On sacred ground:the political performance of religious responsibility

Parts of this paper were presented at the 2013 Annual Conference of the British Association for South Asian Studies (BASAS); at a ‘Post-War Sri Lanka’ workshop at the London School of Economics; and at a workshop on Muslims in Sri Lanka held at the University of Edinburgh.April 2012: In Dambulla, a bustling market town built around a crossroads on the northern cusp of Sri Lanka's central province, a mosque was attacked by a procession of protestors led by the chief priest of the nearby Buddhist temple. Ostensibly the protest was against the presence of the mosque on the grounds that it had been built in an exclusively Buddhist ‘sacred area’. Beginning with an empirical account of the attack on the Dambulla mosque, this paper argues that the preservation of what is deemed to be ‘sacred’ in Sri Lanka provides an effective idiom through which certain religious figures can intelligibly articulate political claims whilst maintaining critical distance from the dirty world of ‘Politics’. Corollary to this, and drawing on two years of ethnographic fieldwork in Dambulla, the paper explores the various different meanings of politics locally: highlighting the interplay of everyday politicking and high-profile political performance.Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)

Deficient Dopamine D2 Receptor Function Causes Renal Inflammation Independently of High Blood Pressure

Renal dopamine receptors participate in the regulation of blood pressure. Genetic factors, including polymorphisms of the dopamine D2 receptor gene (DRD2) are associated with essential hypertension, but the mechanisms of their contribution are incompletely understood. Mice lacking Drd2 (D2−/−) have elevated blood pressure, increased renal expression of inflammatory factors, and renal injury. We tested the hypothesis that decreased dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) function increases vulnerability to renal inflammation independently of blood pressure, is an immediate cause of renal injury, and contributes to the subsequent development of hypertension. In D2−/− mice, treatment with apocynin normalized blood pressure and decreased oxidative stress, but did not affect the expression of inflammatory factors. In mouse RPTCs Drd2 silencing increased the expression of TNFα and MCP-1, while treatment with a D2R agonist abolished the angiotensin II-induced increase in TNF-α and MCP-1. In uni-nephrectomized wild-type mice, selective Drd2 silencing by subcapsular infusion of Drd2 siRNA into the remaining kidney produced the same increase in renal cytokines/chemokines that occurs after Drd2 deletion, increased the expression of markers of renal injury, and increased blood pressure. Moreover, in mice with two intact kidneys, short-term Drd2 silencing in one kidney, leaving the other kidney undisturbed, induced inflammatory factors and markers of renal injury in the treated kidney without increasing blood pressure. Our results demonstrate that the impact of decreased D2R function on renal inflammation is a primary effect, not necessarily associated with enhanced oxidant activity, or blood pressure; renal damage is the cause, not the result, of hypertension. Deficient renal D2R function may be of clinical relevance since common polymorphisms of the human DRD2 gene result in decreased D2R expression and function

A novel approach for the generation of genetically modified mammary epithelial cell cultures yields new insights into TGF-beta signaling in the mammary gland

Abstract Introduction Molecular dissection of the signaling pathways that underlie complex biological responses in the mammary epithelium is limited by the difficulty of propagating large numbers of mouse mammary epithelial cells, and by the inability of ribonucleic acid interference-based knockdown approaches to fully ablate gene function. Here we describe a method for the generation of conditionally immortalized mammary epithelial cells with defined genetic defects, and we show how such cells can be used to investigate complex signal transduction processes using the transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ)/Smad pathway as an example. Methods We intercrossed the previously described H-2Kb-tsA58 transgenic mouse (Immortomouse), which expresses a temperature-sensitive mutant of the simian virus-40 large T-antigen (tsTAg), with mice of differing Smad genotypes. Conditionally immortalized mammary epithelial cell cultures were derived from the virgin mammary glands of offspring of these crosses and were used to assess the Smad dependency of different biological responses to TGFβ. Results IMECs could be propagated indefinitely at permissive temperatures and had a stable epithelial phenotype, resembling primary mammary epithelial cells with respect to several criteria, including responsiveness to TGFβ. Using this panel of cells, we demonstrated that Smad3, but not Smad2, is necessary for TGFβ-induced apoptotic, growth inhibitory and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition responses, whereas either Smad2 or Smad3 can support TGFβ-induced invasion as long as a threshold level of total Smad is exceeded. Conclusions The present work demonstrates the practicality and utility of generating conditionally immortalized mammary epithelial cell lines from genetically modified Immortomice for detailed investigation of complex signaling pathways in the mammary epithelium.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78285/1/bcr2728.xmlhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78285/2/bcr2728.pdfPeer Reviewe

Physical exercise and spatial training: A longitudinal study of effects on cognition, growth factors, and hippocampal plasticity

Physical exercise has been suggested to improve cognitive performance through various neurobiological mechanisms, mediated by growth factors such as BDNF, IGF-I, and VEGF. Moreover, animal research has demonstrated that combined physical and cognitive stimulation leads to increased adult neurogenesis as compared to either experimental condition alone. In the present study, we therefore investigated whether a sequential combination of physical and spatial training in young, healthy adults elicits an additive effect on training and transfer gains. To this end, we compared the effects of (i) eight 20-minute sessions of cycling, (ii) sixteen 30-minute sessions of spatial training, (iii) a combination of both, and included (iv) a passive control cohort. We assessed longitudinal changes in cognitive performance, growth factor levels, and T1 relaxation of hippocampal subfields (acquired with 7 T MRI). While substantial physical and spatial training gains were elicited in all trained groups, longitudinal transfer changes did not differ between these groups. Notably, we found no evidence for an additive effect of sequential physical and spatial training. These results challenge the extrapolation from the findings reported in animals to young, healthy adults

