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Lacrimal gland removal impairs sexual behavior in mice

Overview of attention for article published in Frontiers in Neuroanatomy, September 2014
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Title
Lacrimal gland removal impairs sexual behavior in mice
Published in
Frontiers in Neuroanatomy, September 2014
DOI 10.3389/fnana.2014.00101
Pubmed ID
Authors

Rosa Maria Cavaliere, Filippo Ghirardi, Roberto Tirindelli

Abstract

Exocrine gland-secreting peptides (ESPs) are a protein family involved in the pheromonal communication of rodents. ESP1 is a lacrimal peptide synthesized by the extraorbital glands of males of specific mouse strains that modulates the sexual behavior in females. Reportedly, BALB/c males, that produce high level of ESP1 in the tear fluid, were shown to enhance the lordosis behavior in C57BL/6 females during mating. In contrast, C57BL/6 and ICR males, both unable to express ESP1, failed to modulate this sexual behavior. Nonetheless, ICR males did become competent to enhance lordosis behavior in C57BL/6 females providing these were pre-exposed to ESP1. To exclude any strain differences, here, we investigated the pheromonal role of the extraorbital glands and indirectly of ESP1 in animals of the same strain. This was performed by applying the lordosis experimental paradigm in BALB/c mice before and after the surgical removal of these glands in males. The excision of the extraorbital glands reduced but did not abolish the production of ESP1 in the lacrimal fluid of BALB/c mice. An immunological analysis on soluble extracts of the glands that drain into the conjunctival sac revealed that the intraorbital glands (ILGs) are also responsible for the production of ESP1. The removal of both the extra and ILGs completely eliminated the tear secretion of ESP1. Extraorbital gland-deficient BALB/c mice were still able to induce lordosis behavior in sexually receptive females. In contrast, males with the removal of both the extra and ILGs failed to enhance lordosis behavior in females. Unexpectedly, C57BL/6 males did improve this sexual performance in BALB/c females. However, an analysis of the tear fluid of C57BL/6 males revealed low but detectable levels of ESP1. Overall, our study highlights the relevance of the orbital glands in modulating reproductive behavior and the sensitivity of the vomeronasal system to detect trace amount of ESP1.

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 21 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Germany 1 5%
Argentina 1 5%
Unknown 19 90%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 4 19%
Student > Doctoral Student 2 10%
Researcher 2 10%
Student > Master 2 10%
Professor 2 10%
Other 3 14%
Unknown 6 29%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 9 43%
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science 1 5%
Immunology and Microbiology 1 5%
Psychology 1 5%
Medicine and Dentistry 1 5%
Other 1 5%
Unknown 7 33%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 20 October 2014.
All research outputs
#18,381,794
of 22,768,097 outputs
Outputs from Frontiers in Neuroanatomy
#921
of 1,159 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#179,831
of 252,138 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Frontiers in Neuroanatomy
#18
of 25 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 22,768,097 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 11th percentile – i.e., 11% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,159 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 8.9. This one is in the 13th percentile – i.e., 13% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 25 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 16th percentile – i.e., 16% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.