Sex-specific peptides from exocrine glands stimulate mouse vomeronasal sensory neurons
Sex-specific peptides from exocrine glands stimulate mouse vomeronasal sensory neurons
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DOI：
10.1038/nature04033
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发表时间：
2005-10-06
期刊：
影响因子：
64.8
通讯作者：
Touhara, K
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Kimoto, H;Haga, S;Touhara, K
在哺乳动物中，社会和生殖行为由信息素调节，信息素是传达性别和品系信息的化学信号(1,2)。犁鼻器位于鼻中隔底部，负责介导小鼠的信息素信息(3-9)。两类假定的信息素受体基因家族 V1R 和 V2R 由犁鼻器官相互隔离的上皮区中的犁鼻感觉神经元表达 (10-14)。尽管大量研究表明信息素源自尿液(15-18)，但对小鼠行为的直接记录表明，犁鼻系统中的神经元放电是通过与面部区域的物理接触来调节的(19)。在这里，我们鉴定了从眶外泪腺分泌的男性特异性 7-kDa 肽。我们将这种肽命名为外分泌腺分泌肽 1 (ESP1)，它是由来自先前未被识别的大家族的基因编码的，该家族聚集在 I 类主要组织相容性复合体 (MHC) 区域附近。 ESP1 从眼睛分泌并转移到女性犁鼻器，刺激表达 V2R 的犁鼻感觉神经元并引发电反应。我们的结果表明，小鼠在直接接触过程中对外分泌腺通过犁鼻系统释放的性别特异性肽有反应。
In mammals, social and reproductive behaviours are modulated by pheromones, which are chemical signals that convey information about sex and strain(1,2). The vomeronasal organ, located at the base of the nasal septum, is responsible for mediating pheromone information in mice(3-9). 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(10-14). Although numerous studies have suggested that pheromones originate from urine(15-18), direct recordings of behaving mice have shown that neuronal firing in the vomeronasal system is modulated by physical contact with the facial area(19). 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.