A Comparison of Scent Marking between a Monogamous and Promiscuous Species of Peromyscus: Pair Bonded Males Do Not Advertise to Novel Females

Scent marking can provide behavioral and physiological information including territory ownership and mate advertisement. It is unknown how mating status and pair cohabitation influence marking by males from different social systems. We compared the highly territorial and monogamous California mouse (Peromyscus californicus) to the less territorial and promiscuous white-footed mouse (P. leucopus). Single and mated males of both species were assigned to one of the following arenas lined with filter paper: control (unscented arena), male scented (previously scent-marked by a male conspecific), or females present (containing females in small cages). As expected, the territorial P. californicus scent marked and overmarked an unfamiliar male conspecific's scent marks more frequently than P. leucopus. Species differences in responses to novel females were also found based on mating status. The presence of unfamiliar females failed to induce changes in scent marking in pair bonded P. californicus even though virgin males increased marking behavior. Pair bonding appears to reduce male advertisement for novel females. This is in contrast to P. leucopus males that continue to advertise regardless of mating status. Our data suggest that communication through scent-marking can diverge significantly between species based on mating system and that there are physiological mechanisms that can inhibit responsiveness of males to female cues

International cooperative study identifies treatment strategy in childhood ambiguous lineage leukemia

open47siDespite attempts to improve the definitions of ambiguous lineage leukemia (ALAL) during the last 2 decades, general therapy recommendations are missing. Herein, we report a large cohort of children with ALAL and propose a treatment strategy. A retrospective multinational study (International Berlin-Frankfurt-Munster Study of Leukemias of Ambiguous Lineage [iBFM-AMBI2012]) of 233 cases of pediatric ALAL patients is presented. Survival statistics were used to compare the prognosis of subsets and types of treatment. Five-year event-free survival (EFS) of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)type primary therapy (80% +/- 4%) was superior to that of children who received acute myeloid leukemia (AML)-type or combined-type treatment (36% +/- 7.2% and 50% +/- 12%, respectively). When ALL-or AML-specific gene fusions were excluded, 5-year EFS of CD19(+) leukemia was 83% +/- 5.3% on ALL-type primary treatment compared with 0% +/- 0% and 28% +/- 14% on AML-type and combined-type primary treatment, respectively. Superiority of ALL-type treatment was documented in single-population mixed phenotype ALAL (using World Health Organization and/or European Group for Immunophenotyping of Leukemia definitions) and bilineal ALAL. Treatment with ALL-type protocols is recommended for the majority of pediatric patients with ALAL, including cases with CD19(+) ALAL. AML-type treatment is preferred in a minority of ALAL cases with CD19(-) and no other lymphoid features. No overall benefit of transplantation was documented, and it could be introduced in some patients with a poor response to treatment. As no clear indicator was found for a change in treatment type, this is to be considered only in cases with >= 5% blasts after remission induction. The results provide a basis for a prospective trial.openHrusak, Ondrej; De Haas, Valerie; Stancikova, Jitka; Vakrmanova, Barbora; Janotova, Iveta; Mejstrikova, Ester; Capek, Vaclav; Trka, Jan; Zaliova, Marketa; Luks, Ales; Bleckmann, Kirsten; Möricke, Anja; Irving, Julie; Konatkowska, Benigna; Alexander, Thomas B.; Inaba, Hiroto; Schmiegelow, Kjeld; Stokley, Simone; Zemanova, Zuzana; Moorman, Anthony V.; Rossi, Jorge Gabriel; Felice, Maria Sara; Dalla-Pozza, Luciano; Morales, Jessa; Dworzak, Michael; Buldini, Barbara; Basso, Giuseppe; Campbell, Myriam; Cabrera, Maria Elena; Marinov, Neda; Elitzur, Sarah; Izraeli, Shai; Luria, Drorit; Feuerstein, Tamar; Kolenova, Alexandra; Svec, Peter; Kreminska, Olena; Rabin, Karen R.; Polychronopoulou, Sophia; Da Costa, Elaine; Marquart, Hanne Vibeke; Kattamis, Antonis; Ratei, Richard; Reinhardt, Dirk; Choi, John K.; Schrappe, Martin; Stary, JanHrusak, Ondrej; De Haas, Valerie; Stancikova, Jitka; Vakrmanova, Barbora; Janotova, Iveta; Mejstrikova, Ester; Capek, Vaclav; Trka, Jan; Zaliova, Marketa; Luks, Ales; Bleckmann, Kirsten; Möricke, Anja; Irving, Julie; Konatkowska, Benigna; Alexander, Thomas B.; Inaba, Hiroto; Schmiegelow, Kjeld; Stokley, Simone; Zemanova, Zuzana; Moorman, Anthony V.; Rossi, Jorge Gabriel; Felice, Maria Sara; Dalla-Pozza, Luciano; Morales, Jessa; Dworzak, Michael; Buldini, Barbara; Basso, Giuseppe; Campbell, Myriam; Cabrera, Maria Elena; Marinov, Neda; Elitzur, Sarah; Izraeli, Shai; Luria, Drorit; Feuerstein, Tamar; Kolenova, Alexandra; Svec, Peter; Kreminska, Olena; Rabin, Karen R.; Polychronopoulou, Sophia; Da Costa, Elaine; Marquart, Hanne Vibeke; Kattamis, Antonis; Ratei, Richard; Reinhardt, Dirk; Choi, John K.; Schrappe, Martin; Stary, Ja