Sex Role–Dependent Behavioral and Architectural Divergence in a Jumping Spider

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  Sex Role–Dependent Behavioral and Architectural Divergence in a Jumping Spider ABSTRACT Sex differences in behavior and functional traits are often attributed to differences in mating effort intensity, but the role of sex-specific parental demands remains poorly understood. Using the jumping spider Toxeus maxillosus —where males engage in mate searching and courtship without providing parental care, while females provide extended maternal care from egg attendance to offspring maturity (around 3 months)—we conducted an exploratory investigation into whether these distinct selective pressures led to divergence in spatial behaviors and nest architecture. Results revealed that males and females showed equivalent accuracy, latency, and learning-related performance in both a route-planning test under water stress and a color-pattern associative memory task. In contrast, during nest-construction assays, females built complex, multi-entrance structures that closely matched the container'...

Antinociceptive and neuromodulatory effects of the scorpion venom tetrapeptide tetrascorpin-1 in a long-lasting pain hypersensitivity model in mice

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Antinociceptive and neuromodulatory effects of the scorpion venom tetrapeptide tetrascorpin-1 in a long-lasting pain hypersensitivity model in mice

Abstract

We evaluated the effects of Tetrascorpin-1 from Androctonus australis (AaTs-1), a tetrapeptide obtained from scorpion venom, previously hypothesized to bind the formyl peptide receptor like-1 (FPRL-1) known as formyl peptide receptor-2 (FPR-2) in vitro, on pain responses and cytokines, neuronal and glial morpho-functional alterations in the spinal cord of mice with formalin-induced long-lasting pain hypersensitivity. Due to the peptide chemical nature and for favoring its penetration into the central nervous system, AaTs-1 was daily administered intranasally for 10 days. In formalin-injected mice the AaTs-1 treatment abolished mechanical allodynia, thermal hyperalgesia, hyperactivation of spinal nociceptive-specific (NS) neurons, and partially restored spinal anti-inflammatory/pro-inflammatory cytokine levels and microglia/astrocyte phenotype alterations. Additionally, in contrast to what occurred in formalin-injected mice, AaTs-1 treatment facilitated the firing activity of NS neurons and consistently altered the levels of some spinal cytokines under investigation in healthy mice. Based on the opposing effects of AaTs-1 under physiological and pathological conditions, we suspect that it acts as a partial agonist in vivo rather than as an antagonist of FPR-2, as other in vitro data would suggest.
Pagano, S., Limongelli, R., Moslah, W., Saada, M., Manzo, I., Bonsale, R., Teweldemedhin, M. M., Fusco, A., Guida, F., Belardo, C., Morace, A. M., Perrone, M., Ricciardi, F., Pierretti, G., Vastarella, M. G., Infantino, R., Srairi-Abid, N., Maione, S., Palazzo, E., . . . Luongo, L. (2025). Antinociceptive and neuromodulatory effects of the scorpion venom tetrapeptide tetrascorpin-1 in a long-lasting pain hypersensitivity model in mice. Toxicon, 108611. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.toxicon.2025.108611