53 research outputs found
MiR-23-TrxR1 as a novel molecular axis in skeletal muscle differentiation
Thioredoxin reductase 1 (TrxR1) is a selenocysteine-containing protein involved in cellular redox homeostasis which is downregulated in skeletal muscle differentiation. Here we show that TrxR1 decrease occurring during myogenesis is functionally involved in the coordination of this cellular process. Indeed, TrxR1 depletion reduces myoblasts growth by inducing an early myogenesis -related gene expression pattern which includes myogenin and Myf5 up-regulation and Cyclin D1 decrease. On the contrary, the overexpression of TrxR1 during differentiation delays myogenic process, by negatively affecting the expression of Myogenin and MyHC. Moreover, we found that miR-23a and miR-23b - whose expression was increased in the early stage of C2C12 differentiation - are involved in the regulation of TrxR1 expression through their direct binding to the 3′ UTR of TrxR1 mRNA. Interestingly, the forced inhibition of miR-23a and miR-23b during C2C12 differentiation partially rescues TrxR1 levels and delays the expression of myogenic markers, suggesting the involvement of miR-23 in myogenesis via TrxR1 repression. Taken together, our results depict for the first time a novel molecular axis, which functionally acts in skeletal muscle differentiation through the modulation of TrxR1 by miR-23
Stress responses in lambs castrated with three different methods
The present work was conducted to evaluate the animal response to stress in lambs caused by three
different castration techniques. Forty-six male lambs aged 4-5 months were randomly allocated to one
of four groups including Burdizzo (B), scrotal ablation (SA), orchiectomy (OR) and control handling
(H). Local anaesthesia (lidocaine 2%) was administered in both spermatic cords and the scrotal neck
of lambs before each treatment. Blood samples were collected at -30, -10, +1, +20, +40, +60, +120,
and +180 minutes. Serum cortisol concentrations were determined using a competitive immunoassay
and the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated for each lamb. The following biochemical parameters
were assayed for each animal at each time point: alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase
(AST), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase (CK) and glucose (GLU). The time
needed for total lesion resolution and weight gain of each animal was recorded. Orchiectomy elicits the
greatest cortisol response, significantly greater than that seen in similarly handled controls (P≤0.01),
Burdizzo and scrotal ablation groups (P≤0.05). The serum cortisol AUC was higher in the scrotal ablation
group (P≤0.05) than controls, but lower than in the orchiectomy group (P≤0.05). The Burdizzo group
didn’t differ from controls. Serum glucose levels of the castrated lambs differed significantly from the
control group, following a trend similar to cortisol. No change was seen in ALT, AST, LDH or CK. No difference
in weight gain was seen among the groups. Our results suggest that use of the Burdizzo is the
preferable castration technique for adult lambs, while scrotal ablation is a valid surgical alternative to
orchiectomy and permits more rapid wound healing that is ideal for extensive management where flocks
are not under close observation
Effect of extruded linseed supplementation on blood metabolic profile and milk performance of Saanen goats
This study assessed the effects of dietary supplementation with extruded linseed on milk yield and composition, milk fatty acid (FA) profile and renal and hepatic metabolism of grazing goats in mid-lactation. Forty Saanen goats were divided into two isoproductive groups: one group was fed the control diet (CON) composed of hay and pelleted concentrate and the other group was supplemented with additional 180 g/day of extruded linseed (LIN; dry matter basis), which supplied 70 g/day of fat per head for 9 weeks. Animals grazed on pasture for ∼3 h/day after the first of the 2 daily milkings. Milk samples were collected weekly and analyzed for fat, protein, lactose, milk urea nitrogen (MUN) and somatic cell count. Blood samples were collected every 2 weeks and analyzed for total bilirubin, creatinine, aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), gamma glutamyl transpeptidase, alkaline phosphatase, total protein and urea nitrogen. Milk yield was higher in the LIN than in the CON group (2369 v. 2052 g/day). LIN group had higher milk fat (37.7 v. 33.4 g/kg) and protein (30.7 v. 29.1 g/kg) concentration and lower MUN (35.0 v. 43.3 mg/dl) than CON group. Goats fed LIN had greater proportions of 18:1 trans11, 18:2 cis9trans11 and total polyunsatured fatty acids n-3 in milk fat, because of higher 18:3n-3 and 20:5n-3 FA, and lower proportions of short- and medium-chain FAs than goats fed CON. All kidney and liver function biomarkers in serum did not differ between dietary groups, except for AST and ALT, which tended to differ. Extruded linseed supplementation to grazing mid-lactating goats for 2 months can enhance the milk performance and nutritional profile of milk lipids, without altering the general hepatic and renal metabolism
Spatially Resolved Stellar Populations of Galaxies in WHL0137-08 and MACS0647+70 Clusters as Revealed by JWST: How do Galaxies Grow and Quench Over Cosmic Time?
