Wu Xiangbo, Yang Dong, Zhou Yanfen, Li Shujuan, Wang Zhenshan
College of Life Science, Institute of Life Science and Green Development, Hebei University, Baoding 071002, China.
iScience. 2022 Jun 4;25(7):104534. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104534. eCollection 2022 Jul 15.
Virgin adult male mice often display killing of alien newborns, defined as infanticide, and this behavior is dependent on olfactory signaling. Olfactory perception is achieved by the main olfactory system (MOS) or vomeronasal system (VNS). Although it has been established that the VNS is crucial for infanticide in male mice, the role of the MOS in infanticide remains unknown. Herein, by producing lesions via ZnSO perfusion and N-methyl-D-aspartic acid stereotactic injection, we demonstrated that the main olfactory epithelium (MOE), anterior olfactory nucleus (AON), or ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) is crucial for infanticide in adult males. By using CRISPR-Cas9 coupled with adeno-associated viruses to induce specific knockdown of type 3 adenylyl cyclase (AC3) in these tissues, we further demonstrated that AC3, a ciliopathy-associated protein, in the MOE and the expression of related proteins in the AON or VMH are necessary for infanticidal behavior in virgin adult male mice.
成年雄性未交配小鼠常常表现出对陌生新生小鼠的杀戮行为，即杀婴行为，这种行为依赖于嗅觉信号。嗅觉感知是通过主嗅觉系统（MOS）或犁鼻器系统（VNS）实现的。尽管已经确定VNS对雄性小鼠的杀婴行为至关重要，但MOS在杀婴行为中的作用仍然未知。在此，通过硫酸锌灌注和N-甲基-D-天冬氨酸立体定位注射造成损伤，我们证明了主嗅上皮（MOE）、前嗅核（AON）或腹内侧下丘脑（VMH）对成年雄性小鼠的杀婴行为至关重要。通过使用CRISPR-Cas9结合腺相关病毒在这些组织中诱导3型腺苷酸环化酶（AC3）特异性敲低，我们进一步证明，MOE中的AC3，一种与纤毛病相关的蛋白质，以及AON或VMH中相关蛋白质的表达对于成年雄性未交配小鼠的杀婴行为是必需的。
