Functional expressions of mammalian vomeronasal receptors for screening pheromones in transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26660255
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Integrative animal science
• Research Institution: Iwate University
• Principal Investigator: Yamashita Tetsuro 岩手大学, 農学部, 教授 (20202377)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: フェロモン / 線虫 / 受容体

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Pheromones are bioactive compounds which release innate behavior and control physiological and reproductive statuses in conspecific species. In this study, we tried to develop a functional expression system of mammalian V1Rs for the identification of pheromones in transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). In C. elegans, G protein coupled receptors including olfactory receptors are mainly expressed in AWA, AWB and AWC chemosensory neurons. We generated two transgenic C. elegans expressing 7 or 5 of 24 V1Rs of domestic cats in AWB neurons whose activations induce avoidance behavior in the C. elegans. In behavioral bioassays using lipids extracted from urine of estrous female cats, the two transgenic C. elegans significantly avoided the lipids, while wild type C. elegans did not display avoidance behavior toward the lipids. These results suggest that feline V1Rs are functionally expressed in AWB neurons of the transgenic C. elegans.

Free Research Field

生化学