We study the spatially resolved stellar populations of 444 galaxies at
in two clusters (WHL0137-08 and MACS0647+70) and a blank field,
combining imaging data from HST and JWST to perform spatially resolved spectral
energy distribution (SED) modeling using pixedfit. The high spatial resolution
of the imaging data combined with magnification from gravitational lensing in
the cluster fields allows us to resolve some galaxies to sub-kpc scales (for
109 of our galaxies). At redshifts around cosmic noon and higher (), we find mass doubling times to be independent of radius,
inferred from flat specific star formation rate (sSFR) radial profiles and
similarities between the half-mass and half-SFR radii. At lower redshifts
(), a significant fraction of our star-forming
galaxies show evidence for nuclear starbursts, inferred from centrally elevated
sSFR, and a much smaller half-SFR radius compared to the half-mass radius. At
later epochs, we find more galaxies suppress star formation in their center but
are still actively forming stars in the disk. Overall, these trends point
toward a picture of inside-out galaxy growth consistent with theoretical models
and simulations. We also observe a tight relationship between the central mass
surface density and global stellar mass with dex scatter. Our
analysis demonstrates the potential of spatially resolved SED analysis with
JWST data. Future analysis with larger samples will be able to further explore
the assembly of galaxy mass and the growth of their structuresComment: 31 pages, 18 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ. Some examples
and tutorials of spatially resolved SED analysis will be available at
https://github.com/aabdurrouf/JWST-HST_resolvedSEDfit
An environmental dependence of the physical and structural properties in the Hydra cluster galaxies
The nearby Hydra cluster (∼50 Mpc) is an ideal laboratory to understand, in detail, the influence of the environment on the morphology and quenching of galaxies in dense environments. We study the Hydra cluster galaxies in the inner regions (1R200) of the cluster using data from the Southern Photometric Local Universe Survey, which uses 12 narrow and broad-band filters in the visible region of the spectrum. We analyse structural (Sérsic index, effective radius) and physical (colours, stellar masses, and star formation rates) properties. Based on this analysis, we find that ∼88 per cent of the Hydra cluster galaxies are quenched. Using the Dressler–Schectman test approach, we also find that the cluster shows possible substructures. Our analysis of the phase-space diagram together with density-based spatial clustering algorithm indicates that Hydra shows an additional substructure that appears to be in front of the cluster centre, which is still falling into it. Our results, thus, suggest that the Hydra cluster might not be relaxed. We analyse the median Sérsic index as a function of wavelength and find that for red [(u − r) ≥2.3] and early-type galaxies it displays a slight increase towards redder filters (13 and 18 per cent, for red and early type, respectively), whereas for blue + green [(u − r)<2.3] galaxies it remains constant. Late-type galaxies show a small decrease of the median Sérsic index towards redder filters. Also, the Sérsic index of galaxies, and thus their structural properties, do not significantly vary as a function of clustercentric distance and density within the cluster; and this is the case regardless of the filter.CL-D acknowledges scholarship from CONICYT-PFCHA/Doctorado Nacional/2019-21191938. CL-D and AM acknowledge support from FONDECYT Regular grant 1181797. CL-D acknowledges also the support given by the ‘Vicerrectoría de Investigacion de la Universidad de La Serena’ program ‘Apoyo al fortalecimiento de grupos de investigacion’. CL-D and AC acknowledges to Steven Bamford and Boris Haeussler with the MegaMorph project. CL-D and DP acknowledge support from fellowship ‘Becas Doctorales Institucionales ULS’, granted by the ‘Vicerrectoría de Investigacion y Postgrado de la Universidad de La Serena’. AM and DP acknowledge funding from the Max Planck Society through a ‘Partner Group’ grant. DP acknowledges support from FONDECYT Regular grant 1181264. This work has used the computing facilities of the Laboratory of Astroinformatics (Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica e Ciencias Atmosféricas, Departamento de Astronomia/USP, NAT/Unicsul), whose purchase was made possible by FAPESP (grant 2009/54006-4) and the INCT-A. YJ acknowledges financial support from CONICYT PAI (Concurso Nacional de Inserción en la Academia 2017) No. 79170132 and FONDECYT Iniciación 2018 No. 11180558. LS thanks the FAPESP scholarship grant 2016/21664-2. AAC acknowledges support from FAPERJ (grant E26/203.186/2016), CNPq (grants 304971/2016-2 and 401669/2016-5), and the Universidad de Alicante (contract UATALENTO18-02). AMB thanks the FAPESP scholarship grant 2014/11806-9. RA acknowedges support from ANID FONDECYT Regular grant 1202007
Two lensed star candidates at behind the galaxy cluster MACS J0647.7+7015
We report the discovery of two extremely magnified lensed star candidates
