Jeszcze jeden świat

W kręgu zainteresowań badawczych polskich slawistów znajdują się rozmaite zagadnienia, których opracowania należą do ważnych osiągnięć współczesnej slawistyki. W szczególności pragnę podkreślić publikacje poświęcone poezji, które powstawały w każdym większym ośrodku slawistycznym, m.in. na Uniwersytecie Śląskim. Artykuły i książki o poezji chorwackiej, serbskiej, słoweńskiej, macedońskiej, czeskiej i słowackiej, bułgarskiej czy łużyckiej stanowią znaczący dorobek slawistyki śląskiej. Nie zawsze są odnotowane przez recenzentów, co przy niewielkim zazwyczaj nakładzie publikacji ogranicza wiedzę i o publikacjach, i o ich przedmiocie. Jednym z ostatnich wydań, poświęconych poezji słoweńskiej, jest książka Świat poetycki Gregora Strnišy Moniki Gawlak [...]. Recenzja: Świat poetycki Gregora Strnišy / Monika Gawlak. - Katowice : Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego, 2012. - 200 s. ; 24 cm

Parenthetical Remarks on Literary Contestations by Dubravka Ugrešić

In the article, the literary texts of the Croatian authoress are considered, since they present a critical comportment that is to remain in opposition to the crisis of the contemporary culture. The article makes an attempt to describe a specificity of the writer’s literary contestations, derived from a stance of the avant-garde and modern rebellion, adopted among others by Miroslav Krleža, and from an intellectual revolt, expressed by the postmodern aesthetics and philosophy. The growing on both contestation traditions determines a manner of thinking, perceptiveness of interpretation regarding the depicted world and life. The literary contestations of Ugrešić focus on problems of the postmodern aesthetics, ethics, sociopolitical and cultural transformations.In the article, the literary texts of the Croatian authoress are considered, since they present a critical comportment that is to remain in opposition to the crisis of the contemporary culture. The article makes an attempt to describe a specificity of the writer’s literary contestations, derived from a stance of the avant-garde and modern rebellion, adopted among others by Miroslav Krleža, and from an intellectual revolt, expressed by the postmodern aesthetics and philosophy. The growing on both contestation traditions determines a manner of thinking, perceptiveness of interpretation regarding the depicted world and life. The literary contestations of Ugrešić focus on problems of the postmodern aesthetics, ethics, sociopolitical and cultural transformations

Tropem magii słowa w literaturze chorwackiej i serbskiej XX wieku

The  essay  titled  „Pursuing  the  Magic  of  Words  in  the  Twentieth-Century’s  Croatian  and Serbian Literature” discusses transformations of the awareness of the avant-garde and postmodernism  from  the  perspective  of  its  relation  to  magic  thinking.  The  essay  advances a vision of poetic language and the main figures of the avant-garde’s imagination, especially the aesthetic  conceptualizations  of  the  messianic  archetype.  The  avant-garde  thinking about  the world  of  unity  (of  the  world-man-language)  is  utopian  and  not  infrequently magic-esoteric. Postmodernism deconstructs symbolic language; it does not share the avant-garde’s belief in the existential and creative power of imagination and the word. The virtual culture of postmodernism reduces the value of the language sign and the referential function of language; it disenchants the conceits of the magic word. The  essay  titled  „Pursuing  the  Magic  of  Words  in  the  Twentieth-Century’s  Croatian  and Serbian Literature” discusses transformations of the awareness of the avant-garde and postmodernism  from  the  perspective  of  its  relation  to  magic  thinking.  The  essay  advances a vision of poetic language and the main figures of the avant-garde’s imagination, especially the aesthetic  conceptualizations  of  the  messianic  archetype.  The  avant-garde  thinking about  the world  of  unity  (of  the  world-man-language)  is  utopian  and  not  infrequently magic-esoteric. Postmodernism deconstructs symbolic language; it does not share the avant-garde’s belief in the existential and creative power of imagination and the word. The virtual culture of postmodernism reduces the value of the language sign and the referential function of language; it disenchants the conceits of the magic word.

