Pheromone receptors

Belluscio L., Koentges G., Axel R. and Dulac C. (1999). A map of pheromone receptor activation in the mammalian brain. Cell 97, 209-220. 

Dulac C. and Axel R. (1995). A novel family of genes encoding putative pheromone receptors in mammals. Cell 83, 195-206. 

Dulac C. and Axel R. (1998). Expression of candidate pheromone receptor genes in vomeronasal neurons. Chem Senses 23, 467-475. 

Hagino-Yamagishi K., Matsuoka M., Wakabayashi Y., Mori Y. and Yazaki K. (2001). The mouse putative pheromone receptor was specifically activated by stimulation with male mouse urine. J Biochem (Tokyo) 129, 509-512. 

Hatanaka T. (1991). Is the mouse vomeronasal organ a sex pheromone receptor In Chemical Signals in Vertebrates 6 (Doty R.L. and Muller-Schwarze D., eds). Plenum, New York, pp. 27-30. 

Herrada G. and Dulac C. (1997). A novel family of putative pheromone receptors in mammals with a topographically oiganised and sexually dimorphic distribution. Cell 90, 763-773. 

Martini S., Silvotti L., Shirazi A., Ryba N.J. and Tirindelli R. (2001). Co-expression of putative pheromone receptors in the sensory neurons of the vomeronasal organ. J Neurosci 21, 843-848. 

Naito T., Saito Y Yamamoto J., Nozaki Y., et al. (1998). Putative pheromone receptors related to the Ca2+-sensing receptor in Fugu. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 95, 5178-5181. 

Rodriguez I., Greer C., Mok M. and Mombaerts P. (2000). A putative pheromone receptor gene expressed in human olfactory mucosa. Nature Genet 26, 18-19. 

Takigami S., Osada T., Matsuoka J., Matsuoka M., et al. (1999). The expressed localization of rat putative pheromone receptors. Neuroscience Lett 272, 115-118. 

Chemical senses. 2. Jacobson s organ. 3. Pheromones. 4. Pheromones—Receptors. I. Title. 

FIGURE 2.3 The three main families of mammalian G-protein-coupled 7TM receptors in mammals. No obvious sequence identity is found between the rhodopsin-like family A, the glucagon/VIP/calcitonin family B, and the metabotropic glutamate/chemosensor family C of G-protein-coupled 7TM receptors, with the exception of the disulfide bridge between the top of TM-III and the middle of extracellular loop-2 (see Figure 2.2). Similarly, no apparent sequence identity exists among members of these three families and, for example the 7TM bitter taste receptors, the V1R pheromone receptors, and the 7TM frizzled proteins, which all are either known or believed to be G-protein-coupled receptors. Bacteriorhodopsins, which are not G-protein-coupled proteins but proton pumps, are totally different in respect to amino-acid sequence but have a seven-helical bundle arranged rather similarly to that for the G-protein-coupled receptors. 

Loconto, J. et al. Functional expression of murine V2R pheromone receptors involves selective association with the M10 and Ml families of MHC class lb molecules. Cell 112 607-618, 2003. 

The CRR is an enigmatic region of the mGluR. The region is also found in CaR and in the taste and pheromone receptors of family C, but, interestingly, it is absent in both GABAb receptor subunits (7-9). 

Yesilaltay, A. and Jenness, D. D. (2000) Homo-oligomeric complexes of the yeast alpha-factor pheromone receptor are functional units of endocytosis. Mol. Biol. Cell. 11,2873-2884. 

Loconto, J., Papes, F., Chang, E., Stowers, L., Jones, E.P., Takada, T., Kumanovics, A., Fischer-Lindahl, K. and Dulac, C. (2003) Functional expression of murine V2R pheromone receptors involves selective association with the M10 and Ml families of MHC class lb molecules. Cell 112, 607-618. 

Olson, R., Huey-Tubman, K., Dulac, C. and Bjorkman, P. (2005) Structure of a pheromone receptor-associated MHC molecule with an open and empty groove. PLOS 3, e257. 

Rodriguez, I. (2004) Pheromone receptors I mammals. Horm. Behav. 46, 219-30. 

Some sensory neurons of the VNO express two gene superfamilies, termed Vlr and V2r, that encode over 240 proteins of the seven-transmembrane type (Matsunami and Buck, 1997). These G-protein-linked putative pheromone receptors are distantly related to the main olfactory system s receptors. Receptors of the VNO are linked to different G-proteins, and their extracellular N-terminal domains are longer than those of the receptors in the main olfactory system. (Vi receptors are linked to Gi-proteins and V2 receptors to Go-proteins). The intracellular excitation mechanism in VNO sensory neurons also differs from that in the main olfactory systems instead of linking to adenylyl cyclase, the VNO receptors activate the phosphoinositol second messenger system. This has been demonstrated in several mammalian species. In hamsters, aphrodisin increases inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) levels in VNO membranes. Boar seminal fluid and urine stimulate increases of IP3 in the VNO of the female pig. (However, in the pig, the VNO is not necessarily essential for responses to pheromones [Dorries etal., 1997]). 

Matsunami, H. and Buck, L. B. (1997). A multigene femily encoding a diverse array of putative pheromone receptors in mammals. Cell 90,775-784. 

This pathway, which is driven by the presence of free Gfly, was modified to allow for screening of mammalian cDNA expression libraries to isolate those cDNAs that activated transcription of a pheromone-responsive promoter downstream of activated G-protein. Modifications included eliminating the pheromone receptor, replacing the endogenous yeast Ga... 

Bray, S. and Amrein, H. A. (2003). Putative Drosophila pheromone receptor expressed in male-specific taste neurons is required for efficient courtship. Neuron 39 1019-1029. 

Bykhovskaia, M. B. and Zhorov, B. S. (1996). Atomic model of the recognition site of the American cockroach pheromone receptor. Journal of Chemical Ecology 22 869-883. 

Myers J. and Brower L. P. (1969) A behavioral analysis of the courtship pheromone receptors of the queen butterfly, Danaus gilippus berenice. J. Insect Physiol. 15, 2117-2130. 

What do SNMPs do The identification of Apo/SNMPl followed photoaffinity labeling studies that tentatively identified a 69 kDa protein as a pheromone receptor (Vogt et al., 1987) however, a role as pheromone receptor seems highly unlikely because SNMPs appear to associate with most olfactory neurons, and are neither 7-transmembrane domain receptors nor show the diversity expected for ORs. SNMPs certainly show no similarity to the presumed ORs identified in D. melangaster, A. gambiaea and H. virescens (Clyne et al., 1999 Vosshall et al., 1999 Hill et al., 2002 Krieger et al., 2002). If SNMPs are not ORs, what are they ... 

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