behind the galaxy cluster MACS J0647.7+7015, in recent multi-band James Webb
Space Telescope (JWST) NIRCam observations. The candidates are seen in a
previously known, dropout giant arc that straddles the
critical curve. The candidates lie near the expected critical curve position
but lack clear counter images on the other side of it, suggesting these are
possibly stars undergoing caustic crossings. We present revised lensing models
for the cluster, including multiply imaged galaxies newly identified in the
JWST data, and use them to estimate a background macro-magnification of at
least and at the positions of the two candidates,
respectively. With these values, we expect effective, caustic-crossing
magnifications of for the two star candidates. The Spectral Energy
Distributions (SEDs) of the two candidates match well spectra of B-type stars
with best-fit surface temperatures of K, and K,
respectively, and we show that such stars with masses M
and M, respectively, can become sufficiently magnified to
be observed. We briefly discuss other alternative explanations and conclude
these are likely lensed stars, but also acknowledge that the less magnified
candidate may instead be or reside in a star cluster. These star candidates
constitute the second highest-redshift examples to date after Earendel at
, establishing further the potential of studying extremely
magnified stars to high redshifts with the JWST. Planned visits including
NIRSpec observations will enable a more detailed view of the candidates already
in the near future.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables. Fixed Fig 3. comments are welcom
Independent Evidence for Earlier Formation Epochs of Fossil Groups of Galaxies through the Intracluster Light: The Case for RX J100742.53+380046.6
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Fossil groups (FG) of galaxies still present a puzzle to theories of structure formation. Despite the low number of bright galaxies, they have relatively high velocity dispersions and ICM temperatures often corresponding to cluster-like potential wells. Their measured concentrations are typically high, indicating early formation epochs as expected from the originally proposed scenario for their origin as being older undisturbed systems. This is, however, in contradiction with the typical lack of expected well developed cool cores. Here, we apply a cluster dynamical indicator recently discovered in the intracluster light fraction (ICLf) to a classic FG, RX J1000742.53+380046.6, to assess its dynamical state. We also refine that indicator to use as an independent age estimator. We find negative radial temperature and metal abundance gradients, the abundance achieving supersolar values at the hot core. The X-ray flux concentration is consistent with that of cool core systems. The ICLf analysis provides an independent probe of the system’s dynamical state and shows that the system is very relaxed, more than all clusters, where the same analysis has been performed. The specific ICLf is about 6 times higher, than any of the clusters previously analyzed, which is consistent with an older noninteractive galaxy system that had its last merging event within the last ∼5 Gyr. The specific ICLf is predicted to be an important new tool to identify fossil systems and to constrain the relative age of clusters. © 2022. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.R.A.D. acknowledges partial support from NASA grants 80NSSC20P0540 and 80NSSC20P0597 and the CNPq grant 308105/2018-4. R.A.D. also thanks Drs. MARc Kessler for very insightful discussions, Francois Mernier and Zack Li for helpful suggestions. This paper used the cosmology calculator of Wright (2006). Y.J.-T. has received funding from the European Unions Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 898633. Y.J.-T. also acknowledges financial support from the State Agency for Research of the Spanish MCIU through the Center of Excellence Severo Ochoa award to the Instituto de Astrofsica de Andaluca (SEV-2017-0709). This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001. Based on observations obtained at the international Gemini Observatory, a program of NSFs NOIRLab, which is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation on behalf of the Gemini Observatory partnership: the National Science Foundation (United States), National Research Council (Canada), Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo (Chile), Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (Argentina), Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações e Comunicações (Brazil), and Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (Republic of Korea). This work was enabled by observations made from the Gemini North telescope, located within the Maunakea Science Reserve and adjacent to the summit of Maunakea.Peer reviewe
A z=1.85 galaxy group in CEERS: evolved, dustless, massive intra-halo light and a brightest group galaxy in the making
We present CEERS JWST/NIRCam imaging of a massive galaxy group at z=1.85, to
explore the early JWST view on massive group formation in the distant Universe.
