Stay Strong,
Stay Sharp,
Be Brave,
Be Bold,
Be Best.
Where We Go One We Go All!!!
Counterspace Research
Nick Thomas
Rudolf Steiner produced about 50 written works and gave nearly 6,000 lectures. It is important to work
with them as research reports rather than 'bibles'. Indeed he urged us (Ref. 1) not to treat him as an authority
because in the spiritual realm that approach to a spiritual teacher is today not just inappropriate but
damaging. Research in the physical realm is relatively easy as we are free there, and a wrong thought
remains abstract and soon shows itself to be false. But in the spiritual realm that is not the case, two sources
of illusion being important. First a wish can colour what we experience, misleading us, or worse a wrong
concept can drastically alter what is perceived and obstruct the truth (Ref. 2). This perhaps indicates the
importance of the research mood, which treats the reported findings of a researcher impartially, seeking to
understand them first and then to check them. Wishes are controlled and concepts are carefully checked
before being accepted.
Rudolf Steiner spoke about the threshold of the spiritual world, a most important feature of the modern path
of spiritual training and development. Research is only truly spiritual when it is related to what lies on the
other side of that threshold. For the threshold separates our ordinary consciousness from the kind of
consciousness needed to live in the spiritual world. Here we live a partly illusory existence in the sense that
we only experience a part of the full reality of the cosmos, which is calculated to give us freedom by making
it possible to think as we will without incurring the two types of illusion referred to above. Fortunately our
thoughts do not drastically change the physical world in a direct manner e.g. thinking that a chair is a table
does not immediately change the chair, and equally our wishes for the weather, for example, to conform to
our convenience have no effect. The threshold separates that state of affairs from the one where every
unguarded wish or thought has immediate consequences. That is why our consciousness on this side of the
threshold is objective and non-participatory, while on the other side it is fully participatory. Indeed to cross
the threshold requires a kind of inversion of consciousness, for our everyday objective consciousness is not
serviceable on the other side – worse, it is destructive. The research of the author concerns that inversion of
consciousness in relation counterspace (see below) for application to science and the possibility of finding a
non-materialistic paradigm for it.
Chloroquine Is a Zinc Ionophore
Abstract
Chloroquine is an established antimalarial agent that has been recently tested in clinical trials for its anticancer activity. The favorable effect of chloroquine appears to be due to its ability to sensitize cancerous cells to chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and induce apoptosis. The present study investigated the interaction of zinc ions with chloroquine in a human ovarian cancer cell line (A2780). Chloroquine enhanced zinc uptake by A2780 cells in a concentration-dependent manner, as assayed using a fluorescent zinc probe. This enhancement was attenuated by TPEN, a high affinity metal-binding compound, indicating the specificity of the zinc uptake. Furthermore, addition of copper or iron ions had no effect on chloroquine-induced zinc uptake. Fluorescent microscopic examination of intracellular zinc distribution demonstrated that free zinc ions are more concentrated in the lysosomes after addition of chloroquine, which is consistent with previous reports showing that chloroquine inhibits lysosome function. The combination of chloroquine with zinc enhanced chloroquine's cytotoxicity and induced apoptosis in A2780 cells. Thus chloroquine is a zinc ionophore, a property that may contribute to chloroquine's anticancer activity.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4182877/
The zinc ionophore clioquinol reverses autophagy arrest in chloroquine-treated ARPE-19 cells and in APP/mutant presenilin-1–transfected Chinese hamster ovary cells
Clioquinol (iodochlorhydroxyquin) is an antifungal drug and antiprotozoal drug.
Abstract
Arrested autophagy may contribute to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. Because we found that chloroquine (CQ) causes arrested autophagy but clioquinol (ClioQ), a zinc ionophore, activates autophagic flux, in the present study, we examined whether ClioQ can overcome arrested autophagy induced by CQ or mutant presenilin-1 (mPS1). CQ induced vacuole formation and cell death in adult retinal pigment epithelial (ARPE-19) cells, but co-treatment with ClioQ attenuated CQ-associated toxicity in a zinc-dependent manner. Increases in lysosome dilation and blockage of autophagic flux by CQ were also markedly attenuated by ClioQ treatment. Interestingly, CQ increased lysosomal pH in amyloid precursor protein (APP)/mPS1-expressing Chinese hamster ovary 7WΔE9 (CHO-7WΔE9) cell line, and ClioQ partially re-acidified lysosomes. Furthermore, accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) oligomers in CHO-7WΔE9 cells was markedly attenuated by ClioQ. Moreover, intracellular accumulation of exogenously applied fluorescein isothiocyanate–conjugated Aβ1–42 was also increased by CQ but was returned to control levels by ClioQ. These results suggest that modulation of lysosomal functions by manipulating lysosomal zinc levels may be a useful strategy for clearing intracellular Aβ oligomers.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0197458015004522
A Topical Zinc Ionophore Blocks Tumorigenic Progression in UV-exposed SKH-1 High-risk Mouse Skin.
Abstract
Nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) is the most common malignancy in the United States representing a considerable public health burden. Pharmacological suppression of skin photocarcinogenesis has shown promise in preclinical and clinical studies, but more efficacious photochemopreventive agents are needed. Here, we tested feasibility of harnessing pharmacological disruption of intracellular zinc homeostasis for photochemoprevention in vitro and in vivo. Employing the zinc ionophore and FDA-approved microbicidal agent zinc pyrithione (ZnPT), used worldwide in over-the-counter (OTC) topical consumer products, we first demonstrated feasibility of achieving ZnPT-based intracellular Zn2+ overload in cultured malignant keratinocytes (HaCaT-ras II-4; SCC-25) employing membrane-permeable fluorescent probes. Zinc overload was accompanied by induction of intracellular oxidative stress, associated with mitochondrial superoxide release as substantiated by MitoSOX Red™ fluorescence microscopy. ZnPT-induced cell death observable in malignant keratinocytes was preceded by induction of metal (MT2A), proteotoxic (HSPA6, HSPA1A, DDIT3, HMOX1) and genotoxic stress response (GADD45A, XRCC2) gene expression at the mRNA and protein levels. Comet analysis revealed introduction of formamidopyrimidine-DNA glycosylase (Fpg)-sensitive oxidative DNA lesions. In a photocarcinogenesis model (UV-exposed SKH-1 high-risk mouse skin), topical ZnPT administration post-UV caused epidermal zinc overload and stress response gene expression with pronounced blockade of tumorigenesis. Taken together, these data suggest feasibility of repurposing a topical OTC drug for zinc-directed photochemoprevention of solar UV-induced NMSC.
https://europepmc.org/article/pmc/pmc5685951
In the film world of Star Wars, Yoda was based on a real person. The teacher Socrates of Ancient Greece was a stunted dwarf with bulging eyes, not very pretty.