ¡personas!) y paraísos fiscales... Se invierten en armas –sin contar con los escudos antimisiles que ahora pretende instalar el Gobierno estadounidense, en contra de los tratados de 1988– alrededor de tres mil millones de dólares estadounidenses al día mientras más de sesenta mil personas mueren de hambre. La universidad no puede permanecer en silencio. Las funciones formativas, asesoras y productivas son ahora más importantes que nunca. Atreverse a saber... y saber atreverse. Las universidades –con el liderazgo europeo– deben ser faro y torre de vigía en el siglo XXI.Peer Reviewe

Representación de los movimientos funcionales de la figura humana

Peer Reviewe

Role of G protein-coupled receptor kinases in cell migration

G protein-coupled receptor kinases (GRKs) are emerging as important integrative nodes in cell migration processes. Recent evidence links GRKs (particularly the GRK2 isoform) to the complex modulation of diverse aspects of cell motility. In addition to its well-established role in the desensitization of G protein-coupled receptors involved in chemotaxis, GRK2 can play a effector role in the organization of actin and microtubule networks and in adhesion dynamics, by means of novel substrates and transient interacting partners, such as the GIT-1 scaffold or the cytoplasmic α-tubulin deacetylase histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6). The overall effect of altering GRK levels or activity on chemotaxis would depend on how such different roles are integrated in a given cell type and physiological context, and may have relevant implications in inflammatory diseases or cancer progressionOur laboratory is funded by grants from Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (SAF2011-23800), Fundación Ramón Areces, The Cardiovascular Network (RECAVA) of Ministerio Sanidad y Consumo-Instituto Carlos III (RD12/0042/0012), Comunidad de Madrid Indisnet Network (S2011/BMD-2332) to F.M, and Fundación Eugenio Rodriguez Pascual, Fundación Ramón Areces and Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI11/00859) to P.P

The interplay between G protein-coupled receptor kinase 2 (GRK2) and histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) at the crossroads of epithelial cell motility

G protein-coupled receptor kinase 2 (GRK2) is emerging as a key integrative node in cell migration control. In addition to its canonical role in the desensitization of G protein-coupled receptors involved in chemotaxis, novel recently identified GRK2 substrates and interacting partners appear to mediate the GRK2-dependent modulation of diverse molecular processes involved in motility, such as gradient sensing, cell polarity or cytoskeletal reorganization. We have recently identified an interaction between GRK2 and histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6), a major cytoplasmic α-tubulin deacetylase involved in cell motility and adhesion. GRK2 dynamically associates with and phosphorylates HDAC6 to stimulate its α-tubulin deacetylase activity at specific cellular localizations such as the leading edge of migrating cells, thus promoting local tubulin deacetylation and enhanced motility. This GRK2-HDAC6 functional interaction may have important implications in pathological contexts related to aberrant epithelial cell migration

G protein-coupled receptor kinases take central stage

The relevance of the family of G protein-coupled receptor kinases (GRKs) is based on its key participation in the regulation and intracellular dynamics of the largest family of membrane receptors, namely G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) [...