Intégration. Réfugiés dans quartier résidentiel

Affluant en l'Europe, le nombre de réfugiés des pays affectés par des conflits politiques ne cesse d'augmenter. La question de l'intégration de ces migrants est au coeur des discussions politiques, et pourtant les réponses proposées ne sont toujours pas satisfaisantes. En effet, l'hébergement des réfugiés en périphérie, dans des baraques ou des casernes abandonnées – la solution habituellement prisée – n'aide pas à l'intégration et la rend, au contraire, d'autant plus difficile, voire impossible. Quelle serait la situation si les migrants pouvaient partager les quartiers résidentiels des habitants locaux? Cela baisserait-il la vague de mécontentement des locaux envers les nouveaux arrivés? Comment fonctionnerait une telle coexistance dans les quartiers centraux de nos villes? Cette idée est imaginée dans le quartier bernois de la “Lorraine“. Une cour, bordée de fonctions publiques et communautaires pouvant être utilisées par les migrants et les locaux, crée un nouvel espace public dans la zone bâtie existante. La cour permet des échanges tant au niveau matériel que social: un échange de travail, de marchandise, de connaissance et de culture. Aux étages supérieurs, les colocations cohabitées par les migrants et les résidents locaux permettent cette fois un échange dans un environnement plus privatif. Le projet offre aux réfugiés la possibilité de s'intégrer activement et de manière constructive à la vie quotidienne de la nouvelle culture, et permet parallèlement aux habitants du quartier de profiter des savoir-faire des nouveaux venus

Glycoalkaloids in potato tubers: The effect of peeling and cooking in salted water

The important glycoalkaloids in potatoes are α-solanine and α-chaconine. Their natural function is probably to serve as stress metabolites or phytoalexins for the protection of the potato when attacked by insects, fungi, etc. They contribute flavour to potatoes but at higher concentrations cause bitterness and are toxic to humans. α-Solanine and α-chaconine appear to have two main toxic actions, one on cell membranes and another one on acetylcholinesterase. Symptoms of α-solanine/α-chaconine poisoning involve an acute gastrointestinal upset with diarrhea, vomiting and severe abdominal pain. An instrumental high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) method was applied for the quantification of α-solanine and α-chaconine in peeled potato skin, raw potato pulp and cooked peeled potato tubers. The limit of quantification (LOQ) for α-solanine and α-chaconine was found to be 5.0 mg kg−1 for each glycoalkaloid. In this study the factors of potential loss of α-solanine and α-chaconine in potato tubers during peeling (factor=0.8) and cooking into edible stage in salted water (factor=0.8) were examined. The combined loss factor of peeling and cooking for sum of both glycoalkaloids in potato tubers was 0.64. These factors were practically used for the probabilistic exposure assessment of the intake of potato glycoalkaloids in the Czech Republic

Cardiac Troponins are Among Targets of Doxorubicin-Induced Cardiotoxicity in hiPCS-CMs

Modern diagnostic strategies for early recognition of cancer therapeutics-related cardiac dysfunction involve cardiac troponins measurement. Still, the role of other markers of cardiotoxicity is still unclear. The present study was designed to investigate dynamics of response of human cardiomyocytes derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPCS-CMs) to doxorubicin with the special emphasis on their morphological changes in relation to expression and organization of troponins. The hiPCS-CMs were treated with doxorubicin concentrations (1 and 0.3 µM) for 48 h and followed for next up to 6 days. Exposure of hiPCS-CMs to 1 µM doxorubicininduced suppression of both cardiac troponin T (cTnT) and cardiac troponin I (cTnI) gene expression. Conversely, lower 0.3 µM doxorubicin concentration produced no significant changes in the expression of aforementioned genes. However, the intracellular topography, arrangement, and abundance of cardiac troponin proteins markedly changed after both doxorubicin concentrations. In particular, at 48 h of treatment, both cTnT and cTnI bundles started to reorganize, with some of them forming compacted shapes extending outwards and protruding outside the cells. At later intervals (72 h and onwards), the whole troponin network collapsed and became highly disorganized following, to some degree, overall changes in the cellular shape. Moreover, membrane permeability of cardiomyocytes was increased, and intracellular mitochondrial network rearranged and hypofunctional. Together, our results demonstrate complex effects of clinically relevant doxorubicin concentrations on hiPCS-CM cells including changes in cTnT and cTnI, but also in other cellular compartments contributing to the overall cytotoxicity of this class of cytostatics

Selected Aspects of Chemoresistance Mechanisms in Colorectal Carcinoma—A Focus on Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition, Autophagy, and Apoptosis

Chemoresistance has been found in all malignant tumors including colorectal carcinoma (CRC). Nowadays chemoresistance is understood as a major reason for therapy failure, with consequent tumor growth and spreading leading ultimately to the patient’s premature death. The chemotherapy-related resistance of malignant colonocytes may be manifested in diverse mechanisms that may exist both prior to the onset of the therapy or after it. The ultimate function of this chemoresistance is to ensure the survival of malignant cells through continuing adaptation within an organism, therefore, the nature and spectrum of cell-survival strategies in CRC represent a highly significant target of scientific inquiry. Among these survival strategies employed by CRC cells, three unique but significantly linked phenomena stand out—epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), autophagy, and cell death. In this mini-review, current knowledge concerning all three mechanisms including their emergence, timeline, regulation, and mutual relationships will be presented and discussed

Ochratoxin A Dietary Exposure of Ten Population Groups in the Czech Republic: Comparison with Data over the World

