Dulac C, Axel R
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, New York 10032, USA.
Cell. 1995 Oct 20;83(2):195-206. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(95)90161-2.
In mammals, olfactory sensory perception is mediated by two anatomically and functionally distinct sensory organs: the main olfactory epithelium (MOE) and the vomeronasal organ (VNO). Pheromones activate the VNO and elicit a characteristic array of innate reproductive and social behaviors, along with dramatic neuroendocrine responses. Differential screening of cDNA libraries constructed from single sensory neurons from the rat VNO has led to the isolation of a family of about 30 putative receptor genes. Sequence analysis indicates that these genes comprise a novel family of seven transmembrane domain proteins unrelated to the receptors expressed in the MOE. Moreover, the expression of each member of the gene family is restricted to a small subpopulation of VNO neurons. These genes are likely to encode mammalian pheromone receptors.
在哺乳动物中，嗅觉感知由两个在解剖学和功能上截然不同的感觉器官介导：主嗅觉上皮（MOE）和犁鼻器（VNO）。信息素激活犁鼻器，并引发一系列特有的先天性生殖和社会行为，以及显著的神经内分泌反应。对从大鼠犁鼻器的单个感觉神经元构建的cDNA文库进行差异筛选，已导致分离出一个约30个推定受体基因的家族。序列分析表明，这些基因构成了一个与主嗅觉上皮中表达的受体无关的新型七跨膜结构域蛋白家族。此外，该基因家族每个成员的表达都局限于犁鼻器神经元的一个小亚群。这些基因可能编码哺乳动物的信息素受体。
