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Category: futurism

Resident Macrophages Play a Role in Maintaining Murine Intraocular Pressure

Through their study, the researchers tracked fluorescently tagged resident tissue macrophages in mouse eyes. When they selectively removed these cells, the eye’s drain, or outflow, became clogged, fluid built up, and eye pressure increased.

The discovery could lead to the development of future glaucoma treatments. The next step will be research to identify these resident macrophages in human eye tissue. “This research helps us understand the role of the immune system in regulating eye pressure,” said Katy Liu, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the department of ophthalmology at Duke University School of Medicine. “Our findings show that resident macrophages are essential for maintaining healthy eye pressure,” said Liu. “Disruption of this system may contribute directly to the development of glaucoma.”

Added W. Daniel Stamer, PhD, the Joseph A.C. Wadsworth Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology, and co-vice chair for basic science research, “Now we have a specific target for developing new therapies that can normalize the eye pressure and stop vision loss, in contrast to current medications that do not target the source of disease.”

Study shows spiral sound can shift sideways

A new University of Mississippi study shows that some sound waves don’t just move forward—they also move slightly to the side. Understanding this movement could help researchers develop more precise acoustic tools. Likun Zhang, associate professor of physics and astronomy and senior scientist at the National Center for Physical Acoustics, published his team’s study on the behavior of spiral sound waves in Physical Review Letters.

The experiment is the first measurement of the Hall Effect as it applies to acoustics. The Hall Effect occurs when something traveling forward—traditionally an electric current—is deflected slightly to the side by an external influence such as a magnetic field.

“About five years ago, our group extended the concept of the Hall Effect to acoustics, where we predicted that this would be the case,” Zhang said. “But this follow-up is the first time that we’ve been able to say, experimentally, ‘Here is that shift, and we can prove that it’s there.’”

Reversible one-way lipid transfer at ER–autophagosome membrane contact sites via Atg2

Li Hao, Kuninori Suzuki et al. (University of Tokyo 東京大学大学院新領域創成科学研究科) report that lipophilic dye octadecyl rhodamine B (R18) is transported to the ER mediated by membrane transfer proteins. During autophagy, ER-resident R18 is transferred to the autophagic membrane via Atg2. After termination, R18 is reversed back to the ER, showing that the direction of bridge-type lipid transfer is modulated by metabolic states.

Bridge-like lipid transfer proteins (LTPs) contain a repeating β-groove domain and long hydrophobic grooves that act as bridges at membrane contact sites (MCSs) to efficiently transfer lipids. Atg2 is one such bridge-like LTP essential for autophagosome formation, during which a newly synthesized isolation membrane (IM) emerges and expands through lipid supply. However, studies on Atg2-mediated lipid transfer are limited to in vitro studies due to the lack of a suitable probe for monitoring phospholipid dynamics in vivo. Here, we characterized the lipophilic dye octadecyl rhodamine B (R18), which internalizes and labels the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) in a manner that requires flippases and oxysterol-binding protein–related proteins. Using R18, we demonstrated phospholipid transfer from the ER to the IM during autophagy in vivo. Upon autophagy termination, our data suggested the reversible phospholipid flow from the IM to the ER in response to environmental changes. Our findings highlight the critical role of bridge-like LTPs in MCS-mediated phospholipid homeostasis.

Morphological variation in the Rhododendron pseudochrysanthum Hayata (Ericales, Ericaceae) species complex from Taiwan

New research reveals that the Rhododendron pseudochrysanthum var. taitunense is a distinct subspecies, uniquely characterised by its glabrous leaves, larger seeds and specialised pollen morphology.

Found exclusively in the low-elevation mountains of Northern Taiwan, this rare taxon stands clearly apart from its close relatives within the species complex.

Read the full paper: doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.271.

Our study examines the morphological and statistical differentiation within the Rhododendron pseudochrysanthum species complex through comparative analyses of macro-and micro-morphological characters. Using significance testing and cluster analysis, our results demonstrate that R. pseudochrysanthum Hayata ssp. morii (Hayata) Yamazaki var. taitunense Yamazaki is distinct from other members of the complex, namely R. morii Hayata, R. pseudochrysanthum Hayata, and R. hyperythrum Hayata. This taxon is characterized by glabrous mature leaves with revolute margins, larger flower buds with an elongated conical shape, larger pollen and seed sizes, and distinct pollen and seed morphology. Furthermore, R. pseudochrysanthum ssp. morii var. taitunense exhibits a restricted and localized distribution, occurring exclusively in low-elevation mountainous areas of Northern Taiwan.

Immune-microbiome coordination defines interferon setpoints in healthy humans

Now online! A comprehensive multi-omic analysis of healthy humans reveals two major axes of immunological variation characterized by interferon responses, one of which is coordinated with the microbiome and its metabolites and is stable over time within individuals.

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