The biological foundations of culture and morality

Two aspects are discussed: first, the mechanism of learning, and second, the generation of culture and morality. Both aspects are analyzed in relation to the evolution of the mind-brain system. As to the first aspect, I suggest that the use of the concept of innatism requires a re-examination of the genome-dependent effects on the mind-brain system particularly for what concerns the time scale of these effects. The reason is that the information in the genome of the parents is transmitted to the embryo during fertilization of the egg and then into the structures of neuronal cells at the very early stage of ontogenesis, whereas organization of the mind-brain system occurs at a much later time and after an extensive reorganization of the brain structure. The problem is, then, that while during the early stages of the ontogenetic development the neuronal cells maintain their genome determined properties, the full expression of these genome properties within the mind-brain organization undergo fundamental changes which depend not on the properties of the genomic information but rather on the evolution of the operational conditions which are generated in the brain organization and which determine the expression of the genomic potentialities. These operational conditions may become markedly different because of a number of on-going processes due to the formation of new synapses, axons, dendrites and neuronal networks; these phenomena are, to a large extent due to interaction with the environment. Using the Fodor’s language, the effect of the innate properties over the horizontal neuronal networks (the innatism that operates during the whole ontogenesis) assumes a much more important role in the mind-brain than in all other physiological systems. As to the second aspect, I suggest that the development of cultural andmoral worlds are products of the histories of human minds and societies, and depend on the evolutionary nature of these histories.To explain the generation of these worlds I shall discuss a basic problem. How can the neuronal networks of the mind-brain system — usually dealing with phenomena of the natural world and being themselves natural structures obeying the principles and rules of the natural phenomena, where no transition from is to ought or from facts to values is allowed — be able to generate cultural and moral concepts and generate moral behaviours? The solution here proposed is that some sort of modularitydominates in the whole structure of the mind-brain system and that the effect of this modularity is that the neurophysiological processes dealing with the processes of human cultural, moral and social life are structurally associated with emotions, intentions and values. In brief, it is suggested that the mind-brain systems contain, in addition to the division introduced by Fodor, other innate types of neurophysiological processes: some types of processes and of neuronal networks deal with the problems of the natural world and provide answers which are right or wrong, wheras other types of processes and neuronal networks deal with problems of human cultural and social life and provide answers which are adapt on non-adapt.The latter types of neuronal networks are suited to generate the cultural and moral worlds in the course of development and evolution of the Homo sapiens sapiens species and of the single individual. Finally, in view of recent findings on the patterns of mental diseases and the relations of these patterns with alterations of the frontal lobes of the mind brain system, I suggest that the particular types of processes responsible for the moral behaviour of human beings are localized in the frontal lobes. The consequence is that alterations of this type of neurophysiological processes lead to the development of various types of mental diseases.      

Regeneration in invertebrates

The mechanisms of regeneration are reviewed from a genetic, cytological and molecular biological points of view. Planarians and Hydra have been chosen and illustrated as biological examples.      

Non-organ-specific autoantibodies in renal transplant recipients: relation to BK virus infection

Polyomavirus BK reactivation is common in renal transplant recipients and may cause nephropathy with significant graft dysfunction. The induction of anti-double stranded DNA (anti-dsDNA) antibodies by BKV has been described in experimental animals and during primary infection, and has been implicated in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus. This study evaluated the occurrence of anti-dsDNA antibodies and non-organ-specific autoantibodies (NOSA) by indirect immunofluorescence before transplantation and at 3 and 6 months post-transplantation in 90 renal transplant recipients and the association with BKV reactivation, demographic and clinical features. Moreover, the relation to HCMV infection, as detected by pp65-antigenemia, was also evaluated. Post-transplantation NOSAs were present in 23/90 (25.6%) and anti-dsDNA antibodies in 17/90 (18.9%). BK viremia was detected in at least one serum sample in 22 patients: 9 anti-dsDNA antibody-positive vs 13 negative (p<0.01). No significant correlation between the occurrence of NOSAs and anti-dsDNA antibodies and demographic and clinical features was found. No significant association with pp65-antigenemia-positivity was found, although antigenemia was positive in 6/23 NOSA-positive patients (26.1%). Although a relation seems to exist between BKV and the occurrence of anti-dsDNA antibodies in renal transplant patients, the lack of correlation with other epidemiological and clinical features does not allow any conclusion. The role of autoimmune response in this context and the relation with other patient-related factors and infectious agents should be further investigated.     

