Las obsesiones antes de Freud: historia y clínica / Obsessions before Freud: history and clinical practice

Se analiza el significado del concepto de “obsesión” en el alienismo del siglo XIX. Desde el punto de vista clínico, la descripción de Esquirol fue completada por otros autores (Jules Falret, Legrand du Saulle). En el ámbito de la reflexión psicopatológica, el alienismo francés, con el delirio emotivo de Morel o la psicastenia de Janet, defendió la teoría emocional, frente al trastorno intelectual propuesto por los médicos alemanes. Finalmente, se insiste en la importancia del marco cultural en la aparición de los síntomas obsesivos y de su interpretación. En este sentido, se estudian las relaciones de los escrúpulos religiosos con la melancolía o la aparición de categorías diagnósticas sometidas a los códigos y mentalidades fin-de-siècle.

The article analyses the significance of the concept of “obsession” in nineteenth-century alienism. From a clinical point of view, Esquirol’s description was completed by other authors (Jules Falret, Legrand du Saulle). In the area of psychopathological studies, French alienism, with Morel’s emotional delirium or Janet’s psychasthenia, defended the emotional theory, as opposed to the intellectual disorder proposed by German doctors. Lastly, the importance of the cultural framework is stressed in the appearance of obsessive symptoms and their interpretation. Along these lines, the article discusses the relationship of religious scruples to melancholy or the appearance of diagnostic categories subject to fin de siècle codes and mentalities.

Polyomavirus-induced malignant transformation: comparative analysis of wild type and mutant middles T-overexpressing cell lines

Polyomavirus, a DNA tumor virus, expresses three viral oncoproteins (large, middle and small T antigens), causes malignant transformation in cell culture and induces multiple tumors in vivo. The middle T (MT) antigen seems to play an essential role in transformation and tumori-genicity. The observation that MT-overexpressing cell lines are able to grow in the absence of PDGF (platelet-derived growth factor) led several laboratories to study the mechanism underlying MT-induced growth deregulation and the signal transduction pathway used by this viral oncoprotein. A number of cellular proteins were shown to be common to both the normal PDGF mitogenic pathway and the MT transforming pathway. The expression of some PDGF primary response genes (fos, jun, myc, JE, KC) was shown to be rendered constitutive by MT overexpression. Using MT mutants, important domains for binding and activation of cytoplasmic proteins were mapped. Wild type and mutant MT cell lines are used in our laboratory to analyze the expression and activity of the PDGF early response genes during cell transformation and correlate them with activation of specific cytoplasmic proteins. In addition to abrogating the PDGF requirement for growth, activation of cellular proteins caused by MT results in cell lines that have an altered morphology and are able to form colonies in agarose. These changes may be due to alterations in connexin 43 and other cell surface proteins.