Ontogeny of collective behaviour

During their lifetime, superorganisms, like unitary organisms, undergo transformations that change the machinery of their collective behaviour. Here, we suggest that these transformations are largely understudied and propose that more systematic research into the ontogeny of collective behaviours is needed if we hope to better understand the link between proximate behavioural mechanisms and the development of collective adaptive functions. In particular, certain social insects engage in self-assemblage, forming dynamic and physically connected architectures with striking similarities to developing multicellular organisms, making them good model systems for ontogenetic studies of collective behaviour. However, exhaustive time series and three-dimensional data are required to thoroughly characterize the different life stages of the collective structures and the transitions between these stages. The well-established fields of embryology and developmental biology offer practical tools and theoretical frameworks that could speed up the acquisition of new knowledge about the formation, development, maturity and dissolution of social insect self-assemblages and, by extension, other superorganismal behaviours. We hope that this review will encourage an expansion of the ontogenetic perspective in the field of collective behaviour and, in particular, in self-assemblage research, which has far-reaching applications in robotics, computer science and regenerative medicine. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Collective behaviour through time'.

Vasopressin receptor subtypes and renal sodium transport

In mammals, three subtypes of V-receptors have been identified in the kidney. The effects of vasopressin, a hormone synthesized in the hypothalamus, are triggered by three distinct receptor isoforms: V2, V1a, and V1b. Stimulation of V2-receptors regulates urine osmotic concentration by increasing sodium reabsorption in the thick ascending limb of the loop of Henle and enhancing osmotic permeability of the epithelium cells in the collecting duct. Stimulation of V1a-receptors inhibits renal sodium reabsorption and induces natriuresis, comparable to the effect of the diuretic furosemide, in the thick ascending limb of the loop of Henle. Stimulation of V1b-receptors induces potassium secretion in the final parts of the distal segments and initial parts of the collecting ducts. In this review, we discuss the role of vasopressin and its interaction with V-receptor subtypes in natriuresis and for stabilizing the physicochemical parameters of the internal environment and water-salt homeostasis in humans. A better understanding of these systems and their regulation is necessary to facilitate identification of additional system components and mechanisms, clarify their contribution during various normal and pathological functional states, and suggest novel strategies for the development of therapeutic interventions.

Arginine vasotocin is the major adrenocorticotropic hormone-releasing factor in the bullfrog Rana catesbeiana

In a previous study, we showed that corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) is the major thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)-releasing factor in the bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) hypothalamus. Our findings prompted us to ascertain whether CRF or arginine vasotocin (AVT), a known adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) secretagogue in several vertebrates, is the main stimulator of the release of ACTH from the bullfrog pituitary. Both the frog CRF and AVT stimulated the release of immunoassayable ACTH from dispersed anterior pituitary cells in vitro in a concentration-dependent manner. AVT, however, exhibited far more potent ACTH-releasing activity than CRF. Although CRF by itself weakly stimulated ACTH release, it acted synergistically with AVT to enhance the release of ACTH markedly. Mesotocin and AVT-related peptides such as hydrin 1 and hydrin 2 showed relatively weak ACTH-releasing activity. Subsequently, cDNAs encoding the bullfrog AVT V1a-type and V1b-type receptors were molecularly cloned. Reverse transcriptase-PCR using specific primers revealed that the anterior lobe of the pituitary predominantly expressed AVT V1b-type receptor mRNA but scarcely expressed AVT V1a-type receptor mRNA. Abundant signals for V1b-type receptor mRNA in the corticotropes were also detected by in situ hybridization. The results obtained by the experiments with the bullfrog pituitary indicate that AVT acts as the main ACTH-releasing factor through the AVT V1b-type receptor and that CRF acts synergistically with AVT to enhance the release of ACTH.

