| Title: | Disruption of the fifth melanocortin receptor alters the urinary excretion of aggression-modifying pheromones in male house mice |
| Address: | "Department of Biology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 0379-864X (Print) 0379-864X (Linking) |
| Abstract: | The preputial glands of house mice express the gene for the fifth melanocortin receptor (MC5-R) and are a primary source of urinary pheromones involved in inter-male aggression. A 'resident-intruder' behavioral model was used to compare the responses of resident males to urine from mice with an engineered disruption of the fifth melanocortin receptor (MC5-RKO) with residents' responses to urine from wild-type mice (WT). Each type of urine was presented in combination with a castrated intruder male to provide the appropriate biological context. Resident males responded with a longer latency to bite when the urine was from gonadally intact WT males compared with urine from MC5-RKO mice. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that activation of the fifth melanocortin receptor in the preputial glands of male house mice causes excretion of urinary pheromones that delay aggressive responses by other males |
| Keywords: | "Aggression/*drug effects Animals Bites and Stings Male Mice/*physiology/psychology Mice, Knockout Motor Activity/drug effects Pheromones/pharmacology/*urine Receptors, Corticotropin/genetics/*physiology Receptors, Melanocortin Sebaceous Glands/physiology;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineCaldwell, Heather K Lepri, John J eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2001/12/26 Chem Senses. 2002 Jan; 27(1):91-4. doi: 10.1093/chemse/27.1.91" |
