A major urinary protein of the domestic cat regulates the production of felinine, a putative pheromone precursor.
Domestic cats spray urine with species-specific odor for territorial marking. Felinine (2-amino-7-hydroxy-5,5-dimethyl-4-thiaheptanoic acid), a putative pheromone precursor, is excreted in cat urine. Here, we report that cauxin, a carboxylesterase excreted as a major urinary component, regulates felinine production. In vitro enzyme assays indicated that cauxin hydrolyzed the felinine precursor 3-methylbutanol-cysteinylglycine to felinine and glycine. Cauxin and felinine were excreted age dependently after 3 months of age. The age-dependent increases in cauxin and felinine excretion were significantly correlated. In mature cats, cauxin and felinine levels were sex-dependently correlated and were higher in males than in females. In headspace gas of cat urine, 3-mercapto-3-methyl-1-butanol, 3-mercapto-3-methylbutyl formate, 3-methyl-3-methylthio-1-butanol, and 3-methyl-3-(2-methyldisulfanyl)-1-butanol were identified as candidates for felinine derivatives. These findings demonstrate that cauxin-dependent felinine production is a cat-specific metabolic pathway, and they provide information for the biosynthetic mechanisms of species-specific molecules in mammals.
Miyazaki
Masao
M
Sphingolipid Expression Laboratory, RIKEN Frontier Research System, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198, Japan.
Yamashita
Tetsuro
T
Suzuki
Yusuke
Y
Saito
Yoshihiro
Y
Soeta
Satoshi
S
Taira
Hideharu
H
Suzuki
Akemi
A
D000818:Animals; D043182:Carboxylesterase / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000652:urine; D002415:Cats; D003545:Cysteine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000652:urine; D004151:Dipeptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000652:urine; D005260:Female; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015394:Molecular Structure; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000652:urine; D000439:Pentanols / Q000737:chemistry / Q000652:urine; D010675:Pheromones / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000652:urine; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012741:Sexual Maturation / Q000502:physiology
C515681:3-methylbutanol-cysteinyl-glycine; D004151:Dipeptides; D009842:Oligopeptides; D000439:Pentanols; D010675:Pheromones; C501504:gamma-glutamylfelinylglycine; C098250:felinine; D043182:Carboxylesterase; C515680:cauxin protein, Felis catus; D003545:Cysteine