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Stopková R, Matějková T, Dodoková A, Talacko P, Zacek P, Sedlacek R, Piálek J, Stopka P. Variation in mouse chemical signals is genetically controlled and environmentally modulated. Sci Rep 2023; 13:8573. [PMID: 37237091 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-35450-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2022] [Accepted: 05/18/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
In most mammals and particularly in mice, chemical communication relies on the detection of ethologically relevant fitness-related cues from other individuals. In mice, urine is the primary source of these signals, so we employed proteomics and metabolomics to identify key components of chemical signalling. We show that there is a correspondence between urinary volatiles and proteins in the representation of genetic background, sex and environment in two house mouse subspecies Mus musculus musculus and M. m. domesticus. We found that environment has a strong influence upon proteomic and metabolomic variation and that volatile mixtures better represent males while females have surprisingly more sex-biased proteins. Using machine learning and combined-omics techniques, we identified mixtures of metabolites and proteins that are associated with biological features.
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Affiliation(s)
- Romana Stopková
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, BIOCEV, Charles University, Vestec, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Tereza Matějková
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, BIOCEV, Charles University, Vestec, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Alica Dodoková
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, BIOCEV, Charles University, Vestec, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Pavel Talacko
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, BIOCEV, Charles University, Vestec, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Petr Zacek
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, BIOCEV, Charles University, Vestec, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Radislav Sedlacek
- Czech Centre for Phenogenomics, Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Vestec, Czech Republic
| | - Jaroslav Piálek
- Research Facility Studenec, Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Pavel Stopka
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, BIOCEV, Charles University, Vestec, Prague, Czech Republic.
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Villamayor PR, Gullón J, Quintela L, Sánchez-Quinteiro P, Martínez P, Robledo D. Sex separation unveils the functional plasticity of the vomeronasal organ in rabbits. Front Mol Neurosci 2022; 15:1034254. [PMID: 36340690 PMCID: PMC9634631 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2022.1034254] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2022] [Accepted: 10/03/2022] [Indexed: 02/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Chemosensory cues are vital for social and sexual behaviours and are primarily detected and processed by the vomeronasal system (VNS), whose plastic capacity has been investigated in mice. However, studying chemosensory plasticity outside of laboratory conditions may give a more realistic picture of how the VNS adapts to a changing environment. Rabbits are a well-described model of chemocommunication since the discovery of the rabbit mammary pheromone and their vomeronasal organ (VNO) transcriptome was recently characterised, a first step to further study plasticity-mediated transcriptional changes. In this study, we assessed the plastic capacity of the rabbit male and female VNO under sex-separation vs. sex-combined scenarios, including adults and juveniles, to determine whether the rabbit VNO is plastic and, if so, whether such plasticity is already established at early stages of life. First, we characterised the number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the VNO of rabbit male and female under sex-separation and compared it to sex-combined individuals, both in adults and juveniles, finding that differences between male and female were larger in a sex-separated scenario. Secondly, we analysed the number of DEGs between sex-separated and sex-combined scenarios, both in males and females. In adults, both sexes showed a high number of DEGs while in juveniles only females showed differences. Additionally, the vomeronasal receptor genes were strikingly downregulated in sex-separated adult females, whereas in juveniles upregulation was shown for the same condition, suggesting a role of VRs in puberty onset. Finally, we described the environment-modulated plastic capacity of genes involved in reproduction, immunity and VNO functional activity, including G-protein coupled receptors. Our results show that sex-separation induces sex- and stage-specific gene expression differences in the VNO of male and female rabbit, both in adults and juveniles. These results bring out for the first time the plastic capacity of the rabbit VNO, supporting its functional adaptation to specifically respond to a continuous changing environment. Finally, species-specific differences and individual variability should always be considered in VNO studies and overall chemocommunication research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paula R. Villamayor
- Departamento de Zooloxía, Xenética e Antropoloxía Física, Facultade de Veterinaria, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Lugo, Spain
- Departamento de Anatomía, Producción Animal e Ciencias Clínicas Veterinarias, Facultade de Veterinaria, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Lugo, Spain
| | | | - Luis Quintela
- Departamento de Patoloxía Animal, Facultade de Veterinaria Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Lugo, Spain
| | - Pablo Sánchez-Quinteiro
- Departamento de Anatomía, Producción Animal e Ciencias Clínicas Veterinarias, Facultade de Veterinaria, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Lugo, Spain
| | - Paulino Martínez
- Departamento de Zooloxía, Xenética e Antropoloxía Física, Facultade de Veterinaria, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Lugo, Spain
| | - Diego Robledo
- The Roslin Institute, The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
