Loss of Sex Discrimination and Male-Male Aggression in Mice Deficient for TRP2
Abstract
The mouse vomeronasal organ (VNO) is thought to mediate social behaviors and neuroendocrine changes elicited by pheromonal cues. The molecular mechanisms underlying the sensory response to pheromones and the behavioral repertoire induced through the VNO are not fully characterized. Using the tools of mouse genetics and multielectrode recording, we demonstrate that the sensory activation of VNO neurons requires TRP2, a putative ion channel of the transient receptor potential family that is expressed exclusively in these neurons. Moreover, we show that male mice deficient in TRP2 expression fail to display male-male aggression, and they initiate sexual and courtship behaviors toward both males and females. Our study suggests that, in the mouse, sensory activation of the VNO is essential for sex discrimination of conspecifics and thus ensures gender-specific behavior.
Additional Information
© 2002 American Association for the Advancement of Science. 12 September 2001; accepted 16 January 2002. Published online 31 January 2002. We thank M. A. Wilson for experimental advice; R. Hellmiss-Peralta for the illustration; T. C. Lee for help with the manuscript preparation; P. Jiang, J. Dubauskaite, and M. E. Klein for help with gene targeting; and D. Haig and members of the Dulac and Meister labs for helpful comments. Financially supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (L.S.); NIH grant DC03903 (C.D.); and Office of Naval Research grant (M.M.), Human Frontier Science Program (G.K.), and Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund (T.E.H.) fellowships.Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 75714
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20170405-070334559
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI)
- DC03903
- NIH
- Office of Naval Research (ONR)
- Human Frontier Science Program
- Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research
- Created
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2017-04-05Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-15Created from EPrint's last_modified field