Strong damped Lyman-α absorption in young star-forming galaxies at redshifts 9 to 11.

Primordial neutral atomic gas, mostly composed of hydrogen, is the raw material for star formation in galaxies. However, there are few direct constraints on the amount of neutral atomic hydrogen (H i) in galaxies at early cosmic times. We analyzed James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) near-infrared spectroscopy of distant galaxies, at redshifts ≳8. From a sample of 12 galaxies, we identified three that show strong damped Lyman-α absorption due to H i in their local surroundings. The galaxies are located at spectroscopic redshifts of 8.8, 10.2, and 11.4, corresponding to 400 to 600 million years after the Big Bang. They have H i column densities ≳1022 cm-2, which is an order of magnitude higher than expected for a fully neutral intergalactic medium, and constitute a gas-rich population of young star-forming galaxies.

Confirmation and refutation of very luminous galaxies in the early Universe.

During the first 500 million years of cosmic history, the first stars and galaxies formed, seeding the Universe with heavy elements and eventually reionizing the intergalactic medium1-3. Observations with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have uncovered a surprisingly high abundance of candidates for early star-forming galaxies, with distances (redshifts, z), estimated from multiband photometry, as large as z ≈ 16, far beyond pre-JWST limits4-9. Although such photometric redshifts are generally robust, they can suffer from degeneracies and occasionally catastrophic errors. Spectroscopic measurements are required to validate these sources and to reliably quantify physical properties that can constrain galaxy formation models and cosmology10. Here we present JWST spectroscopy that confirms redshifts for two very luminous galaxies with z > 11, and also demonstrates that another candidate with suggested z ≈ 16 instead has z = 4.9, with an unusual combination of nebular line emission and dust reddening that mimics the colours expected for much more distant objects. These results reinforce evidence for the early, rapid formation of remarkably luminous galaxies while also highlighting the necessity of spectroscopic verification. The large abundance of bright, early galaxies may indicate shortcomings in current galaxy formation models or deviations from physical properties (such as the stellar initial mass function) that are generally believed to hold at later times.

The natural flavonoid galangin inhibits osteoclastic bone destruction and osteoclastogenesis by suppressing NF-κB in collagen-induced arthritis and bone marrow-derived macrophages.

We investigated the effect of galangin, a natural flavonoid, on osteoclastic bone destruction in collagen-induced arthritis and examined the molecular mechanisms by which galangin affects osteoclastogenesis in bone marrow derived macrophages. In mice with collagen-induced arthritis, administration of galangin significantly reduced the arthritis clinical score, edema and severity of disease without toxicity. Interestingly, galangin treatment during a later stage of collagen-induced arthritis, using mice with a higher clinical arthritis score, still significantly slowed the progression of the disease. Extensive cartilage and bone erosive changes as well as synovial inflammation, synovial hyperplasia and pannus formation were dramatically inhibited in arthritic mice treated with galangin. Furthermore, galangin-treated arthritic mice showed a significant reduction in the concentrations of IL-1ß, TNF-α and IL-17. We found that galangin inhibited osteoclastogenic factors and osteoclast formation in bone marrow-derived macrophages and osteoblast co-cultured cells, and increased osteoprotegerin (OPG) levels in osteoblasts. Galangin and NF-κB siRNA suppressed RANKL-induced phosphorylation of the c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), but not AKT and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2). Also, the JNK inhibitor SP600125 and p38 inhibitor SB203580 reduced RANKL-induced expressions of phospho-c-Jun, c-fos and NFATc1 genes during osteoclast development. In addition, galangin suppressed RANKL-induced phosphorylation of NF-κB, phospho-IκBα, inflammatory cytokines and osteoclast formation in bone marrow-derived macrophages. Our data suggest that galangin prevented osteoclastic bone destruction and osteoclastogenesis in osteoclast precursors as well as in collagen-induced arthritis mice without toxicity via attenuation of RANKL-induced activation of JNK, p38 and NF-κB pathways.