205 research outputs found

    Detection of the Characteristic Pion-Decay Signature in Supernova Remnants

    Get PDF
    Cosmic rays are particles (mostly protons) accelerated to relativistic speeds. Despite wide agreement that supernova remnants (SNRs) are the sources of galactic cosmic rays, unequivocal evidence for the acceleration of protons in these objects is still lacking. When accelerated protons encounter interstellar material, they produce neutral pions, which in turn decay into gamma rays. This offers a compelling way to detect the acceleration sites of protons. The identification of pion-decay gamma rays has been difficult because high-energy electrons also produce gamma rays via bremsstrahlung and inverse Compton scattering. We detected the characteristic pion-decay feature in the gamma-ray spectra of two SNRs, IC 443 and W44, with the Fermi Large Area Telescope. This detection provides direct evidence that cosmic-ray protons are accelerated in SNRs.Fil: Ackerman, M.. Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron DESY; AlemaniaFil: Ajello, M.. University of California; Estados UnidosFil: Allafort, A.. University Of Stanford; Estados UnidosFil: Baldini, L.. Universita Degli Studi Di Pisa; ItaliaFil: Ballet, J.. Universit´e Paris Diderot; FranciaFil: Garbiellini, G.. Universit`a di Trieste; ItaliaFil: Baring, M. G.. Rice University; Estados UnidosFil: Bastieri, D.. Universita Di Padova; ItaliaFil: Bechtol, K.. University Of Stanford; Estados UnidosFil: Bellazzini, R.. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare; ItaliaFil: Blandford, R. D.. University Of Stanford; Estados UnidosFil: Bloom, E. D.. University Of Stanford; Estados UnidosFil: Bonamente, E.. Universita degli Studi di Perugia; ItaliaFil: Borgland, A. W.. University of Stanford; Estados UnidosFil: Bottaccini, E.. University Of Stanford; Estados UnidosFil: Brandt, T. J.. National Aeronautics And Space Administration. Goddart Institute For Space Studies; Estados UnidosFil: Bregeon, J.. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare; ItaliaFil: Brigida, M.. Universit`a e del Politecnico di Bari; ItaliaFil: Bruel, P.. Ecole polytechnique, CNRS; FranciaFil: Buehler, R.. University Of Stanford; Estados UnidosFil: Busetto, G.. Universita di Padova; ItaliaFil: Buson, S..Fil: Caliandro, G. A.. Institut de Ciencies de l’Espai (IEEE-CSIC); EspañaFil: Cameron, R. A.. University Of Stanford; Estados UnidosFil: Caraveo, P. A.. INAF-Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica; ItaliaFil: Casandjian, J. M.. Universite Paris Diderot; FranciaFil: Cecchi, C.. Universita degli Studi di Perugia; ItaliaFil: Celic, O.. National Aeronautics And Space Administration. Goddart Institute For Space Studies; Estados UnidosFil: Charles, E.. University Of Stanford; Estados UnidosFil: Cillis, Analia Nilda. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciónes Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio. - Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio; Argentin

    The Inheritance of Histone Modifications Depends upon the Location in the Chromosome in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

    Get PDF
    Histone modifications are important epigenetic features of chromatin that must be replicated faithfully. However, the molecular mechanisms required to duplicate and maintain histone modification patterns in chromatin remain to be determined. Here, we show that the introduction of histone modifications into newly deposited nucleosomes depends upon their location in the chromosome. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, newly deposited nucleosomes consisting of newly synthesized histone H3-H4 tetramers are distributed throughout the entire chromosome. Methylation of lysine 4 on histone H3 (H3-K4), a hallmark of euchromatin, is introduced into these newly deposited nucleosomes, regardless of whether the neighboring preexisting nucleosomes harbor the K4 mutation in histone H3. Furthermore, if the heterochromatin-binding protein Sir3 is unavailable during DNA replication, histone H3-K4 methylation is introduced onto newly deposited nucleosomes in telomeric heterochromatin. Thus, a conservative distribution model most accurately explains the inheritance of histone modifications because the location of histones within euchromatin or heterochromatin determines which histone modifications are introduced

    The Vanishing of the Primary Emission Region in PKS 1510-089

    Get PDF
    In 2021 July, PKS 1510-089 exhibited a significant flux drop in the high-energy γ-ray (by a factor 10) and optical (by a factor 5) bands and remained in this low state throughout 2022. Similarly, the optical polarization in the source vanished, resulting in the optical spectrum being fully explained through the steady flux of the accretion disk and the broad-line region. Unlike the aforementioned bands, the very-high-energy γ-ray and X-ray fluxes did not exhibit a significant flux drop from year to year. This suggests that the steady-state very-high-energy γ-ray and X-ray fluxes originate from a different emission region than the vanished parts of the high-energy γ-ray and optical jet fluxes. The latter component has disappeared through either a swing of the jet away from the line of sight or a significant drop in the photon production efficiency of the jet close to the black hole. Either change could become visible in high-resolution radio images

    Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors Globally Enhance H3/H4 Tail Acetylation Without Affecting H3 Lysine 56 Acetylation

