PUBLICATION

ORA1, a zebrafish olfactory receptor ancestral to all mammalian V1R genes, recognizes 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid, a putative reproductive pheromone

Authors
Behrens, M., Frank, O., Rawel, H., Ahuja, G., Potting, C., Hofmann, T., Meyerhof, W., Korsching, S.
ID
ZDB-PUB-140517-8
Date
2014
Source
The Journal of biological chemistry   289(28): 19778-19788 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Ahuja, Gaurav, Korsching, Sigrun
Keywords
Olfaction, V1R-like, calcium imaging, heterologous expression, oviposition, pheromone, tyrosine, zebrafish
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Evolution, Molecular*
  • HEK293 Cells
  • Humans
  • Phenylacetates/metabolism*
  • Phenylacetates/pharmacology
  • Receptors, Odorant/agonists
  • Receptors, Odorant/genetics
  • Receptors, Odorant/metabolism*
  • Reproduction/physiology*
  • Sex Attractants/metabolism*
  • Sex Attractants/pharmacology
  • Zebrafish/genetics
  • Zebrafish/metabolism*
  • Zebrafish Proteins/agonists
  • Zebrafish Proteins/genetics
  • Zebrafish Proteins/metabolism
PubMed
24831010 Full text @ J. Biol. Chem.
Abstract
The teleost v1r-related ora genes are a small, highly conserved olfactory receptor gene family of only six genes, whose direct orthologues can be identified in lineages as far as that of cartilaginous fish. However, no ligands for fish ORAs had been uncovered so far. Here we have deorphanized the ORA1 receptor using heterologous expression and calcium imaging. We report that zebrafish ORA1 recognizes with high specificity and sensitivity 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid. The carboxyl group of this compound is required in a particular distance from the aromatic ring, whereas the hydroxyl group in para position is not essential, but enhances the binding efficacy strongly. Low concentrations of 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid elicit increases in oviposition frequency in zebrafish mating pairs. This effect is abolished by naris closure. We hypothesize that 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid might function as a pheromone for reproductive behavior in zebrafish. ORA1 is ancestral to mammalian V1Rs, and its putative function as pheromone receptor is reminescent of the role of several mammalian V1Rs as pheromone receptors.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping