Neuville-en-Ferrain, ZAC du Berquier : apport du tamisage exhaustif de cinq structures funéraires au processus de crémation des Ménapiens: Rapport d'étude 2014

International audienceLa commune de Neuville-en-Ferrain se situe dans le département du Nord, en bordure communale de Tourcoing, à 15 km au nord-ouest de Lille. En 2004, une opération de diagnostic, menée sous la responsabilité d’Alain Henton en association avec Frédéric Thuillier, a livré trois occupations : la plus récente concerne les XVIe et XVIIe siècles, les deux plus anciennes couvrent la fin de l’âge du Fer et le début de l’époque romaine. C’est l’occupation funéraire attribuée au Ier siècle ou au début du IIe siècle de notre ère, qui fait l’objet de ce rapport d’étude. Elle se compose d’au moins cinq structures funéraires éparses sur les seize hectares que couvrent l’emprise de l’opération. Les indices disponibles sur le terrain n’incitaient guère à les assimiler à des tombes à dépôt de crémation, de sorte que plusieurs autres caractérisations typo-fonctionnelles ont été envisagées : un bûcher remanié partiellement vidé ou bien une fosse ayant réceptionné les restes d’une combustion humaine

Disentangling the drivers of metacommunity structure across spatial scales

International audienceAIM Metacommunity theories attribute different relative degrees of importance to dispersal, environmental filtering, biotic interactions and stochastic processes in community assembly, but the role of spatial scale remains uncertain. Here we used two complementary statistical tools to test: (1) whether or not the patterns of community structure and environmental influences are consistent across resolutions; and (2) whether and how the joint use of two fundamentally different statistical approaches provides a complementary interpretation of results. Location Grassland plants in the French Alps. METHODS We used two approaches across five spatial resolutions (ranging from 1 km 9 1 km to 30 km 9 30 km): variance partitioning, and analysis of metacommunity structure on the site-by-species incidence matrices. Both methods allow the testing of expected patterns resulting from environmental filtering, but variance partitioning allows the role of dispersal and environmental gradients to be studied, while analysis of the site-by-species metacommunity structure informs an understanding of how environmental filtering occurs and whether or not patterns differ from chance expectation. We also used spatial regressions on species richness to identify relevant environmental factors at each scale and to link results from the two approaches. RESULTS Major environmental drivers of richness included growing degreedays, temperature, moisture and spatial or temporal heterogeneity. Variance partitioning pointed to an increase in the role of dispersal at coarser resolutions, while metacommunity structure analysis pointed to environmental filtering having an important role at all resolutions through a Clementsian assembly process (i.e. groups of species having similar range boundaries and co-occurring in similar environments). MAIN CONCLUSIONS The combination of methods used here allows a better understanding of the forces structuring ecological communities than either one of them used separately. A key aspect in this complementarity is that variance partitioning can detect effects of dispersal whereas metacommunity structure analysis cannot. Moreover, the latter can distinguish between different forms of environmental filtering (e.g. individualistic versus group species responses to environmental gradients)

Substructure Analyzer: A User-Friendly Workflow for Rapid Exploration and Accurate Analysis of Cellular Bodies in Fluorescence Microscopy Images

International audienceThe last decade has been characterized by breakthroughs in fluorescence microscopy techniques illustrated by spatial resolution improvement but also in live-cell imaging and high-throughput microscopy techniques. This led to a constant increase in the amount and complexity of the microscopy data for a single experiment. Becaus

Implication of repeat insertion domains in the trans -activity of the long non-coding RNA ANRIL

International audienceAbstract Long non-coding RNAs have emerged as critical regulators of cell homeostasis by modulating gene expression at chromatin level for instance. Here, we report that the lncRNA ANRIL, associated with several pathologies, binds to thousands of loci dispersed throughout the mammalian genome sharing a 21-bp motif enriched in G/A residues. By combining ANRIL genomic occupancy with transcriptomic analysis, we established a list of 65 and 123 genes potentially directly activated and silenced by ANRIL in trans, respectively. We also found that Exon8 of ANRIL, mainly made of transposable elements, contributes to ANRIL genomic association and consequently to its trans-activity. Furthermore, we showed that Exon8 favors ANRIL’s association with the FIRRE, TPD52L1 and IGFBP3 loci to modulate their expression through H3K27me3 deposition. We also investigated the mechanisms engaged by Exon8 to favor ANRIL’s association with the genome. Our data refine ANRIL’s trans-activity and highlight the functional importance of TEs on ANRIL’s activity

Renal Ischemia Tolerance Mediated by eIF5A Hypusination Inhibition Is Regulated by a Specific Modulation of the Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress

Through kidney transplantation, ischemia/reperfusion is known to induce tissular injury due to cell energy shortage, oxidative stress, and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. ER stress stems from an accumulation of unfolded or misfolded proteins in the lumen of ER, resulting in the unfolded protein response (UPR). Adaptive UPR pathways can either restore protein homeostasis or can turn into a stress pathway leading to apoptosis. We have demonstrated that N1-guanyl-1,7-diamineoheptane (GC7), a specific inhibitor of eukaryotic Initiation Factor 5A (eIF5A) hypusination, confers an ischemic protection of kidney cells by tuning their metabolism and decreasing oxidative stress, but its role on ER stress was unknown. To explore this, we used kidney cells pretreated with GC7 and submitted to either warm or cold anoxia. GC7 pretreatment promoted cell survival in an anoxic environment concomitantly to an increase in xbp1 splicing and BiP level while eiF2α phosphorylation and ATF6 nuclear level decreased. These demonstrated a specific modulation of UPR pathways. Interestingly, the pharmacological inhibition of xbp1 splicing reversed the protective effect of GC7 against anoxia. Our results demonstrated that eIF5A hypusination inhibition modulates distinctive UPR pathways, a crucial mechanism for the protection against anoxia/reoxygenation