    Get PDF
    Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) represent a promising avenue for cancer therapy. We applied mass spectrometry (MS) to determine the impact of clinically relevant HDACi on global levels of histone acetylation. Intact histone profiling revealed that the HDACi SAHA and MS-275 globally increased histone H3 and H4 acetylation in both normal diploid fibroblasts and transformed human cells. Histone H3 lysine 56 acetylation (H3K56ac) recently elicited much interest and controversy due to its potential as a diagnostic and prognostic marker for a broad diversity of cancers. Using quantitative MS, we demonstrate that H3K56ac is much less abundant than previously reported in human cells. Unexpectedly, in contrast to H3/H4 N-terminal tail acetylation, H3K56ac did not increase in response to inhibitors of each class of HDACs. In addition, we demonstrate that antibodies raised against H3K56ac peptides cross-react against H3 N-terminal tail acetylation sites that carry sequence similarity to residues flanking H3K56

    The Elongator Complex Interacts with PCNA and Modulates Transcriptional Silencing and Sensitivity to DNA Damage Agents

    Get PDF
    Histone chaperones CAF-1 and Asf1 function to deposit newly synthesized histones onto replicating DNA to promote nucleosome formation in a proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) dependent process. The DNA replication- or DNA repair-coupled nucleosome assembly pathways are important for maintenance of transcriptional gene silencing and genome stability. However, how these pathways are regulated is not well understood. Here we report an interaction between the Elongator histone acetyltransferase and the proliferating cell nuclear antigen. Cells lacking Elp3 (K-acetyltransferase Kat9), the catalytic subunit of the six-subunit Elongator complex, partially lose silencing of reporter genes at the chromosome VIIL telomere and at the HMR locus, and are sensitive to the DNA replication inhibitor hydroxyurea (HU) and the damaging agent methyl methanesulfonate (MMS). Like deletion of the ELP3, mutation of each of the four other subunits of the Elongator complex as well as mutations in Elp3 that compromise the formation of the Elongator complex also result in loss of silencing and increased HU sensitivity. Moreover, Elp3 is required for S-phase progression in the presence of HU. Epistasis analysis indicates that the elp3Δ mutant, which itself is sensitive to MMS, exacerbates the MMS sensitivity of cells lacking histone chaperones Asf1, CAF-1 and the H3 lysine 56 acetyltransferase Rtt109. The elp3Δ mutant has allele specific genetic interactions with mutations in POL30 that encodes PCNA and PCNA binds to the Elongator complex both in vivo and in vitro. Together, these results uncover a novel role for the intact Elongator complex in transcriptional silencing and maintenance of genome stability, and it does so in a pathway linked to the DNA replication and DNA repair protein PCNA

    Constraints on the intergalactic magnetic field using Fermi-LAT and H.E.S.S. blazar observations

    Full text link
    Magnetic fields in galaxies and galaxy clusters are believed to be the result of the amplification of intergalactic seed fields during the formation of large-scale structures in the universe. However, the origin, strength, and morphology of this intergalactic magnetic field (IGMF) remain unknown. Lower limits on (or indirect detection of) the IGMF can be obtained from observations of high-energy gamma rays from distant blazars. Gamma rays interact with the extragalactic background light to produce electron-positron pairs, which can subsequently initiate electromagnetic cascades. The γ\gamma-ray signature of the cascade depends on the IGMF since it deflects the pairs. Here we report on a new search for this cascade emission using a combined data set from the Fermi Large Area Telescope and the High Energy Stereoscopic System. Using state-of-the-art Monte Carlo predictions for the cascade signal, our results place a lower limit on the IGMF of B>7.1×10−16B > 7.1\times10^{-16} G for a coherence length of 1 Mpc even when blazar duty cycles as short as 10 yr are assumed. This improves on previous lower limits by a factor of 2. For longer duty cycles of 10410^4 (10710^7) yr, IGMF strengths below 1.8×10−141.8\times10^{-14} G (3.9×10−143.9\times10^{-14} G) are excluded, which rules out specific models for IGMF generation in the early universe.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters. Auxiliary data is provided in electronic format at https://zenodo.org/record/801431

    Emerging evidence of a link between the polycystins and the mTOR pathways

    Get PDF
    Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is a genetic disease characterized by the formation of renal cysts. This disease can be caused by mutations in two genes, PKD1 and PKD2, which encode polycystin-1 (PC-1) and -2 (PC-2), respectively

    Histone H3K56 Acetylation, CAF1, and Rtt106 Coordinate Nucleosome Assembly and Stability of Advancing Replication Forks

    Get PDF
    Chromatin assembly mutants accumulate recombinogenic DNA damage and are sensitive to genotoxic agents. Here we have analyzed why impairment of the H3K56 acetylation-dependent CAF1 and Rtt106 chromatin assembly pathways, which have redundant roles in H3/H4 deposition during DNA replication, leads to genetic instability. We show that the absence of H3K56 acetylation or the simultaneous knock out of CAF1 and Rtt106 increases homologous recombination by affecting the integrity of advancing replication forks, while they have a minor effect on stalled replication fork stability in response to the replication inhibitor hydroxyurea. This defect in replication fork integrity is not due to defective checkpoints. In contrast, H3K56 acetylation protects against replicative DNA damaging agents by DNA repair/tolerance mechanisms that do not require CAF1/Rtt106 and are likely subsequent to the process of replication-coupled nucleosome deposition. We propose that the tight connection between DNA synthesis and histone deposition during DNA replication mediated by H3K56ac/CAF1/Rtt106 provides a mechanism for the stabilization of advancing replication forks and the maintenance of genome integrity, while H3K56 acetylation has an additional, CAF1/Rtt106-independent function in the response to replicative DNA damage
    • …
    corecore