Expression of members of the putative olfactory receptor gene family in mammalian germ cells

Parmentier, Marc; Libert, Frédérick; Schurmans, Stéphane; Schiffmann, Serge N.; Lefort, Anne; Eggerickx, Dominique; Ledent, Catherine; Mollereau, Catherine; Gérard, Catherine; Perret, Jason; Grootegoed, Anton; Vassart, Gilbert

doi:10.1038/355453a0

Cited by 371 publications

(232 citation statements)

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“…However, recent data indicate that several members of the olfactory receptor gene family are expressed in tissues unrelated to olfaction. Some of these ''putative ORs'' have been found to be expressed in taste buds (23,24), in germ cells (4,22), in the developing heart (25), and along the olfactory nerve (7,8). Herein, we report the transient expression of such a receptor in the notochord.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Genes encoding putative odorant receptors (ORs) have been recently characterized in several vertebrate species including mouse (1,2), rat (3), dog (4), fish (5,6), chicken (7,8), and human (4,9). The putative OR family belongs to the large multigene superfamily of seven-transmembrane-domain Gprotein-coupled receptors.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…However, some members, indistinguishable from those expressed in the olfactory epithelium, have been found in various tissues unrelated to olfaction. For example, several OR genes are expressed in cells of the male germ line of dogs and humans (4,22). These ''germ cell receptors'' may serve as sensors for chemicals, not necessarily odorant molecules, involved in sperm cell maturation, migration, or fertilization.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Olfaction: Transient expression of a putative odorant receptor in the avian notochord

Nef

Nef²

1997

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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In vertebrates, odors are thought to be detected by a multigene family encoding several hundreds of seventransmembrane-domain G-protein-coupled receptors found in fish, rat, mouse, dog, and human. Recently, the putative odorant receptor (OR) gene family in the chicken has been characterized. Twelve members have been isolated and subdivided into six subfamilies. Herein, we have further characterized the chicken olfactory receptor subfamily 7 (COR7) composed of two highly related genes (named COR7a and COR7b) which are 98.5% identical. By in situ hybridization experiments, both COR7a and COR7b transcripts were detected in the olfactory epithelium from embryonic day 6 (E6) to the new born stage. Within the olfactory epithelium, the spatial distribution of COR7a and COR7b labeled cells was random. We also observed that every individual positive cell did not coexpress the COR7a and COR7b genes. Interestingly, the COR7b gene was found to be transiently expressed in the notochord from E2 to E6, whereas COR7a or any of the other known members of the COR gene family were not detected in this mesodermal tissue. These data suggest that, in addition to its potential role as an OR in the olfactory system, COR7b may also have a function in the notochord that is essential for the dorsoventral organization of the neural tube and of the somitic mesoderm. We also discuss the possible role(s) of a putative OR present in both the notochord and the sensory olfactory epithelium.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Olfaction: Transient expression of a putative odorant receptor in the avian notochord

Nef

Nef²

1997

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…It is generally believed that each olfactory neuron expresses only one of the hundreds of functional OR genes (Chess et al 1994;Malnic et al 1999;Serizawa et al 2000), but this one neuron-one receptor hypothesis is still controversial (Mombaerts 2004a). OR genes are also expressed in testis, and it has been suggested that they mediate sperm chemotaxis (Parmentier et al 1992;Spehr et al 2003). ORs are G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) that contain seven transmembrane a-helical regions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolutionary dynamics of olfactory and other chemosensory receptor genes in vertebrates

2006

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The numbers of functional olfactory receptor (OR) genes in humans and mice are about 400 and 1,000 respectively. In both humans and mice, these genes exist as genomic clusters and are scattered over almost all chromosomes. The difference in the number of genes between the two species is apparently caused by massive inactivation of OR genes in the human lineage and a substantial increase of OR genes in the mouse lineage after the human-mouse divergence. Compared with mammals, fishes have a much smaller number of OR genes. However, the OR gene family in fishes is much more divergent than that in mammals. Fishes have many different groups of genes that are absent in mammals, suggesting that the mammalian OR gene family is characterized by the loss of many group genes that existed in the ancestor of vertebrates and the subsequent expansion of specific groups of genes. Therefore, this gene family apparently changed dynamically depending on the evolutionary lineage and evolved under the birthand-death model of evolution. Study of the evolutionary changes of two gene families for vomeronasal receptors and two gene families for taste receptors, which are structurally similar, but remotely related to OR genes, showed that some of the gene families evolved in the same fashion as the OR gene family. It appears that the number and types of genes in chemosensory receptor gene families have evolved in response to environmental needs, but they are also affected by fortuitous factors.

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“…OR genes are expressed not only in the olfactory epithelium but also in numerous other organs (12)(13)(14)(15), suggestive of additional functions. In the testes of several mammalian species including man, at least 50 OR genes are transcribed that could be involved in sperm development, sperm competition, chemotaxis, or interaction between sperm and oocyte (16 -18).…”

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Complex Transcription and Splicing of Odorant Receptor Genes

Volz

Ehlers

Younger

et al. 2003

Journal of Biological Chemistry

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Human major histocompatibility (human leucocyte antigen (HLA)) complex-linked odorant receptor (OR) genes are among the best characterized OR genes in the human genome. In addition to their functions as odorant receptors in olfactory epithelium, they have been suggested to play a role in the fertilization process. Here, we report the first in-depth analysis of their expression and regulation within testicular tissue. Sixteen HLA-linked OR and three non-HLA-linked OR were analyzed. One OR gene (hs6M1-16, in positive transcriptional orientation) exhibited six different transcriptional start sites combined with extensive alternative splicing within the 5 -untranslated region, the coding exon, and the 3 -untranslated region. Long distance splicing, exon sharing, and premature polyadenylation were features of another three OR loci (hs6M1-18, -21, and -27, all upstream of hs6M1-16, but in negative transcriptional orientation). Determination of the transcriptional start sites of these OR genes identified a region of 81 bp with potential bi-directional transcriptional activity. The results demonstrate that HLA-linked OR genes are subject to unusually complex transcriptional regulatory mechanisms.

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Expression of members of the putative olfactory receptor gene family in mammalian germ cells

Cited by 371 publications

References 11 publications

Olfaction: Transient expression of a putative odorant receptor in the avian notochord

Olfaction: Transient expression of a putative odorant receptor in the avian notochord

Evolutionary dynamics of olfactory and other chemosensory receptor genes in vertebrates

Complex Transcription and Splicing of Odorant Receptor Genes

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