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Zhang YF, Vargas Cifuentes L, Wright KN, Bhattarai JP, Mohrhardt J, Fleck D, Janke E, Jiang C, Cranfill SL, Goldstein N, Schreck M, Moberly AH, Yu Y, Arenkiel BR, Betley JN, Luo W, Stegmaier J, Wesson DW, Spehr M, Fuccillo MV, Ma M. Ventral striatal islands of Calleja neurons control grooming in mice. Nat Neurosci 2021; 24:1699-1710. [PMID: 34795450 PMCID: PMC8639805 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-021-00952-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2020] [Accepted: 10/01/2021] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
The striatum comprises multiple subdivisions and neural circuits that differentially control motor output. The islands of Calleja (IC) contain clusters of densely packed granule cells situated in the ventral striatum, predominantly in the olfactory tubercle (OT). Characterized by expression of the D3 dopamine receptor, the IC are evolutionally conserved, but have undefined functions. Here, we show that optogenetic activation of OT D3 neurons robustly initiates self-grooming in mice while suppressing other ongoing behaviors. Conversely, optogenetic inhibition of these neurons halts ongoing grooming, and genetic ablation reduces spontaneous grooming. Furthermore, OT D3 neurons show increased activity before and during grooming and influence local striatal output via synaptic connections with neighboring OT neurons (primarily spiny projection neurons), whose firing rates display grooming-related modulation. Our study uncovers a new role of the ventral striatum's IC in regulating motor output and has important implications for the neural control of grooming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yun-Feng Zhang
- Department of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Luigim Vargas Cifuentes
- Department of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Katherine N Wright
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Janardhan P Bhattarai
- Department of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Julia Mohrhardt
- Department of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Department of Chemosensation, Institute for Biology II, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - David Fleck
- Department of Chemosensation, Institute for Biology II, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Emma Janke
- Department of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Chunjie Jiang
- Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Suna L Cranfill
- Department of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Nitsan Goldstein
- Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Mary Schreck
- Department of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Andrew H Moberly
- Department of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Yiqun Yu
- Department of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | | | - J Nicholas Betley
- Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Wenqin Luo
- Department of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Johannes Stegmaier
- Institute of Imaging and Computer Vision, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Daniel W Wesson
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
| | - Marc Spehr
- Department of Chemosensation, Institute for Biology II, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
| | - Marc V Fuccillo
- Department of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
| | - Minghong Ma
- Department of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
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Bansal R, Nagel M, Stopkova R, Sofer Y, Kimchi T, Stopka P, Spehr M, Ben-Shaul Y. Do all mice smell the same? Chemosensory cues from inbred and wild mouse strains elicit stereotypic sensory representations in the accessory olfactory bulb. BMC Biol 2021; 19:133. [PMID: 34182994 PMCID: PMC8240315 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-021-01064-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2021] [Accepted: 06/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Background For many animals, chemosensory cues are vital for social and defensive interactions and are primarily detected and processed by the vomeronasal system (VNS). These cues are often inherently associated with ethological meaning, leading to stereotyped behaviors. Thus, one would expect consistent representation of these stimuli across different individuals. However, individuals may express different arrays of vomeronasal sensory receptors and may vary in the pattern of connections between those receptors and projection neurons in the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB). In the first part of this study, we address the ability of individuals to form consistent representations despite these potential sources of variability. The second part of our study is motivated by the fact that the majority of research on VNS physiology involves the use of stimuli derived from inbred animals. Yet, it is unclear whether neuronal representations of inbred-derived stimuli are similar to those of more ethologically relevant wild-derived stimuli. Results First, we compared sensory representations to inbred, wild-derived, and wild urine stimuli in the AOBs of males from two distinct inbred strains, using them as proxies for individuals. We found a remarkable similarity in stimulus representations across the two strains. Next, we compared AOB neuronal responses to inbred, wild-derived, and wild stimuli, again using male inbred mice as subjects. Employing various measures of neuronal activity, we show that wild-derived and wild stimuli elicit responses that are broadly similar to those from inbred stimuli: they are not considerably stronger or weaker, they show similar levels of sexual dimorphism, and when examining population-level activity, cluster with inbred mouse stimuli. Conclusions Despite strain-specific differences and apparently random connectivity, the AOB can maintain stereotypic sensory representations for broad stimulus categories, providing a substrate for common stereotypical behaviors. In addition, despite many generations of inbreeding, AOB representations capture the key ethological features (i.e., species and sex) of wild-derived and wild counterparts. Beyond these broad similarities, representations of stimuli from wild mice are nevertheless distinct from those elicited by inbred mouse stimuli, suggesting that laboratory inbreeding has indeed resulted in marked modifications of urinary secretions. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12915-021-01064-7.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rohini Bansal
