RESUMEN
The mating roles of males and females, to a certain extent, are dynamic and variable. Several factors influence the mate choice process. Nonetheless, the main preference features have not yet been fully understood in Aequidens rivulatus. In this study, because of its natural pairing characteristics, A. rivulatus was selected to explore the mate choice preferences of different sexes. Specifically, male and female behavioral performances were described and quantified through a "no-choice paradigm" during mate choice. A total of 12 behavioral performances were defined in male mate choice (experiment 1), whereas 14 behavioral performances were defined in female mate choice (experiment 2). According to the obtained results, unselected females did not display any proactive behaviors in experiment 1, whereas unselected males exhibited proactive behaviors in experiment 2, including quivering, nipping, tail beating, swimming up and down, and aggression. It was also found that both male and female individuals tend to express dislike rather than like. Those behaviors with higher frequencies (e.g., quivering) often mean less energy expenditure, thus easier repeatability. Moreover, principal component analysis (PCA) was employed to extract and identify mate choice preference features. Preliminary results indicated that male preferences for a mate were mainly associated with body size, behavioral intention, and appearance, whereas the intensity of female preferences was in the order of body size, appearance, and behavioral intention. In addition, sex hormone levels were associated with mate choices.
RESUMEN
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of blindness. Laser-induced nonhuman primate choroidal neovascularization (CNV) is a widely used animal model of neovascular AMD. Subretinal fibrosis (SFb) is the major limiting factor of effective anti-VEGF therapy for neovascular AMD, yet SFb has never been systematically analyzed in the primate CNV model and if VEGF directly affect SFb is unknown. We recruited a large cohort of rhesus macaques to study the occurrence, multimodal imaging and electroretinography (ERG) features, and related cytokines of SFb. Here we show that among 33 rhesus macaques, 88% CNV eyes developed SFb. Spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) identified four types of subretinal hyper-reflective material (SHRM) of SFb in primate. Multimodal imaging is reliable for monitoring SFb and matches the histological results well. Reduced amplitude of oscillatory potentials correlates with the thinning of inner retina layers and is a possible SFb indicator. Iba1+ microglia/macrophage cells infiltrated in the fibrotic lesions, and aqueous cytokine analysis identified four fibrosis-related factors (GM-CSF, IL-10, TGFß2 and VEGF). Unexpectedly, we found sustained expression of VEGF may be an important inducer of SFb, and anti-VEGF therapy actually partially suppresses SFb. Taken together, our data suggest the laser-induced primate SFb model, coupled with multimodal imaging and ERG recording, is a useful system to dissect the pathogenesis and explore the rationale of treatment for SFb; and combined therapy with anti-VEGF and anti-fibrosis agents is necessary for AMD treatment.