Impact of orthologous melan-A peptide immunizations on the anti-self melan-A/HLA-A2 T cell cross-reactivity.

In HLA-A2 individuals, the CD8 T cell response against the differentiation Ag Melan-A is mainly directed toward the peptide Melan-A26-35. The murine Melan-A24-33 sequence encodes a peptide that is identical with the human Melan-A26-35 decamer, except for a Thr-to-Ile substitution at the penultimate position. Here, we show that the murine Melan-A24-33 is naturally processed and presented by HLA-A2 molecules. Based on these findings, we compared the CD8 T cell response to human and murine Melan-A peptide by immunizing HLA-A2 transgenic mice. Even though the magnitude of the CTL response elicited by the murine Melan-A peptide was lower than the one elicited by the human Melan-A peptide, both populations of CTL recognized the corresponding immunizing peptide with the same functional avidity. Interestingly, CTL specific for the murine Melan-A peptide were completely cross-reactive against the orthologous human peptide, whereas anti-human Melan-A CTL recognized the murine Melan-A peptide with lower avidity. Structurally, this discrepancy could be explained by the fact that Ile32 of murine Melan-A24-33 created a larger TCR contact area than Thr34 of human Melan-A26-35. These data indicate that, even if immunizations with orthologous peptides can induce strong specific T cell responses, the quality of this response against syngeneic targets might be suboptimal due to the structure of the peptide-TCR contact surface.

The Sanskrit epics' representation of Vedic myths

Abstract: This book studies several mythical motifs, found in the Veda (especially in the Ùgveda) on the one hand and in one or both Sanskrit epics on the other: Agni's hiding, the theft of the Soma, Indra's rape of Ahalyå, Upamanyu's salvation by the Aßvins, and finally the representation of the Great War of the Mahåbhårata as a sacrifice. While it is often said that the subsequent Indian literature only paid "lipservice" to the Vedas without really knowing and even less understanding these texts, the present study not only shows that many Vedic myths are still kept alive in the Epics, but more importantly that their deep underlying meaning was perfectly understood by the epic mythmakers, and reactualized to fit the changed religious conditions of epic times. Résumé: Descriptif du livre Ce livre étudie plusieur motifs mythologiques qui se trouvent à la fois dans les Vedas (et spécialement dans le Ùgveda), et dans l'une ou l'autre des grandes épopées sanskrites, le Mahåbhårata et le Råmåyana. Ces motifs sont: la disparition d'Agni, le rapt du Soma, le viol d'Ahalyå par Indra, le sauvetage d'Upamanyu par les Aßvins, et enfin, la représentation de la grande guerre du Mahåbhårata comme un rite sacrificiel. On maintient souvent que la littérature plus tardive ne fait référence aux Vedas que pour la forme, sans pour autant réellement connaître et encore moins comprendre ces textes. Mais la présente étude montre tout au contraire que non seulement beaucoup de mythes védiques se retrouvent dans les épopées, mais encore ? ce qui est plus important ? que les mythographes de l'épopée avaient parfaitement compris leur sens profond, et l'avaient réactualisé pour répondre aux changements religieux de l'époque épique.

Boris Vian dans ses poèmes

El artículo se propone mostrar cómo el estudio de los poemas y canciones de Boris Vian sólo cobra sentido mediante un análisis de conjunto. Tras la aparente dispersión de temas y estilos, bajo la apariencia superficial, cómica y en ocasiones incluso grotesca y banal de sus poemas y canciones, se oculta una unidad y una coherencia profundas y minuciosamente calculadas. Para expresarla Vian huye de las limitaciones de la lógica heredada de Aristóteles y opta por utilizar la técnica del collage, yuxtaponiendo una pluralidad de situaciones y acciones en las que lo real se entremezcla con lo imaginario, cuyo resultado final es la representación de una realidad única, indivisible y a la vez relativa y singular en función de cada individuo, en la que los aparentes antagonismos se revelan como elementos complementarios en el proceso de individualización y conocimiento del «yo» interior.