PMID- 19956694
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20100426
LR  - 20211203
IS  - 1932-6203 (Electronic)
IS  - 1932-6203 (Linking)
VI  - 4
IP  - 11
DP  - 2009 Nov 24
TI  - Transposition and Intermingling of Galphai2 and Galphao afferences into single 
      vomeronasal glomeruli in the Madagascan lesser Tenrec Echinops telfairi.
PG  - e8005
LID - 10.1371/journal.pone.0008005 [doi]
LID - e8005
AB  - The vomeronasal system (VNS) mediates pheromonal communication in mammals. From 
      the vomeronasal organ, two populations of sensory neurons, expressing either 
      Galphai2 or Galphao proteins, send projections that end in glomeruli distributed 
      either at the rostral or caudal half of the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB), 
      respectively. Neurons at the AOB contact glomeruli of a single subpopulation. The 
      dichotomic segregation of AOB glomeruli has been described in opossums, rodents 
      and rabbits, while Primates and Laurasiatheres present the Galphai2-pathway only, 
      or none at all (such as apes, some bats and aquatic species). We studied the AOB 
      of the Madagascan lesser tenrec Echinops telfairi (Afrotheria: Afrosoricida) and 
      found that Galphai2 and Galphao proteins are expressed in rostral and caudal 
      glomeruli, respectively. However, the segregation of vomeronasal glomeruli at the 
      AOB is not exclusive, as both pathways contained some glomeruli transposed into 
      the adjoining subdomain. Moreover, some glomeruli seem to contain intermingled 
      afferences from both pathways. Both the transposition and heterogeneity of 
      vomeronasal afferences are features, to our knowledge, never reported before. The 
      organization of AOB glomeruli suggests that synaptic integration might occur at 
      the glomerular layer. Whether intrinsic AOB neurons may make synaptic contact 
      with axon terminals of both subpopulations is an interesting possibility that 
      would expand our understanding about the integration of vomeronasal pathways.
FAU - Suarez, Rodrigo
AU  - Suarez R
AD  - Escuela de Postgrado, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, 
      Chile. rsuarezsaa@gmail.com
FAU - Villalon, Aldo
AU  - Villalon A
FAU - Kunzle, Heinz
AU  - Kunzle H
FAU - Mpodozis, Jorge
AU  - Mpodozis J
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20091124
PL  - United States
TA  - PLoS One
JT  - PloS one
JID - 101285081
RN  - EC 3.6.5.1 (GTP-Binding Protein alpha Subunit, Gi2)
SB  - IM
MH  - Animals
MH  - Axons/metabolism
MH  - Eulipotyphla/*metabolism
MH  - Evolution, Molecular
MH  - Female
MH  - GTP-Binding Protein alpha Subunit, Gi2/metabolism
MH  - Male
MH  - Mammals/genetics
MH  - Models, Biological
MH  - Neurons/metabolism
MH  - Olfactory Pathways
MH  - Olfactory Receptor Neurons
MH  - Sensory Receptor Cells/metabolism
MH  - Synapses/metabolism
MH  - Vomeronasal Organ/*physiology
PMC - PMC2776991
COIS- Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
EDAT- 2009/12/04 06:00
MHDA- 2010/04/27 06:00
PMCR- 2009/11/24
CRDT- 2009/12/04 06:00
PHST- 2009/07/06 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2009/11/02 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2009/12/04 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2009/12/04 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2010/04/27 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2009/11/24 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 09-PONE-RA-11489R1 [pii]
AID - 10.1371/journal.pone.0008005 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - PLoS One. 2009 Nov 24;4(11):e8005. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0008005.