Disease relevance of Vomeronasal Organ

• Maternal aggression in rats: effects of olfactory bulbectomy, ZnSO4-induced anosmia, and vomeronasal organ removal [1].
• In the olfactory epithelium and the vomeronasal organ, there was interstitial edema with necrosis and exfoliation of epithelial cells and minimal to moderate inflammatory cell response during the acute stages [2].

Psychiatry related information on Vomeronasal Organ

• These results are consistent with the notion that the analysis of food related odors is subserved by olfaction and that vocalizations to sex chemosignals are elicited primarily by stimulation of the vomeronasal organ/accessory olfactory bulb [3].
• Olfactory sex discrimination persists, whereas the preference for urinary odorants from estrous females disappears in male mice after vomeronasal organ removal [4].

High impact information on Vomeronasal Organ

• The standard view that the control of mating behavior by pheromones is mediated by the vomeronasal organ, and not by the main olfactory epithelium, has recently been called into question [5].
• Remarkably, and in contrast to established notions on the nature of LHRH neuronal inputs, our data identify major olfactory projection pathways originating from a discrete population of olfactory sensory neurons but fail to document any synaptic connectivity with the vomeronasal system [6].
• The striking behavioral phenotypes of mice lacking the TRP2 ion channel have highlighted the importance of the vomeronasal organ in gender-specific sexual behavior [7].
• Mammals have retained two functionally and anatomically independent collections of olfactory neurons located in the main olfactory epithelium and in the vomeronasal organ (VNO) [8].
• MHC molecules in the vomeronasal organ: contributors to pheromonal discrimination [9]?

Biological context of Vomeronasal Organ

• Recently, two large multigene families of putative G-protein-linked receptors that are expressed in distinct subpopulations of neurones in the vomeronasal organ have been identified [10].
• N-syndecan immunoreactivity surrounded cells migrating along the vomeronasal nerves that were immunoreactive for neural cell adhesion molecules, NCAM, L1 and TAG-1 [11].
• Cell division was shown to be occurring in the vomeronasal organ of animals at 7 months of age by labelling dividing cells with [3H]thymidine continuously administered by means of implanted 'osmotic pumps'. At least 1 in 6 cells were labelled by 12 days of thymidine administration, indicating a turnover time of 2--3 months for the whole epithelium [12].
• When exposed to female odors, testosterone-primed male mice show a robust expression of immediate early genes in the vomeronasal organ (VNO) and associated accessory olfactory structures [13].
• The cytotoxic agent colchicine induced apoptotic cell death in the mouse olfactory epithelium and vomeronasal organ [14].

Anatomical context of Vomeronasal Organ

• In mammals, olfactory stimuli are detected by sensory neurons at two distinct sites: the olfactory epithelium (OE) of the nasal cavity and the neuroepithelium of the vomeronasal organ (VNO) [15].
• Cells within the vomeronasal organ anlage that turn on LHRH gene and peptide expression subsequently migrate into the forebrain where they influence reproductive function [16].
• Injections confined to the accessory olfactory bulb only labeled vomeronasal organ receptor neurons [17].
• The neurons which synthesize and release luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH), are hypothesized to originate in the epithelium of the medial olfactory pit and to migrate into the brain along a scaffolding made up of neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM)-immunoreactive branches of the terminal and vomeronasal nerves [18].
• Two antisera to glial fibrillary acidic protein from human brain and an antiserum to a 49 k dalton glial filament protein from human brain detected a cross-reacting antigen in the Schwann cells of the olfactory and vomeronasal nerves [19].

Associations of Vomeronasal Organ with chemical compounds

• Pheromonally induced release of luteinizing hormone in male mice: involvement of the vomeronasal system [20].
• The glandular and mucosal distribution of this glycoprotein implies a transport function that may be related to the mechanisms by which pheromones of low volatility gain access to their receptors in the vomeronasal organ [21].
• PRLR expression in the vomeronasal organ was confined to the luminal epithelial surface [22].
• Type-specific inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor localization in the vomeronasal organ and its interaction with a transient receptor potential channel, TRPC2 [23].
• Male vomeronasal organ mediates female-induced testosterone surges in mice [24].

Gene context of Vomeronasal Organ

• Nestin, but not Mash-1, was detected in early expressing LHRH cells in the vomeronasal organ anlage [16].
• Experimental manipulation of nasal explants revealed dual expression of nestin protein and LHRH in cells proximal to the vomeronasal organ anlage that was dependent upon midline cartilaginous/mesenchymal tissues [16].
• Expression of Hes6 and NeuroD in the olfactory epithelium, vomeronasal organ and non-sensory patches [25].
• In addition, beta-netrin is expressed in a limited set of fiber tracts within the brain, including the lateral olfactory tract and the vomeronasal nerve [26].
• We examined the expression of basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors NSCL1 and NSCL2 in the olfactory epithelium (OE) and the vomeronasal organ (VNO) during development [27].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Vomeronasal Organ

• We report the molecular cloning of two novel murine TRPC2 splice variants, mTRPC2alpha and mTRPC2beta. mTRPC2alpha RNA is expressed at low levels in many tissues and cell systems, while mTRPC2beta is exclusively and abundantly expressed in the vomeronasal organ (VNO) [28].
• Localization of nitric oxide synthase in the mouse olfactory and vomeronasal system: a histochemical, immunological and in situ hybridization study [29].
• The expression of nitric oxide synthase type I (NOS-I), the key enzyme for the synthesis of the gaseous neurotransmitter nitric oxide, was investigated by means of immunohistochemistry in the vomeronasal organ (VNO) of mice from postnatal day 1 for 2 months [30].
• Subsequent deafferentation of olfactory system by intranasal infusion of zinc sulfate solution (5 g ZnSO4--7H2O in 95 ml 0.5% NaCl) had no effect on intromission or ejaculation latencies of sham vomeronasal cut males but eliminated mating behavior 2 days after treatment in males with bilateral vomeronasal nerve cuts [31].
• Immunofluorescence staining using VOM2 antibody showed no reactivity on the luminal surface of the adult mouse or hamster vomeronasal organ [32].

References