Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley-Blackwell
Résumé : International audience
UNLABELLED: Interleukin (IL)-33, a member of the IL-1 cytokine family, positively correlates with acute hepatitis and chronic liver failure in mice and humans. IL-33 is expressed in hepatocytes and is regulated by natural killer T (NKT) cells during concanavalin A (ConA)-induced acute liver injury. Here, we investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying the expression of IL-33 during acute hepatitis. The expression of IL-33 and its regulation by death receptor pathways was investigated after the induction of ConA-acute hepatitis in wildtype (WT), perforin(-/-) , tumor necrosis factor related apoptosis inducing ligand (TRAIL)(-/-) , and NKT cell-deficient (CD1d(-/-) ) mice. In addition, we used a model of acute liver injury by administering Jo2/Fas-antibody or D-galactosamine-tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) in WT mice. Finally, the effect of TRAIL on IL-33 expression was assessed in primary cultured murine hepatocytes. We show that IL-33 expression in hepatocytes is partially controlled by perforin during acute liver injury, but not by TNFα or Fas ligand (FasL). Interestingly, the expression of IL-33 in hepatocytes is blocked during ConA-acute hepatitis in TRAIL-deficient mice compared to WT mice. In contrast, administration of recombinant murine TRAIL associated with ConA-priming in CD1d-deficient mice or in vitro stimulation of murine hepatocytes by TRAIL but not by TNFα or Jo2 induced IL-33 expression in hepatocytes. The IL-33-deficient mice exhibited more severe ConA liver injury than WT controls, suggesting a protective effect of IL-33 in ConA-hepatitis. CONCLUSION: The expression of IL-33 during acute hepatitis is dependent on TRAIL, but not on FasL or TNFα.
ISSN: 0270-9139

hal-00874194
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00874194
PUBMED : 22961755
DOI : 10.1002/hep.25893

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
Grain deviations and high extractives content are common features of many tropical woods. We aimed at clarifying their respective impact on vibrational properties, referring to African Padauk (Pterocarpus soyauxii Taub.), a species selected for its interlocked grain, high extractives content, and uses in xylophones. Specimens were cut parallel to the trunk axis (L), and local variations in grain angle (GA), microfibril angle (MFA), specific Young's modulus (E'L/ρ, where r stands for specific gravity) and damping coefficient (tanδL), were measured. GA dependence was analyzed by a mechanical model which allowed to identify the specific Young's modulus (E'3/ρ) and shear modulus (G'/ρ) along the grain (3), as well as their corresponding damping coefficients (tanδ3, tanδG). This analysis was done for native and then for extracted wood. Interlocked grain resulted in 0-25° GA and in variations of a factor 2 in E'L/ρ and tanδL. Along the grain, Padauk wood was characterized, as compared to typical hardwoods, by a somewhat lower E'3/ρ and elastic anisotropy (E'/G'), due to a wide microfibril angle plus a small weight effect of extracts; and a very low tanδ3 and moderate damping anisotropy (tanδG/tanδ3). Extraction affected mechanical parameters in the order: tanδ3 ≈ tanδG > G'/ρ >> E'3/ρ. That is, extractives' effects were nearly isotropic on damping but clearly anisotropic on storage moduli.
ISSN: 0043-7719

hal-00544382
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00544382
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00544382/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00544382/file/Identification_anisotropic_vibrational_properties_Bremaud_al.pdf
DOI : 10.1007/s00226-010-0348-0

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
More than 10 years of geodetic measurements demonstrate an uplift rate of 1–3 mm/yr of the high topography region of the Western Alps. By contrast, no significant horizontal motion has been detected. Two uplift mechanisms have been proposed: (1) the isostatic response to denudation responsible for only a fraction of the observed uplift and (2) the rebound induced by the Wurmian ice cap melting which predicts a broader uplifting region than the one evidenced by geodetic observations. Using a numerical model to fit the geodetic data, we show that a crustal viscosity contrast between the foreland and the central part of the Alps, the latter being weaker with a viscosity of 1021 Pa s, is needed. The vertical rates are enhanced if the strong uppermost mantle beneath the Moho is interrupted across the Alps, therefore allowing a weak vertical rheological anomaly over the entire lithosphere.
ISSN: 0094-8276

hal-01332757
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01332757
DOI : 10.1002/2016GL067821

