Tree shrews, one of the closest relatives of primates, have attracted increasing attention as a model of human diseases, particularly for viral infections. As the first line of defense against microbial pathogens, the innate immune system is crucial in tree shrews. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is important in the pathophysiology of infection, inflammation and cancer, where it promotes disease developme...

While most mammalian retinas are rod dominated, in the tree shrew retina 95% of the photoreceptors are cones. We studied three shrew horizontal cells to look for features associated with this unusual photoreceptor arrangement. The morphology of horizontal cells was revealed by intracellular injections of Lucifer yellow, and their photoreceptor contacts were assessed by light and electron micros...

Transposons are mobile genetic elements that can be harmful for the host when mobilized. However, they are also genomic reservoirs for novel genes that can be evolutionarily beneficial. There are many examples of domesticated transposases, which play important roles in the hosts. In most cases domesticated transposases have lost their endonuclease activities and the hosts utilize their DNA-bind...

The Etruscan shrew, Suncus etruscus, is not only the smallest terrestrial mammal, but also one of the fastest and most tactile hunters described to date. The shrew's skeletal muscle consists entirely of fast-twitch types and lacks slow fibres. Etruscan shrews detect, overwhelm, and kill insect prey in large numbers in darkness. The cricket prey is exquisitely mechanosensitive and fast-moving, a...

Borna disease (BD) is a sporadic neurologic disease of horses and sheep caused by mammalian Borna disease virus (BDV). Its unique epidemiological features include: limited occurrence in certain endemic regions of central Europe, yearly varying disease peaks, and a seasonal pattern with higher disease frequencies in spring and a disease nadir in autumn. It is most probably not directly transmitt...

The striatum is a major component of the basal ganglia and is associated with motor and cognitive functions. Striatal pathologies have been linked to several disorders, including Huntington's, Tourette's syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorders, and schizophrenia. For the study of these striatal pathologies different animal models have been used, including rodents and non-human primates. Rodent...

PURPOSE We demonstrated that eyes of young animals of various species (chick, tree shrew, marmoset, and rhesus macaque) can shorten in the axial dimension in response to myopic defocus. METHODS Chicks wore positive or negative lenses over one eye for 3 days. Tree shrews were measured during recovery from induced myopia after 5 days of monocular deprivation for 1 to 9 days. Marmosets were meas...