Stereological analysis of the New Zealand rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) placenta.

The onset of gestation is characterized by growth, morphological and functional changes of the placenta. We aim to evaluate the placental compartments in New Zealand rabbits by means of stereological methods. The fetal and maternal portion of placenta (12, 14, 18 and 20 gestational days) was randomly sampled for the stereological analysis.

The quantification of testicular cells during the postnatal development in two Caviomorph rodents: the guinea pig (Cavia porcellus) and the cutia (Dasyprocta agouti).

The germinative, Sertoli and Leydig cells of two caviomorph rodents (Cavia porcellus and Dasyprocta agouti) were counted as well as the estimation of the total volume of the testis and the total volume of seminiferous tubules and interstitium in prepubertal, pubertal and adult animals. The number of spermatogonia, spermatocytes and spermatids cells increased during the pubertal phase in both rodents, notably the spermatid cells. The spermatocyte and spermatid slightly decreased in the adult of both rodents, but the increment in spermatogonia cells number was seen, mainly in cutias.

Shared and differential traits in the accessory olfactory bulb of caviomorph rodents with particular reference to the semiaquatic capybara.

The vomeronasal system is crucial for social and sexual communication in mammals. Two populations of vomeronasal sensory neurons, each expressing Gαi2 or Gαo proteins, send projections to glomeruli of the rostral or caudal accessory olfactory bulb, rAOB and cAOB, respectively. In rodents, the Gαi2- and Gαo-expressing vomeronasal pathways have shown differential responses to small/volatile vs.

The developing left superior cervical ganglion of Pacas (Agouti paca).

In this study the main question investigated was the number and size of both binucleate and mononucleate superior cervical ganglion (SCG) neurons and, whether post-natal development would affect these parameters. Twenty left SCGs from 20 male pacas were used. Four different ages were investigated, that is newborn (4 days), young (45 days), adult (2 years), and aged animals (7 years).

Distinct tumor suppressor mechanisms evolve in rodent species that differ in size and lifespan.

Large, long-lived species experience more lifetime cell divisions and hence a greater risk of spontaneous tumor formation than smaller, short-lived species. Large, long-lived species are thus expected to evolve more elaborate tumor suppressor systems. In previous work, we showed that telomerase activity coevolves with body mass, but not lifespan, in rodents: telomerase activity is repressed in the somatic tissues of large rodent species but remains active in small ones.

Telomerase activity coevolves with body mass not lifespan.

In multicellular organisms, telomerase is required to maintain telomere length in the germline but is dispensable in the soma. Mice, for example, express telomerase in somatic and germline tissues, while humans express telomerase almost exclusively in the germline. As a result, when telomeres of human somatic cells reach a critical length the cells enter irreversible growth arrest called replicative senescence.

On the atrophy of the internal carotid artery in capybara.

Capybara might be a useful model for studying changes in cerebral circulation as the natural atrophy of the internal carotid artery (ICA) occurs in this animal at maturation. In this study, confocal and electron microscopy combined with immunohistochemical techniques were applied in order to reveal the changes in morphology and innervation to the proximal part of ICA in young (6-month-old) and mature (12-month-old) capybaras. Some features of the basilar artery (BA) were also revealed.