Nephrocytes Remove Microbiota-Derived Peptidoglycan from Systemic Circulation to Maintain Immune Homeostasis.

Preventing aberrant immune responses against the microbiota is essential for the health of the host. Microbiota-shed pathogen-associated molecular patterns translocate from the gut lumen into systemic circulation. Here, we examined the role of hemolymph (insect blood) filtration in regulating systemic responses to microbiota-derived peptidoglycan. Drosophila deficient for the transcription factor Klf15 (Klf15NN) are viable but lack nephrocytes-cells structurally and functionally homologous to the glomerular podocytes of the kidney. We found that Klf15NN flies were more resistant to infection than wild-type (WT) counterparts but exhibited a shortened lifespan. This was associated with constitutive Toll pathway activation triggered by excess peptidoglycan circulating in Klf15NN flies. In WT flies, peptidoglycan was removed from systemic circulation by nephrocytes through endocytosis and subsequent lysosomal degradation. Thus, renal filtration of microbiota-derived peptidoglycan maintains immune homeostasis in Drosophila, a function likely conserved in mammals and potentially relevant to the chronic immune activation seen in settings of impaired blood filtration

X-band photoinjector for a chirped-pulse FEL

The phase noise and jitter characteristics of the laser and rf systems of a high gradient X-band photoinjector have been measured experimentally. When > 100 coherently phased 5 MeV electron bunches are produced in bursts, the photoinjector should be an ideal electron source for a pulsed, pre-bunched free-electron laser (FEL) operating at 100 GHz. The laser oscillator is a self-modelocked Titanium:Sapphire system operating at the 108th subharmonic of the rf gun. The X-band signal is produced from the laser by a phase-locked dielectric resonance oscillator, and amplified by a pulsed TWT and klystron. A comparison between the klystron and TWT amplifier phase noise and the fields excited in the rf gun demonstrates the filtering effect of the high Q structure, thus indicating that the rf gun can be used as a master oscillator, and could be energized by either a rf oscillator such as a magnetron or a compact source such as a cross-field amplifier. In particular, the rf gun can play the role of a pulsed rf clock to synchronize the photocathode laser system: direct drive of a synchronously mode-locked AlGaAs quantum well laser has been achieved using the X0-band gun rf fields. This novel, GHz repetition rate, sub-picosecond laser system is being developed to replace the more conventional femtosecond Ti: Al2O3 system. Some advantages include pumping this laser with a stabilized current source instead of a costly, low efficiency pump laser. Finally, dark current measurements and initial photoelectron measurements are reported