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PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
7060
pubmed:dateCreated
2005-10-6
pubmed:databankReference
pubmed:abstractText
In mammals, social and reproductive behaviours are modulated by pheromones, which are chemical signals that convey information about sex and strain. The vomeronasal organ, located at the base of the nasal septum, is responsible for mediating pheromone information in mice. Two classes of putative pheromone receptor gene families, V1R and V2R, are expressed by vomeronasal sensory neurons in mutually segregated epithelial zones of the vomeronasal organ. Although numerous studies have suggested that pheromones originate from urine, direct recordings of behaving mice have shown that neuronal firing in the vomeronasal system is modulated by physical contact with the facial area. Here we identify a male-specific 7-kDa peptide secreted from the extraorbital lacrimal gland. This peptide, which we named exocrine gland-secreting peptide 1 (ESP1), is encoded by a gene from a previously unrecognized large family clustered in proximity to the class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC) region. ESP1 is secreted from the eyes and is transferred to the female vomeronasal organ, where it stimulates V2R-expressing vomeronasal sensory neurons and elicits an electrical response. Our results indicate that mice respond to sex-specific peptides released from exocrine glands through the vomeronasal system during direct contact.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Oct
pubmed:issn
1476-4687
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Electronic
pubmed:day
6
pubmed:volume
437
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
898-901
pubmed:dateRevised
2006-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed-meshheading:16208374-Amino Acid Sequence, pubmed-meshheading:16208374-Animals, pubmed-meshheading:16208374-Electrophysiology, pubmed-meshheading:16208374-Exocrine Glands, pubmed-meshheading:16208374-Female, pubmed-meshheading:16208374-Lacrimal Apparatus, pubmed-meshheading:16208374-Male, pubmed-meshheading:16208374-Mice, pubmed-meshheading:16208374-Mice, Inbred BALB C, pubmed-meshheading:16208374-Mice, Inbred C57BL, pubmed-meshheading:16208374-Mice, Inbred ICR, pubmed-meshheading:16208374-Molecular Sequence Data, pubmed-meshheading:16208374-Neurons, Afferent, pubmed-meshheading:16208374-Peptides, pubmed-meshheading:16208374-Pheromones, pubmed-meshheading:16208374-Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos, pubmed-meshheading:16208374-Sex Characteristics, pubmed-meshheading:16208374-Time Factors, pubmed-meshheading:16208374-Vomeronasal Organ
pubmed:year
2005
pubmed:articleTitle
Sex-specific peptides from exocrine glands stimulate mouse vomeronasal sensory neurons.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Chiba 277-8562, Japan.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't