Portland Perus Cement Factory: pedagogical articulation between popular movements and schools in the neighborhood of Perus

Atuando sob os princípios da “não violência ativa”, a luta dos Queixadas, operários da Fábrica de Cimento Portland Perus, localizada no bairro de Perus, instalada em 1924, configurou um novo panorama de atuação sindical que permitiu mudanças em vários aspectos, entre elas a participação das mulheres ao lado de seus maridos, conquistas trabalhistas, lutas ambientais etc. Comissões de greve visitaram fábricas, escolas, universidades e demais espaços e tais visitas repercutiram, segundo o dr. Mário Carvalho de Jesus,advogado do Sindicato dos Trabalhadores “da Cimento Perus”, em toda a cidade de São Paulo, numa demonstração de que a união e a firmeza permanente, lema do movimento, seria a forma mais eficaz e eficiente de lutar contra as forças opressoras da sociedade e a exploração do capital. O legado dessa luta resiste ao longo de décadas, por meio de um diálogo entre gerações. As histórias e memórias dos operários, ou seja, suas lutas por justiça e dignidade, além do valor arquitetônico e industrial da Fábrica, motivou odesejo pelo seu tombamento, sua preservação e por sua transformação em Centro de Cultura e Memória do Trabalhador. Além disso, essa luta que transpôs os muros da Fábrica, envolvendo a comunidade local, alcançou os muros de muitas escolas no bairro, as quais passaram a ter em sua prática educativa, dentro e fora de suas dependências, uma real articulação com temas significativos para os estudantes oriundos dessa herança Queixada, defendendo a ideia de que a educação pode ser efetivamente vista como instrumento libertador e transformador.Acting under the principles of “active nonviolence”, the Queixadas, workers at Portland Perus Cement company, located in the neighborhood of Perus, São Paulo, established in 1924 a new panorama of union activity that allowed changes in several aspects; among them the participation of women alongside their husbands, labor conquests, environmental struggles and so on. According to Mário Carvalho de Jesus, lawyer of the workers union “CimentoPerus”, strike committees visited factories, schools, universities and other spaces all over the city of São Paulo in a demonstration that the union and the permanent firmness, the motto of the Movement, would be the most effective and efficient way of fighting against the oppressiveforces of society and the exploitation of capital. The legacy of this struggle resists for decades through a dialogue between generations. The workers’ stories and memories, that is, their struggles for justice and dignity, as well as the architectural and industrial value of the Factory, motivated the desire for its protection, its preservation and its transformation into the Worker’s Culture and Memory Center. Moreover, this struggle that transposed the walls of the Factory, involving the local community, reached the walls of many schools in the neighborhood, which began to have in their educational practice, inside and outside their premises, a real articulation with significant themes regarding the Queixada heritage for the students,defending the idea that Education can be effectively seen as a liberating and transforming instrument

Extracellular lipids of Candida albicans biofilm induce lipid droplet formation and decreased response to a topoisomerase I inhibitor in dysplastic and neoplastic oral cells

Objective: Some microorganisms, i.e., Candida albicans, have been associated with cancer onset and development, although whether the fungus promotes cancer or whether cancer facilitates the growth of C. albicans is unclear. In this context, microbial-derived molecules can modulate the growth and resistance of cancer cells. This study isolated extracellular lipids (ECL) from a 36-h Candida albicans biofilm incubated with oral dysplastic (DOK) and neoplastic (SCC 25) cells, which were further challenged with the topoisomerase I inhibitor camptothecin (CPT), a lipophilic anti-tumoral molecule. Methodology: ECL were extracted from a 36-h Candida albicans biofilm with the methanol/chloroform precipitation method and identified with Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1H-NMR). The MTT tetrazolium assay measured ECL cytotoxicity in DOK and SCC 25 cells, alamarBlue™ assessed cell metabolism, flow cytometry measured cell cycle, and confocal microscopy determined intracellular features. Results: Three major classes of ECL of C. albicans biofilm were found: phosphatidylinositol (PI), phosphatidylcholine (PC), and phosphatidylglycerol (PG). The ECL of C. albicans biofilm had no cytotoxic effect on neither cell after 24 hours, with a tendency to disturb the SCC 25 cell cycle profile (without statistical significance). The ECL-induced intracellular lipid droplet (LD) formation on both cell lines after 72 hours. In this context, ECL enhanced cell metabolism, decreased the response to CPT, and modified intracellular drug distribution. Conclusion:The ECL (PI, PC, and PG) of 36-h Candida albicans biofilm directly interacts with dysplastic and neoplastic oral cells, highlighting the relevance of better understanding C. albicans biofilm signaling in the microenvironment of tumor cells

Functional Characterization of an Aspergillus fumigatus Calcium Transporter (PmcA) that Is Essential for Fungal Infection