A Phase 1 Trial of MEC (Mitoxantrone, Etoposide, Cytarabine) in Combination with Ixazomib (MLN9708) for Relapsed/ Refractory Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)

Abstract Proteasome inhibitors (PIs) capitalize on the constitutive activation of NF-KB in AML cells and increase chemosensitivity to anthracyclines and cytarabine. We combined the second generation PI, ixazomib, with the standard AML salvage regimen of MEC (mitoxantrone, etoposide, cytarabine). The primary objectives of this study were to determine the dose limiting toxicity (DLT), maximum tolerated dose (MTD), and phase 2 dose of ixazomib in combination with MEC in relapsed/ refractory (R/R) AML. Secondary objectives included evaluating the efficacy of this combination and correlating response to the gene expression profile and CD74 expression, which may identify a subset of leukemias in which NF-KB is operative with increased sensitivity to PI (Attar et al. CCR 2008; 14: 1446-54). Methods: Patients (pts) were treated at Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals of Cleveland from Oct 2014 to present. An IND was approved by the FDA, and the protocol was approved by each institutional review board. Eligibility: age 18-70 yrs, R/R AML, and cardiac ejection fraction ≥ 45%. The fraction of blasts positive for CD74 was assessed by flow cytometry. Samples were stored for gene expression profiling pre- and post-treatment (at the time of response assessment). Pts received MEC: mitoxantrone (8 mg/ m2), etoposide (80 mg/m2), and cytarabine (1000 mg/m2) intravenous (IV) Days 1-6. Ixazomib, provided by Takeda, was given orally on Days 1, 4, 8, and 11 and was dose escalated using a standard 3x3 design. Dose levels (DLs): 1 (1.0 mg), 2 (2.0 mg), 3 (3.0 mg), 4 (3.7 mg). An additional 18 pts were to be treated at the MTD. One cycle of treatment was administered. Response was assessed by bone marrow aspirate/ biopsy by Day 45 and complete remission (CR) was defined by IWG criteria (Cheson 2006). Toxicities were graded according to NCI CTCAE v 4.03. Toxicities secondary to neutropenia or sepsis were not considered DLTs. DLTs included: (1) ≥ Grade 4 non-hematologic toxicity (NHT) with the exception of nausea, vomiting/ alopecia and drug-related fevers; (2) any ≥ Grade 3 neurologic toxicity; (3) grade 4 platelet or neutrophil count 50 days beyond the start of chemotherapy and not related to leukemia; (4) any Grade 4 NHT > grade 2 by 45 days beyond the start of chemotherapy. Grade 2, 3, and 4 hyperbilirubinemia were redefined as 1.5- 20 x ULN. Results: Of 23 pts enrolled, 22 are evaluable. The median age was 58 yrs (range 31-70), 12 (52%) were male and the median baseline WBC was 2.56 K/ uL (range 0.1-62.9). The median time from initial diagnosis to registration was 7.1 months (range 1.4-36.8) and 7 pts (30%) had a history of an antecedent hematologic disorder. Thirteen pts were in 1st relapse and 10 pts were refractory to their last therapy. One pt had received a prior allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (AHCT), 7 pts had FLT3 ITD mutations and 7/ 21 pts (33%) had adverse cytogenetics per CALGB 8461 criteria at the time of relapse. At DL1, 1 DLT occurred (grade 4 thrombocytopenia), so this DL was expanded to 6 pts. At DL2, 2 pts developed Grade 4 thrombocytopenia; therefore, the MTD of ixazomib was 1.0 mg. The most common grade 3-5 NHTs in the dose escalation phase were febrile neutropenia (100%), hypoalbuminemia (25%), hypokalemia (42%), hypotension (33%), and respiratory failure (33%). No adverse events in the dose escalation phase were attributed to ixazomib alone. The overall response rate was 55% [CR/ CR with incomplete count recovery (CRi)], and 9 pts proceeded to AHCT. Five of these 9 pts remain alive with a median follow-up of 12.8 months. Five pts had CD74 expression performed. Two pts had high levels of CD74 expression (> 80%); and both achieved CRi. Myeloid mutation panel data was available in 14 pts. Previous data has demonstrated the number of mutations in DNTMT3A, TP53, ASXL1, and NRAS (0, 1, >1) is associated with a worse response to salvage therapy (Advani et al, abstract 3825, ASH 2015). Seven pts had at least one of these mutations and 6 of the 7 achieved CR/ CRi. Conclusions: The combination of MEC and ixazomib was well-tolerated and produced an overall response rate of 55% in patients with relapsed/ refractory AML irrespective of molecular mutation status. The combination is safe with a similar toxicity profile to MEC alone. CD74 expression may represent a biomarker for response to this therapy. Results from gene expression profiling will be complete by the time of the meeting and will be presented. Disclosures Mukherjee: Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Ariad: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding. Caimi:Genentech: Speakers Bureau; Gilead: Consultancy; Roche: Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy. Maciejewski:Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Apellis Pharmaceuticals Inc: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau. Sekeres:Millenium/Takeda: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees