Molecular architecture of pheromone sensing in mammals.

Pheromones have evolved as a discrete class of secreted chemicals that signal the sex and social status of an individual and that promote coordinated motor programs and endocrine changes essential for breeding and aggression. The highly reproducible and species-specific character of the response to pheromones offers a unique experimental system to elucidate the coding of sexual and social information within the brain, and to provide new insights into the molecular and cellular basis of information processing leading to specific behaviours.