Aix-Marseille University

About: Aix-Marseille University is a education organization based out in Marseille, France. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Galaxy. The organization has 24326 authors who have published 54240 publications receiving 1455416 citations. The organization is also known as: University Aix-Marseille & université d'Aix-Marseille.

The metabolic checkpoint kinase mTOR is essential for IL-15 signaling during the development and activation of NK cells

Abstract: Interleukin 15 (IL-15) controls both the homeostasis and the peripheral activation of natural killer (NK) cells. The molecular basis for this duality of action remains unknown. Here we found that the metabolic checkpoint kinase mTOR was activated and boosted bioenergetic metabolism after exposure of NK cells to high concentrations of IL-15, whereas low doses of IL-15 triggered only phosphorylation of the transcription factor STAT5. mTOR stimulated the growth and nutrient uptake of NK cells and positively fed back on the receptor for IL-15. This process was essential for sustaining NK cell proliferation during development and the acquisition of cytolytic potential during inflammation or viral infection. The mTORC1 inhibitor rapamycin inhibited NK cell cytotoxicity both in mice and humans; this probably contributes to the immunosuppressive activity of this drug in different clinical settings.

Ecology and evolution of plant diversity in the endangered campo rupestre: a neglected conservation priority

Abstract: Botanists, ecologists and evolutionary biologists are familiar with the astonishing species richness and endemism of the fynbos of the Cape Floristic Region and the ancient and unique flora of the kwongkan of south-western Australia. These regions represent old climatically-buffered infertile landscapes (OCBILs) that are the basis of a general hypothesis to explain their richness and endemism. However, few ecologists are familiar with the campo rupestre of central and eastern Brazil, an extremely old mountaintop ecosystem that is both a museum of ancient lineages and a cradle of continuing diversification of endemic lineages. Diversification of some lineages of campo rupestre pre-dates diversification of lowland cerrado, suggesting it may be the most ancient open vegetation in eastern South America. This vegetation comprises more than 5000 plant species, nearly 15 % of Brazil’s plant diversity, in an area corresponding to 0.78 % of its surface. Reviewing empirical data, we scrutinise five predictions of the OCBIL theory, and show that campo rupestre is fully comparable to and remarkably convergent with both fynbos and kwongkan, and fulfills the criteria for a classic OCBIL. The increasing threats to campo rupestre are compromising ecosystem services and we argue for the implementation of more effective conservation and restoration strategies.

Planck intermediate results - XXX. The angular power spectrum of polarized dust emission at intermediate and high Galactic latitudes

Abstract: The polarized thermal emission from diffuse Galactic dust is the main foreground present in measurements of the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) at frequencies above 100 GHz. In this paper we exploit the uniqueness of the Planck HFI polarization data from 100 to 353 GHz to measure the polarized dust angular power spectra C_l^(EE) and C_l^(BB) over the multipole range 40