Ackels Tobias, Drose Daniela R, Spehr Marc
Department of Chemosensation, Institute for Biology II, RWTH Aachen University; Mill Hill Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute;
Department of Chemosensation, Institute for Biology II, RWTH Aachen University.
J Vis Exp. 2016 Sep 10(115):54517. doi: 10.3791/54517.
In most mammals, the vomeronasal organ (VNO) is a chemosensory structure that detects both hetero- and conspecific social cues. Vomeronasal sensory neurons (VSNs) express a specific type of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) from at least three different chemoreceptor gene families allowing sensitive and specific detection of chemosensory cues. These families comprise the V1r and V2r gene families as well as the formyl peptide receptor (FPR)-related sequence (Fpr-rs) family of putative chemoreceptor genes. In order to understand the physiology of vomeronasal receptor-ligand interactions and downstream signaling, it is essential to identify the biophysical properties inherent to each specific class of VSNs. The physiological approach described here allows identification and in-depth analysis of a defined population of sensory neurons using a transgenic mouse line (Fpr-rs3-i-Venus). The use of this protocol, however, is not restricted to this specific line and thus can easily be extended to other genetically modified lines or wild type animals.
在大多数哺乳动物中，犁鼻器（VNO）是一种化学感应结构，可检测异种和同种社会线索。犁鼻器感觉神经元（VSN）表达至少三个不同化学感受器基因家族中的特定类型的G蛋白偶联受体（GPCR），从而能够灵敏且特异地检测化学感应线索。这些家族包括V1r和V2r基因家族以及假定化学感受器基因的甲酰肽受体（FPR）相关序列（Fpr-rs）家族。为了理解犁鼻器受体 - 配体相互作用及下游信号传导的生理学机制，识别每一类特定VSN所固有的生物物理特性至关重要。这里描述的生理学方法允许使用转基因小鼠品系（Fpr-rs3-i-Venus）识别并深入分析特定群体的感觉神经元。然而，该方案的使用并不局限于这个特定品系，因此可以很容易地扩展到其他转基因品系或野生型动物。
