Hayes, T. B.: EVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENTAL ENDOCRINOLOGY AND BEHAVIORIAL ECOLOGY: AN INTEGRATIVE APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING THE STRESS RESPONSE IN WESTERN TOADS (BUFO BOREAS) We showed that exogenous corticosterone (CORT) decreased growth and development in early larval stages, but increased development and stimulated metamorphosis during later stages in the western toad (Bufo boreas). Later, we showed that […]

Orchinik, M.*; Breuner, C.; Gasser, P.; Jennings, D.: Diversity and Plasticity in Corticosteroid Action. Stressor-induced increases in plasma corticosteroid (CORT) levels produce many physiological and neurochemical responses that serve, in large part, to facilitate appropriate behavioral responses to imminent threats. The behavioral responses to CORT are varied, being time-, context- and species-specific. Comparative studies can […]

PERRIN, M.H.; LEE, K-F.; BALE, T.*; LEWIS, K.; VAUGHAN, J.; VALE, W.: Diverse Roles of Corticotropin Releasing Factor Receptors and Their Ligands Corticotropin releasing factor, CRF, plays a major role in homeostasis by mediating the endocrine, autonomic, immune and behavioral responses to stress. The actions of CRF result from activation of its receptors, CRF-R1 and […]

GREENBERG, N. B.: Causes and Consequences of The Stress Response in Reptiles Real or perceived changes in the environment of a lizard can evoke adaptive behavioral responses that are coordinated by the neural and endocrine mechanisms of the stress response. Acute responses, involving catecholamines released in varying proportion at different sites along their sympathetic pathways […]

GANZ, T: The role of antimicrobial peptides in innate immunity Production of antimicrobial peptides and proteins is an important means of host defense in eukaryotes. The larger antimicrobial proteins, containing more than 100 amino acids, are often lytic enzymes, nutrient-binding proteins or contain sites that target specific microbial macromolecules. The smaller antimicrobial peptides act largely […]

BARTL, S.: Terminal Deoxynucleotidyl Transferase (TdT) Genes Isolated from Cartilaginous Fishes Terminal Deoxynucleotidyl Transferase (TdT) is a nuclear enzyme that adds nontemplated nucleotides to free 3’-hydroxyl ends of DNA fragments. In mammals, the only documented function for TdT is the addition of nucleotides at gene element (V, D, and J) junctions during immunoglobulin (Ig) and […]

MARCHALONIS, JJ*; SCHLUTER, SF: Rapid Evolutionary Emergence of the Combinatorial Recognition Repertoire Although the capacity of cells to respond to environmental challenges such as oxidative damage are ancient evolutionary developments that have been carried through to modern higher vertebrates as “innate” immunity, the characteristic immune response of vertebrates is a relatively recent evolutionary development that […]

YOSHINO, T.P.*; HUMPHRIES, J.E.; COPELAND, C.A.: Putative Signal Transduction Pathway Regulating Molluscan Hemocyte Behavior: Studies on In Vitro Cell Spreading and Phagocytosis Encapsulation responses by hemocytes of the freshwater snail Biomphalaria glabrata represent the primary effector mechanism against larval stages of the blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni. Cellular adhesion and spreading are critical components of this […]

LITMAN, G.W.: Novel Immune-Type Receptor Genes and the Origins of Adaptive and Innate Immune Recognition Prototypic forms of novel immune-type receptors (NITRs) encode a variable (V) region, a unique V/C2 domain, a transmembrane region and a cytoplasmic tail containing immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibition motifs (ITIMs). NITRs exhibit properties of adaptive and innate immune receptors that encode […]

LEHRER, R.I.*; TINCU, J.A.; TAYLOR, S.W.; MENZEL, L.P.; ORLOV, D.S.; WARING, A.J.: Natural peptide antibiotics from tunicates: Structures, functions, and potential uses. Tunicates rely on hemocyte-mediated innate immunity for protection against microbial and eukaroytic invaders. The hemocytes of Styela clava, a solitary ascidian, include granular, paucigranular and agranular cell types that act as phagocytes, cytotoxic […]