Plasma membrane recovery kinetics of a microfluidic intracellular delivery platform

Intracellular delivery of materials is a challenge in research and therapeutic applications. Physical methods of plasma membrane disruption have recently emerged as an approach to facilitate the delivery of a variety of macromolecules to a range of cell types. We use the microfluidic CellSqueeze delivery platform to examine the kinetics of plasma membrane recovery after disruption and its dependence on the calcium content of the surrounding buffer (recovery time ~5 min without calcium vs. ~30 s with calcium). Moreover, we illustrate that manipulation of the membrane repair kinetics can yield up to 5× improvement in delivery efficiency without significantly impacting cell viability. Membrane repair characteristics initially observed in HeLa cells are shown to translate to primary naïve murine T cells. Subsequent manipulation of membrane repair kinetics also enables the delivery of larger materials, such as antibodies, to these difficult to manipulate cells. This work provides insight into the membrane repair process in response to mechanical delivery and could potentially enable the development of improved delivery methods.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant RC1 EB011187-02)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant R01GN101420-01A1)Kathy and Curt Marble Cancer Research FundNational Cancer Institute (U.S.) (Cancer Center Support (Core) Grant P30-CA14051)National Cancer Institute (U.S.) (Cancer Center Support (Core) Grant MPP-09Call-Langer-60

Cultural trauma, counter-narratives, and dialogical intellectuals: the works of Murakami Haruki and Mori Tatsuya in the context of the Aum affair

In this article, we offer a new conceptualization of intellectuals as carriers of cultural trauma through a case study of the Aum Affair, a series of crimes and terrorist attacks committed by the Japanese new religious movement Aum Shinrikyō. In understanding the performative roles intellectuals play in trauma construction, we offer a new dichotomy between “authoritative intellectuals,” who draw on their privileged parcours and status to impose a distinct trauma narrative, and “dialogical intellectuals,” who engage with local actors dialogically to produce polyphonic and open-ended trauma narratives. We identify three dimensions of dialogical intellectual action: firstly, the intellectuals may be involved in dialogue with local participants; secondly, the intellectual products themselves may be dialogical in content; and thirdly, there might be a concerted effort on the part of the intellectuals to record and to disseminate dialogue between local participants. In the context of the Aum Affair, we analyze the works of Murakami Haruki and Mori Tatsuya as dialogical intellectuals while they sought, with the help of local actors’ experiences, to challenge and to alter the orthodox trauma narrative of Aum Shinrikyō as exclusively a social evil external to Japanese society and an enemy to be excluded from it. Towards the end of the article, we discuss the broader significance of this case study and suggest that in light of recent societal and technological developments, the role and scope of dialogical intellectuals as carriers of trauma are changing and possibly expanding

Vicarious Group Trauma among British Jews

This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11133-016-9337-4Given that literature on the intra- and inter-generational transmission of traumas is mainly based on secondary literature and focuses on the transmission of trauma memory in terms of the historical knowledge of group trauma, this article develops the theory of vicarious group trauma and tests this theory by exploring vicarious traumatization in the everyday lives of Jews in Britain through the methods of observation and in-depth interviewing. Vicarious group trauma is defined as a life or safety-threatening event or abuse that happened to some members of a social group but is felt by other members as their own experience because of their personal affiliation with the group. The article finds that the vicarious sensation of traumatic group experiences can create anxiety, elicit perceptions of threat and, by extension, hypervigilance among Jews. The findings demonstrate that group traumas of the past interpenetrate and interweave with members’ current lives and in this way can also become constitutive of their group identity. An institutional focus on threats to Jews can inform the construction and reinforcement of traumatization symptoms and accordingly vicarious group trauma. This article suggests an association between the level of involvement of group members in the collective’s social structure and the prominence of vicarious group trauma among them

Public Narratives and the Construction of Memory Among European Muslims

This chapter draws on group and individual interviews with 735 European Muslims in 5 European countries and explores some key aspects of the politics of memory that form an inextricable component of European Muslim self-definitions, discourses and narratives deployed in the attempt to negotiate their inclusion in European societies

COVID‐19, nationalism, and the politics of crisis: A scholarly exchange

In this article, several scholars of nationalism discuss the potential for the COVID‐19 pandemic to impact the development of nationalism and world politics. To structure the discussion, the contributors respond to three questions: (1) how should we understand the relationship between nationalism and COVID‐19; (2) will COVID‐19 fuel ethnic and nationalist conflict; and (3) will COVID‐19 reinforce or erode the nation‐state in the long run? The contributors formulated their responses to these questions near to the outset of the pandemic, amid intense uncertainty. This made it acutely difficult, if not impossible, to make predictions. Nevertheless, it was felt that a historically and theoretically informed discussion would shed light on the types of political processes that could be triggered by the COVID‐19 pandemic. In doing so, the aim is to help orient researchers and policy‐makers as they grapple with what has rapidly become the most urgent issue of our times

Activation of natural regulatory T cells by IgG Fc-derived peptide Tregitopes

We have identified at least 2 highly promiscuous major histocompatibility complex class II T-cell epitopes in the Fc fragment of IgG that are capable of specifically activating CD4+CD25HiFoxP3+ natural regulatory T cells (nTRegs). Coincubation of these regulatory T-cell epitopes or “Tregitopes” and antigens with peripheral blood mononuclear cells led to a suppression of effector cytokine secretion, reduced proliferation of effector T cells, and caused an increase in cell surface markers associated with TRegs such as FoxP3. In vivo administration of the murine homologue of the Fc region Tregitope resulted in suppression of immune response to a known immunogen. These data suggest that one mechanism for the immunosuppressive activity of IgG, such as with IVIG, may be related to the activity of regulatory T cells. In this model, regulatory T-cell epitopes in IgG activate a subset of nTRegs that tips the resulting immune response toward tolerance rather than immunogenicity

Environmental movements in space-time: the Czech and Slovak republics from Stalinism to post-socialism

To demonstrate the role of space and time in social movements, the paper analyses the evolution and context of the environmental movement in the Czech and Slovak republics from 1948 to 1998. It shows that the movement's identity was formed under socialism and that political opportunity and resource availability changed markedly over time, as did its organisational and spatial structure. The movement played a significant part in the collapse of the socialist regime, but in the 1990s was marginalised in the interests of building a market economy and an independent Slovakia. Nevertheless a diverse and flexible range of groups existed by the late 1990s. The successive space-times allow analysis of the multiple and changing variables that influence the geography of social movements

The Anatomy of Memory Politics: A Formalist Analysis of Tate Britain’s ‘Artist and Empire’ and the Struggle over Britain’s Imperial Past

In this paper, I propose a new approach for understanding the meaning of memory politics, which draws upon the archetypal literary criticism of Northrop Frye. I suggest that the four archetypes elaborated by Frye—comedy, romance, tragedy, and satire—can be used as a heuristic device for interpreting the contested historical narratives that are associated with the politics of memory. I illustrate this approach through a case-study of Artists and Empire: Facing Britain’s Imperial Past, an exhibition held at Tate Britain in 2016, amidst increasing contestation over the meaning of the British Empire. In sum, I find that the exhibit narrated Britain’s imperial past as a comedy, in which a key theme was the progressive cultural mixing of the British and the people they colonized. To conclude, I discuss the implications of such a narrative for constructing an inclusive, postcolonial British identity. As an alternative, I draw on Aristotle to suggest that a tragic narrative would have been more propitious