Impact of natriuretic peptide polymorphisms on diastolic and metabolic function in a populational cohort: insights from the STANISLAS cohort

International audienceAims Elevated brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and the N-terminal fragment of its pro-hormone (NT-proBNP) have become established biomarkers for heart failure and are associated with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Investigating sources of inter-individual heterogeneity, particularly genetic factors, could help better identify patients at risk of future cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to estimate the heritability of circulating NT-proBNP levels, to perform a genome-wide association study (GWAS) and gene-candidate analysis focused on NPPB-NPPA genes on these levels, and to examine their association with cardiovascular or metabolic outcomes. Methods and results A total of 1555 individuals from the STANISLAS study were included. The heritability of circulating NT-proBNP levels was estimated at 15%, with seven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) reaching the significant threshold in the GWAS. All above SNPs were located on the same gene cluster constituted of MTHFR, CLCN6, NPPA, NPPB, and C1orf167. NPPA gene expression was also associated with NT-proBNP levels. Moreover, six other SNPs from NPPA-NPPB genes were associated with diastolic function (lateral e0 on echocardiography) and metabolic features (glycated haemoglobin). Conclusions The heritability of natriuretic peptides appears relatively low (15%) and mainly based on the same gene cluster constituted of MTHFR, CLCN6, NPPA, NPPB, and C1orf167. Natriuretic peptide polymorphisms are associated with natriuretic peptide levels and diastolic function. These results suggest that natriuretic peptide polymorphisms may have an impact in the early stages of cardiovascular and metabolic disease

Corps en jeu

Un corps en jeu est un corps qui tient un discours visuel et sonore, se présente et se représente en mobilisant toutes ses capacités motrices (gestuelle, regard, respiration, voix), un corps qui construit un langage où l'apparence, qu'il s'agisse d'un dévoilement ou d'un déguisement, dit, trahit, contredit une vérité humaine, sociale ou politique dans une société donnée. C'est un corps dont les modalités d'exposition s'inscrivent sur un fond de consensus culturel pour produire un sens nouveau, que seul le contexte de la représentation rend déchiffrable. L'objet du colloque international qui s'est tenu à l'université de Toulouse II en octobre 2008 était d'envisager, pour l'Antiquité, cette question, sous ses aspects les plus divers, parfois les plus contradictoires. Un corps en jeu dans l'Antiquité se donnait à voir dans un contexte particulier, qui pouvait être celui de la scène, du stade ou de la cité, dans le cadre de manifestations fondées sur une représentation de soi et des autres, toujours en « s'adressant à » un public. Il ne s'agissait donc pas, à travers les différentes interventions, de disséquer ou de décrypter le sens de gestes, de déguisements ou de postures, mais d'analyser finement la relation établie par le jeu du corps avec un public spectateur, auditeur, lecteur. Les liens complexes et variables qu'entretenaient en effet oralité et écrit (discours de l'orateur, texte des représentations) impliquaient que soient également pris en compte non seulement les documents iconographiques et historiques susceptibles d'éclairer la réflexion, mais aussi les textes, poétiques, rhétoriques, philosophiques proposant une interprétation imagée et toujours orientée, de corps en jeu

Galectin-3 modulates epithelial cell adaptation to stress at the ER-mitochondria interface

International audienceCellular stress response contributes to epithelial defense in adaptation to environment changes. Galectins play a pivotal role in the regulation of this response in malignant cells. However, precise underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. Here we demonstrate that Galectin-3, a pro and anti-apoptotic lectin, is required for setting up a correct cellular response to stress by orchestrating several effects. First, Galectin-3 constitutes a key post-transcriptional regulator of stress-related mRNA regulons coordinating the cell metabolism, the mTORC1 complex or the unfolded protein response (UPR). Moreover, we demonstrated the presence of Galectin-3 with mitochondria-associated membranes (MAM), and its interaction with proteins located at the ER or mitochondrial membranes. There Galectin-3 prevents the activation and recruitment at the mitochondria of the regulator of mitochondria fission DRP-1. Accordingly, loss of Galectin-3 impairs mitochondrial morphology, with more fragmented and round mitochondria, and dynamics both in normal and cancer epithelial cells in basal conditions. Importantly, Galectin-3 deficient cells also display changes of the activity of the mitochondrial respiratory chain complexes, of the mTORC1/S6RP/4EBP1 translation pathway and reactive oxygen species levels. Regarding the ER, Galectin-3 did not modify the activities of the 3 branches of the UPR in basal conditions. However, Galectin-3 favours an adaptative UPR following ER stress induction by Thapsigargin treatment. Altogether, at the ER-mitochondria interface, Galectin-3 coordinates the functioning of the ER and mitochondria, preserves the integrity of mitochondrial network and modulates the ER stress response