Targeting the melanoma

Czerniak należy do najbardziej złośliwych nowotworów człowieka, a liczba zachorowań na ten typ nowotworu wzrasta na świecie w zastraszającym tempie. Komórki czerniaka charakteryzują się wyjątkową opornością na stosowane obecnie metody leczenia. Badania z ostatnich lat przyczyniły się do lepszego poznania i zrozumienia biologii nowotworu i otwarły drogę nowym terapiom celowanym. Obecnie wiele czynników znajduje się we wczesnych fazach badań klinicznych, część z nich osiągnęła już III fazę, a w sierpniu 2011 rokuFDA zaaprobowała nowy lek do walki z czerniakiem - Wemurafenib (PLX4032). Artykuł stanowi przegląd najważniejszych białek, szlaków i sieci sygnalizacyjnych zaangażowanych w rozwój i progresję czerniaka, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem elementów będących najbardziej obiecującymi celami dla terapii antynowotworowej.Melanoma is one of the most aggressive human cancers. Its cells are inevitably resistant to conventional therapies. In recent years, better understanding of melanoma biology, has led to the development of a number of new potential therapeutic agents. Many of these compounds are being tested in early phase of clinical trials, some have already reach phase III. In August 2011 the FDA approved a new drug - Wemurafenib (PLX4032) to treatment unresectable and/or metastatic melanoma. The current article is an overview of the major proteins, signaling pathways and networks involved in the development and progression of melanoma, with particular emphasis on elements that are the most promising targets for anticancer therapy

Glycosylation of Integrins in Melanoma Progression

Each stage of melanoma development from transformed melanocytes to metastatic lesions requires the involvement of cell adhesion receptors, among which integrins are of particular importance. Strong N-glycosylation of αβ integrin heterodimers influences their processing, activation, and functions related to the modulation of cell adhesion to extracellular matrix proteins (ECM) and the basement membrane. A lack of N-glycans on integrin chains significantly reduces their interactions with the ECM. Melanoma progression is accompanied by changes in the composition of N-glycans on integrin subunits. The glycosylation profile of integrins depends on the stage of melanoma development and on the location of the metastasis. Enhanced expression of β1,6-branched complex-type oligosaccharides and altered sialylation are well-characterized changes in the N-glycosylation of integrins observed in melanoma progression. This chapter summarizes the current state of knowledge about α3β1, α5β1, and αvβ3 integrin glycosylation in melanoma and the functional consequences of changed glycosylation for the development of this cancer

Towards understanding the role of sialylation in melanoma progression

Aberrant expression of sialic acids or altered linkage types is closely associated with malignant phenotype and metastatic potential, and can have prognostic significance in human cancer. The present study was undertaken to evaluate whether expression of sialylated derivatives on melanoma cell surface is associated with tumour progression. Four cell lines (WM1552C, WM115, IGR-39 and WM266-4) were used in the study. Cell surface expression of sialic acids was evaluated by flow cytometry with the use of Maackia amurensis and Sambucus nigra lectins. Moreover, adhesion and migration potential of melanoma cells and involvement of sialic acids in these processes were analysed. We have demonstrated that WM266-4 cells have a significantly higher level of α2,3-linked sialic acid residues than other cells, whereas IGR-39 cells had lower expression of α2,6-linked sialic acids. The adhesion efficiencies of WM1552C and WM115 cells were significantly lower than that of IGR-39 and WM266-4 cells. In contrast, WM266-4 cells repaired scratch wounds at least twice as fast as other cells. Melanoma cell adhesion to fibronectin in the presence of Sambucus nigra agglutinin (SNA) was reduced only in IGR-39 and WM266-4 cells, whereas the impact of Maackia amurensis agglutinin (MAA) on this process was much more important. Migration efficiency of melanoma cells was reduced more strongly in the presence of MAA than SNA. In conclusion, our results show that melanoma progression is associated with the increased expression of α2,3-linked sialic acids on the cell surface and these residues could promote melanoma cell interaction with fibronectin

Diverse expression of N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase V and complex-type \beta1,6-1,6-branched N-glycans in uveal and cutaneous melanoma cells

