Sonic hedgehog signaling regulates mode of cell division of early cerebral cortex progenitors and increases

The morphogen Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) plays a critical role in the development of different tissues. In the central nervous system, SHH is well known to contribute to the patterning of the spinal cord and separation of the brain hemispheres. In addition, it has recently been shown that SHH signaling also contributes to the patterning of the telencephalon and establishment of adult neurogenic niches. In this work, we investigated whether SHH signaling influences the behavior of neural progenitors isolated from the dorsal telencephalon, which generate excitatory neurons and macroglial cells in vitro. We observed that SHH increases proliferation of cortical progenitors and generation of astrocytes, whereas blocking SHH signaling with cyclopamine has opposite effects. In both cases, generation of neurons did not seem to be affected. However, cell survival was broadly affected by blockade of SHH signaling. SHH effects were related to three different cell phenomena: mode of cell division, cell cycle length and cell growth. Together, our data in vitro demonstrate that SHH signaling controls cell behaviors that are important for proliferation of cerebral cortex progenitors, as well as differentiation and survival of neurons and astroglial cells.

Mecanismos de controle do trabalho escolar em propostas de escrita narrativa em livros didáticos de português (1974-2009)

This essay aims at investigating the writing proposals of Portuguese textbooks (LDP Livros Didáticos de Português) for Middle School (EF Ensino Fundamental), from 6th to 9th grade, from the 70s to 2009. It aims to check, though the discourse reported in the Portuguese Textbook, the control directed to the practice of the teacher and the student to do in the teaching situations. Theoretically, we search for contributions that come from the Discourse Analysis of French filiation, so we can analyze the ideological constructions present in the discourse of the ―LDP‖ more specific lly the control directed to the te cher nd student the users of the book, in writing activities. It started from a corpus of 63 textbooks whereof the following steps were performed: a) mapping of the writing proposals contemplated in the ―LDP‖ of high school; b cutting in the selection of propos l ccording to the rese rch go ls intended (writing proposals of narrative texts). After mapping the writing proposals presented in the ―LDP‖ bout the criteri mentioned bove we re d the writing propos ls to ch rt the quantity of proposals of textual writing productions in each textbook (which usually follows a pattern : 12 chapters and, at the end, the writing proposal. Nevertheless, some books present 2 (two) or more writing proposals at the end of each chapter). We did a cutting in the corpus initi lly constituted 63 ―LDP‖ nd we selected 12 writing proposals of narrative texts presented in the ―LDPs‖ to present wh t we intend to n lyze. Then, we separated these proposals into two groups: 1) activities which present ―instruction guide‖ to be followed by the student; 2) writing activities that allow the student write with no need to follow a text pattern, i.e., which encourage authorship. By means of analyses, it was possible to demonstrate that, in the Basic School, generally, the writing practices concentrate, primarily, on copying activities, reproduction, rewriting and, in more advanced levels, in activities that which start from preset models, asking the students to produce text with similar themes, following the suggested structure. It is about ideals that are supposed to be followed and imitated by the students, depriving them to assume their authorship. In order to insert the student in the world of writing it s necess ry to go beyond the model of c nonic l texts pr ctice th t puts the students f r from the possibility to be ― uthors‖. In contr st to this tendency, we face, nowadays, proposals that prioritize the authorship, the creation of a style