1,284 research outputs found
Limits on the AGN activities in X-ray underluminous galaxy groups
We have observed four X-ray underluminous groups of galaxies using the Giant
Meterwave RadioTelescope. The groups NGC 524, 720, 3607, and 4697 are
underluminous in relation to the extrapolation of the Lx - T relation from rich
clusters and do not show any evidence of current AGN activities that can
account for such a departure. The GMRT observations carried out at low
frequencies (235 and 610 MHz) were aimed at detecting low surface brightness,
steep-spectrum sources indicative of past AGN activities in these groups. No
such radio emissions were detected in any of these four groups. The
corresponding upper limits on the total energy in relativistic particles is
about 3 X 10 erg. This value is more than a factor of 100 less than that
required to account for the decreased X-ray luminosities (or, enhanced
entropies) of these four groups in the AGN-heating scenario. Alternatively, the
AGN activity must have ceased about 4 Gyr ago, allowing the relativistic
particles to diffuse out to such a large extent (about 250 kpc) that their
radio emission could have been undetected by the current observations. If the
latter scenario is correct, the ICM was pre-heated before the assembly of
galaxy clusters.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
Shock heating in the nearby radio galaxy NGC 3801
Original article can be found at: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/ApJ/--Copyright American Astronomical SocietyPeer reviewe
AGN heating and dissipative processes in galaxy clusters
Recent X-ray observations reveal growing evidence for heating by active
galactic nuclei (AGN) in clusters and groups of galaxies. AGN outflows play a
crucial role in explaining the riddle of cooling flows and the entropy problem
in clusters. Here we study the effect of AGN on the intra-cluster medium in a
cosmological simulation using the adaptive mesh refinement FLASH code. We pay
particular attention to the effects of conductivity and viscosity on the
dissipation of weak shocks generated by the AGN activity in a realistic galaxy
cluster. Our 3D simulations demonstrate that both viscous and conductive
dissipation play an important role in distributing the mechanical energy
injected by the AGN, offsetting radiative cooling and injecting entropy to the
gas. These processes are important even when the transport coefficients are at
a level of 10% of the Spitzer value. Provided that both conductivity and
viscosity are suppressed by a comparable amount, conductive dissipation is
likely to dominate over viscous dissipation. Nevertheless, viscous effects may
still affect the dynamics of the gas and contribute a significant amount of
dissipation compared to radiative cooling. We also present synthetic Chandra
observations. We show that the simulated buoyant bubbles inflated by the AGN,
and weak shocks associated with them, are detectable with the Chandra
observatory.Comment: accepted to ApJ, minor change
Multiple density discontinuities in the merging galaxy cluster CIZA J2242.8+5301
CIZA J2242.8+5301, a merging galaxy cluster at z=0.19, hosts a double-relic
system and a faint radio halo. Radio observations at frequencies ranging from a
few MHz to several GHz have shown that the radio spectral index at the outer
edge of the N relic corresponds to a shock of Mach number 4.6+/-1.1, under the
assumptions of diffusive shock acceleration of thermal particles in the test
particle regime. Here, we present results from new Chandra observations of the
cluster. The Chandra surface brightness profile across the N relic only hints
to a surface brightness discontinuity (<2-sigma detection). Nevertheless, our
reanalysis of archival Suzaku data indicates a temperature discontinuity across
the relic that is consistent with a Mach number of 2.5+/-0.5, in agreement with
previously published results. This confirms that the Mach number at the shock
traced by the N relic is much weaker than predicted from the radio. Puzzlingly,
in the Chandra data we also identify additional inner small density
discontinuities both on and off the merger axis. Temperature measurements on
both sides of the discontinuities do not allow us to undoubtedly determine
their nature, although a shock front interpretation seems more likely. We
speculate that if the inner density discontinuities are indeed shock fronts,
then they are the consequence of violent relaxation of the dark matter cores of
the clusters involved in the merger.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA
AGN Feedback in groups and clusters of galaxies
The lack of very cool gas at the cores of groups and clusters of galaxies,
even where the cooling time is significantly shorter than the Hubble time, has
been interpreted as evidence of sources that re-heat the intergalactic medium.
Most studies of rich clusters adopt AGN feedback to be this source of heating.
From ongoing GMRT projects involving clusters and groups, we demonstrate how
low-frequency GMRT radio observations, together with Chandra/XMM-Newton X-ray
data, present a unique insight into the nature of feedback, and of the energy
transfer between the AGN and the IGM.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, To appear in ASP Conference Series, Vol. 407, The
Low-Frequency Radio Universe, Eds: D. J. Saikia, D. A. Green, Y. Gupta and T.