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Although first-order rate constants are basic ingredients of physical chemistry, biochemistry and systems modeling, their innermost nature is derived from complex physical chemistry mechanisms. The present study suggests that equivalent conclusions can be more straightly obtained from simple statistics. The different facets of kinetic constants are first classified and clarified with respect to time and energy and the equivalences between traditional flux rate and modern probabilistic modeling are summarized. Then, a naive but rigorous approach is proposed to concretely perceive how the Arrhenius law naturally emerges from the geometric distribution. It appears that (1) the distribution in time of chemical events as well as (2) their mean frequency, are both dictated by randomness only and as such, are accurately described by time-based and spatial exponential processes respectively.
Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications

hal-00845518
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00845518
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00845518v2/document
ARXIV : 1307.4583
DOI : 10.1016/j.physa.2013.05.036

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : We investigate experimentally the alteration of fractured class-G cement flowed by CO2-rich brine. The experiment mimics a mechanically damaged rough-walled fractured cement annulus at temperature 60 °C and pressure 10 MPa. The experiment consists of flowing a reservoir-equilibrated brine mixed with CO2 (partial pressure of 2.3 MPa) through the fracture of average aperture 14 μm at constant flow rate (100 μL min−1). This flow rate corresponds to pressure gradient representative of an average in situ hydrodynamic condition. Results indicate an intense alteration of the cement with a large removal of mass at the scale of the sample. However, the fracture alteration patterns are triggered by the initial heterogeneity of the fracture aperture; the aperture of the low aperture zones tends to decrease due to calcite precipitation whereas preferential paths develop in the zones of higher aperture associated. Nevertheless, the expected large permeability increase triggered by the mass removal is mitigated by the precipitation of a low density Si-rich amorphous material. The alteration rate will decrease with time because of the increasing distance of diffusion between the fracture where the reactants are actively renewed by advection and the portlandite and C-S-H dissolution fronts. The different zones of reaction can be adequately modeled by a simple 1D diffusion-reaction model using published kinetics coefficients and extrapolation to larger times than the experiment time can be drawn. Altogether, and in addition to the previous studies of the alteration of fractured well cement annulus, this study shows that the leakage potential is strongly controlled by the initial distribution of the aperture along the fracture: low aperture zones will tend to self-heal while localized flow in connected high aperture paths will be perennial.
ISSN: 1750-5836

hal-01346006
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01346006
DOI : 10.1016/j.ijggc.2016.01.032

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Nature Publishing Group
Résumé : International audience
Temperature and fluid pressure conditions control rock deformation and mineralization on geological faults, and hence the distribution of earthquakes1. Typical intraplate continental crust has hydrostatic fluid pressure and a near-surface thermal gradient of 31 ± 15 degrees Celsius per kilometre2, 3. At temperatures above 300–450 degrees Celsius, usually found at depths greater than 10–15 kilometres, the intra-crystalline plasticity of quartz and feldspar relieves stress by aseismic creep and earthquakes are infrequent. Hydrothermal conditions control the stability of mineral phases and hence frictional–mechanical processes associated with earthquake rupture cycles, but there are few temperature and fluid pressure data from active plate-bounding faults. Here we report results from a borehole drilled into the upper part of the Alpine Fault, which is late in its cycle of stress accumulation and expected to rupture in a magnitude 8 earthquake in the coming decades4, 5. The borehole (depth 893 metres) revealed a pore fluid pressure gradient exceeding 9 ± 1 per cent above hydrostatic levels and an average geothermal gradient of 125 ± 55 degrees Celsius per kilometre within the hanging wall of the fault. These extreme hydrothermal conditions result from rapid fault movement, which transports rock and heat from depth, and topographically driven fluid movement that concentrates heat into valleys. Shear heating may occur within the fault but is not required to explain our observations. Our data and models show that highly anomalous fluid pressure and temperature gradients in the upper part of the seismogenic zone can be created by positive feedbacks between processes of fault slip, rock fracturing and alteration, and landscape development at plate-bounding faults.
ISSN: 0028-0836

