title: Preputial gland activates olfactory receptor neurons in rat: calcium imaging study using laser scanning confocal microscopy.
abstract: The rodent preputial gland is one of the major sources of odours and is reported to be involved in several behavioural activities. However, how the preputial gland initiates the olfactory response to manifest the effects is not known. Olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) present in the olfactory epithelium are involved in the perception of odorant/pheromonal compounds. In the present study, the response of rat ORNs to preputial gland extract was evaluated by calcium imaging analysis. We found that some rat ORNs responded to the preputial gland extract by exhibiting an intracellular calcium response. By contrast, the ORNs did not respond at all to the foot pad extract (control). The results indicated that the substances contained in the preputial gland might interact with a type of receptor expressed in the female rat ORNs, suggested to manifest the behavioural responses, such as social and sexual interactions. This study provided the first evidence of activation of ORNs by the preputial gland extract.
authors.affiliation: Center for Pheromone Technology, Department of Animal Science, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli 620 024, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors.forename: Ponnirul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ponmanickam
authors.forename: Govindaraju
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Archunan
authors.forename: Shanmugam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Achiraman
authors.forename: Ramaiyan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sankar
authors.forename: Toshiyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Yoshiaki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Habara
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D020013:Calcium Signaling / Q000502:physiology*; D005088:Exocrine Glands / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal / Q000379:methods*; D018034:Olfactory Receptor Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D056969:Voltage-Sensitive Dye Imaging / Q000379:methods*