Physiological mechanisms mediating patterns of reproductive suppression and alloparental care in cooperatively breeding carnivores

Montgomery, Tracy M.; Pendleton, Erika L.; Smith, Jennifer E.

doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2017.11.006

Cited by 41 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 85 publications

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“…Moreover, CREB is also associated with peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor signaling known to regulate lipid metabolism and insulin sensitivity, integrity of sarcomeres and mitochondria, and the deposition of collagen and glycogen in the heart (Seidl et al, 2017). In addition, GRK2 may participate in OT regulation of CVS activity although the expression level of GRK2 was dependent on the tissues and their functional status (Montgomery et al, 2018). Importantly, high fat-diet caused marked intracellular lipid accumulation and significantly increased cardiac GRK2 levels in mice, which promoted obesity-induced cardiac remodeling and steatosis.…”

Section: Signaling Pathways Mediating the Cardiovascular Protective Ementioning

confidence: 99%

Therapeutic Potential of Oxytocin in Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease: Mechanisms and Signaling Pathways

Wang

Yang

et al. 2019

Front. Neurosci.

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Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a major cardiovascular disease responsible for high morbidity and mortality worldwide. The major pathophysiological basis of CAD is atherosclerosis in association with varieties of immunometabolic disorders that can suppress oxytocin (OT) receptor (OTR) signaling in the cardiovascular system (CVS). By contrast, OT not only maintains cardiovascular integrity but also has the potential to suppress and even reverse atherosclerotic alterations and CAD. These protective effects of OT are associated with its protection of the heart and blood vessels from immunometabolic injuries and the resultant inflammation and apoptosis through both peripheral and central approaches. As a result, OT can decelerate the progression of atherosclerosis and facilitate the recovery of CVS from these injuries. At the cellular level, the protective effect of OT on CVS involves a broad array of OTR signaling events. These signals mainly belong to the reperfusion injury salvage kinase pathway that is composed of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-Akt-endothelial nitric oxide synthase cascades and extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 1/2. Additionally, AMP-activated protein kinase, Ca 2+ /calmodulin-dependent protein kinase signaling and many others are also implicated in OTR signaling in the CVS protection. These signaling events interact coordinately at many levels to suppress the production of inflammatory cytokines and the activation of apoptotic pathways. A particular target of these signaling events is endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and mitochondrial oxidative stress that interact through mitochondria-associated ER membrane. In contrast to these protective effects and machineries, rare but serious cardiovascular disturbances were also reported in labor induction and animal studies including hypotension, reflexive tachycardia, coronary spasm or thrombosis and allergy. Here, we review our current understanding of the protective effect of OT against varieties of atherosclerotic etiologies as well as the approaches and underlying mechanisms of these effects. Moreover, potential cardiovascular disturbances following OT application are also discussed to avoid unwanted effects in clinical trials of OT usages.

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Section: Signaling Pathways Mediating the Cardiovascular Protective Ementioning

confidence: 99%

Therapeutic Potential of Oxytocin in Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease: Mechanisms and Signaling Pathways

Wang

Yang

et al. 2019

Front. Neurosci.

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“…Their pronounced need for babysitters [43,44] and sentinels [45] may increase the evolutionary pressures for phenotypic divergence between breeders and helpers [46,47] phenotypic divergence that is likely to be underwritten, in part, by endocrine mechanisms. Whereas the ultimate evolutionary drivers of cooperative systems have been studied extensively, much less attention has been accorded the proximate physiological mechanisms underpinning extreme 'reproductive skew' or the unequal distribution of reproductive output (see also [48,49]).…”

Section: The Cooperatively Breeding Meerkatmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Across cooperatively breeding species, various mechanisms account for the stress-related, reproductive suppression of subordinate females, whereby higher glucocorticoid concentrations, arising as a consequence of the stress of subordination, interfere with reproductive function (for a review, see [48]). These mechanisms of reproductive suppression include five major categories: delayed puberty, inhibition of ovulation, implantation failure, spontaneous abortion, and infant mortality [50].…”

Section: Fetal Loss As a Mechanism Of Reproductive Suppressionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Incidence and biomarkers of pregnancy, spontaneous abortion, and neonatal loss during an environmental stressor: Implications for female reproductive suppression in the cooperatively breeding meerkat