hal-01685757
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01685757
DOI : 10.1038/nature22355

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier Masson
Résumé : Contaminant migration in aquifers is one of the most debated issues in hydrogeology, as most experimental results display large deviations from the standard (asymptotic) Fickian dispersion theories. Multi-scale investigation and high-resolution sensors are required to determine the origin of non-asymptotic dispersion and validate models. For this, a set of multi-scale Single-Well Injection-Withdrawal (SWIW) tracer tests using a new dual-packer probe CoFIS, including a high resolution optical sensor TELog, are presented. When compared to standard techniques such as salinity measurements, it is shown that high-resolution optical measurements allow an improved characterization of the long-lasting non-asymptotic dispersion mechanisms.
ISSN: 1631-0713

hal-00445250
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00445250
DOI : 10.1016/j.crte.2009.07.012

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
This study constitutes one of the few works conducted on the colonization of recent lava flows by fish communities in coral reef environment. It attempted to describe the mechanisms of colonization and environmental variables infuencing the structure of communities on the lava flows of the Piton de la Fournaise volcano at Reunion Island. It also proposed some hypotheses on the mechanisms of selection and speciation of endemic species of thesouthwestern Indian Ocean region, particularly diversified on the most recent lava flows of the Piton de la Fournaise, and provided a model of distribution of environmental and fish assemblage variables in four homogeneous patterns of colonization (landscapes) retained within the study area. The results showed fish community structure strongly related to measured environmental variables, of which depth, width of the island shelf, age of the lava flow and distance to the most recent lava flow were the most influential. It also appeared that the maximum endemic species richness was measured on the shallower stations, with narrow insular shelf, located on recent lava flows, near the lava flow from the eruption of 2007 (latest volcanic event). These characteristics define a harsh environment, to which endemic species seem well-adapted due in particular to their strong demographic and dietary flexibility. Finally, the patterns of colonization were characterized by significantly different environmental variables. The four homogeneous areas, defined by two geomorphological features, basalt blocks and drop-offs, nested within two locations, inside and outside the volcanic enclosure (current caldera), hosted fish communities whose dominant diets mainly depend on the nature, the abundance and the accessibility of available food resources. Overall, the study highlights that during early stages of ecological succession, site selection by fish communities is highly dependent on environmental constraints, specially of volcanic origin, but the physical habitat selection (geomorphology, substrate rugosity, percentage of soft substrate) seems to have littleimportance, while at least on the trophic structure and the distribution of endemic species.
ISSN: 0022-0981

hal-01253768
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01253768
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01253768/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01253768/file/Pinault%20et%20al.%20-%202014%20-%20Fish%20community%20structure%20in%20relation%20to%20environmen_hal.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.jembe.2014.06.005

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé : International audience
The Ronda peridotite supplies one of the best objects to document subcontinental mantle deformation, but its internal deformation and exhumation mechanisms remain controversial. Here we provide new structural data and numerical results that constrain the Oligocene-Miocene deformation history of the Ronda massif. We first describe a mantle shear zone in the northern massif that developed subcrustal strain localization during decompression and related partial melting. The deformation regime of this mantle shear zone evolved from penetrative NE-SW stretching to sinistral shear highlighted by discrete shear bands. We then show structural observations that document a viscous deformation in the southern massif occurring prior to the thrust-assisted emplacement of the peridotite during large decompression. Finally, we performed numerical investigations that quantify a high temperature of 980°C for the basal peridotite lens at the time of its crustal emplacement. Our numerical results constrain the timing of ductile deformation of the peridotite just before 22 Ma, probably between 30 and 22 Ma. Altogether, these features led us to conclude that the deformation and exhumation of the Ronda peridotite results from lithosphere thinning subsequently inverted in the course of the Oligocene-Miocene. Among available models, our findings support the hypothesis of peridotite exhumation by the inversion of a thinned back-arc continental lithosphere during westward slab rollback through the Alboran region.
ISSN: 0278-7407

