Pheromones in Vertebrates

Abstract

Pheromones are chemical signals released from a donor individual that elicit a specific response in a recipient of the same species. Pheromone effects are generally classified into two types: releaser effects that induce a relatively rapid specific behaviour, and primer effects that lead to long‐term physiological or developmental changes in the recipient animal. Since the discovery of insect pheromones, decades of behavioural, anatomical, molecular and genetic studies have revealed a wide variety of pheromones and their functions as well as their receptors in numerous animal species. Further, neural mechanisms underlying pheromone‐induced behaviour have been investigated in mice by using state‐of‐the‐art neuroscience and molecular biology techniques. Key Concepts Vertebrates produce structurally and functionally various types of pheromones. A large repertoire of G protein‐coupled pheromone receptors (i.e. olfactory or vomeronasal receptors) have evolved in vertebrates. Each olfactory or vomeronasal sensory neuron expresses a single type of receptor and projects the axon to the main olfactory bulb (MOB) or the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB), respectively. A pheromone signal from MOB/AOB is transmitted to the amygdala that relays the signal to the hypothalamus, resulting in inducing stereotypic behaviors and/or neuroendocrine changes. Pheromone signals are modulated by internal states and experiences.

Neural basis for pheromone signal transduction in mice

“…Such cues encompass a range of biological information, including species, sex, developmental stage, health status, and reproductive condition of conspecifics. A variety of vomeronasal ligands carrying this intricate information have been identified, indicating a complex and diverse chemosensory communication network among animals ( Murata and Touhara, 2021 ). Vomeronasal receptors (VRs), which are a subset of the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily, are specialized for the detection of these chemosensory signals ( Silva and Antunes, 2017 ).…”