The Red and the Black II : retours croisés sur une expérience rituelle

International audienceIn the 1990s, Michael Houseman introduced in his courses an initiation ritual called The Red and the Black. Designed to be an experimental, pedagogical tool to study the interactional dynamics of ritual, it entailed having male candidates undergo a series of ordeals in the presence of a female audience. While intervening in the ritual, the females remained at a sufficient distance such that, as in « classic » initiation rites, certain aspects of these events remained beyond their grasp. A generation later, in 2018, a new version of the ritual emerged, incorporating a full-fledged female initiation. This did not however make gender relations any more symmetrical, for most of the men did not even realize that a female initiation had taken place, and the women were mindful not to tell them. Observant participation was employed here to better understand the sensory, affective, and cognitive workings of such asymmetries that are part of a set of spatial and interactional devices commonly used in initiation rites to polarize genders. The resulting multivocal article, written partially collectively and partially separately by the initiates and by the ritual’s initiators, sheds light on the ritual, pedagogical and ethnographic dimensions of this experiment, on the basis of the participants’ notes. Producing this document by gradually transforming scattered, personal notes, memories and thoughts into a collective, public text, also raised questions about the disclosure of secrets. In dealing with these various issues, this article seeks to elucidate the gender- and generation-based relations involved in this experience, by considering both what they make manifest and what they leave in the dark.Dans les années 1990, Michael Houseman avait introduit dans ses cours un rite d’initiation appelé The Red and the Black. Conçu comme un dispositif expérimental et pédagogique pour étudier les dynamiques interactionnelles du rituel, il consistait à faire passer à des candidats masculins une série d’épreuves en présence d’un public féminin qui, tout en intervenant dans le rituel, restait suffisamment mis à l’écart pour que, comme dans un rite initiatique « classique », une partie des événements lui échappe. Une génération plus tard, en 2018, une nouvelle version du rite vit le jour, qui intégrait un volet complet d’initiation féminine. Les rapports de genre ne devinrent pas pour autant plus symétriques : la plupart des hommes ne se rendirent même pas compte qu’une initiation féminine avait eu lieu et les femmes se gardèrent de les mettre au courant. Cette asymétrie s’inscrivait dans une série de dispositifs spatiaux et interactionnels que les rites initiatiques mobilisent habituellement pour polariser les genres, et dont il s’agissait de comprendre les ressorts (sensoriels, affectifs, cognitifs) par une expérience de participation observante. Rédigé tantôt collectivement, tantôt séparément par les initié.e.s et les initiateurs/initiatrice du rituel, cet article multi-perspectif essaie d’éclaircir la dynamique – rituelle, pédagogique et ethnographique – de cette expérience, en se fondant sur les comptes rendus des participant.e.s. En transformant graduellement ces notes, souvenirs et réflexions personnels, intimes et dispersés en un texte collectif et public, la production de cet article soulève ainsi également la question du dévoilement de secrets. Il tente, ce faisant, d’élucider les rapports entre les genres et entre les générations mobilisés dans cette expérience, aussi bien par ce qu’ils donnent à voir que par ce qu’ils laissent dans l’ombre

Aquaporin-4 and GPRC5B: old and new players in controlling brain oedema

Brain oedema is a life-threatening complication of various neurological conditions. Understanding molecular mechanisms of brain volume regulation is critical for therapy development. Unique insight comes from monogenic diseases characterized by chronic brain oedema, of which megalencephalic leukoencephalopathy with subcortical cysts (MLC) is the prototype. Variants in MLC1 or GLIALCAM, encoding proteins involved in astrocyte volume regulation, are the main causes of MLC. In some patients the genetic cause remains unknown. We performed genetic studies to identify novel gene variants in MLC patients, diagnosed by clinical and MRI features, without MLC1 or GLIALCAM variants. We determined subcellular localization of the related novel proteins in cells and in human brain tissue. We investigated functional consequences of the newly identified variants on volume regulation pathways using cell volume measurements, biochemical analysis and electrophysiology. We identified a novel homozygous variant in AQP4, encoding the water channel aquaporin-4, in two siblings, and two de novo heterozygous variants in GPRC5B, encoding the orphan G protein-coupled receptor GPRC5B, in three unrelated patients. The AQP4 variant disrupts membrane localization and thereby channel function. GPRC5B, like MLC1, GlialCAM and aquaporin-4, is expressed in astrocyte endfeet in human brain. Cell volume regulation is disrupted in GPRC5B patient-derived lymphoblasts. GPRC5B functionally interacts with ion channels involved in astrocyte volume regulation. In conclusion, we identify aquaporin-4 and GPRC5B as old and new players in genetic brain oedema. Our findings shed light on the protein complex involved in astrocyte volume regulation and identify GPRC5B as novel potentially druggable target for treating brain oedema

Aquaporin-4 and GPRC5B: old and new players in controlling brain oedema

Brain oedema is a life-threatening complication of various neurological conditions. Understanding molecular mechanisms of brain volume regulation is critical for therapy development. Unique insight comes from monogenic diseases characterized by chronic brain oedema, of which megalencephalic leukoencephalopathy with subcortical cysts (MLC) is the prototype. Variants in MLC1 or GLIALCAM, encoding proteins involved in astrocyte volume regulation, are the main causes of MLC. In some patients the genetic cause remains unknown. We performed genetic studies to identify novel gene variants in MLC patients, diagnosed by clinical and MRI features, without MLC1 or GLIALCAM variants. We determined subcellular localization of the related novel proteins in cells and in human brain tissue. We investigated functional consequences of the newly identified variants on volume regulation pathways using cell volume measurements, biochemical analysis and electrophysiology. We identified a novel homozygous variant in AQP4, encoding the water channel aquaporin-4, in two siblings, and two de novo heterozygous variants in GPRC5B, encoding the orphan G protein-coupled receptor GPRC5B, in three unrelated patients. The AQP4 variant disrupts membrane localization and thereby channel function. GPRC5B, like MLC1, GlialCAM and aquaporin-4, is expressed in astrocyte endfeet in human brain. Cell volume regulation is disrupted in GPRC5B patient-derived lymphoblasts. GPRC5B functionally interacts with ion channels involved in astrocyte volume regulation. In conclusion, we identify aquaporin-4 and GPRC5B as old and new players in genetic brain oedema. Our findings shed light on the protein complex involved in astrocyte volume regulation and identify GPRC5B as novel potentially druggable target for treating brain oedema