Titan has a methane cycle akin to Earth's water cycle. It has lakes in polar regions, preferentially in the north; dry low latitudes with fluvial features and occasional rainstorms; and tropospheric ...clouds mainly (so far) in southern middle latitudes and polar regions. Previous models have explained the low-latitude dryness as a result of atmospheric methane transport into middle and high latitudes. Hitherto, no model has explained why lakes are found only in polar regions and preferentially in the north; how low-latitude rainstorms arise; or why clouds cluster in southern middle and high latitudes. Here we report simulations with a three-dimensional atmospheric model coupled to a dynamic surface reservoir of methane. We find that methane is cold-trapped and accumulates in polar regions, preferentially in the north because the northern summer, at aphelion, is longer and has greater net precipitation than the southern summer. The net precipitation in polar regions is balanced in the annual mean by slow along-surface methane transport towards mid-latitudes, and subsequent evaporation. In low latitudes, rare but intense storms occur around the equinoxes, producing enough precipitation to carve surface features. Tropospheric clouds form primarily in middle and high latitudes of the summer hemisphere, which until recently has been the southern hemisphere. We predict that in the northern polar region, prominent clouds will form within about two (Earth) years and lake levels will rise over the next fifteen years.
Although there is evidence that liquids have flowed on the surface at Titan's equator in the past, to date, liquids have only been confirmed on the surface at polar latitudes, and the vast expanses ...of dunes that dominate Titan's equatorial regions require a predominantly arid climate. We report the detection by Cassini's Imaging Science Subsystem of a large low-latitude cloud system early in Titan's northern spring and extensive surface changes (spanning more than 500,000 square kilometers) in the wake of this storm. The changes are most consistent with widespread methane rainfall reaching the surface, which suggests that the dry channels observed at Titan's low latitudes are carved by seasonal precipitation.
Recent discoveries have shown that the very largest Kuiper Belt objects--Eris, 2005 FY9, and Sedna--are coated in methane and may contain other volatile ices as well. New detailed observations show ...that even within this class of volatile-rich bodies, unexpected differences exist in their surface compositions. 2005 FY9, a body approximately 60% the size of Pluto, with a reflectance spectrum similarly dominated by methane, has a surface depleted in molecular nitrogen by at least an order of magnitude with respect to Pluto. We find that the existence of this new class of volatile-rich objects, the lack of volatiles on most Kuiper Belt objects, and even the otherwise peculiar surface of 2005 FY9 can be explained as a consequence of atmospheric escape of volatile compounds. While previous studies of the surface compositions of objects in the Kuiper Belt have found no explainable patterns, atmospheric escape appears to provide a first-order explanation of the range of surface spectra seen on bodies in the outer solar system.
An organism's ability to perceive and respond to changes in its environment is crucial for its health and survival. Here we reveal how the most well-studied longevity intervention, dietary ...restriction, acts in-part through a cell non-autonomous signaling pathway that is inhibited by the presence of attractive smells. Using an intestinal reporter for a key gene induced by dietary restriction but suppressed by attractive smells, we identify three compounds that block food odor effects in C. elegans, thereby increasing longevity as dietary restriction mimetics. These compounds clearly implicate serotonin and dopamine in limiting lifespan in response to food odor. We further identify a chemosensory neuron that likely perceives food odor, an enteric neuron that signals through the serotonin receptor 5-HT1A/SER-4, and a dopaminergic neuron that signals through the dopamine receptor DRD2/DOP-3. Aspects of this pathway are conserved in D. melanogaster. Thus, blocking food odor signaling through antagonism of serotonin or dopamine receptors is a plausible approach to mimic the benefits of dietary restriction.
B cell clonal expansion and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) oligoclonal IgG bands are established features of the immune response in multiple sclerosis (MS). Clone-specific recombinant monoclonal IgG1 Abs ...(rAbs) derived from MS patient CSF plasmablasts bound to conformational proteolipid protein 1 (PLP1) membrane complexes and, when injected into mouse brain with human complement, recapitulated histologic features of MS pathology: oligodendrocyte cell loss, complement deposition, and CD68+ phagocyte infiltration. Conformational PLP1 membrane epitopes were complex and governed by the local cholesterol and glycolipid microenvironment. Abs against conformational PLP1 membrane complexes targeted multiple surface epitopes, were enriched within the CSF compartment, and were detected in most MS patients, but not in inflammatory and noninflammatory neurologic controls. CSF PLP1 complex Abs provide a pathogenic autoantibody biomarker specific for MS.
