Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 13, 2026

In-depth Physiological Analysis of Defined Cell Populations in Acute Tissue Slices of the Mouse Vomeronasal Organ
Published on: September 10, 2016
Odorant and pheromone receptor gene regulation in vertebrates
1Department of Zoology and Animal Biology, and NCCR Frontiers in Genetics, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. ivan.rodriguez@zoo.unige.ch
Abstract:
The largest mammalian gene family codes for odorant receptors and is exclusively devoted to the perception of the outside world. Its expression is very peculiar, since olfactory sensory neurons are only allowed to express a single of its numerous members, from a single parental allele. How this is achieved is unknown, but recent work points to multiple regulatory mechanisms, possibly shared by pheromone receptor genes, acting at (a) a general level, via the expression of the chemoreceptor itself and (b) a more restricted level, defined by activator elements.
Related Concept Videos
Physiology of Smell and Olfactory Pathway
The olfactory...
Olfactory Receptors: Location and Structure
Transducer Mechanism: G Protein–Coupled Receptors
GPCRs are also called heptahelical, 7TM, or...
Olfaction
The olfactory receptors are embedded in the cilia of the...
Regulation of Hormone Secretion
Humoral stimuli,...
G-Protein Gated Ion Channels
Sensory organs,...