Venturi (Invited talk, conference held at NCRA-TIFR, Pune, INDIA, 8-12
December, 2008
Shocks, Seyferts and the SNR connection: a Chandra observation of the Circinus galaxy
We analyse new Chandra observations of the nearest (D=4 Mpc) Seyfert 2 active
galaxy, Circinus, and match them to pre-existing radio, infrared and optical
data to study the kpc-scale emission. The proximity of Circinus allows us to
observe in striking detail the structure of the radio lobes, revealing for the
first time edge-brightened emission both in X-rays and radio. After considering
various other possible scenarios, we show that this extended emission in
Circinus is most likely caused by a jet-driven outflow, which is driving shells
of strongly shocked gas into the halo of the host galaxy. In this context, we
estimate Mach numbers M=2.7-3.6 and M=2.8-5.3 for the W and E shells
respectively. We derive temperatures of 0.74 (+0.06, -0.05) keV and 0.8-1.8 keV
for the W and E shells, and an expansion velocity of ~900-950 km/s. We estimate
that the total energy (thermal and kinetic) involved in creating both shells is
~2x10^55 erg, and their age is ~10^6 years. Comparing these results with those
we previously obtained for Centaurus A, NGC 3801 and Mrk 6, we show that these
parameters scale approximately with the radio power of the parent AGN. The
spatial coincidence between the X-ray and edge-brightened radio emission in
Circinus resembles the morphology of some SNR shocks. This parallel has been
expected for AGN, but has never been observed before. We investigate what
underlying mechanisms both types of systems may have in common, arguing that,
in Circinus, the edge-brightening in the shells may be accounted for by a B
field enhancement caused by shock compression, but do not preclude some local
particle acceleration. These results can be extrapolated to other low-power
systems, particularly those with late type hosts.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, and 5 tables. Accepted for publication in Ap
AGN heating, thermal conduction and Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect in galaxy groups and clusters
(abridged) We investigate in detail the role of active galactic nuclei on the
physical state of the gas in galaxy groups and clusters, and the implications
for anisotropy in the CMB from Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect. We include the effect
of thermal conduction, and find that the resulting profiles of temperature and
entropy are consistent with observations. Unlike previously proposed models,
our model predicts that isentropic cores are not an inevitable consequence of
preheating. The model also reproduces the observational trend for the density
profiles to flatten in lower mass systems. We deduce the energy E_agn required
to explain the entropy observations as a function of mass of groups and
clusters M_cl and show that E_agn is proportional to M_cl^alpha with alpha~1.5.
We demonstrate that the entropy measurements, in conjunction with our model,
can be translated into constraints on the cluster--black hole mass relation.
The inferred relation is nonlinear and has the form M_bh\propto M_cl^alpha.
This scaling is an analog and extension of a similar relation between the black
hole mass and the galactic halo mass that holds on smaller scales. We show that
the central decrement of the CMB temperature is reduced due to the enhanced
entropy of the ICM, and that the decrement predicted from the plausible range
of energy input from the AGN is consistent with available data of SZ decrement.
We show that AGN heating, combined with the observational constraints on
entropy, leads to suppression of higher multipole moments in the angular power
spectrum and we find that this effect is stronger than previously thought.Comment: accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa
Suppression of the NF-κB cofactor Bcl3 inhibits mammary epithelial cell apoptosis and, in breast tumours, correlates with poor prognosis
Background
Several transcription factors have been shown to play important roles in the regulation of apoptosis at the onset of murine mammary involution. These include LIF-activated STAT3, c/ebpdelta, Ap-1 and IKK/NF-κB-mediated regulation of death receptor ligands. A study of STAT3 and STAT5 transcriptional targets in mammary epithelial cells in vitro showed that both c/ebpdelta and c-fos (a component of Ap-1) were upregulated by STAT3, suggesting a degree of interdependence between these transcription factor pathways in mediating their apoptotic effects. Interestingly, while no NF-κB or IKK genes were significantly regulated by STATs, the NF-κB cofactor gene, Bcl3, was found to be a principal transcriptional target of STAT3. This factor plays a role in altering the transcriptional capacity of specific NF-κB subunits and has previously been described as an oncogene in B-cell lymphomas. In this study we set out to establish whether Bcl3 had a role in regulating the cell fate of mammary epithelial cells either in the normal mammary gland or in mammary/breast cancer.
Methods
Archived material representing a range of tumour grades and types was collected from breast cancer patients immediately after surgery (tumour tissues = 122, normal tissues = 32). The median follow-up of the patients was 120 months (range 12 to 156 months). QRT-PCR for Bcl3 was performed and this information was used to determine statistically significant correlations with the clinical data on breast pathology. MCF7, T47D and MDA-MB231 human breast cancer cell lines were subjected to Bcl3-specific siRNA knockdown and subsequently assessed for cell motility characteristics using ECIS technology. Bcl3-knockout mice were assessed histologically for alterations in apoptosis rate during the adult pregnancy cycle. Western blots, quantitative PCR and DNA binding assays were used to determine the activity of molecular markers of apoptosis in these animals. Bcl3-deficient animals were crossed with mmtv-neu (c-erbB2) mice to establish the role of Bcl3 in primary (neu-dependent) mammary tumour growth, and magnetic resonance imaging was performed on tumour-bearing animals, to establish metastasis rates in the presence/absence of Bcl3.
Results
An analysis of 122 human breast cancer tissues showed that Bcl3 gene expression was suppressed in a significant proportion of invasive tumours, which correlated with poor prognosis. This also correlated with a significant decrease in Bcl3 gene expression in human breast cancer cell lines exhibiting increased motility characteristics. The effects of siRNA-mediated knockdown of Bcl3 are ongoing. In the mouse mammary gland, Bcl3 expression was restricted to epithelial cells during the first 24 hours of involution. Bcl3 deficiency resulted in a transient delay in the appearance of apoptotic bodies in the early involuting mammary gland in Bcl3-/- mice, while pSTAT3 levels were unchanged compared with equivalent timepoints in control animals. The activities of initiator/executor caspases of both intrinsic and extrinsic pathways were significantly decreased in Bcl3-/- tissues at this time, which correlated with decreases in the expression of key regulators of intrinsic/extrinsic apoptosis. Results from the ongoing magnetic resonance imaging study of tumour incidence/progression in mmtv-neu/Bcl3-/- mice will be presented.
Conclusion
These observations suggest that Bcl3 promotes apoptosis in the mammary gland and provides preliminary evidence of cross-talk between STAT3 and NF-κB pathways, both of which have been implicated in breast cancer. Our current data on Bcl3 in primary breast tumours and breast cancer cell lines contrasts with other studies, to suggest that Bcl3 suppresses the metastatic progression of primary breast cancer and has a neutral role in breast cancer incidence or primary tumour growth
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