Dimac-Stohl

Davies

Grebe

et al. 2018

Physiology & Behavior

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Meerkats are group-living, insectivorous herpestids in which subordinate members provide extensive care for the dominant female's young. In contrast to some cooperative breeders, subordinate female meerkats are physiologically able to reproduce and occasionally do so successfully; their attempts are more frequently 'suppressed' via eviction or infanticide by the dominant female. Spontaneous abortion and neonatal loss occur with some regularity, further negatively impacting reproductive success. Here, we compared the reproductive outcomes and endocrine profiles, including of serum progesterone (P), serum estradiol (E), and fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (fGCm), of dominant and subordinate dams residing within their clans in the Kalahari Desert of South Africa. Our study spanned years of drought, which reduced insect abundance and represented a substantial environmental stressor. Meerkat pregnancies were identified at mid-term and culminated either in spontaneous abortions or full-term deliveries, after which pups were either lost prior to emergence from the natal den (usually within 2days of birth) or emerged at 2-3weeks. Neonatal loss exceeded fetal loss for all females, and contributed to narrowing the status-related disparity in female reproductive output seen during less arid periods. Although E concentrations were significantly lower in subordinate than dominant females, they were sufficient to support gestation. Absolute E concentrations may owe to androgenic precursors that also attain highest concentrations in dominant dams and may mediate aggression underlying female reproductive skew. Pregnancies terminating in fetal loss were marked by significantly lower P concentrations in mid-gestation and modestly lower E concentrations overall. Consistently high fGCm concentrations further increased across trimesters, particularly (but not consistently) in subordinates and in aborted pregnancies. Environmental stressors may modulate reproductive outcomes in meerkats through their influence on sex steroids and their effects on intragroup competition. The social and eco-physiological factors affecting intraspecific variation in reproductive output, even in obligate cooperative breeders, may be most apparent during extreme conditions, reflecting the benefits of long-term studies for assessing the impact of climate change.

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“…Skin‐associated patches are being developed to track physiological variables, including cortisol to monitor stress reactivity in humans (Lee et al., 2016). These tools could also elucidate the physiological mechanisms triggering prosocial and antisocial behaviours in natural settings (Montgomery et al., 2018; Smith, Petelle, et al., 2017). Applications of these technologies to free‐living animals could offer insights into real‐time reactivity—as well as accumulated physiological responses across the life span—to social and ecological stressors.…”

Section: New Opportunities and Unanswered Questions: A Path Forwardmentioning

confidence: 99%

Observing the unwatchable: Integrating automated sensing, naturalistic observations and animal social network analysis in the age of big data

Smith

Pinter‐Wollman

2020

Journal of Animal Ecology

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1. In the 4.5 decades since Altmann (1974) published her seminal paper on the methods for the observational study of behaviour, automated detection and analysis of social interaction networks have fundamentally transformed the ways that ecologists study social behaviour. 2. Methodological developments for collecting data remotely on social behaviour involve indirect inference of associations, direct recordings of interactions and machine vision. 3. These recent technological advances are improving the scale and resolution with which we can dissect interactions among animals. They are also revealing new intricacies of animal social interactions at spatial and temporal resolutions as well as in ecological contexts that have been hidden from humans, making the unwatchable seeable. 4. We first outline how these technological applications are permitting researchers to collect exquisitely detailed information with little observer bias. We further recognize new emerging challenges from these new reality-mining approaches. 5. While technological advances in automating data collection and its analysis are moving at an unprecedented rate, we urge ecologists to thoughtfully combine these new tools with classic behavioural and ecological monitoring methods to place our understanding of animal social networks within fundamental biological contexts.

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Physiological mechanisms mediating patterns of reproductive suppression and alloparental care in cooperatively breeding carnivores

Cited by 41 publications

References 85 publications

Therapeutic Potential of Oxytocin in Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease: Mechanisms and Signaling Pathways

Therapeutic Potential of Oxytocin in Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease: Mechanisms and Signaling Pathways

Incidence and biomarkers of pregnancy, spontaneous abortion, and neonatal loss during an environmental stressor: Implications for female reproductive suppression in the cooperatively breeding meerkat

Observing the unwatchable: Integrating automated sensing, naturalistic observations and animal social network analysis in the age of big data

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