Separated children seeking asylum in Ireland.

This report updates the first report of the Irish Refugee Council published in 1999, entitled Separated children seeking asylum in Ireland: A report on legal and social conditions. At the time of the publication of that report, there were 32 separated children seeking asylum in Ireland. The number of separated children seeking asylum in Ireland has increased markedly. By March 2003, the number of separated children, entering Ireland and referred to the North Eastern Area Health Board was 2,7172. Nearly half, or 1,113 children, were reunited with family members already in Ireland. 1,316 separated children, under the care of the Health Boards, have made applications for asylum under the 1951 Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees. Neither the Government nor non-statutory agencies anticipated this increase in the numbers of separated minors arriving in Ireland. Therefore administrative procedures and care services have had to be responsive to emergent needs rather than having developed through advance planning. This report aims to examine policy and practice with respect to the legal and social conditions of separated children in Ireland, in light of the Separated Children in Europe Programme’s (SCEP)3 ‘Statement of Good Practice’ (SGP). The Irish Refugee Council, a member of the Separated Children in Europe Programme, commissioned the report

Animal Models for the Study of Nucleic Acid Immunity: Novel Tools and New Perspectives

International audienceUnresolved inflammation fosters and supports a wide range of human pathologies. There is growing evidence for a role played by cytosolic nucleic acids in initiating and supporting pathological chronic inflammation. In particular, the cGAS-STING pathway has emerged as central to the mounting of nucleic acid-dependent type I interferon responses, leading to the identification of small-molecule modulators of STING that have raised clinical interest. However, several new challenges have emerged, representing potential obstacles to efficient clinical translation. Indeed, the current literature underscores that nucleic acid-induced inflammatory responses are subjected to several layers of regulation, further suggesting complex coordination at the cell-type, tissue or organism level. Untangling the underlying processes is paramount to the identification of specific therapeutic strategies targeting deleterious inflammation. Herein, we present an overview of human pathologies presenting with deregulated interferon levels and with accumulation of cytosolic nucleic acids. We focus on the central role of the STING adaptor protein in these pathologies and discuss how in vivo models have forged our current understanding of nucleic acid immunity. We present our opinion on the advantages and limitations of zebrafish and mice models to highlight their complementarity for the study of inflammatory human pathologies and the development of therapeutics. Finally, we discuss high-throughput screening strategies that generate multi-parametric datasets that allow integrative analysis of heterogeneous information (imaging and omics approaches). These approaches are likely to structure the future of screening strategies for the treatment of human pathologies

Clearing and high-resolution 3D imaging of the whole medaka ovary

Clearing and high-resolution 3D imaging of the whole medaka ovary. 2. Journées scientifiques GDR 3606 REPRO : ReproSciences 201

Nanoparticle orientation tracking in neuronal networks using second harmonic signal detection

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High-resolution 3D imaging of whole organ after clearing: taking a new look at the zebrafish testis

Zebrafish testis has become a powerful model for reproductive biology of teleostean fishes and other vertebrates and encompasses multiple applications in applied and basic research. Many studies have focused on 2D images, which is time consuming and implies extrapolation of results. Three-dimensional imaging of whole organs recently became an important challenge to better understand their architecture and allow cell enumeration. Several protocols have thus been developed to enhance sample transparency, a limiting step for imaging large biological samples. However, none of these methods has been applied to the zebrafish testis. We tested five clearing protocols to determine if some of them could be applied with only small modifications to the testis. We compared clearing efficiency at both macroscopic and microscopic levels. CUBIC and PACT were suitable for an efficient transparency, an optimal optical penetration, the GFP fluorescence preservation and avoiding meaningful tissue deformation. Finally, we succeeded in whole testis 3D capture at a cellular resolution with both CUBIC and PACT, which will be valuable in a standard workflow to investigate the 3D architecture of the testis and its cellular content. This paves the way for further development of high content phenotyping studies in several fields including development, genetic or toxicology

A novel hypothesis regarding the possible involvement of cytosolic phospholipase 2 in insulin-stimulated proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells

Insulin (INS) via INS receptor acts as a mitogen in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) through stimulation of multiple signaling mechanisms, including p42/44 mitogen-activated protein kinase (ERK1/2) and phosphatidyl inositol-3 kinase (PI3K). In addition, cytosolic phospholipase 2 (cPLA(2)) is linked to VSMCs proliferation. However, the upstream mechanisms responsible for activation of cPLA(2) are not well defined. Therefore, this investigation used primary cultured rat VSMCs to examine the role of PI3K and ERK1/2 in the INS-dependent phosphorylation of cPLA(2) and proliferation induced by INS. Exposure of VSMCs to INS (100 nM) for 10 min increased the phosphorylation of cPLA(2) by 1.5-fold (p lt 0.01), which was blocked by the cPLA(2) inhibitor MAFP (10 mu M; 15 min). Similarly, the PI3K inhibitor LY294002 (10 mu M; 15 min) and ERK1/2 inhibitor PD98059 (20 mu M; 15 min) abolished the INS-mediated increase in cPLA(2) phosphorylation by 59% (p lt 0.001), and by 75% (p lt 0.001), respectively. Further, inhibition of cPLA2 with cPLA2 inhibitor MAFP abolished the INS-stimulated ERK1/2 phosphorylation by 65% (p lt 0.01). Incubation of rat VSMCs with INS resulted in an increase of VSMCs proliferation by 85% (p lt 0.001). The effect of INS on VSMCs proliferation was significantly (p lt 0.01) reduced by pretreatment with MAFP. Thus, we hypothesized that INS stimulates VSMCs proliferation via a mechanism involving the PI3K-dependent activation of cPLA(2) and release of arachidonic acid (AA), which activates ERK1/2 and further amplifies cPLA(2) activity. (C) 2009 International Federation for Cell Biology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Respiratory syncytial virus tropism for olfactory sensory neurons in mice

International audienceThe olfactory mucosa, where the first step of odor detection occurs, is a privileged pathway for environmental toxicants and pathogens toward the central nervous system. Indeed, some pathogens can infect olfactory sensory neurons including their axons projecting to the olfactory bulb allowing them to bypass the blood-brain barrier and reach the central nervous system (CNS) through the so-called olfactory pathway. The respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major respiratory tract pathogen but there is growing evidence that RSV may lead to CNS impairments. However, the mechanisms involved in RSV entering into the CNS have been poorly described. In this study, we wanted to explore the capacity of RSV to reach the CNS via the olfactory pathway and to better characterize RSV cellular tropism in the nasal cavity. We first explored the distribution of RSV infectious sites in the nasal cavity by in vivo bioluminescence imaging and a tissue clearing protocol combined with deep-tissue imaging and 3D image analyses. This whole tissue characterization was confirmed with immunohistochemistry and molecular biology approaches. Together, our results provide a novel 3D atlas of mouse nasal cavity anatomy and show that RSV can infect olfactory sensory neurons giving access to the central nervous system by entering the olfactory bulb

Macrophage-B Cell Interactions in the Inverted Porcine Lymph Node and Their Response to Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus

WOS:000467333800001International audienceSwine lymph nodes (LN) present an inverted structure compared to mouse and human, with the afferent lymph diffusing from the center to the periphery. This structure, also observed in close and distant species such as dolphins, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, and elephants, is poorly described, nor are the LN macrophage populations and their relationship with B cell follicles. B cell maturation occurs mainly in LN B cell follicles with the help of LN macrophage populations endowed with different antigen delivery capacities. We identified three macrophage populations that we localized in the inverted LN spatial organization. This allowed us to ascribe porcine LN M 8 to their murine counterparts: subcapsular sinus M 8, medullary cord M 8 and medullary sinus M 8. We identified the different intra and extrafollicular stages of LN B cells maturation and explored the interaction of M 8, drained antigen and follicular B cells. The porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is a major porcine pathogen that infects tissue macrophages (M 8). PRRSV is persistent in the secondary lymphoid tissues and induces a delay in neutralizing antibodies appearance. We observed PRRSV interaction with two LN M 8 populations, of which one interacts closely with centroblasts. We observed BCL6 up-regulation in centroblast upon PRRSV infection, leading to new hypothesis on PRRSV inhibition of B cell maturation. This seminal study of porcine LN will permit fruitful comparison with murine and human LN for a better understanding of normal and inverted LN development and functioning