Flavin containing monooxygenases (FMOs) are promiscuous enzymes known for metabolizing a wide range of exogenous compounds. In C. elegans, fmo-2 expression increases lifespan and healthspan ...downstream of multiple longevity-promoting pathways through an unknown mechanism. Here, we report that, beyond its classification as a xenobiotic enzyme, fmo-2 expression leads to rewiring of endogenous metabolism principally through changes in one carbon metabolism (OCM). These changes are likely relevant, as we find that genetically modifying OCM enzyme expression leads to alterations in longevity that interact with fmo-2 expression. Using computer modeling, we identify decreased methylation as the major OCM flux modified by FMO-2 that is sufficient to recapitulate its longevity benefits. We further find that tryptophan is decreased in multiple mammalian FMO overexpression models and is a validated substrate for FMO-2. Our resulting model connects a single enzyme to two previously unconnected key metabolic pathways and provides a framework for the metabolic interconnectivity of longevity-promoting pathways such as dietary restriction. FMOs are well-conserved enzymes that are also induced by lifespan-extending interventions in mice, supporting a conserved and important role in promoting health and longevity through metabolic remodeling.
The near-infrared spectrum of (50000) Quaoar obtained at the Keck Observatory shows distinct absorption features of crystalline water ice, solid methane, and ethane, and possibly other higher order ...hydrocarbons. Quaoar is only the fifth Kuiper Belt object (KBO) on which volatile ices have been detected. The small amount of methane on an otherwise water ice-dominated surface suggests that Quaoar is a transition object between the dominant volatile-poor small KBOs and the few volatile-rich large KBOs such as Pluto and Eris.
Despite its key role in Alzheimer pathogenesis, the physiological function(s) of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) and its proteolytic fragments are still poorly understood. Previously, we ...generated APPsα knock‐in (KI) mice expressing solely the secreted ectodomain APPsα. Here, we generated double mutants (APPsα‐DM) by crossing APPsα‐KI mice onto an APLP2‐deficient background and show that APPsα rescues the postnatal lethality of the majority of APP/APLP2 double knockout mice. Surviving APPsα‐DM mice exhibited impaired neuromuscular transmission, with reductions in quantal content, readily releasable pool, and ability to sustain vesicle release that resulted in muscular weakness. We show that these defects may be due to loss of an APP/Mint2/Munc18 complex. Moreover, APPsα‐DM muscle showed fragmented post‐synaptic specializations, suggesting impaired postnatal synaptic maturation and/or maintenance. Despite normal CNS morphology and unaltered basal synaptic transmission, young APPsα‐DM mice already showed pronounced hippocampal dysfunction, impaired spatial learning and a deficit in LTP that could be rescued by GABAA receptor inhibition. Collectively, our data show that APLP2 and APP are synergistically required to mediate neuromuscular transmission, spatial learning and synaptic plasticity.
The in vivo function of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) and its related homologue APLP2 in the adult nervous system is not resolved. Here, the findings show that APLP2 and APP are required to mediate neuromuscular transmission, spatial learning, and synaptic plasticity.
The small bodies in the Solar System are thought to have been highly affected by collisions and erosion. In the asteroid belt, direct evidence of the effects of large collisions can be seen in the ...existence of separate families of asteroids-a family consists of many asteroids with similar orbits and, frequently, similar surface properties, with each family being the remnant of a single catastrophic impact. In the region beyond Neptune, in contrast, no collisionally created families have hitherto been found. The third largest known Kuiper belt object, 2003 EL61, however, is thought to have experienced a giant impact that created its multiple satellite system, stripped away much of an overlying ice mantle, and left it with a rapid rotation. Here we report the discovery of a family of Kuiper belt objects with surface properties and orbits that are nearly identical to those of 2003 EL61. This family appears to be fragments of the ejected ice mantle of 2003 EL61.
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