Mouse alarm pheromone shares structural similarity with predator scents
Mouse alarm pheromone shares structural similarity with predator scents
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DOI：
10.1073/pnas.1214249110
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发表时间：
2013-03-19
影响因子：
11.1
通讯作者：
Broillet, Marie-Christine
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Brechuehl, Julien;Moine, Fabian;Broillet, Marie-Christine
感知环境中存在的化学警告对物种生存至关重要。在哺乳动物中，这种形式的危险沟通是通过释放自然的捕食者气味来进行的，这种气味可以不自觉地警告猎物，或者通过应激的猎物产生警报信息素来警告它的同类。虽然我们以前确定的嗅觉Grueneberg神经节作为哺乳动物报警信息素信号的威胁情况的感觉器官，这些线索的化学性质仍然难以捉摸。本文通过化学分析，结合一系列生理和行为试验，鉴定了一种小鼠报警信息素的化学结构。为了成功识别危险信号的挥发性线索，我们的选择基于它们对小鼠嗅觉Grueneberg神经节的激活以及伴随的先天恐惧反应的显示。有趣的是，我们发现已识别的小鼠警报信息素的化学结构与捕食性食肉动物释放的含硫挥发物具有相似的特征。因此，我们的研究结果不仅揭示了恐惧信号背后的化学Leitmotiv，而且还指出了嗅觉Grueneberg神经节在物种内以及物种间危险沟通中的双重作用。
Sensing the chemical warnings present in the environment is essential for species survival. In mammals, this form of danger communication occurs via the release of natural predator scents that can involuntarily warn the prey or by the production of alarm pheromones by the stressed prey alerting its conspecifics. Although we previously identified the olfactory Grueneberg ganglion as the sensory organ through which mammalian alarm pheromones signal a threatening situation, the chemical nature of these cues remains elusive. We here identify, through chemical analysis in combination with a series of physiological and behavioral tests, the chemical structure of a mouse alarm pheromone. To successfully recognize the volatile cues that signal danger, we based our selection on their activation of the mouse olfactory Grueneberg ganglion and the concomitant display of innate fear reactions. Interestingly, we found that the chemical structure of the identified mouse alarm pheromone has similar features as the sulfur-containing volatiles that are released by predating carnivores. Our findings thus not only reveal a chemical Leitmotiv that underlies signaling of fear, but also point to a double role for the olfactory Grueneberg ganglion in intraspecies as well as interspecies communication of danger.