Abstract
BackgroundThe mouse Grueneberg ganglion (GG) is an olfactory subsystem specialized in the detection of volatile heterocyclic compounds signalling danger. The signalling pathways transducing the danger signals are only beginning to be characterized.ResultsScreening chemical libraries for compounds structurally resembling the already-identified GG ligands, we found a new category of chemicals previously identified as bitter tastants that initiated fear-related behaviours in mice depending on their volatility and evoked neuronal responses in mouse GG neurons. Screening for the expression of signalling receptors of these compounds in the mouse GG yielded transcripts of the taste receptors Tas2r115, Tas2r131, Tas2r143 and their associated G protein α-gustducin (Gnat3). We were further able to confirm their expression at the protein level. Challenging these three G protein-coupled receptors in a heterologous system with the known GG ligands, we identified TAS2R143 as a chemical danger receptor transducing both alarm pheromone and predator-derived kairomone signals.ConclusionsThese results demonstrate that similar molecular elements might be used by the GG and by the taste system to detect chemical danger signals present in the environment.
Highlights
The mouse Grueneberg ganglion (GG) is an olfactory subsystem specialized in the detection of volatile heterocyclic compounds signalling danger
In our approach to identify the signalling pathways activated by danger signals, we took advantage of the chemical structure of previously identified GG ligands [3, 19] to screen chemical libraries, and we found a category of compounds already known as bitter tastants
Identification of a new category of ligands for Grueneberg ganglion neurons Using as bait the chemical structures of the mouse alarm pheromone (AP) SBT and of the predator-derived kairomones [3, 19], which are sulphated and nitrogenated heterocyclic compounds, we identified a new category of putative GG ligands that possess a chemically related structure (Fig. 1a)
Summary
The mouse Grueneberg ganglion (GG) is an olfactory subsystem specialized in the detection of volatile heterocyclic compounds signalling danger. We have discovered the structure of one mouse AP, 2-sec-butylthiazoline (SBT) [3] (Fig. 1a). This molecule is emitted in different stressful situations by mice of both sexes, and it induces the mentioned fearrelated behaviours and increases corticosterone levels in conspecifics. SBT is detected by the neurons of the Grueneberg ganglion (GG), an olfactory subsystem located at the tip of the nose [4,5,6,7,8,9].
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