The group contains >16 members (including 6 spectros. confirmations) down to
log10(Mstar/Msun)=8.5, including the brightest group galaxy (BGG) in the
process of actively assembling at this redshift. The BGG is comprised of
multiple merging components extending ~3.6" (30kpc) across the sky. The BGG
contributes 69% of the group's total galactic stellar mass, with one of the
merging components containing 76% of the total mass of the BGG and a
SFR>1810Msun/yr. Most importantly, we detect intra-halo light (IHL) in several
HST and JWST/NIRCam bands, allowing us to construct a state-of-the-art
rest-frame UV-NIR Spectral Energy Distribution of the IHL for the first time at
this high redshift. This allows stellar population characterisation of both the
IHL and member galaxies, as well as the morphology distribution of group
galaxies vs. their star-formation activity when coupled with Herschel data. We
create a stacked image of the IHL, giving us a sensitivity to extended emission
of 28.5 mag/arcsec2 at rest-frame 1um. We find that the IHL is extremely dust
poor (Av~0), containing an evolved stellar population of log10(t50/yr)=8.8,
corresponding to a formation epoch for 50% of the stellar material 0.63Gyr
before z=1.85. There is no evidence of ongoing star-formation in the IHL. The
IHL in this group at z=1.85 contributes ~10% of the total stellar mass,
comparable with what is observed in local clusters. This suggests that the
evolution of the IHL fraction is more self-similar with redshift than predicted
by some models, challenging our understanding of IHL formation during the
assembly of high-redshift clusters. JWST is unveiling a new side of group
formation at this redshift, which will evolve into Virgo-like structures in the
local Universe.Comment: 14 pages + appendix, 11 figures, 4 tables. Accepted to A&A on 15th
May 202
A duality in the origin of bulges and spheroidal galaxies
Studying the resolved stellar populations of the different structural components which build massive galaxies directly unveils their assembly history. We aim at characterizing the stellar population properties of a representative sample of bulges and pure spheroids in massive galaxies (M* > 10^(10) Mסּ ) in the GOODS-N field. We take advantage of the spectral and spatial information provided by SHARDS and HST data to perform the multi-image spectro-photometrical decoupling of the galaxy light. We derive the spectral energy distribution separately for bulges and disks in the redshift range 0.14 < z ≤1 with spectral resolution R ∼50. Analyzing these SEDs, we find evidences of a bimodal distribution of bulge formation redshifts. We find that 33% of them present old mass-weighted ages, implying a median formation redshift z_(form) = 6.2^(+1.5)_(−1.7). They are relics of the early Universe embedded in disk galaxies. A second wave, dominant in number, accounts for bulges formed at median redshift z_(form) = 1.3^(+0.6)_(−0.6). The oldest (1st-wave) bulges are more compact than the youngest. Virtually all pure spheroids (i.e., those without any disk) are coetaneous with the 2nd-wave bulges, presenting a median redshift of formation z_(form) = 1.1^(+0.3)_(−0.3). The two waves of bulge formation are not only distinguishable in terms of stellar ages, but also in star formation mode. All 1st-wave bulges formed fast at z ∼ 6, with typical timescales around 200 Myr. A significant fraction of the 2nd-wave bulges assembled more slowly, with star formation timescales as long as 1 Gyr. The results of this work suggest that the centers of massive disk-like galaxies actually harbor the oldest spheroids formed in the Universe
Chronic kidney disease, severe arterial and arteriolar sclerosis and kidney neoplasia: on the spectrum of kidney involvement in MELAS syndrome
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>MELAS syndrome (MIM ID#540000), an acronym for Mitochondrial Encephalopathy, Lactic Acidosis and Stroke-like episodes, is a genetically heterogeneous mitochondrial disorder with protean manifestations and occasional kidney involvement. Interest in the latter is rising due to the identification of cases with predominant kidney involvement and to the hypothesis of a link between mitochondrial DNA and kidney neoplasia.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We report the case of a 41-year-old male with full blown MELAS syndrome, with lactic acidosis and neurological impairment, affected by the "classic" 3243A > G mutation of mitochondrial DNA, with kidney cancer. After unilateral nephrectomy, he rapidly developed severe kidney functional impairment, with nephrotic proteinuria. Analysis of the kidney tissue at a distance from the two tumor lesions, sampled at the time of nephrectomy was performed in the context of normal blood pressure, recent onset of diabetes and before the appearance of proteinuria. The morphological examination revealed a widespread interstitial fibrosis with dense inflammatory infiltrate and tubular atrophy, mostly with thyroidization pattern. Vascular lesions were prominent: large vessels displayed marked intimal fibrosis and arterioles had hyaline deposits typical of hyaline arteriolosclerosis. These severe vascular lesions explained the different glomerular alterations including ischemic and obsolescent glomeruli, as is commonly observed in the so-called "benign" arteriolonephrosclerosis. Some rare glomeruli showed focal segmental glomerulosclerosis; as the patient subsequently developed nephrotic syndrome, these lesions suggest that silent ischemic changes may result in the development of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis secondary to nephron loss.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Nephron loss may trigger glomerular sclerosis, at least in some cases of MELAS-related nephropathy. Thus the incidence of kidney disease in the "survivors" of MELAS syndrome may increase as the support therapy of these patients improves.</p
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