Reproductive biology of Pseudotocinclus tietensis (Siluriformes: Loricariidae: Hypoptopomatinae), a threatened fish species

Pseudotocinclus tietensis is endemic to the Upper Tietê River basin and classified as vulnerable. The reproductive biology of this species is still unknown, therefore, we investigated its reproductive strategy and gonad development during its annual reproductive cycle. The fish were collected throughout one year, and histology of the gonads, fecundity and oocyte diameter was conducted. Three phases of gonad maturation were found in males and females (immature, developing, and spawning capable), and the development stages of the gametes were identified within each stage. In the testes, four stages of gamete development were distinguished: spermatogonia, spermatocytes, spermatids and spermatozoa. During spermiation, the spermatozoa were released into the tubular lumen and then continued through the efferent ducts. In the ovaries, five stages of gamete development were identified: chromatin nuclear, perinucleolar, yolk vesicle formation, vitellogenic and ripe. The minimum diameter of ovulating oocytes was 297 µm, and the absolute fecundity was 64 to 306 oocytes. Males with spermatozoa in the lobular lumen and females with vitellogenic and ripe oocytes were found throughout the year. Pseudotocinclus tietensis has asynchronous ovarian development and gametes with fertilization capacity can be eliminated throughout the annual cycle

IL-18 neutralization ameliorates obstruction-induced epithelial–mesenchymal transition and renal fibrosis

Ureteral obstruction results in renal fibrosis in part due to inflammatory injury. The role of interleukin-18 (IL-18), an important mediator of inflammation, in the genesis of renal fibrosis was studied using transgenic mice overexpressing human IL-18-binding protein. In addition, HK-2 cells were analyzed following direct exposure to IL-18 compared to control media. Two weeks after ureteral obstruction, the kidneys of wild-type mice had a significant increase in IL-18 production, collagen deposition, α-smooth muscle actin and RhoA expression, fibroblast and macrophage accumulation, chemokine expression, and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) production, whereas E-cadherin expression was simultaneously decreased. The transgenic mice with neutralized IL-18 activity exhibited significant reductions in these indicators of obstruction-induced renal fibrosis and epithelial– mesenchymal transition, without demonstrating alterations in TGF-β1 or TNF-α activity. Similarly, the HK-2 cells exhibited increased α-smooth muscle actin expression and collagen production, and decreased E-cadherin expression in response to IL-18 stimulation without alterations in TNF-α or TGF-β1 activity. Our study demonstrates that IL-18 is a significant mediator of obstruction-induced renal fibrosis and epithelial– mesenchymal transition independent of downstream TGF-β1 or TNF-α production

A Coin Vibrational Motor Swimming at Low Reynolds Number

Low-cost coin vibrational motors, used in haptic feedback, exhibit rotational internal motion inside a rigid case. Because the motor case motion exhibits rotational symmetry, when placed into a fluid such as glycerin, the motor does not swim even though its oscillatory motions induce steady streaming in the fluid. However, a piece of rubber foam stuck to the curved case and giving the motor neutral buoyancy also breaks the rotational symmetry allowing it to swim. We measured a 1 cm diameter coin vibrational motor swimming in glycerin at a speed of a body length in 3 seconds or at 3 mm/s. The swim speed puts the vibrational motor in a low Reynolds number regime similar to bacterial motility, but because of the oscillations of the motor it is not analogous to biological organisms. Rather the swimming vibrational motor may inspire small inexpensive robotic swimmers that are robust as they contain no external moving parts. A time dependent Stokes equation planar sheet model suggests that the swim speed depends on a steady streaming velocity V stream ~ Re 1/2s U 0 where U 0 is the velocity of surface oscillations, and streaming Reynolds number Re s = U 20/(ων) for motor angular frequency ω and fluid kinematic viscosity ν