An experimental study of paternal behavior in red-winged blackbirds

The effect of brood size and female nesting status on male parental behavior was investigated in red-winged blackbirds Agelaius phoeniceus using brood size manipulation experiments. Male redwings allocated parental effort on the basis of brood size and nestling age. Males began assisting females only at nests with at least three offspring older than three days. Female nesting status had no singificant influence on male parental care. When females were unable to meet a brood's demand for food, males assisted females with nestling feeding. Females did not reduce the amount of food delivered to nestlings when males assisted. The amount of food brought to nestlings by the male was additional to the amount of food provided by the female. Male assistance increased fledgling success. When female provisioning was sufficient to meet a brood's demand for food males did not assist. The value of male parental care varied inversely with the ability of the female to meet nestling food demands. The ability of unassisted females to provide sufficient food and to raise a brood of nestlings successfully appeared to be influenced by resource abundance.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46891/1/265_2004_Article_BF00299713.pd

Immunoproteasome LMP2 60HH Variant Alters MBP Epitope Generation and Reduces the Risk to Develop Multiple Sclerosis in Italian Female Population

Background: Albeit several studies pointed out the pivotal role that CD4+T cells have in Multiple Sclerosis, the CD8+ T cells involvement in the pathology is still in its early phases of investigation. Proteasome degradation is the key step in the production of MHC class I-restricted epitopes and therefore its activity could be an important element in the activation and regulation of autoreactive CD8+ T cells in Multiple Sclerosis. Methodology/Principal Findings: Immunoproteasomes and PA28-ab regulator are present in MS affected brain area and accumulated in plaques. They are expressed in cell types supposed to be involved in MS development such as neurons, endothelial cells, oligodendrocytes, macrophages/macroglia and lymphocytes. Furthermore, in a genetic study on 1262 Italian MS cases and 845 controls we observed that HLA-A*02+ female subjects carrying the immunoproteasome LMP2 codon 60HH variant have a reduced risk to develop MS. Accordingly, immunoproteasomes carrying the LMP2 60H allele produce in vitro a lower amount of the HLA-A*0201 restricted immunodominant epitope MBP111\u2013119. Conclusion/Significance: The immunoproteasome LMP2 60HH variant reduces the risk to develop MS amongst Italian HLAA* 02+ females. We propose that such an effect is mediated by the altered proteasome-dependent production of a specific MBP epitope presented on the MHC class I. Our observations thereby support the hypothesis of an involvement of immunoproteasome in the MS pathogenesis