- Department of Medical Neurobiology, Institute for Medical Research Israel Canada, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Maximilian Nagel
- Department of Chemosensation, Institute for Biology II, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Romana Stopkova
- BIOCEV group, Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Yizhak Sofer
- Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Tali Kimchi
- Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Pavel Stopka
- BIOCEV group, Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Marc Spehr
- Department of Chemosensation, Institute for Biology II, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Yoram Ben-Shaul
- Department of Medical Neurobiology, Institute for Medical Research Israel Canada, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
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Levy DR, Sofer Y, Brumfeld V, Zilkha N, Kimchi T. The Nasopalatine Ducts Are Required for Proper Pheromone Signaling in Mice. Front Neurosci 2020; 14:585323. [PMID: 33328853 PMCID: PMC7710809 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2020.585323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2020] [Accepted: 09/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The vomeronasal organ (VNO) specializes in detection of chemosignals, mainly pheromones, which control social communication and reproduction in many mammals. These pheromones must solubilize with nasal fluids before entering the VNO, and it was suggested that they are delivered to and cleared from the VNO by active pumping. Yet, the details of this pheromone delivery process are unclear. In this study, we first constructed a high-resolution 3D morphological image of the whole adult mouse snout, by using ultra-high-resolution micro-CT. We identified a net of micro tunnels starting from the nostrils and extending around and through the VNO. These micro tunnels connect the nasal cavity with the VNO and the oral cavity via the nasopalatine ducts (NPD). Other micro tunnels connect the nasal cavity to the main olfactory epithelium. We next demonstrated that physical obstruction of the NPD severely impairs the clearance of dissolved compounds from the VNO lumen. Moreover, we found that mice with blocked NPD display alterations in chemosignaling-evoked neuronal activation in brain regions associated with the vomeronasal system. Finally, NPD-blocked male mice exhibit reduced preference for female chemosignals, and impaired social interaction behavior. Taken together, our findings indicate that the NPD in mice are connected to both the nasal and oral cavity, serving an essential role in regulating the flow of soluble chemosignals through the VNO, and are required for proper pheromone-mediated social communication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dana Rubi Levy
- Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Yizhak Sofer
- Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Vlad Brumfeld
- Department of Structural Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Noga Zilkha
- Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Tali Kimchi
- Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
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Eckstein E, Pyrski M, Pinto S, Freichel M, Vennekens R, Zufall F. Cyclic regulation of Trpm4 expression in female vomeronasal neurons driven by ovarian sex hormones. Mol Cell Neurosci 2020; 105:103495. [PMID: 32298804 DOI: 10.1016/j.mcn.2020.103495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2019] [Revised: 03/13/2020] [Accepted: 04/11/2020] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The vomeronasal organ (VNO), the sensory organ of the mammalian accessory olfactory system, mediates the activation of sexually dimorphic reproductive behavioral and endocrine responses in males and females. It is unclear how sexually dimorphic and state-dependent responses are generated by vomeronasal sensory neurons (VSNs). Here, we report the expression of the transient receptor potential (TRP) channel Trpm4, a Ca2+-activated monovalent cation channel, as a second TRP channel present in mouse VSNs, in addition to the diacylglycerol-sensitive Trpc2 channel. The expression of Trpm4 in the mouse VNO is sexually dimorphic and, in females, is tightly linked to their reproductive cycle. We show that Trpm4 protein expression is upregulated specifically during proestrus and estrus, when female mice are about to ovulate and become sexually active and receptive. The cyclic regulation of Trpm4 expression in female VSNs depends on ovarian sex hormones and is abolished by surgical removal of the ovaries (OVX). Trpm4 upregulation can be restored in OVX mice by systemic treatment with 17ß-estradiol, requires endogenous activity of aromatase enzyme, and is strongly reduced during late pregnancy. This cyclic regulation of Trpm4 offers a neural mechanism by which female mice could regulate the relative strength of sensory signals in their VSNs, depending on hormonal state. Trpm4 is likely to participate in sex-specific, estrous cycle-dependent and sex hormone-regulated functions of the VNO, and may serve as a previously unknown genetic substrate for dissecting mammalian sexually dimorphic cellular and behavioral responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eugenia Eckstein
- Center for Integrative Physiology and Molecular Medicine, Saarland University, Homburg, Germany
| | - Martina Pyrski
- Center for Integrative Physiology and Molecular Medicine, Saarland University, Homburg, Germany
| | - Silvia Pinto
- Laboratory of Ion Channel Research, TRP Research Platform Leuven (TRPLe), Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Marc Freichel
- Institute of Pharmacology, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Rudi Vennekens
- Laboratory of Ion Channel Research, TRP Research Platform Leuven (TRPLe), Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Frank Zufall
- Center for Integrative Physiology and Molecular Medicine, Saarland University, Homburg, Germany.
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