Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : We report a preliminary analysis on the relationships between drainage basin structure and genetic structure of populations of the European vector of fasciolosis, Galba truncatula. In the study area, 251 snails belonging to 12 populations were collected along different ditches of a same river network. Each snail was genotyped at six variable microsatellite loci. Our results show that all sample sites are characterized by a low level of polymorphism and a very high and significant heterozygote deficiency. Our data reveal a significant genetic differentiation, even at a small scale, and failed to delimit clear patterns of isolation by euclidian distance. Our study shows that genetic differentiation significantly increases with hydrographic distance along the streams (p < 0.002), in consistence with the hypothesis that dispersion along the stream is dependent on the direction of water flow. This study shows that relationships can exist between the organization of the hydrological network and population biology of a disease vector, which has strong potential applications to drainage network management issues.
ISSN: 1567-1348

hal-00496374
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00496374
DOI : 10.1016/j.meegid.2010.01.005

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Landes Bioscience
Résumé : International audience
In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. A key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process vs. those that measure flux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process); thus, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation needs to be differentiated from stimuli that result in increased autophagic activity, defined as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (in most higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the field understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field.
Autophagy

hal-00735751
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00735751
PUBMED : 22966490

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Ferrata Storti Foundation
Résumé : International audience
BACKGROUND: Abnormal interactions between red blood cells, leukocytes and endothelial cells play a critical role in the occurrence of the painful vaso-occlusive crises associated with sickle cell disease. We investigated the interaction between circulating leukocytes and red blood cells which could lead to aggregate formation, enhancing the incidence of vaso-occlusive crises. DESIGN AND METHODS: Blood samples from patients with sickle cell disease (n=25) and healthy subjects (n=5) were analyzed by imaging and classical flow cytometry after density gradient separation. The identity of the cells in the peripheral blood mononuclear cell layer was determined using antibodies directed specifically against white (anti-CD45) or red (anti-glycophorin A) blood cells. RESULTS: Aggregates between red blood cells and peripheral blood mononuclear cells were visualized in whole blood from patients with sickle cell disease. The aggregation rate was 10-fold higher in these patients than in control subjects. Both mature red blood cells and reticulocytes were involved in these aggregates through their interaction with mononuclear cells, mainly with monocytes. The size of the aggregates was variable, with one mononuclear cell binding to one, two or several red blood cells. Erythroid Lu/basal cell adhesion molecule and α(4)β(1) integrin were involved in aggregate formation. The aggregation rate was lower in patients treated with hydroxycarbamide than in untreated patients. CONCLUSIONS: Our study gives visual evidence of the existence of circulating red blood cell-peripheral blood mononuclear cell aggregates in patients with sickle cell disease and shows that these aggregates are decreased during hydroxycarbamide treatment. Our results strongly suggest that erythroid Lu/basal cell adhesion molecule proteins are implicated in these aggregates through their interaction with α(4)β(1) integrin on peripheral blood mononuclear cells.
ISSN: 0390-6078

inserm-00821120
http://www.hal.inserm.fr/inserm-00821120
http://www.hal.inserm.fr/inserm-00821120/document
http://www.hal.inserm.fr/inserm-00821120/file/1841.full.pdf
DOI : 10.3324/haematol.2010.026294

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Dahomey belt in Togo and Benin is an important segment of the larger West Gondwana Orogen. Here, we review the geodynamic evolution of the Dahomey belt and discuss new U–Pb and Lu–Hf zircon data in light of similar data previously acquired on the geologically related Northern Borborema Province, in NE Brazil. Eighteen samples from different tectonic settings and regions within the belt were collected for zircon isotopic investigation. Passive margin deposits of the Atacora Structural Unit and lower units of the Volta Basin have detrital zircon signatures compatible with the flanking West Africa Craton. The arc-related magmatism resulted from the east-dipping subduction of the Goiás-Pharusian oceanic lithosphere and is represented by a variety of granitoids emplaced in the Benino-Nigerian Shield between 670 and 610 Ma. These granitoids were mainly sourced from crustal reservoirs with subordinate juvenile input. Detrital zircon ages from syn-orogenic deposits in Benino-Nigerian Shield suggest that arc development could have started as early as 780 Ma. The main period of melting in the internal part of the belt, the Benino-Nigerian Shield, is related to crustal thickening and occurs only ca. 30 m.y. after initiation of the continental collision, marked by the ca. 610 Ma ultra-high pressure (UHP) metamorphism recorded at Lato Hills. Foreland development represented by the upper units of the Volta basin developed soon after continental collision and persisted with the development of the west-verging thrust front synchronously with the main period of crustal melting due to collision at ca. 580 Ma. The subvertical Transbrasiliano Lineament in South America, that corresponds to the Kandi Lineament in Africa, provides a present-day fit between NW Africa and NE Brazil. Restoration of the movement of the Transbrasiliano-Kandi Lineament (strike-slip plate boundary) places the Dahomey belt and Borborema Province (NE Brazil) along the same section of the West Gondwana Orogen. This configuration would explain some of the misfits previously discussed in the literature and aligns the UHP eclogites in Togo and NE Brazil.
ISSN: 0301-9268

hal-01358584
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01358584
DOI : 10.1016/j.precamres.2016.01.032