| Title: | Developing germ cells in mouse testis express pheromone receptors |
| Author(s): | Tatsura H; Nagao H; Tamada A; Sasaki S; Kohri K; Mori K; |
| Address: | "Laboratory for Neuronal Recognition Molecules, Brain Science Institute RIKEN, Wako, Saitama, Japan. kobotatu@med.nagoya-cu.ac.jp" |
| DOI: | 10.1016/s0014-5793(00)02411-x |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 0014-5793 (Print) 0014-5793 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Pheromone receptors are expressed in the accessory olfactory system, which is vital for non-specific chemical communication and for sexual behavior. Under the hypothesis that some of the pheromone molecules released from female reproductive organs might regulate sperm chemotaxis or chemokinesis, we examined whether the V1R type pheromone receptor mRNAs are expressed in developing germ cells. By a reverse transcription-PCR method, we obtained nine kinds of cDNA fragments belonging to the receptor family. In situ hybridization analysis in testicular sections using probes of testicular pheromone receptors (TVRs) revealed that TVR mRNAs were expressed by spermatids. TVRs were also expressed in the accessory olfactory organ. In the testis, hybridization signals were localized in subsets of the seminiferous tubules, suggesting that TVRs were expressed by selective subsets of the spermatids. In situ hybridization study suggests also that each sperm expresses multiple pheromone receptors. The testicular pheromone receptors might have an important role in the maturation and/or migration of sperm" |
| Keywords: | "Amino Acid Sequence Animals Chemoreceptor Cells/*metabolism Female *Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental In Situ Hybridization Male Mice Molecular Sequence Data Neurons, Afferent/metabolism Olfactory Bulb/cytology/metabolism Pheromones/*metabolism RN;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineTatsura, H Nagao, H Tamada, A Sasaki, S Kohri, K Mori, K eng England 2001/02/13 FEBS Lett. 2001 Jan 19; 488(3):139-44. doi: 10.1016/s0014-5793(00)02411-x" |
