The Specificity of Peptides Bound to Human Histocompatibility Leukocyte Antigen (HLA)-B27 Influences the Prevalence of Arthritis in HLA-B27 Transgenic Rats

Human histocompatibility leukocyte antigen B27 is highly associated with the rheumatic diseases termed spondyloarthropathies, but the mechanism is not known. B27 transgenic rats develop a spontaneous disease resembling the human spondyloarthropathies that includes arthritis and colitis. To investigate whether this disease requires the binding of specific peptides to B27, we made a minigene construct in which a peptide from influenza nucleoprotein, NP383-391 (SRYWAIRTR), which binds B27 with high affinity, is targeted directly to the ER by the signal peptide of the adenovirus E3/gp19 protein. Rats transgenic for this minigene, NP1, were made and bred with B27 rats. The production of the NP383-391 peptide in B27+NP1+ rats was confirmed immunologically and by mass spectrometry. The NP1 product displaced ∼90% of the 3H-Arg-labeled endogenous peptide fraction in B27+NP1+ spleen cells. Male B27+NP1+ rats had a significantly reduced prevalence of arthritis, compared with B27+NP− males or B27+ males with a control construct, NP2, whereas colitis was not significantly affected by the NP1 transgene. These findings support the hypothesis that B27-related arthritis requires binding of a specific peptide or set of peptides to B27, and they demonstrate a method for efficient transgenic targeting of peptides to the ER

Thinking through Errance: Journeying and Waiting among African Travelers in Quito and Dakar

RESUMEN: A partir del cambio de milenio, Ecuador se ha convertido en un lugar de paso, pero también de residencia para migrantes de diferentes países del mundo. Mientras que la fuerza de atracción de este país proviene de requisitos migratorios flexibles como resultado de una política de ciudadanía universal, las condiciones económicas no estimulan la posibilidad de quedarse. Este artículo tiene como punto de partida una reflexión previa sobre el concepto errancia que surgió de un acercamiento a las historias de africanos que esperaban en Dakar (Senegal) para continuar el viaje fuera de su continente. Contrastamos esta experiencia con la de otros africanos que han atravesado el Atlántico y han llegado a Quito. Dos opciones se presentan a estos últimos: continuar el viaje hacia Estados Unidos o quedarse. En ambos casos, las políticas migratorias, el valor de los papeles (pasaportes y visas) y las formas de socialidad influyen en su experiencia como viajeros. En el caso de quienes continúan el viaje hacia Estados Unidos,los riesgos de la travesía se convierten en pruebas de aptitud para recibir asilo.ABSTRACT: Since the beginning of the 21st century, Ecuador has been a point of transit but also of residence for migrants from around the world. While the attraction of this country resides in the flexible regulations of migration which stem from its policy of universal citizenship, the economic conditions there do not encourage migrants to stay. The starting point of this article is a previous study of the concept of errance which emerged from listening to the stories of Africans who were waiting in Dakar, Senegal, as they sought a way to leave from the continent from Africa. The article contrasts their experiences with those of other Africans who manage to cross the Atlantic and land in Quito. There are two options available for them: to either continue the journey toward the United States or remain in Ecuador. In both cases, migration policies, immigration papers and socialities are factors which shape their experience as travelers. For those who continue on their journey to the United States, the risks they run become a proof of their worthiness to be granted asylum

Sujetos políticos migrantes y el dilema de la naturalización. ¿Variaciones posnacionales?

In the struggle for access to political rights and full citizenship in their countries of destination, migrants are frequently faced with arguments remanding them to the traditional mechanism of nationalization or naturalization, by means of which their situation is resolved through inclusion based on a political topos defined in national terms. This article explores some subjectivation processes involved in the choice/decision of whether to become naturalized (or not) on the part of migrants who define themselves as political subjects. For this purpose, the article analyzes aseries of interviews of members of a network of migrant leaders in Argentina from a post-foundational perspective, showing the nuances in their conceptions regarding the possibility of post-national citizenship, and some of the paradoxes of political identification processes in the current context of human mobility