insu-00924180
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00924180
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00924180/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00924180/file/tect20062.pdf
DOI : 10.1002/tect.20062

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
A hallmark of living systems is the management and the storage of information through genetic and epigenetic mechanisms. Although the notion of epigenetics was originally given to any regulation beyond DNA sequence, it has often been restricted to chromatin modifications, supposed to behave as cis-markers, specifying the sets of genes to be expressed or repressed. This definition does not take into account the initial view of epigenetics, based on nonlinear interaction networks whose "attractors" can remain stable without need for any chromatin mark. In addition, most chromatin modifications are the steady state resultants of highly dynamic modification and de-modification activities and, as such, seem poorly appropriate to work as long-term memory keepers. Instead, the basic support of epigenetic memory could remain the attractors, to which chromatin modifications belong as do many other components. The influence of chromatin modifications in memory is highly questionable when envisioned as static structural marks, but can be recovered under the dynamic circuitry perspective, thanks to their self-templating properties. Beside their standard repressive or permissive functions, chromatin modifications can also influence transcription in multiple ways such as: (1) by randomizing or inversely stabilizing gene expression, (2) by mediating cooperativity between pioneer and secondary transcription factors, and (3) in the hysteresis and the ultrasensitivity of gene expression switches, allowing the cells to take unambiguous transcriptional decisions.
ISSN: 1420-682X

hal-01063617
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01063617
DOI : 10.1007/s00018-012-0923-7
PUBMED : 22331281

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD SPRINGER
Résumé : International audience
A key question in evolutionary biology is the reproducibility of adaptation. This question can now be quantitatively analyzed using experimental evolution coupled to whole genome sequencing (WGS). With complete sequence data, one can assess convergence among replicate populations. In turn, convergence reflects the action of natural selection and also the breadth of the field of possible adaptive solutions. That is, it provides insight into how many genetic solutions or adaptive paths may lead to adaptation in a given environment. Convergence is both a property of an adaptive landscape and, reciprocally, a tool to study that landscape. In this chapter we present the links between convergence and the properties of adaptive landscapes with respect to two types of microbial experimental evolution. The first tries to reconstruct a full adaptive landscape using a handful of carefully identified mutations (the reductionist approach), while the second uses WGS of replicate experiments to infer properties of the adaptive landscape. Reductionist approaches have highlighted the importance of epistasis in shaping the adaptive landscape, but have also uncovered a wide diversity of landscape architectures. The WGS approach has uncovered a very high diversity of beneficial mutations that affect a limited set of genes or functions and also suggests some shortcomings of the reductionist approach. We conclude that convergence may be better defined at an integrated level, such as the genic level or even at a phenotypic level, and that integrated mechanistic models derived from systems biology may offer an interesting perspective for the analysis of convergence at all levels.
ECOLOGICAL GENOMICS: ECOLOGY AND THE EVOLUTION OF GENES AND GENOMES

ISBN : 978-94-007-7347-9; 978-94-007-7346-2
hal-01544757
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01544757
DOI : 10.1007/978-94-007-7347-9__11