Although both uveal (UM) and cutaneous (CM) melanoma cells derive from the transformed melanocytes, their biology varies significantly in several aspects. Malignant transformation is frequently associated with alternations in cell glycosylation, in particular those concerning branched complex-type N-glycans. These changes occur principally in β1,4-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase III (GnT-III) that catalyzes the synthesis of glycans with bisected N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) and β1,6-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase V (GnT-V) that is involved in forming β1,6-branched antenna in complex-type glycans. We searched for the reasons of a different behavior of CM and UM cells in the expression of GnT-III and GnT-V and their oligosaccharide products. Our study showed that UM cells have more β1,6-branched glycans than CM cells, what results from a higher expression of MGAT5 gene encoding GnT-V. The higher β1,6-branching of glycans in UM may contribute to their higher potential to migrate on fibronectin and weaker binding to main extracellular matrix proteins, observed in our previous studies

Adhesion properties of human bladder cell lines with extracellular matrix components : the role of integrins and glycosylation

Integrin subunits present on human bladder cells displayed heterogeneous functional specificity in adhesion to extracellular matrix proteins (ECM). The non-malignant cell line (HCV29) showed significantly higher adhesion efficiency to collagen IV, laminin (LN) and fibronectin (FN) than cancer (T24, Hu456) and v-raf transfected (BC3726) cell lines. Specific antibodies to the α2, a5 and β1 integrin subunits inhibited adhesion of the non-malignant cells, indicating these integrin participation in the adhesion to ECM proteins. In contrast, adhesion of cancer cells was not inhibited by specific antibodies to the β1 integrin subunit. Antibodies to α3 integrin increased adhesion of cancer cells to collagen, LN and FN, but also of the HCV29 line with colagen. It seems that α3 subunit plays a major role in modulation of other integrin receptors especially in cancer cells. Differences in adhesion to ECM proteins between the non-malignant and cancer cell lines in response to Gal and Fuc were not evident, except for the v-raf transfected cell line which showed a distinct about 6-fold increased adhesion to LN on addition of both saccharides. N-Acetylneuraminic acid inhibited adhesion of all cell lines to LN and FN irrespective of their malignancy

Tożsamość jako wartość

The article “Identity as a value” discusses the trends of contemporary reflection on identity. It presents some problems of individual and collective identity (cultural, social, national ones). It considers the need for identity in the view of the dynamic development of history and culture, identity problems, and the positive and negative influences the concept of identity may be subjected to. The author of the article draws attention to the peculiar nature of the discourses Slavic identity. They combine the identity problems of language and culture, collective memory and ethical entity. Nowadays the dominant tendency is to understand identity as a cultural value. It requires axiological memory and responsible co‑creation of an open model of culture

Different glycosylation of cadherins from human bladder non-malignant and cancer cell lines

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to determine whether stage of invasiveness of bladder cancer cell lines contributes to alterations in glycan pattern of their cadherins. RESULTS: Human non-malignant epithelial cell of ureter HCV29, v-raf transfected HCV29 line (BC3726) and transitional cell cancers of urine bladder Hu456 and T24 were grown in cell culture. Equal amounts of protein from each cell extracts were separated by SDS-PAGE electrophoresis and were blotted on an Immobilon P membrane. Cadherins were immunodetected using anti-pan cadherin mAb and lectin blotting assays were performed, in parallel. N-oligosaccharides were analysed by specific reaction with Galanthus nivalis agglutinin (GNA), Sambucus nigra agglutinin (SNA), Maackia amurensis agglutinin (MAA), Datura stramonium agglutinin (DSA), Aleuria aurantia agglutinin (AAA), Phaseolus vulgaris agglutinin (PHA-L) and wheat germ agglutinin (WGA). The cadherin from HCV29 cell line possessed bi- and/or 2,4-branched triantennary complex type glycans, some of which were α2,6-sialylated. The cadherin from BC3726 cell line exhibited exclusively high mannose type glycans. Cadherins from Hu456 and T24 cell lines expressed high mannose type glycans as well as β1,6-branched oligosaccharides with poly-N-acetyllactosamine structures and α2,3-linked sialic acid residues. Additionally, the presence of fucose and α2,6-sialic acid residues on the cadherin from T24 cell line was detected. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that N-glycosylation pattern of cadherin from bladder cancer cell line undergoes modification during carcinogenesis