We Do Not Like It: A Likert-Type Scale Survey on the Attitudes of a Young Population towards the Transhumanistic Theory of Education

Transhumanists assume that future education may be purely based on technological stimulation. The question is: Do potential clients of education “like” such vision? In order to check this, we asked over one thousand two hundred young Poles to evaluate their identification with the transhumanistic theory of education. The results are quite surprising: its show that they disagree with the assumptions of this theory, while they rather agree with the postulates of more traditional (and no technology-based) concepts of education

Effect of a low magnesium diet on magnesium status and gene expression in the kidneys of mice selected for high and low magnesium erythrocyte levels

International audienceThe magnesium concentrations in plasma and cells could be affected by diet, disease and genetic factors. To characterise the genetic factors involved in the regulation of magnesium homeostasis, Low (MgL) and High (MgH) magnesium status mice were developed by bidirectional selective breeding. The effects of a low-magnesium diet on the magnesium status parameters were analysed in these mice. Using a cDNA array, a screen for differential gene expression was performed in kidneys from these animals, fed either a magnesium adequate or deficient diet. The magnesium-deficient diet significantly affected the plasma, erythrocyte and urine magnesium concentrations in both strains, in similar proportions in the two strains. Furthermore, in response to the magnesium-deficient diet, both strains showed changes of the expression of genes belonging, for the majority of them, to the family of transcription and growth factors (down-regulated). Of the identified genes, five were of particular interest because they were differently expressed in response to the deficient diet in these two strains: osteopontin, the cholecystokinin A receptor, connexin 45, a growth hormone receptor and BAG1. These results suggest that the two strains exhibit different physiopathological responses to magnesium deficiency

Adipose Tissue-Derived Stromal Cells in Matrigel Impact the Regeneration of Severely Damaged Skeletal Muscles

In case of large injuries of skeletal muscles the pool of endogenous stem cells, i.e., satellite cells, might be not sufficient to secure proper regeneration. Such failure in reconstruction is often associated with loss of muscle mass and excessive formation of connective tissue. Therapies aiming to improve skeletal muscle regeneration and prevent fibrosis may rely on the transplantation of different types of stem cell. Among such cells are adipose tissue-derived stromal cells (ADSCs) which are relatively easy to isolate, culture, and manipulate. Our study aimed to verify applicability of ADSCs in the therapies of severely injured skeletal muscles. We tested whether 3D structures obtained from Matrigel populated with ADSCs and transplanted to regenerating mouse gastrocnemius muscles could improve the regeneration. In addition, ADSCs used in this study were pretreated with myoblasts-conditioned medium or anti-TGFβ antibody, i.e., the factors modifying their ability to proliferate, migrate, or differentiate. Analyses performed one week after injury allowed us to show the impact of 3D cultured control and pretreated ADSCs at muscle mass and structure, as well as fibrosis development immune response of the injured muscle

Nuclear pore components are involved in the transcriptional regulation of dosage compensation in Drosophila

Item does not contain fulltextDosage compensation in Drosophila is dependent on MSL proteins and involves hypertranscription of the male X chromosome, which ensures equal X-linked gene expression in both sexes. Here, we report the purification of enzymatically active MSL complexes from Drosophila embryos, Schneider cells, and human HeLa cells. We find a stable association of the histone H4 lysine 16-specific acetyltransferase MOF with the RNA/protein containing MSL complex as well as with an evolutionary conserved complex. We show that the MSL complex interacts with several components of the nuclear pore, in particular Mtor/TPR and Nup153. Strikingly, knockdown of Mtor or Nup153 results in loss of the typical MSL X-chromosomal staining and dosage compensation in Drosophila male cells but not in female cells. These results reveal an unexpected physical and functional connection between nuclear pore components and chromatin regulation through MSL proteins, highlighting the role of nucleoporins in gene regulation in higher eukaryotes