Osada Kazumi, Ohta Tohru, Takai Rie, Miyazono Sadaharu, Kashiwayanagi Makoto, Hidema Shizu, Nishimori Katsuhiko
Division of Physiology, Department of Oral Biology, School of Dentistry, Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, Ishikari-Tobetsu, Hokkaido, Japan
The Research Institute of Health Science, Health Science University of Hokkaido, Ishikari-Tobetsu, Japan.
Biol Open. 2018 Sep 26;7(9):bio029140. doi: 10.1242/bio.029140.
Oxytocin (OXT) and its receptor (OXTR) regulate reproductive physiology (i.e. parturition and lactation), sociosexual behavior, learned patterns of behavior and olfactory behavior in social contexts. To characterize the function of OXTR in basic olfactory behavior, the present study compared the behavioral responses of homozygous, heterozygous and wild-type mice when these mice were confronted with an unpleasant odorant (butyric acid) in a custom-made Y-maze in the absence of a social context. Wild-type mice avoided the first encounter with the butyric acid odorant, whereas homozygous and heterozygous mice did not. However, both heterozygous and wild-type mice habituated when confronted with the butyric odorant again on the following 2 days. By contrast, homozygous mice failed to habituate and instead avoided the location of the odorant for at least 3 days. These data suggest that homozygous and heterozygous mice display abnormal olfactory responses to the presentation of an unpleasant odorant. Our studies demonstrate that OXTR plays a critical role in regulating olfactory behavior in the absence of a social context.
催产素（OXT）及其受体（OXTR）调节生殖生理（即分娩和泌乳）、社会性行为、习得性行为模式以及社交情境中的嗅觉行为。为了表征OXTR在基本嗅觉行为中的功能，本研究比较了纯合子、杂合子和野生型小鼠在无社交情境的定制Y迷宫中面对难闻气味剂（丁酸）时的行为反应。野生型小鼠在首次接触丁酸气味剂时会避开，而纯合子和杂合子小鼠则不会。然而，在接下来的两天再次面对丁酸气味剂时，杂合子和野生型小鼠都出现了习惯化。相比之下，纯合子小鼠未能形成习惯化，反而在至少3天内避开了气味剂所在位置。这些数据表明，纯合子和杂合子小鼠对难闻气味剂的呈现表现出异常的嗅觉反应。我们的研究表明，在无社交情境时，OXTR在调节嗅觉行为中起关键作用。
