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Published Online January 31, 2002
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1069259

Research Articles

Submitted on December 21, 2001
Accepted on January 23, 2002

Loss of Sex Discrimination and Male-Male Aggression in Mice Deficient for TRP2

Lisa Stowers 1, Timothy E. Holy 2, Markus Meister 3, Catherine Dulac 1*, Georgy Koentges 4

1 Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
2 Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
3 Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
4 Wolfson Institute of Biomedical Research, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: dulac{at}fas.harvard.edu.

The mouse vomeronasal organ (VNO) is thought to mediate social behaviors and neuroendocrine changes elicited by pheromonal cues. The molecular mechanisms of the sensory response to pheromones and the behavioral repertoire induced through the VNO are not fully characterized. Using the tools of mouse genetics and multielectrode recording, we demonstrate here that the sensory activation of VNO neurons requires TRP2, a putative ion channel of the transient receptor potential family that is expressed exclusively in these neurons. Moreover, we show that male mice deficient in TRP2 expression fail to display male-male aggression and they initiate sexual and courtship behaviors toward both males and females. Our study suggests that, in the mouse, sensory activation of the VNO is essential for sex discrimination of conspecifics and thus ensures gender-specific behavior.


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)