title: Mouse alarm pheromone shares structural similarity with predator scents.
abstract: Sensing the chemical warnings present in the environment is essential for species survival. In mammals, this form of danger communication occurs via the release of natural predator scents that can involuntarily warn the prey or by the production of alarm pheromones by the stressed prey alerting its conspecifics. Although we previously identified the olfactory Grueneberg ganglion as the sensory organ through which mammalian alarm pheromones signal a threatening situation, the chemical nature of these cues remains elusive. We here identify, through chemical analysis in combination with a series of physiological and behavioral tests, the chemical structure of a mouse alarm pheromone. To successfully recognize the volatile cues that signal danger, we based our selection on their activation of the mouse olfactory Grueneberg ganglion and the concomitant display of innate fear reactions. Interestingly, we found that the chemical structure of the identified mouse alarm pheromone has similar features as the sulfur-containing volatiles that are released by predating carnivores. Our findings thus not only reveal a chemical Leitmotiv that underlies signaling of fear, but also point to a double role for the olfactory Grueneberg ganglion in intraspecies as well as interspecies communication of danger.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne, CH-1005 Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Julien
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brechbühl
authors.forename: Fabian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Moine
authors.forename: Magali
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Klaey
authors.forename: Monique
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nenniger-Tosato
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hurni
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sporkert
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Giroud
authors.forename: Marie-Christine
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Broillet
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects*; D051379:Mice; D009830:Olfactory Bulb / Q000378:metabolism*; D010675:Pheromones / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D010675:Pheromones