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé :  
A closed depression is defined as a geomorphologic element where a sediment depository is encircled by hillslopes. Despite the fact that closed depressions are often the only stagnant water points in many European landscapes, few ecological researches on their plant assemblages have been done. The main goal of this study was to give first results of the environmental factors responsible for the vegetation composition, richness and rarity in the closed depressions of the Lorraine biogeographical district (Belgium, France and grand-duche de Luxembourg). We surveyed for plant presence 85 forest and 77 grassland closed depressions. For each site, wetland area, local environmental factors and regional connectivities registered. For each species, the Ellenberg values were compiled. To investigate the main source of variation in species composition and in species richness (including richness in rare species), Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling analyses and Generalized Linear Models were respectively used. Species pools in forest (forest and preforest species) and in grassland (bog plants, pioneers, helophytes) were quite different. In both landscapes, a gradient from plants typical of basic high-productive soils to plants typical of acid low-productive soils reflects a shared successional gradient. The accumulation of organic matter allowed the establishment of Sphagnum spp., which slowly acidified the soil and thus acted as ecosystem engineers for the arrival of bog plants. Moreover, the species composition was additionally driven by the plant light tolerance in forests and by the plant water requirements in grasslands. Mechanisms of species accumulation (increase in species richness) were different in forests and in grasslands: respectively related to the plant light tolerance and to the wetland area. At the regional level, the averaged soil productivity was negatively related to the richness in rare species. Indeed, perennial highly-competitive plants such as Glyceria spp., Iris pseudacorus or Urtica dioica impeded the establishment of smaller and rarer species. At the habitat level, isolated closed depressions (due to either low connectivity or low grazing pressure) have more habitat rare species, giving evidences of dispersal limitation in plant assemblages of closed depressions.
7th INTECOL International Wetland Conference
Utrecht, Netherlands

hal-01032381
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032381

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Résumé : International audience
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) such as benzo(a)pyrene (B(a)P) are widely distributed environmental contaminants, known as potent ligands of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR). These chemicals trigger an early and transient increase of intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca(2+)](i)), required for AhR-related effects of PAHs. The mechanisms involved in this calcium mobilization were investigated in the present study. We demonstrated that B(a)P-mediated [Ca(2+)](i) induction was prevented in endothelial HMEC-1 cells by counteracting β2-adrenoreceptor (β2ADR) activity using pharmacological antagonists, anti-β2ADR antibodies, or siRNA-mediated knockdown of β2ADR expression; by contrast, it was strongly potentiated by β2ADR overexpression in human kidney HEK293 cells. B(a)P was shown, moreover, to directly bind to β2ADR, as assessed by in vitro binding assays and molecular modeling. Pharmacological inhibition and/or siRNA-mediated silencing of various signaling actors acting downstream of β2ADR in a sequential manner, such as G protein, adenylyl cyclase, Epac-1 protein, and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP(3))/IP(3) receptor, were next demonstrated to prevent B(a)P-induced calcium signal. Inhibition or knockdown of these signaling elements, as well as the use of chemical β-blockers, were finally shown to counteract B(a)P-mediated induction of cytochrome P-450 1B1, a prototypical AhR target gene. Taken together, our results show that B(a)P binds directly to β2ADR and consequently utilizes β2ADR machinery to mobilize [Ca(2+)](i), through activation of a G protein/adenylyl cyclase/cAMP/Epac-1/IP(3) pathway. This β2ADR-dependent signaling pathway activated by PAHs may likely be crucial for PAH-mediated up-regulation of AhR target genes, thus suggesting a contribution of β2ADR to the health-threatening effects of these environmental pollutants.
ISSN: 0021-9258

hal-00682497
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00682497
DOI : 10.1074/jbc.M111.319970
PUBMED : 22167199

