| Full text | |
| Author(s): |
Nakahara, Thiago S.
[1, 2]
;
Cardozo, Leonardo M.
[1, 3]
;
Ibarra-Soria, Ximena
[4]
;
Bard, Andrew D.
[4, 5]
;
Carvalho, Vinicius M. A.
[1, 2]
;
Trintinalia, Guilherme Z.
[1, 2]
;
Logan, Darren W.
[4, 6]
;
Papes, Fabio
[1]
Total Authors: 8
|
| Affiliation: | [1] Univ Estadual Campinas, Inst Biol, Dept Genet & Evolut, Rua Monteiro Lobato, BR-13083862 Campinas, SP - Brazil
[2] Univ Estadual Campinas, Inst Biol, Grad Program Genet & Mol Biol, Rua Monteiro Lobato, BR-13083862 Campinas, SP - Brazil
[3] Univ Calif San Diego, Grad Program Neurosci, 9500 Gilman Dr 0634, La Jolla, CA 92093 - USA
[4] Wellcome Trust Sanger Inst, Wellcome Genome Campus, Cambridge CB10 1SA - England
[5] Kings Coll London, MRC Ctr Dev Neurobiol, London WC2R 2LS - England
[6] Monell Chem Senses Ctr, 3500 Market St, Philadelphia, PA 19104 - USA
Total Affiliations: 6
|
| Document type: | Journal article |
| Source: | BMC Biology; v. 14, FEB 15 2016. |
| Web of Science Citations: | 4 |
| Abstract | |
Background: Olfaction is a fundamental sense through which most animals perceive the external world. The olfactory system detects odors via specialized sensory organs such as the main olfactory epithelium and the vomeronasal organ. Sensory neurons in these organs use G-protein coupled receptors to detect chemosensory stimuli. The odorant receptor (OR) family is expressed in sensory neurons of the main olfactory epithelium, while the adult vomeronasal organ is thought to express other types of receptors. Results: Here, we describe Olfr692, a member of the OR gene family identified by next-generation RNA sequencing, which is highly upregulated and non-canonically expressed in the vomeronasal organ. We show that neurons expressing this gene are activated by odors emanating from pups. Surprisingly, activity in Olfr692-positive cells is sexually dimorphic, being very low in females. Our results also show that juvenile odors activate a large number of Olfr692 vomeronasal neurons in virgin males, which is correlated with the display of infanticide behavior.. In contrast, activity substantially decreases in parenting males (fathers), where infanticidal aggressive behavior is not frequently observed. Conclusions: Our results describe, for the first time, a sensory neural population with a specific molecular identity involved in the detection of pup odors. Moreover, it is one of the first reports of a group of sensory neurons the activity of which is sexually dimorphic and depends on social status. Our data suggest that the Olfr692 population is involved in mediating pup-oriented behaviors in mice. (AU) | |
| FAPESP's process: | 09/00473-0 - Molecular biology of the olfactory system in mammals: study on the detection of odors and their neural representation in the brain |
| Grantee: | Fabio Papes |
| Support Opportunities: | Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants |