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Arch Sex Behav

Title:		The De-Scent of Sexuality: Did Loss of a Pheromone Signaling Protein Permit the Evolution of Same-Sex Sexual Behavior in Primates?
Author(s):		Pfau D; Jordan CL; Breedlove SM;
Address:		"Neuroscience Program, Michigan State University, Giltner Hall, 293 Farm Lane, Room 108, East Lansing, MI, 48824-1101, USA. pfaudani@msu.edu. Neuroscience Program, Michigan State University, Giltner Hall, 293 Farm Lane, Room 108, East Lansing, MI, 48824-1101, USA"
Journal Title:		Arch Sex Behav
Year:		2021
Volume:		20190423
Issue:		6
Page Number:		2267 - 2276
DOI:		10.1007/s10508-018-1377-2
ISSN/ISBN:		1573-2800 (Electronic) 0004-0002 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Primate same-sex sexual behavior (SSSB) is rarely observed in strepsirrhine species, and only somewhat more common in platyrrhines, but is observed in nearly all catarrhine species, including humans, suggesting the common catarrhine ancestor as the origin of routine SSSB. In mice, disruption of the transient receptor potential cation channel 2 (TRPC2) gene, which is crucial for transducing chemosensory signals from pheromones in the vomeronasal organ, greatly increased the likelihood of SSSB. We note that catarrhine primates share a common deleterious mutation in this gene, indicating that the protein was dysfunctional in the common catarrhine ancestral primate approximately 25 mya (million years ago). We hypothesize that the loss of this protein for processing pheromonal signals in males and females made SSSB more likely in a primate ancestral species by effectively lifting a pheromonally mediated barrier to SSSB and that this was an important precursor to the evolution of such behavior in humans. Additional comparisons between SSSB and the functional status of the TRPC2 gene or related proteins across primate species could lend support to or falsify this hypothesis. Our current research indicates that loss of TRPC2 function in developing mice leads to the loss or attenuation of sexually dimorphisms in the adult brain, which may help us to understand the biological underpinnings of SSSB. Our hypothesis offers an ultimate evolutionary explanation for SSSB in humans"
Keywords:		Animals Female Humans Male Mice *Odorants *Pheromones Primates Sexual Behavior Sexuality Pheromone Same-sex sexual behavior Sexual orientation Trpc2;neuroscience;
Notes:		"MedlinePfau, Daniel Jordan, Cynthia L Breedlove, S Marc eng Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. 2019/04/25 Arch Sex Behav. 2021 Aug; 50(6):2267-2276. doi: 10.1007/s10508-018-1377-2. Epub 2019 Apr 23"