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A functional circuit underlying male sexual behaviour in the female mouse brain

Author

Listed:
  • Tali Kimchi

    (Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA)

  • Jennings Xu

    (Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA)

  • Catherine Dulac

    (Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA)

Abstract

In mice, pheromone detection is mediated by the vomeronasal organ and the main olfactory epithelium. Male mice that are deficient for Trpc2, an ion channel specifically expressed in VNO neurons and essential for VNO sensory transduction, are impaired in sex discrimination and male–male aggression. We report here that Trpc2-/- female mice show a reduction in female-specific behaviour, including maternal aggression and lactating behaviour. Strikingly, mutant females display unique characteristics of male sexual and courtship behaviours such as mounting, pelvic thrust, solicitation, anogenital olfactory investigation, and emission of complex ultrasonic vocalizations towards male and female conspecific mice. The same behavioural phenotype is observed after VNO surgical removal in adult animals, and is not accompanied by disruption of the oestrous cycle and sex hormone levels. These findings suggest that VNO-mediated pheromone inputs act in wild-type females to repress male behaviour and activate female behaviours. Moreover, they imply that functional neuronal circuits underlying male-specific behaviours exist in the normal female mouse brain.

Suggested Citation

  • Tali Kimchi & Jennings Xu & Catherine Dulac, 2007. "A functional circuit underlying male sexual behaviour in the female mouse brain," Nature, Nature, vol. 448(7157), pages 1009-1014, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:448:y:2007:i:7157:d:10.1038_nature06089
    DOI: 10.1038/nature06089
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    Cited by:

    1. Minhao Li & Dawn S. Chen & Ian P. Junker & Fabianna I. Szorenyi & Guan Hao Chen & Arnold J. Berger & Aaron A. Comeault & Daniel R. Matute & Yun Ding, 2024. "Ancestral neural circuits potentiate the origin of a female sexual behavior in Drosophila," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.

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