Osteopontin-c splicing isoform contributes to ovarian cancer progression.

Ovarian carcinoma is one of the most aggressive gynecological diseases and generally diagnosed at advanced stages. Osteopontin (OPN) is one of the proteins overexpressed in ovarian cancer and is involved in tumorigenesis and metastasis. Alternative splicing of OPN leads to 3 isoforms, OPNa, OPNb, and OPNc. However, the expression pattern and the roles of each of these isoforms have not been previously characterized in ovarian cancer. Herein, we have evaluated the expression profiling of OPN isoforms in ovarian tumor and nontumor samples and their putative roles in ovarian cancer biology using in vitro and in vivo functional assays. OPNa and OPNb were expressed both in tumor and nontumor ovarian samples, whereas OPNc was specifically expressed in ovarian tumor samples. The isoform OPNc significantly activated OvCar-3 cell proliferation, migration, invasion, anchorage-independent growth and tumor formation in vivo. Additionally, we have also shown that some of the OPNc-dependent protumorigenic roles are mediated by PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. OPNc stimulated immortalized ovarian epithelial IOSE cell proliferation, indicating a role for this isoform in ovarian cancer tumorigenesis. Functional assays using OPNc conditioned medium and an anti-OPNc antibody have shown that most cellular effects observed herein were promoted by the secreted OPNc. According to our data, OPNc-specific expression in ovarian tumor samples and its role on favoring different aspects of ovarian cancer progression suggest that secreted OPNc contributes to the physiopathology of ovarian cancer progression and tumorigenesis. Altogether, the data open possibilities of new therapeutic approaches for ovarian cancer that selectively down regulate OPNc, altering its properties favoring ovarian tumor progression.

Por uma religião do encontro: aproximações entre Moreno e as tradições orientais / Towards a religion of encounter: bringing together

Pretendeu-se realizar um breve esboço correlacionando conceitos-eixo existentes na obra moreniana e em algumas tradições religiosas orientais, como o hinduísmo, o yoga, o budismo. Destacam-se nessa conjunção a ênfase dada em ambas na ação, a atenção dada ao momento e o aqui agora como caminhos que levam à centelha divina, O' Atman-Brahman, e que são essenciais para a cessação do sofrimento gerado pela ignorância, pela percepção errônea da realidade, ou, em termos morenianos, às conservas culturais. Foi possível, com isto, rastrear os aspectos religiosos existentes na sua obra e realizar um duplo atual de Moreno por uma Religião do Encontro, suposta em sua socionomia.(AU)

Within this paper I intend to briefly outline correlations between the key concepts of the Morenian theory and concepts of oriental religious traditions such as Hinduism, Yoga, Buddhism, etc. I will highlight how in both the Morenian and Oriental tradition there is a strong emphasis on the importance of action, the moment and the here-and-now (as paths leading to divine enlightenment, the Atman-Brahman), and how these are considered essential for the cessation of suffering caused by ignorance and the erroneous perception of reality, or, in Morenian terms, by the cultural conserves. Thus it is possible to trace back the religious aspects existent in Moreno's work, and to arrive to an up-to-date understanding of Moreno and the Religion of Encounter proposed in his socionomy.(AU)

O confronto rastafari na busca do si-mesmo: a transformação da consciência na visão da psicologia transpessoal / The Rastafarian Confrontation in the search for the self: consciousness transformation according to the view of Transpersonal Psychology

O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar a consciência e sua possibilidade de transformação. A partir da premissa de que artistas e místicos são uma ótima população para estudar esse fenômeno, foi enfocada a vivência do artista Bob Marley no contexto da sua religião: rastafari. O modelo ampliado de cartografia da psique de Stanislav Grof dentro da psicologia transpessoal serviu como sustentação teórica para a análise desse fenômeno. Tendo como hipótese que o símbolo é revelador da psicodinâmica da consciência, questionou-se se a mandala que aparece no disco de Bob Marley Confrontation revela uma possibilidade de transformação e se esta pode ser avaliada dentro de um determinado nível de consciência. Foi possível identificar que o símbolo da mandala revela a transformação da consciência de Bob Marley em um nível transpessoal, servindo como sustentação para as novas estruturas psíquicas que emergem com essa transformação. Entendendo o simbolismo da mandala como a luta do herói para renascer diante da morte e de um estado de opressão, a psicologia transpessoal ressalta que a vivência de Bob Marley pode ser vista como legítima e transformadora, uma vez que conta com dispositivos protetores e não defensivos, que fazem dessa vivência uma experiência integrada e psiquicamente saudável.AU

The aim of this work was to study consciousness and its possibility of transformation. Starting from the premise that artists and mystics are the ideal population to study that phenomenon, this work focused on the life of the artist Bob Marley in the context of his religion: Rastafarian. Stanislav Grof’s enlarged model of cartography of the psyche within Transpersonal Psychology served as theoretical support to analyse this phenomenon. Based on the hypothesis that the symbol reveals the psychodynamics of consciousness, the question was whether the mandala that appears in Bob Marley’s disk Confrontation reveals a transformation possibility and whether in can be evaluated within a certain level of consciousness. It was possible to identify that the mandala reveals the transformation of Bob Marley’s consciousness at a transpersonal level, serving as a support to the new psychic structures that emerge with that transformation. Understanding the mandala’s symbolism as the fight of the hero to rise again in the presence of death and of an oppression state, Transpersonal Psychology points out that Bob Marley’s existence can be seen as legitimate and transforming, since it has protecting and not defensive devices, which make this existence be an integrated and psychically healthy experience.AU