Aspergillus fumigatus is a primary and opportunistic pathogen, as well as a major allergen, of mammals. The Ca+2-calcineurin pathway affects virulence, morphogenesis and antifungal drug action in A. fumigatus. Here, we investigated three components of the A. fumigatus Ca+2-calcineurin pathway, pmcA,-B, and -C, which encode calcium transporters. We demonstrated that CrzA can directly control the mRNA accumulation of the pmcA-C genes by binding to their promoter regions. CrzA-binding experiments suggested that the 5′-CACAGCCAC-3′ and 5′-CCCTGCCCC-3′ sequences upstream of pmcA and pmcC genes, respectively, are possible calcineurin-dependent response elements (CDREs)-like consensus motifs. Null mutants were constructed for pmcA and -B and a conditional mutant for pmcC demonstrating pmcC is an essential gene. The ΔpmcA and ΔpmcB mutants were more sensitive to calcium and resistant to manganese and cyclosporin was able to modulate the sensitivity or resistance of these mutants to these salts, supporting the interaction between calcineurin and the function of these transporters. The pmcA-C genes have decreased mRNA abundance into the alveoli in the ΔcalA and ΔcrzA mutant strains. However, only the A. fumigatus ΔpmcA was avirulent in the murine model of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis

Regulation of the reserve carbohydrate metabolism by alkaline pH and calcium in Neurospora crassa reveals a possible cross-regulation of both signaling pathways

Abstract Background Glycogen and trehalose are storage carbohydrates and their levels in microorganisms vary according to environmental conditions. In Neurospora crassa, alkaline pH stress highly influences glycogen levels, and in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the response to pH stress also involves the calcineurin signaling pathway mediated by the Crz1 transcription factor. Recently, in yeast, pH stress response genes were identified as targets of Crz1 including genes involved in glycogen and trehalose metabolism. In this work, we present evidence that in N. crassa the glycogen and trehalose metabolism is modulated by alkaline pH and calcium stresses. Results We demonstrated that the pH signaling pathway in N. crassa controls the accumulation of the reserve carbohydrates glycogen and trehalose via the PAC-3 transcription factor, which is the central regulator of the signaling pathway. The protein binds to the promoters of most of the genes encoding enzymes of glycogen and trehalose metabolism and regulates their expression. We also demonstrated that the reserve carbohydrate levels and gene expression are both modulated under calcium stress and that the response to calcium stress may involve the concerted action of PAC-3. Calcium activates growth of the Δpac-3 strain and influences its glycogen and trehalose accumulation. In addition, calcium stress differently regulates glycogen and trehalose metabolism in the mutant strain compared to the wild-type strain. While glycogen levels are decreased in both strains, the trehalose levels are significantly increased in the wild-type strain and not affected by calcium in the mutant strain when compared to mycelium not exposed to calcium. Conclusions We previously reported the role of PAC-3 as a transcription factor involved in glycogen metabolism regulation by controlling the expression of the gsn gene, which encodes an enzyme of glycogen synthesis. In this work, we extended the investigation by studying in greater detail the effects of pH on the metabolism of the reserve carbohydrate glycogen and trehalose. We also demonstrated that calcium stress affects the reserve carbohydrate levels and the response to calcium stress may require PAC-3. Considering that the reserve carbohydrate metabolism may be subjected to different signaling pathways control, our data contribute to the understanding of the N. crassa responses under pH and calcium stresses

New Amylolytic Yeast Strains for Starch and Dextrin Fermentation

Yeast strains capable of fermenting starch and dextrin to ethanol were isolated from samples collected from Brazilian factories in which cassava flour is produced. Considerable alcohol production was observed for all the strains selected. One strain (DI-10) fermented starch rapidly and secreted 5 times as much amylolytic enzyme than that observed for Schwanniomyces alluvius UCD 54-83. This strain and three other similar isolates were classified as Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. diastaticus by morphological and physiological characteristics and molecular taxonomy

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of XAC1151, a small heat-shock protein from Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri belonging to the α-crystallin family

XAC1151, a small heat-shock protein from X. axonopodis pv. citri belonging to the α-crystallin family, was crystallized using the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion method in the presence of ammonium phosphate. X-ray diffraction data were collected to 1.65 Å resolution using a synchrotron-radiation source

<i>gsn, gpn</i> and <i>pacC</i> gene expression during acid and alkaline pH stress.

<p>Cells from the wild-type and <i>pacC^KO</i> strains were cultivated at pH 5.8 for 24 h and shifted to pH 4.2 and pH 7.8. Samples were collected and used to extract total RNA. Total RNA (15 µg) was separated by electrophoresis in a denaturing formaldehyde gel, transferred to nylon membrane and probed with α-³²P-radiolabeled 678 bp <i>gsn</i> cDNA, or 798 bp <i>gpn</i> cDNA or 639 bp <i>pacC</i> cDNA fragments (gel autoradiographies). The 28 S rRNA was used as a loading control after ethidium bromide staining. The results shown are the average of at least three independent experiments. (A) Analysis of the <i>gsn, gpn</i> and <i>pacC</i> genes in the wild-type strain at different times after pH shifting. After pH stress the remaining cultures were transferred back to physiological conditions (RE, recuperation, pH 5.8) and samples were collected. (B) Analysis of the <i>gsn</i> and <i>gpn</i> genes in the <i>pacC^KO</i> strain compared to the wild-type strain at different times after pH shifting. 0, cell samples before pH shifting (control).</p