Chemical Senses Advance Access originally published online on March 1, 2005
Chemical Senses 2005 30(3):241-251; doi:10.1093/chemse/bji020
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Biochemical and Chemical Supports for a Transnatal Olfactory Continuity through Sow Maternal Fluids
1 Phérosynthèse SA, Le Rieu Neuf, F-84490 Saint-Saturnin-Les-Apt, France, 3 UMR CNRS/USTL 8576, Glycobiologie Structurale et Fonctionnelle, Bâtiment C9, F-59655 Villeneuve d'Ascq Cedex, France, 4 INRA, Unité de Phytopharmacie et Médiateurs Chimiques, Route de Saint-Cyr, F-78026 Versailles Cedex, France and 5 UMR INRA-CNRS-Université de Tours, Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, F-37380 Nouzilly, France Present address: Laboratoire de Neuroglycobiologie, IFR 131 Cerveau et cognition, GLM-CNRS, 31 chemin Joseph Aiguier, F-13402 Marseille Cedex 20, France
Correspondence to be sent to: Patricia Nagnan-Le Meillour, UMR CNRS/USTL 8576, Glycobiologie Structurale et Fonctionnelle, Bâtiment C9, Université des Sciences et Technologies Lille 1, F-59655 Villeneuve d'Ascq Cedex, France. e-mail: Patricia.Le-Meillour{at}univ-lille1.fr
Recognition of the mother is of major importance for the survival of mammalian neonates. This recognition is based, immediately after birth, on the detection of odours that have been learned by the fetus in utero. If the ethological basis of a transnatal olfactory continuity is well established, little is known on the nature of its olfactory cues, and nothing about the presence of potential carrier proteins in the maternal fluids such as amniotic fluid, colostrum and milk. We have identified the components of the pig putative maternal pheromone in these fluids of the sow. We also used a ligand-oriented approach to functionally characterize carrier proteins for these compounds in the maternal fluids. Six proteins were identified, using binding assay, immunodetection and peptide mapping by mass spectrometry. These proteins are known to transport hydrophobic ligands in biological fluids. Among them, alpha-1 acid glycoprotein (AGP) and odorant-binding protein (OBP) have been described in the oral sphere of piglets as being involved in the detection of pig putative maternal pheromone components. These are the first chemical and biochemical data supporting a transnatal olfactory continuity between the fetal and the postnatal environments.
Key words: amniotic fluid, colostrum, milk, odorant binding protein, olfaction, pig
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