title: Odortypes and MHC peptides: Complementary chemosignals of MHC haplotype?
abstract: The olfactory and immune systems must perform optimally in the task of recognizing thousands of molecules to ensure survival. A particularly intriguing link between these systems is that animals can smell differences in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), a cluster of highly polymorphic genes found on human chromosome 6 and mouse chromosome 17. Two different sets of compounds found in urine have been postulated to convey information on MHC haplotype: volatile compounds (odortypes) and MHC peptides. Here we argue for complementary roles for these chemosignals.
authors.affiliation: Rocky Mountain Taste and Smell Center, Neuroscience Program and Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, Aurora, CO 80045, USA. diego.restrepo@uchsc.edu
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Restrepo
authors.forename: Weihong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Ernesto
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Salcedo
authors.forename: Kunio
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamazaki
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Beauchamp
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003463:Cues; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D005793:Generalization, Psychological; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D008285:Major Histocompatibility Complex / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D009812:Odorants; D010455:Peptides / Q000502:physiology; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*; D013045:Species Specificity; D014556:Urine / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D010455:Peptides