Wallrabenstein I, Gerber J, Rasche S, Croy I, Kurtenbach S, Hummel T, Hatt H
Department of Cell Physiology, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitätsstr. 150, 44801 Bochum, Germany.
Department of Neuroradiology, Medizinische Fakultät Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstr. 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
Neuroimage. 2015 Jun;113:365-73. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.03.029. Epub 2015 Mar 19.
A large family of vomeronasal receptors recognizes pheromone cues in many animals including most amphibia, reptiles, rhodents, and other mammals. Humans possess five vomeronasal-type 1 receptor genes (VN1R1-VN1R5), which code for proteins that are functional in recombinant expression systems. We used two different recombinant expression systems and identified Hedione as a ligand for the putative human pheromone receptor VN1R1 expressed in the human olfactory mucosa. Following the ligand identification, we employed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in healthy volunteers to characterize the in vivo action of the VN1R1 ligand Hedione. In comparison to a common floral odor (phenylethyl alcohol), Hedione exhibited significantly enhanced activation in limbic areas (amygdala, hippocampus) and elicited a sex-differentiated response in a hypothalamic region that is associated with hormonal release. Utilizing a novel combination of methods, our results indicate that the putative human pheromone receptor VN1R1 is involved in extra-olfactory neuronal activations induced by the odorous substance Hedione. The activation of VN1R1 might play a role in gender-specific modulation of hormonal secretion in humans.
一大类犁鼻器受体能够识别包括大多数两栖动物、爬行动物、啮齿动物和其他哺乳动物在内的许多动物中的信息素线索。人类拥有五个犁鼻器1型受体基因（VN1R1 - VN1R5），它们编码在重组表达系统中具有功能的蛋白质。我们使用了两种不同的重组表达系统，并确定了铃兰醛是在人类嗅觉黏膜中表达的假定人类信息素受体VN1R1的配体。在确定配体之后，我们在健康志愿者中采用功能磁共振成像（fMRI）来表征VN1R1配体铃兰醛的体内作用。与一种常见的花香气味（苯乙醇）相比，铃兰醛在边缘区域（杏仁核、海马体）表现出显著增强的激活，并在下丘脑区域引发了与激素释放相关的性别差异反应。利用一种新颖的方法组合，我们的结果表明，假定的人类信息素受体VN1R1参与了由有气味物质铃兰醛诱导的嗅觉外神经元激活。VN1R1的激活可能在人类激素分泌的性别特异性调节中发挥作用。
