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A multigene family encoding a diverse array of putative pheromone receptors in mammals.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Matsunami, H; Buck, LB
Published in: Cell
August 22, 1997

The vomeronasal organ of mammals is an olfactory sensory structure that detects pheromones. It contains two subsets of sensory neurons that differentially express G alpha(o) and G alpha(i2). By comparing gene expression in single neurons, we identified a novel multigene family that codes for a diverse array of candidate pheromone receptors (VRs) expressed by the G alpha(o)+ subset. Different VRs are expressed by different neurons, but those neurons are interspersed, suggesting a distributed mode of sensory coding. Chromosome mapping experiments suggest an evolutionary connection between genes encoding VRs and receptors for volatile odorants. However, a dramatically different structure for VRs and the existence of variant VR mRNA forms indicate that there are diverse strategies to detect functionally distinct sensory stimuli.

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Published In

Cell

DOI

ISSN

0092-8674

Publication Date

August 22, 1997

Volume

90

Issue

4

Start / End Page

775 / 784

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Vomeronasal Organ
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins
  • Neurons, Afferent
  • Multigene Family
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Mice
  • Male
  • In Situ Hybridization
  • Heterotrimeric GTP-Binding Proteins
 

Citation

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Matsunami, H., & Buck, L. B. (1997). A multigene family encoding a diverse array of putative pheromone receptors in mammals. Cell, 90(4), 775–784. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0092-8674(00)80537-1
Matsunami, H., and L. B. Buck. “A multigene family encoding a diverse array of putative pheromone receptors in mammals.Cell 90, no. 4 (August 22, 1997): 775–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0092-8674(00)80537-1.
Matsunami, H., and L. B. Buck. “A multigene family encoding a diverse array of putative pheromone receptors in mammals.Cell, vol. 90, no. 4, Aug. 1997, pp. 775–84. Pubmed, doi:10.1016/s0092-8674(00)80537-1.
Journal cover image

Published In

Cell

DOI

ISSN

0092-8674

Publication Date

August 22, 1997

Volume

90

Issue

4

Start / End Page

775 / 784

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Vomeronasal Organ
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins
  • Neurons, Afferent
  • Multigene Family
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Mice
  • Male
  • In Situ Hybridization
  • Heterotrimeric GTP-Binding Proteins