Molecular and cellular characterization of urinary bladder-type aquaporin in Xenopus laevis

In contrast to many anuran amphibians, water is not reabsorbed from the urinary bladder in aquatic Xenopus, thereby helping to prevent excessive water influx. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms for this process. In the present study, we have identified urinary bladder-type aquaporin, AQP-x2, in Xenopus laevis by cDNA cloning. The predicted amino acid sequence contained six putative transmembrane domains and the two conserved Asn-Pro-Ala motifs, characteristic of AQPs. The sequence also contained a putative N-glycosylation site and phosphorylation motifs for protein kinase A and protein kinase C. The oocyte swelling assay showed that AQP-x2 facilitated water permeability. Reverse transcription-PCR analysis indicated that AQP-x2 mRNA was expressed in the urinary bladder and lung, and faintly in the kidney. Immunomicroscopical study further localized AQP-x2 protein to the cytoplasm of granular cells in the luminal epithelium of the urinary bladder whilst AQP3 was observed along the basolateral side of these cells. In vitro stimulation of the urinary bladder with 10(-8)M vasotocin (AVT), 10(-8)M hydrin 1, or 10(-8)M hydrin 2 had no clear effect on the subcellular distribution of AQP-x2. When the AVT concentration was increased to 10(-6)M, however, AQP-x2 was partially transferred to the apical plasma membrane. The treatment with hydrin 1 or hydrin 2 at the same concentration failed to induce the translocation to the apical membrane. On the other hand, AQP3 remained along the basolateral side even after the treatment with vasotocin or hydrins. The results suggest that the poor responsiveness of AQP-x2 to neurohypophyseal peptides may be a main cause for the little water permeability of the urinary bladder of X. laevis.

Molecular machinery for vasotocin-dependent transepithelial water movement in amphibians: aquaporins and evolution

Amphibians represent the first vertebrates to adapt to terrestrial environments, and are successfully distributed around the world. The ventral skin, kidney, and urinary bladder are important osmoregulatory organs for adult anuran amphibians. Water channel proteins, called aquaporins (AQPs), play key roles in transepithelial water absorption/reabsorption in these organs. At least 43 types of AQPs were identified in anurans; a recent phylogenetic analysis categorized anuran AQPs among 16 classes (AQP0-14, 16). Anuran-specific AQPa2 was assigned to AQP6, then was further subdivided into the ventral skin-type (AQP6vs; AQPa2S), whose expression is confined to the ventral skin, and the urinary bladder-type (AQP6ub; AQPa2U), which is basically expressed in the urinary bladder. For the osmoregulatory organs, AQP3 is constitutively located in the basolateral plasma membrane of tight-junctioned epithelial cells. AQP6vs, AQP2 and/or AQP6ub are also expressed in these epithelial cells and are translocated to the apical membrane in response to arginine vasotocin, thereby regulating water absorption/reabsorption. It was suggested recently that two subtypes of AQP6vs contribute to cutaneous water absorption in Ranid species. In addition, AQP5 (AQP5a) and AQP5L (AQP5b) were identified from Xenopus tropicalis Gray, 1864, and AQP5 was localized to the apical membrane of luminal epithelial cells of the urinary bladder in dehydrated Xenopus. This finding suggested that AQP5 may be involved in water reabsorption from this organ under dehydration. Based on the hitherto reported information, we propose models for the evolution of water-absorbing/reabsorbing mechanisms in anuran osmoregulatory organs in association with AQPs.

Molecular diversity of vasotocin-dependent aquaporins closely associated with water adaptation strategy in anuran amphibians

Anuran amphibians represent the first vertebrates that adapted to terrestrial environments, and are successfully distributed around the world, even to forests and arid deserts. Many adult anurans have specialised osmoregulatory organs, in addition to the kidney (i.e. the ventral pelvic skin to absorb water from the external environments and a urinary bladder that stores water and reabsorbs it in times of need). Aquaporin (AQP), a water channel protein, plays a fundamental role in these water absorption/reabsorption processes. The anuran AQP family consists of at least AQP0-AQP5, AQP7-AQP10 and two anuran-specific types, designated as AQPa1 and AQPa2. For the three osmoregulatory organs, AQP3 is constitutively located in the basolateral membrane of the tight-junctioned epithelial cells, allowing water transport between the cytoplasm of these cells and the neighbouring tissue fluid at all times. On the other hand, AQPs at the apical side of the tight epithelial cells are different among these organs, and are named kidney-type AQP2, ventral pelvic skin-type AQPa2 and urinary bladder-type AQPa2. All of them show translocation from the cytoplasmic pool to the apical plasma membrane in response to arginine vasotocin, thereby regulating water transport independently in each osmoregulatory organ. It was further revealed that, in terrestrial and arboreal anurans, the bladder-type AQPa2 is expressed in the pelvic skin, together with the pelvic skin-type AQPa2, potentially facilitating water absorption from the pelvic skin. By contrast, Xenopus has lost the ability to efficiently produce pelvic skin-type AQPa2 (AQP-x3) because Cys-273 of AQP-x3 and/or Cys-273-coding region of AQPx3 mRNA attenuate gene expression at a post-transcriptional step, presumably leading to the prevention of excessive water influx in this aquatic species. Collectively, the acquisition of two forms of AQPa2 and the diversified regulation of their gene expression appears to provide the necessary mechanisms for the evolutionary adaptation of anurans to a wide variety of ecological environments.

