Sex- and strain-specific expression and vomeronasal activity of mouse ESP family peptides
Sex- and strain-specific expression and vomeronasal activity of mouse ESP family peptides
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DOI：
10.1016/j.cub.2007.09.042
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发表时间：
2007-11-06
期刊：
影响因子：
9.2
通讯作者：
Touhara, Kazushige
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Kimoto, Hiroko;Sato, Koji;Touhara, Kazushige
雄性小鼠从眶外泪腺分泌外分泌腺分泌肽1（ESP 1）进入泪液[1]。其他小鼠通过犁鼻器（VNO）中的感觉神经元检测ESP 1，VNO是一种感觉信息素信息（包括性别，品系和物种）的次级嗅觉系统。现在已知ESP 1是编码不同长度肽的多基因家族的成员。我们在此进行了ESP家族的基因组和表达分析。ESP家族在小鼠中由38个成员组成，在大鼠中由10个成员组成，但在人类基因组中不存在，这表明快速的分子进化。除了雄性特异性ESP 1，我们还发现了一个，我们命名为ESP 36，在成年BALB/c小鼠中，仅在雌性眶外泪腺中表达。青春期后睾酮的释放确保了性二态性的表达。然而，我们观察到菌株之间ESP的表达水平存在显着差异。最后，所有ESP引起犁鼻上皮的电反应，但不是在主要的嗅觉上皮。VNO活性的多电极记录表明，ESP 1诱导犁鼻神经元的动作电位，导致尖峰放电率的增加，并且ESP 1被窄调谐犁鼻感觉神经元识别。ESP的性别二型性和应变差异以及它们在VNO中的接收表明ESP家族可以通过犁鼻系统传递关于性别和个体身份的信息。这种非挥发性肽家族通过直接接触产生的化学感受似乎是啮齿类动物进行社会性交流的策略之一。
Male mice secrete exocrine-gland-secreting peptide 1 (ESP1) from the extraorbital lacrimal gland into tear fluid [1]. Other mice detect ESP1 through sensory neurons in the vomeronasal organ (VNO), a secondary olfactory system that senses pheromonal information, including sex, strain, and species. ESP1 is now known to be a member of a multigene family that encodes peptides of various lengths. We herein performed genomic and expression analyses of the ESP family. The ESP family consists of 38 members in mice and 10 members in rat but is absent from the human genome, suggesting rapid molecular evolution. In addition to the male-specific ESP1, we discovered one, which we designated ESP36, that, in adult BALB/c mice, is expressed only in the female extraorbital lacrimal gland. The sexually dimorphic expression is ensured by the release of testosterone after puberty. However, we observed dramatic differences in the expression levels of ESPs between strains. Finally, all ESPs elicited an electrical response in the vomeronasal epithelium but not in the main olfactory epithelium. Multielectrode recording of VNO activity demonstrated that ESP1 induces action potentials in vomeronasal neurons, leading to an increase in the spike firing rate, and that ESP1 is recognized by narrowly tuned vomeronasal sensory neurons. Sexual dimorphism and strain differences of ESPs and their reception in the VNO suggest that the ESP family can convey information about sex and individual identity via the vomeronasal system. The chemosensation of this nonvolatile peptide family by direct contact appears to be one of strategies for sociosexual communication in rodent species.