| Title: | Exocrine Gland-Secreting Peptide 1 Is a Key Chemosensory Signal Responsible for the Bruce Effect in Mice |
| Author(s): | Hattori T; Osakada T; Masaoka T; Ooyama R; Horio N; Mogi K; Nagasawa M; Haga-Yamanaka S; Touhara K; Kikusui T; |
| Address: | "Companion Animal Research, School of Veterinary Medicine, Azabu University, Sagamihara 252-5201, Japan. Department of Applied Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan; ERATO Touhara Chemosensory Signal Project, JST, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan. Department of Applied Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan. Companion Animal Research, School of Veterinary Medicine, Azabu University, Sagamihara 252-5201, Japan; Department of Physiology, Jichi Medical University, Tochigi 329-0498, Japan. Department of Applied Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan; ERATO Touhara Chemosensory Signal Project, JST, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan. Electronic address: ktouhara@mail.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp. Companion Animal Research, School of Veterinary Medicine, Azabu University, Sagamihara 252-5201, Japan. Electronic address: kikusui@azabu-u.ac.jp" |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.cub.2017.09.013 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1879-0445 (Electronic) 0960-9822 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "The Bruce effect refers to pregnancy termination in recently pregnant female rodents upon exposure to unfamiliar males [1]. This event occurs in specific combinations of laboratory mouse strains via the vomeronasal system [2, 3]; however, the responsible chemosensory signals have not been fully identified. Here we demonstrate that the male pheromone exocrine gland-secreting peptide 1 (ESP1) is one of the key factors that causes pregnancy block. Female mice exhibited high pregnancy failure rates upon encountering males that secreted different levels of ESP1 compared to the mated male. The effect was not observed in mice that lacked the ESP1 receptor, V2Rp5, which is expressed in vomeronasal sensory neurons. Prolactin surges in the blood after mating, which are essential for maintaining luteal function, were suppressed by ESP1 exposure, suggesting that a neuroendocrine mechanism underlies ESP1-mediated pregnancy failure. The single peptide pheromone ESP1 conveys not only maleness to promote female receptivity but also the males' characteristics to facilitate memorization of the mating partner" |
| Keywords: | Animals Female Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins Male Mice Pheromones/*genetics/metabolism Pregnancy/*physiology Proteins/*genetics/metabolism Vomeronasal Organ/*physiology Bruce effect Esp1 male pheromone pregnancy block prolactin; |
| Notes: | "MedlineHattori, Tatsuya Osakada, Takuya Masaoka, Takuto Ooyama, Rumi Horio, Nao Mogi, Kazutaka Nagasawa, Miho Haga-Yamanaka, Sachiko Touhara, Kazushige Kikusui, Takefumi eng England 2017/10/17 Curr Biol. 2017 Oct 23; 27(20):3197-3201.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.09.013. Epub 2017 Oct 12" |