Ochratoxin A is a nephrotoxic and renal carcinogenic mycotoxin and is a common contaminant of various food commodities. Eighty six kinds of foodstuffs (1032 food samples) were collected in 2011–2013. High-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection was used for ochratoxin A determination. Limit of quantification of the method varied between 0.01–0.2 μg/kg depending on the food matrices. The most exposed population is children aged 4–6 years old. Globally for this group, the maximum ochratoxin A dietary exposure for “average consumer” was estimated at 3.3 ng/kg bw/day (lower bound, considering the analytical values below the limit of quantification as 0) and 3.9 ng/kg bw/day (middle bound, considering the analytical values below the limit of quantification as 1/2 limit of quantification). Important sources of exposure for this latter group include grain-based products, confectionery, meat products and fruit juice. The dietary intake for “high consumers” in the group 4–6 years old was estimated from grains and grain-based products at 19.8 ng/kg bw/day (middle bound), from tea at 12.0 ng/kg bw/day (middle bound) and from confectionery at 6.5 ng/kg bw/day (middle bound). For men aged 18–59 years old beer was the main contributor with an intake of 2.60 ng/kg bw/day (“high consumers”, middle bound). Tea and grain-based products were identified to be the main contributors for dietary exposure in women aged 18–59 years old. Coffee and wine were identified as a higher contributor of the OTA intake in the population group of women aged 18–59 years old compared to the other population groups

The Evaluation of Glioblastoma Cell Dissociation and Its Influence on Its Behavior

Purpose: Primary cell lines are a valuable tool for evaluation of tumor behavior or sensitivity to anticancer treatment and appropriate dissociation of cells could preserve genomic profile of the original tissue. The main aim of our study was to compare the influence of two methods of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) cell derivation (mechanic—MD; enzymatic—ED) on basic biological properties of thus derived cells and correlate them to the ones obtained from stabilized GBM cell line A-172. Methods: Cell proliferation and migration (xCELLigence Real-Time Cell Analysis), expression of microRNAs and protein markers (RT-PCR and Western blotting), morphology (phase contrast and fluorescent microscopy), and accumulation of temozolomide (TMZ) and its metabolite 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide (AIC) inside the cells (LC-MS analysis) were carried out in five different samples of GBM (GBM1, GBM2, GBM32, GBM33, GBM34), with each of them processed by MD and ED types of isolations. The same analyses were done in the A-172 cell line too. Results: Primary GBM cells obtained by ED or MD approaches significantly differ in biological behavior and properties of these cells. Unlike in primary MD GBM cells, higher proliferation, as well as migration, was observed in primary ED GBM cells, which were also associated with the acquired mesenchymal phenotype and higher sensitivity to TMZ. Finally, the same analyses of stabilized GBM cell line A-172 revealed several important differences in measured parameters. Conclusions: GBM cells obtained by MD and ED dissociation show considerable heterogeneity, but based on our results, MD approach should be the preferred method of primary GBM cell isolatio

Role of N-Cadherin in Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition and Chemosensitivity of Colon Carcinoma Cells

(1) Background: N-cadherin expression, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and aggressive biological phenotype of tumor cells are linked although the underlying mechanisms are not entirely clear. (2) Methods: In this study, we used two different in vitro cell models with varying N-cadherin expression (stabilized lines and primocultures) and investigated their select biological features including the degree of their chemoresistance both in vitro as well as in vivo. (3) Results: We report that although enforced N-cadherin expression changes select morphological and behavioral characteristics of exposed cells, it fails to successfully reprogram cells to the aggressive, chemoresistant phenotype both in vitro as well as in vivo as verified by implantation of those cells into athymic mice. Conversely, primocultures of patient-colonic cells with naturally high levels of N-cadherin expression show fully aggressive and chemoresistant phenotype pertinent to EMT (in vitro and in vivo), with a potential to develop new mutations and in the presence of dysregulated regulatory pathways as represented by investigated miRNA profiles. (4) Conclusions: The presented results bring new facts concerning the functional axis of N-cadherin expression and related biological features of colon cancer cells and highlight colon cancer primocultures as a useful model for such studies

Mycobiota of grapes collected in Hungarian and Czech vineyards in 2004

Ochratoxin A is a mycotoxin produced by Aspergillus and Penicillium species. This mycotoxin is a common contaminant of various foods including cereal products, spices, dried vine fruits, coffee, cocoa, beer and wine. Apart from cereal products, beer and wine contribute significantly to ochratoxin exposure of humans. In the Mediterranean region of Europe, the black Aspergillus species are the sources of ochratoxin contamination of grape products. In this study, we examined the source of ochratoxin contamination of grapes in Hungary and the Czech Republic. The mycobiota of grape berries from 25 Hungarian and Czech vineyards was examined. Potential ochratoxin producing fungi were only identified in grapes from Southern Hungary. Among the 16 black Aspergillus strains isolated, 12 belong to the A. niger species, and 10 produced small amounts (1.5–10 μg kg−1) of ochratoxin A in a liquid medium. We could also identify an A. tubingensis isolate which produced 3.5 μg kg−1 ochratoxin A in a liquid medium at pH 6.0. However, the amount of ochratoxin A produced was very low even in a medium which is favourable for mycotoxin production, and ochratoxin A was not detected in any of the grape juice, must and wine samples examined, indicating the absence of health hazard to costumers. Other potentially toxigenic fungi including Aspergillus flavus, Penicillium expansum and Alternaria species were also isolated. Further studies are in progress to evaluate the importance of these fungi in food safety