Correlation between aquaporin and water permeability in response to vasotocin, hydrin and {beta}-adrenergic effectors in the ventral pelvic skin of the tree frog Hyla japonica

The ventral pelvic skin of the tree frog Hyla japonica expresses two kinds of arginine vasotocin (AVT)-stimulated aquaporins (AQP-h2 and AQP-h3), which affect the capacity of the frog's skin to absorb water. As such, it can be used as a model system for analyzing the molecular mechanisms of water permeability. We investigated AQP dynamics and water permeability in the pelvic skin of H. japonica following challenge with AVT, hydrins (intermediate peptides of pro-AVT) and beta-adrenergic effectors. In the in vivo experiment, both AQP-h2 and AQP-h3 proteins were translocated to the apical plasma membrane in the principal cells of the first-reacting cell (FRC) layer in the pelvic skin following challenge with AVT, hydrin 1 and hydrin 2, thereby increasing the water permeability of the pelvic skin. The beta-adrenergic receptor agonist isoproterenol (IP) and its anatagonist propranolol (PP) in combination with AVT or hydrins were used as challenge in the in vitro experiment. IP increased water permeability whereas PP inhibited it, and both events were well correlated with the translocation of the AQPs to the apical membrane. In the PP+AVT-treated skins, labels for AQP-h2 and AQP-h3 were differentially visible among the principal cells; the apical plasma membrane of some cells was labeled while others were not, indicating that the response of PP or AVT is different from cell to cell. These results provide morphological evidence that the principal cells of the FRC layers may have two kinds of receptors: a V2 receptor and beta-adrenergic receptor.

Temperature and humidity alter prolactin receptor expression in the skin of toad (Bufo bankorensis and Bufo melanostictus)

Bufo bankorensis and Bufo melanostictus, the only two species of Bufonidae genus in Taiwan, live in habitats that differ in altitude and humidity. This study tested the hypothesis that prolactin receptor (PRLR) expression responds to environmental change. Western blot analysis showed that the PRLR protein was widely distributed in brain, lung, liver, kidney, dorsal skin and ventral skin of toads. The level PRLR protein was elevated in the dorsal skin of the two toad species treated with dry or wet conditions for 14 days. The increase in PRLR of dorsal skin in B. bankorensis was higher than that in B. melanostictus. This experimental result suggests that B. bankorensis secretes more mucus to reduce water evaporation from its thinner cuticle than B. melanostictus. The expression of PRLR protein was increased in the lung of B. bankorensis and decreased in the lung of B. melanostictus. Moreover, PRLR protein levels were increased in the kidneys in the two species toad, likely due to reduction in water lost through lung and urine. The two toad species were subjected to varying temperatures (25 degrees C, 15 degrees C and 10 degrees C) for 14 days. The lowest PRLR protein expression was observed at 10 degrees C. Comparison of the decreasing trend in PRLR protein levels demonstrated that the variation in B. bankorensis was significantly higher than that in B. melanostictus. Comparisons of variation in PRLR protein expression in the two species under different environments suggest that B. bankorensis is more adaptable to different environments than B. melanostictus.

Micropuncture study of ion and water reabsorption regulation range in the distal tubule of triton nephron

Micropuncture of the distal tubule in triton nephron and ultramicroanalysis of samples showed that vasotocin stimulates transport of Ca2+, Na+, Mg2+, and Cl- from the nephron lumen and increases permeability of the tubular wall for water. Prostaglandin E2 suppresses these processes.

