ARE EICOSANOIDS PHEROMONES IN MAMMALS

在哺乳动物中，嗅觉知觉是由两个解剖学上的 和功能不同的感觉器官：主要的嗅觉上皮 (MoE)和犁鼻器(VNO)。信息素激活感官 VNO内的神经元引发一组特有的先天 生殖和社会行为，以及戏剧性的神经内分泌 回应。犁鼻通过一条通路传递嗅觉信息。 绕过高级认知中心的神经元投射，结果 与生俱来的刻板行为和神经内分泌反应。我们有 从来自VNO的单个感觉神经元构建文库 导致了一个可能有100个受体基因的家族的分离 很可能编码哺乳动物的信息素受体。有趣的是， 这些基因与哺乳动物的前列腺素受体有同源性。这个 这项建议的近期目标是： 1.确定哺乳动物信息素的化学性质，特别是 测试类脂代谢物，如二十烷类化合物，是否起到 哺乳动物体内的信息素。 2.研究信息素结合的转导机制 犁鼻器内的电信号并确定如何 信息素刺激改变了与副嗅球的突触。 3.将特定的信息素与特定的受体和特定的 行为。 最终，我们希望能够使用这些信息来推导出一个逻辑 受体的激活可以引发特定的行为。

In mammals, olfactory sensory perception is mediated by two anatomically and functionally distinct sensory organs: the main olfactory epithelium (MOE), and the vomeronasal organ (VNO). Pheromones activate sensory neurons within the VNO to elicit a characteristic array of innate reproductive and social behaviors, along with dramatic neuroendocrine responses. The vomeronasal transmits olfactory information via a pathway of neuronal projections which bypass higher cognitive centers, resulting in innate stereotyped behavioral and neuroendocrine responses. We have constructed libraries from individual sensory neurons from the VNO which has led to the isolation of a family of perhaps 100 receptor genes that are likely to encode the mammalian pheromone receptors. Interestingly, these genes share homology to the mammalian prostaglandin receptors. The immediate aims of this proposal are to: 1. Identify the chemical nature of mammalian pheromones, specifically testing whether lipid metabolites, such as eicosanoids, serve as pheromones in mammals. 2. Examine the mechanisms by which pheromone binding is transduced to electrical signals within the vomeronasal organ and determine how pheromone stimulation alters synaptic with the accessory olfactory bulb. 3. Associate specific pheromones with specific receptors and with specific behaviors. Ultimately we expect to be able to use this information to deduce a logic by which receptor activation can elicit specific behaviors.