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : Tangential strains were measured with strain gauges at the surface of xylem and inner bark of saplings of Cryptomeria japonica D. Don. and Fagus silvatica L. during a pressurization test. The test consists in submitting the whole sapling to an artificially imposed hydrostatic pressure of increasing magnitude. The elastic response of the stems was found linear both at the surface of xylem and inner bark. A simple geometric model allows to compute radial strains in each tissue from tangential strain data. Inside inner bark, radial strains are much larger than tangential strains, because tangential strains are restrained by the core of wood. The material compliance of each tissue was computed as the ratio between the radial strain and the pressure that caused it. The material compliance of xylem is much lower than that of inner bark, but, as its thickness is much larger, its contribution to the apparent behavior of the stem is not negligible. Computation of material compliances by this pressurization test provides information about the specific behavior of each tissue in response to hydrostatic pressure. This can be used to estimate and interpret the calibration factor linking the water status of the plant to the apparent strain measured at its surface.
ISSN: 0931-1890

hal-01031900
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01031900
DOI : 10.1007/s00468-006-0061-7

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
BACKGROUND: Numerous studies have linked prenatal traffic-related air pollution exposure to fetal growth. Recently, several studies have suggested exploring this association independently among boys and girls because of potential sex-specific biological vulnerability to air pollution. Residence-based factors can also influence fetal growth by enhancing susceptibility to the toxic effects of air pollution and must also be considered in these relations. OBJECTIVE: We examined sex-specific associations between prenatal air pollution exposure and fetal growth and explored whether they differed by the urban-rural status of maternal residence. METHODS: This study relied on the PELAGIE mother-child cohort (2521 women, Brittany, France, 2002-2006). Fetal growth was assessed through birth weight, head circumference and small weight (SGA) and small head circumference (SHC) for gestational age. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations at mothers' homes were estimated by using a land use regression model taking into account temporal variation during pregnancy. Associations between estimated NO2 concentrations and fetal growth were assessed with linear regression or logistic regression models, depending on the outcome investigated. RESULTS: An interquartile range (8.8µgm(-3)) increase in NO2 exposure estimates was associated with a 27.4g (95% CI 0.8 to 55.6) increase in birth weight and a 0.09cm (95% CI 0.00-0.17) significant increase in head circumference, among newborn boys only. Their risks of SGA and SHC were reduced (OR 0.70, 95% CI 0.53-0.92, OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.56-1.03, respectively, for an increase of 8.8µgm(-3)). No statistically significant trends were observed among girls. Urban-rural status modified the effect of air pollution only for SHC and again only for newborn boys. CONCLUSION: Findings from this study confirm the need to consider sex-specific associations between air pollution and fetal growth and to investigate possible mechanisms by which traffic-related air pollution may increase anthropometric parameters at birth
Environmental Research

hal-01205354
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01205354
DOI : 10.1016/j.envres.2015.09.006
PUBMED : 26378737

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD BioMed Central
Résumé : [b]Background[/b]: [i]Amblyomma variegatum[/i] and [i]A. hebraeum[/i] are two ticks of veterinary and human health importance in south-east Africa. In Zimbabwe they occupy parapatric (marginally overlapping and juxtaposed) distributions. Understanding the mechanisms behind this parapatry is essential for predicting the spatio-temporal dynamics of Amblyomma spp. and the impacts of associated diseases. It has been hypothesized that exclusive competition between these species results from competition at the levels of male signal reception (attraction-aggregation-attachment pheromones) or sexual competition for mates. This hypothesis predicts that the parapatry described in Zimbabwe could also be present in other countries in the region. [br/][b]Methods[/b]: To explore this competitive exclusion hypothesis we conducted field surveys at the two species' range limits in Mozambique to identify areas of sympatry (overlapping areas) and to study potential interactions (communicative and reproductive interference effects) in those areas. At sympatric sites, hetero-specific mating pairs were collected and inter-specific attractiveness/repellent effects acting at long and short distances were assessed by analyzing species co-occurrences on co-infested herds and co-infested hosts.[br/] [b]Results[/b]: Co-occurrences of both species at sampling sites were infrequent and localized in areas where both tick and host densities were low. At sympatric sites, high percentages of individuals of both species shared attachment sites on hosts and inter-specific mating rates were high. Although cross-mating rates were not significantly different for[i] A. variegatum[/i] and [i]A. hebraeum[/i] females, attraction towards hetero-specific males was greater for [i]A. hebraeum[/i] females than for A. variegatum females and we observed small asymmetrical repellent effects between males at attachment sites.[br/][b]Conclusions[/b]: Our observations suggest near-symmetrical reproductive interference between [i]A. variegatum[/i] and [i]A. hebraeum[/i], despite between-species differences in the strength of reproductive isolation barriers acting at the aggregation, fixation and partner contact levels. Theoretical models predict that sexual competition coupled with hybrid inviability, greatly reduces the probability of one species becoming established in an otherwise suitable location when the other species is already established. This mechanism can explain why the parapatric boundary in Mozambique has formed within an area of low tick densities and relatively infrequent host-mediated dispersal events.
ISSN: 1756-3305