A new case of rob(14;17) in cattle

Robertsonian translocations, also called centric fusions, represent the most frequent chromosome anomalies in cattle, and rob(1;29) is the most widespread. However, centric fusions involving other chromosomes have been discovered in different cattle breeds. Here we report the appearance of a new case of rob(14;17) in an Italian cattle breed more than ten years after the first and only case had been observed, and we demonstrate the independent origin of this anomaly from the previous case.     

A hundred-year retrospective on cryptosporidiosis

Tyzzer discovered the genus Cryptosporidium a century ago, and for almost 70 years cryptosporidiosis was regarded as an infrequent and insignificant infection that occurred in the intestines of vertebrates and caused little or no disease. Its association with gastrointestinal illness in humans and animals was recognized only in the early 1980s. Over the next 25 years, information was generated on the disease's epidemiology, biology, cultivation, taxonomy and development of molecular tools. Milestones include: (i) recognition in 1980 of cryptosporidiosis as an acute enteric disease; (ii) its emergence as a chronic opportunistic infection that complicates AIDS; (iii) acknowledgement of impact on the water industry once it was shown to be waterborne; and (iv) study of Cryptosporidium genomics.     

Quantification of PRL/Stat5 signaling with a novel pGL4-CISH reporter

Background  

Elevations of serum prolactin (PRL) are associated with an increased risk for breast cancer. PRL signaling through its prolactin receptor (PRLr) involves the Jak2/Stat5 pathway. Luciferase-based reporter assays have been widely used to evaluate the activity of this pathway. However, the existing reporters are often not sensitive enough to monitor the effect of PRL in this pathway.     

Deep coverage mouse red blood cell proteome: a first comparison with the human red blood cell

Mice have close genetic/physiological relationships to humans, breed rapidly, and can be genetically modified, making them the most used mammal in biomedical research. Because the red blood cell (RBC) is the sole gas transporter in vertebrates, diseases of the RBC are frequently severe; much research has therefore focused on RBC and cardiovascular disorders of mouse and humans. RBCs also host malaria parasites. Recently we presented an in-depth proteome for the human RBC. Here we present directly comparable data for the mouse RBC as membrane-only, soluble-only, and combined membrane-bound/soluble proteomes (comprising, respectively, 247, 232, and 165 proteins). All proteins were identified, validated, and categorized in terms of subcellular localization, protein family, and function, and in comparison with the human RBC, were classified as orthologs, family-related, or unique. Splice isoforms were identified, and polypeptides migrating with anomalous apparent molecular weights were grouped into putatively ubiquitinated or partially degraded complexes. Overall there was close concordance between mouse and human proteomes, confirming the unexpected RBC complexity. Several novel findings in the human proteome have been confirmed here. This comparison sheds light on several open issues in RBC biology and provides a departure point for more comprehensive understanding of RBC function.     

Search Algorithms as a Framework for the Optimization of Drug Combinations

Combination therapies are often needed for effective clinical outcomes in the management of complex diseases, but presently they are generally based on empirical clinical experience. Here we suggest a novel application of search algorithms—originally developed for digital communication—modified to optimize combinations of therapeutic interventions. In biological experiments measuring the restoration of the decline with age in heart function and exercise capacity in Drosophila melanogaster, we found that search algorithms correctly identified optimal combinations of four drugs using only one-third of the tests performed in a fully factorial search. In experiments identifying combinations of three doses of up to six drugs for selective killing of human cancer cells, search algorithms resulted in a highly significant enrichment of selective combinations compared with random searches. In simulations using a network model of cell death, we found that the search algorithms identified the optimal combinations of 6–9 interventions in 80–90% of tests, compared with 15–30% for an equivalent random search. These findings suggest that modified search algorithms from information theory have the potential to enhance the discovery of novel therapeutic drug combinations. This report also helps to frame a biomedical problem that will benefit from an interdisciplinary effort and suggests a general strategy for its solution.