Article Figures & Data
Figures
- Figure 1.
Pheromone detection defects in the MOE of AC3−/−mice. A, Pheromone-stimulated EOG responses from adult AC3+/+and AC3−/−mice. Male mouse urine was diluted 20-fold and mouse milk was diluted 50-fold in water; farnesene (500 μm) and heptanone (50 μm) were diluted in mineral oil. B, Summary of the mean EOG amplitudes in response to pheromones. AC3+/+mice (n= 10) exhibited significantly greater EOG responses to all agents compared with AC3−/−mice (n= 6): urine, p< 0.0001; milk, p< 0.0001; farnesene, p< 0.0001; heptanone, p< 0.0001. C, AC3−/−mice are unable to detect male urine, female urine, milk, or farnesene. Detection of pheromones was monitored using the odorant-habituation assay described in Materials and Methods. The ratio of the number of times the mouse sniffed a pheromone-soaked cotton swab compared with the number of times it sniffed a water-soaked cotton swab on initial exposure is an indication of the ability of the animal to detect a specific substance. Cotton swabs were laced with 50 μl of farnesene (500 μm), male urine (20-fold diluted), female urine (20-fold diluted), or mouse milk (50-fold diluted). There were significant differences in the ability of AC3−/−(n= 15) and AC3+/+(n= 13) mice to detect farnesene (p< 0.001), male urine (p< 0.001), female urine (p< 0.001), and mouse milk (p< 0.001). Error bars represent ±SEM.
- Figure 2.
Sexual behavioral defects in AC3−/−mice. A, AC3−/−mice display no male–male aggressive behavior. There were significant differences between AC3−/−(n= 17) and AC3+/+(n= 16) mice in anogenital area investigation (p< 0.0001), attack number (p< 0.0001), and attack duration (p< 0.0001). B, AC3−/−male mice do not exhibit sexual behavior toward females. There were significant differences between AC3+/+(n= 14) and AC3−/−(n= 15) mice in anogenital area investigation (p< 0.0001), mounting number (p< 0.001), and mounting duration (p< 0.001) assayed during a 15 min observation period. C, Male–male aggressive behaviors were ablated in ZnSO4-treated male mice. There were significant differences in anogenital area investigation (p< 0.001), attack number (p< 0.05), and attack duration (p< 0.01) between control (n= 5) and ZnSO4-treated (n= 7) mice. D, Male–female sexual behaviors were ablated in ZnSO4-treated male mice. There were significant differences in anogenital investigation duration (p< 0.05) and mounting frequency (p< 0.01) between control (n= 6) and ZnSO4-treated (n= 7) mice. Error bars represent ±SEM.
- Figure 3.
ZnSO4treatment of the MOE destroys olfactory receptor neurons without affecting the function of the VNO. A, Pheromone-stimulated EVG responses from sham and ZnSO4-treated mice. B, Pheromone-stimulated EOG response in the MOE from sham and ZnSO4-treated mice. Farnesene (500 μm) and 2-heptanone (50 μm) were diluted in mineral oil. C, Cellular structure was visualized by Hoechst nuclear counterstaining (blue), and sensory neurons were immunostained using an antibody against β-tubulin III (red). Scale bar, 40 μm. The MOE was treated with ZnSO4as described in Materials and Methods.
- Figure 4.
Adenylyl cyclase activity is stimulated by 2-heptanone in membranes from the MOE of AC3+/+but not AC3−/−male mice. Stimulation of adenylyl cyclase activity by 2-heptanone in the MOE of AC3+/+but not AC3−/−male mice is shown. 2-Heptanone was diluted in DMSO. Data are presented as mean ± SEM of triplicates. The adenylyl cyclase activity is expressed as a percentage relative to controls in AC3+/+and AC3−/−male mice.
In this issue