hal-01220744
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01220744
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01220744/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01220744/file/2015%20Bournez%20Parasites%20%26%20Vectors_%7B365AAFF5-7041-480B-9B77-9CD0485A9B72%7D.pdf
DOI : 10.1186/s13071-015-1116-7

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : International audience
More than half the pregnant women in the Western world report taking mild analgesics. These pharmaceutical compounds have been associated with congenital cryptorchidism in humans, the best-known risk factor for low semen quality and testicular germ cell cancer. Furthermore, some of these mild analgesics exert potent anti-androgenic effects in the male rat and several endocrine-disrupting compounds, known to alter masculinization, have also been shown to be potent inhibitors of prostaglandin (PG) synthesis similar to mild analgesics. Using a 3-day ex vivo organotypic model system based on gestational day 14.5 rat testes, we herein show that testosterone production was inhibited by paracetamol, at doses of 0.1 μm to 100 μm. Similar results were obtained for aspirin (1-100 μm) and indomethacin (10 μm). The production of the other Leydig cell hormone, Insl3, was not disrupted by exposure to paracetamol. Investigations of the gross anatomy of the testis as well as Leydig cells number and rate of gonocyte apoptosis after the 3 days of ex vivo differentiation showed no significant effect of the analgesics tested compared with controls. These data indicate therefore that mild analgesics specifically inhibit testosterone production in rat foetal testes in vitro and that these compounds had no effect on gonocyte survival. Parallel determinations of prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) production indicated that the effects of paracetamol and aspirin on PGD2 and testosterone were not connected, whereas the effects of indomethacin were correlated. We conclude that mild analgesics exert direct and specific anti-androgenic effects in rat foetal testis in our experimental setup and that the mechanism of action is probably uncoupled from the inhibition of PG synthesis.
ISSN: 0105-6263

hal-00876956
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00876956
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-2605.2012.01282.x
PUBMED : 22612476

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Background & Aims: The severity of liver diseases is exacerbated by the death of hepatocytes, which can be induced by the sensing of pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) derived from the gut microbiota. The molecular mechanisms regulating these cell death pathways are poorly documented. In this study, we investigated the role of the receptor interacting protein kinase 1 (RIPK1), a protein known to regulate cell fate decisions, in the death of hepatocytes using two in vivo models of PAMP-induced hepatitis. Methods: Hepatitis was induced in mice by independent injections of two different bacterial PAMPs: lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and unmethylated CpG oligodeoxynucleotide (CpG-DNA) motifs. The role of RIPK1 was evaluated by using mice specifically lacking RIPK1 in liver parenchymal cells (Ripk1(LPC-KO)). Administration of liposome-encapsulated clodronate served to investigate the role of Kupffer cells in the establishment of the disease. Etanercept, a tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-decoy receptor, was used to study the contribution of TNF-alpha during LPS-mediated liver injury. Results: Whereas RIPK1 deficiency in liver parenchymal cells did not trigger basal hepatolysis, it greatly sensitized hepatocytes to apoptosis and liver damage following a single injection of LPS or CpG-DNA. Importantly, hepatocyte death was prevented by previous macrophage depletion or by TNF inhibition. Conclusions: Our data highlight the pivotal function of RIPK1 in maintaining liver homeostasis in conditions of macrophage-induced TNF burst in response to PAMPs sensing. Lay summary: Excessive death of hepatocytes is a characteristic of liver injury. A new programmed cell death pathway has been described involving upstream death ligands such as TNF and downstream kinases such as RIPK1. Here, we show that in the presence of LPS liver induced hepatic injury was due to secretion of TNF by liver macrophages, and that RIPK1 acts as a powerful protector of hepatocyte death. This newly identified pathway in the liver may be helpful in the management of patients to predict their risk of developing acute liver failure. (C) 2017 European Association for the Study of the Liver. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
ISSN: 0168-8278

