TY - JOUR A1 - Reinhard, Sandy A1 - Renner, Sandra A1 - Kupfer, Alexander T1 - Sexual dimorphism and age of Mediterranean salamanders JF - Zoology N2 - We analysed sexual size dimorphism (SSD) for two Mediterranean species of the "true" salamander clade possessing distinct life histories (Salamandra algira and Mertensiella caucasica) and equilibrated the morphometric approach to individual age by using skeletochronology. For species that have a short breeding season and live at high altitudes, such as Mediterranean amphibians, the fecundity advantage hypothesis predicts female-biased SSD to maximise reproductive success. Our results showed no SSD in either species; however, morphometric data indicated a male-biased dimorphism in limb (arm and leg) dimensions in both species when compared to body size. Limb dimorphisms are likely related to the particular mating system, which involves an amplexus during spermatophore transfer. Arm length appeared sexually dimorphic during ontogeny both in viviparous Salamandra algira and oviparous Mertensiella caucasica. A review on SSD indicated monomorphy of body size as a common lineage-specific pattern among the "true" salamander clade, but also the common presence of other traits such as sexually dimorphic limb proportions. (C) 2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. KW - Amphibia KW - Salamanders KW - Life history KW - Sexual dimorphism KW - Skeletochronology Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.zool.2014.08.002 SN - 0944-2006 VL - 118 IS - 1 SP - 19 EP - 26 PB - Elsevier CY - Jena ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Vignon-Zellweger, Nicolas A1 - Relle, Katharina A1 - Rahnenfuehrer, Jan A1 - Schwab, Karima A1 - Hocher, Berthold A1 - Theuring, Franz T1 - Endothelin-1 overexpression and endothelial nitric oxide synthase knock-out induce different pathological responses in the heart of male and female mice JF - Life sciences : molecular, cellular and functional basis of therapy N2 - Aims: The nitric oxide and endothelin systems are key components of a local paracrine hormone network in the heart. We previously reported that diastolic dysfunction observed in mice lacking the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS-/-) can be prevented by a genetic overexpression of ET-1. Sexual dimorphisms have been reported in both ET-1 and NO systems. Particularly, eNOS-/- mice present sex related phenotypic differences. Main methods: We used the ET-1 transgenic (ET+/+), eNOS-/-, and crossbred ET+/+ eNOS-/- mice, and wild type controls. We measured cardiac function by heart catheterization. Cardiac ventricles were collected for histological and molecular profiling. Key findings: We report here that (i) the level of ET-1 expression in eNOS-/- mice was elevated in males but not in females. (ii) Left ventricular end-diastolic blood pressure was higher in male eNOS-/- mice than in females. (ii) eNOS-/- males but not females developed cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. (iv) Perivascular fibrosis of intra-cardiac arteries developed in female ET+/+ and eNOS-/- mice but not in males. Additionally, (v) the cardiac expression of metalloprotease-9 was higher in eNOS-/- males compared to females. Finally, (vi) cardiac proteome analysis revealed that the protein abundance of the oxidative stress related enzyme superoxide dismutase presented with sexual dimorphism in eNOS-/- and ET+/+ mice. Significance: These results indicate that the cardiac phenotypes of ET-1 transgenic mice and eNOS knockout mice are sex specific. Since both systems are key players in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases, our findings might be important in the context of gender differences in patients with such diseases. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/). KW - Endothelin-1 KW - Nitric oxide KW - Cardiac function KW - Sexual dimorphism Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lfs.2013.12.003 SN - 0024-3205 SN - 1879-0631 VL - 118 IS - 2 SP - 219 EP - 225 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER -