The vomeronasal organ (VNO) projection pathway mediates many of the effects of pheromones on essential psychosexual and neuroendocrine functions in a variety of vertebrate species. We have shown that different populations of neurons in the VNO of male and female mice respond to pheromones derived from male and female conspecifics and that estradiol and testosterone amplify these effects. Experiments are proposed to extend these findings by determining whether sex differences exist in the expression within the basal zone of the VNO of any three different V2R receptors previously cloned in mice, and whether any such differences in mRNA levels for these receptors are modulated by estradiol or testosterone. We will see whether the ability of male pheromones to augment Fos-IR in mitral cells that project to medial amygdaloid nuclei from the rostral as opposed to the caudal AOB differs in gonadectomized, estrogen-treated male and female mice and will use cellular compartment analysis of temporal activity by fluorescent in situ hybridization (catFISH) for the immediate-early-gene (IEG), c-fos, to determine whether mitral cells in the rostral versus caudal zones of the AOB are differentially activated by pheromones from male versus estrous female mice. Finally, we will determine whether the inhibition of male pheromone-induced IEG activation previously seen in the VNO of females two days after mating also occurs in male mice and in response to pheromones from both sexes, and we will assess the possible role of noradrenergic afferents from the superior cervical ganglia on the mating-induced 'silencing' of subsequent odor-induced IEG activation in the VNO. The results obtained in these studies should improve our understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms that underlie the effects of gender, steroid hormones, and previous coital experience on the processing of olfactory signals by the accessory olfactory system.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
2R01MH059200-04
Application #
6438312
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-IFCN-2 (01))
Program Officer
Kitt, Cheryl A
Project Start
1998-12-01
Project End
2005-03-31
Budget Start
2002-04-01
Budget End
2003-03-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2002
Total Cost
$267,625
Indirect Cost
Name
Boston University
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
042250712
City
Boston
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02215
Martel, Kristine L; Baum, Michael J (2007) Sexually dimorphic activation of the accessory, but not the main, olfactory bulb in mice by urinary volatiles. Eur J Neurosci 26:463-75
Kang, Ningdong; Janes, Amy; Baum, Michael J et al. (2006) Sex difference in Fos induced by male urine in medial amygdala-projecting accessory olfactory bulb mitral cells of mice. Neurosci Lett 398:59-62
Pankevich, Diana E; Cherry, James A; Baum, Michael J (2006) Effect of vomeronasal organ removal from male mice on their preference for and neural Fos responses to female urinary odors. Behav Neurosci 120:925-36
Alekseyenko, O V; Baum, M J; Cherry, J A (2006) Sex and gonadal steroid modulation of pheromone receptor gene expression in the mouse vomeronasal organ. Neuroscience 140:1349-57
Pankevich, Diana E; Cherry, James A; Baum, Michael J (2006) Accessory olfactory neural Fos responses to a conditioned environment are blocked in male mice by vomeronasal organ removal. Physiol Behav 87:781-8
Pho, Vanee; Butman, Michelle L; Cherry, James A (2005) Type 4 phosphodiesterase inhibition impairs detection of low odor concentrations in mice. Behav Brain Res 161:245-53
Thompson, Barbara E; Sachs, Benjamin D; Kantak, Kathleen M et al. (2004) The Type IV phosphodiesterase inhibitor rolipram interferes with drug-induced conditioned place preference but not immediate early gene induction in mice. Eur J Neurosci 19:2561-8
Pankevich, Diana E; Baum, Michael J; Cherry, James A (2004) Olfactory sex discrimination persists, whereas the preference for urinary odorants from estrous females disappears in male mice after vomeronasal organ removal. J Neurosci 24:9451-7
Pankevich, D E; Deedy, E M; Cherry, J A et al. (2003) Interactive effects of testosterone and superior cervical ganglionectomy on attraction thresholds to volatile urinary odors in gonadectomized mice. Behav Brain Res 144:157-65
Lau, Y E; Cherry, J A; Baum, M J et al. (2003) Induction of Fos in the accessory olfactory system by male odors persists in female mice with a null mutation of the aromatase (cyp19) gene. Brain Res Bull 60:143-50

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