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Le groupe d’Hoboken, dans la banlieue d’Anvers, où se trouve implantée l’une des plus grandes usines de métaux non ferreux d’Anvers, est composé de médecins qui ont décidé de situer leur pratique médicale dans le cadre de la lutte des classes. Ils cherchent à promouvoir une médecine au service des travailleurs. Dans cette entrevue, ils décrivent leurs démêlés avec l’Ordre des Médecins, leur organisation, leurs objectifs, leurs luttes, en particulier dans le domaine de la santé au travail, de la pollution de l’environnement et dans le traitement clinique des familles ouvrières. L’engagement social et politique de ce groupe de médecins caractérise fondamentalement leur pratique., The industrial suburb of Hoboken near Anvers (northern Belgium) is the locality of the largest non-ferrous metal factory in the area. A group of doctors have decided to clearly situate their medical practice within the framework of the class struggle. They seek to develop a medical practice that serves the interests of workers. In this interview they describe their skirmishes with the Medical Association and explain their own organization, its objectives and activities concerning industrial health, pollution problems and clinical treatment of working-class families. The socio-political commitment of this group of doctors fundamentally characterizes their work., El grupo de Hoboken, en los suburbios de Anvers, donde se encuentra una de las mas grandes usinas de metales ferrosos de Anvers, está compuesto de médicos que han decidido situar su práctica médica en el marco de la lucha de clases. Ellos tratan de promover une medicina al servicio de los trabajadores.En esta entrevista, además de describir sus dificultades con la Corporación de médicos, ellos describen su organización, sus objectivos y sus luchas; particularmente en el dominio de la salud en el trabajo, de la contaminación del ambiente y del tratamiento clínico de las familias obreras.El compromiso social y político de este grupo de médicos caracteriza fundamentalmente su práctica.

The brain-specific compound NAA (N-acetylaspartate) occurs almost exclusively in neurons, where its concentration reaches approx. 20 mM. Its abundance is determined in patients by MRS (magnetic resonance spectroscopy) to assess neuronal density and health. The molecular identity of the NAT (N-acetyltransferase) that catalyses NAA synthesis has remained unknown, because the enzyme is membrane-bound and difficult to purify. Database searches indicated that among putative NATs (i.e. proteins homologous with known NATs, but with uncharacterized catalytic activity) encoded by the human and mouse genomes two were almost exclusively expressed in brain, NAT8L and NAT14. Transfection studies in HEK-293T [human embryonic kidney-293 cells expressing the large T-antigen of SV40 (simian virus 40)] indicated that NAT8L, but not NAT14, catalysed the synthesis of NAA from L-aspartate and acetyl-CoA. The specificity of NAT8L, its Km for aspartate and its sensitivity to detergents are similar to those described for brain Asp-NAT. Confocal microscopy analysis of CHO (Chinese-hamster ovary) cells and neurons expressing recombinant NAT8L indicates that it is associated with the ER (endoplasmic reticulum), but not with mitochondria. A mutation search in the NAT8L gene of the only patient known to be deficient in NAA disclosed the presence of a homozygous 19 bp deletion, resulting in a change in reading frame and the absence of production of a functional protein. We conclude that NAT8L, a neuron-specific protein, is responsible for NAA synthesis and is mutated in primary NAA deficiency (hypoacetylaspartia). The molecular identification of this enzyme will lead to new perspectives in the clarification of the function of this most abundant amino acid derivative in neurons and for the diagnosis of hypoacetylaspartia in other patients.