hal-01532060
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01532060
DOI : 10.1016/j.jhep.2017.01.005
PUBMED : 28088582

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Physiological Society
Résumé : International audience
Zidi-Yahiaoui N, Callebaut I, Genetet S, Le Van Kim C, Cartron JP, Colin Y, Ripoche P, Mouro-Chanteloup I. Functional analysis of human RhCG: comparison with E. coli ammonium transporter reveals similarities in the pore and differences in the vestibule. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 297: C537–C547, 2009. First published June 24, 2009; doi:10.1152/ajpcell.00137.2009.—Rh glycoproteins are members of the ammonium transporter (Amt)/methylamine permease (Mep)/Rh family facilitating movement of NH3 across plasma membranes. Homology models constructed on the basis of the experimental structures of Escherichia coli AmtB and Nitrosomonas europaea Rh50 indicated a channel structure for human RhA (RhAG), RhB (RhBG), and RhC (RhCG) glycoproteins in which external and internal vestibules are linked by a pore containing two strictly conserved histidines. The pore entry is constricted by two highly conserved phenylalanines, “twin-Phe.” In this study, RhCG function was investigated by stopped-flow spectrofluorometry measuring kinetic pH variations in HEK293E cells in the presence of an ammonium gradient. The apparent unitary NH3 permeability of RhCG was determined and was found to be close to that of AmtB. With a site-directed mutagenesis approach, critical residues involved in Rh NH3 channel activity were highlighted. In the external vestibule, the importance of both the charge and the conformation of the conserved aspartic acid was shown. In contrast to AmtB, individual mutations of each phenylalanine of the twin-Phe impaired the function while the removal of both resulted in recovery of the transport activity. The impact of the mutations suggests that, although having a common function and a similar channel structure, bacterial AmtB and human Rh vary in several aspects of the NH3 transport mechanisms.
ISSN: 0363-6143

hal-00417492
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00417492
DOI : 10.1152/ajpcell.00137.2009.

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Displacement-length data from dilatant fractures (joints, veins, igneous dikes) and several varieties of deformation bands were analyzed statistically to investigate the applicability of mechanical models proposed for their formation. All 17 datasets are generally consistent with equilibrium or long-term power-law slopes on the displacement-length diagram of either 1.0 or 0.5. Similar to many faults, disaggregation deformation bands are consistent with a power-law scaling relation having a slope of approximately c = 1, implying a linear dependence of maximum displacement and discontinuity length (Dmax = γL). In contrast, dilatant fractures, cataclastic deformation bands, and shear-enhanced compaction bands are consistent with a power-law scaling relation with a slope of approximately c = 0.5, implying a dependence of maximum displacement on the square root of length (Dmax = αL1/2). The scaling relations represent an average, or long-term equilibrium outcome of deformation for conditions such as length-scale, time-scale, temperature, chemistry, and an effectively homogeneous far-field stress field, allowing for variations such as rapid and/or localized behaviors. The displacement-length scaling of these geologic structures follows systematic relationships that provide information on host-rock properties and the physics of fracture and deformation-band propagation.
ISSN: 0191-8141

hal-00818130
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00818130
DOI : 10.1016/j.jsg.2012.12.005