Sexually dimorphic basal water absorption at the isolated pelvic patch of Japanese tree frog, Hyla japonica

Frogs ingest little water orally, but absorb the majority of the water needed for normal physiological performance through a specific region of the ventral skin, the pelvic patch. We observed non-stimulated (basal water absorption, BWA) water flux through the isolated pelvic patch in vitro in Japanese tree frog (Hyla japonica). We found that water flux through non-stimulated skin from the pelvic patch was greater in males than females. This water flux was confirmed as BWA by observing no effect following the in vitro administration of propranolol and [adamantaneacetyl(1), O-Et-D-Tyr(2), Val(1), aminobutyryl(6), Arg(8, 9)] vasopressin, which are a beta-adrenergic receptor antagonist and a vasopressin V2 receptor antagonist, respectively. We further examined this phenomenon following gonadectomy, treatment with sex hormones (E2, 17beta-estradiol; TP, testosterone propionate), estrogenic chemicals (BPA, bisphenol A; MTX, methoxychlor) or prolactin (PRL, a hormone regulated by sex hormones that has osmoregulatory activity). Ovariectomy increased BWA in females. Injection (in vivo treatment) of E2 or PRL reduced BWA in males, whereas TP injection increased BWA in females. However, the in vitro addition of E2, TP, or PRL to the Ringer's solution on the serosal side of the ventral skin patch did not alter BWA. Subsequently, we injected (in vivo treatment) BPA or MTX, environmental chemical contaminants with known hormonal actions in mammals. Injection of BPA or MTX reduced BWA in males as observed following treatment with E2. These results provide the first evidence of sexual dimorphism in BWA through the isolated pelvic patch. The gonad appears essential for observed sexual dimorphism in BWA, and we hypothesize that sex hormones regulate the release of PRL, that in turn influences BWA indirectly. E2 is known to exert a specific stimulatory effect on PRL secretion. In addition, we have observed that some endocrine disrupting contaminants also eliminate the sexual dimorphism in BWA observed in the Japanese tree frog.

Molecular cloning of an anuran V(2) type [Arg(8)] vasotocin receptor and mesotocin receptor: functional characterization and tissue expression in the Japanese tree frog (Hyla japonica)

In most amphibians, [Arg(8)] vasotocin (VT) has an antidiuretic effect that is coupled to the activation of adenylate cyclase. In contrast, mesotocin (MT) has a diuretic effect and acts via the inositol phosphate/calcium signaling pathway in amphibians. To further clarify the mechanisms of VT and MT activation, we report the molecular cloning of a VT receptor (VTR) and a MT receptor (MTR) from the Japanese tree frog, Hyla japonica. Tree frog VTR or MTR cDNA encoded 363 or 389 amino acids, and their amino acid sequences revealed close similarity to the mammalian vasopressin V(2) (51-52% identity) or toad MT (94% identity) receptors, respectively. Using CHO-K1 cells transfected with tree frog VTR, we observed elevated concentrations of intracellular cAMP following exposure of the cells to VT or other neurohypophysial hormones, whereas the cells transfected with MTR did not exhibit altered cAMP concentrations. The cells transfected with VTR exhibited the following efficiency for cAMP accumulation: VT = hydrin 1 > or = vasopressin > or = hydrin 2 > MT = oxytocin > isotocin. VTR or MTR mRNA exhibits a single 2.2- or 5.5-kb transcription band, respectively, and both are expressed in various tissues. VTR mRNA is clearly expressed in brain, heart, kidney, pelvic patch of skin, and urinary bladder, whereas brain, fat body, heart, kidney, and urinary bladder express MTR mRNA. Specifically, VTR mRNA in the pelvic patch or MTR mRNA in the dorsal skin is present at elevated levels in the skin. Characteristic distribution of VTR and MTR on osmoregulating organs indicates the ligands for these receptors would mediate a variety of functions. Further, the distribution of VTR in the skin would make the regional difference on cutaneous water absorption in response to VT in the Japanese tree frog.