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Chem. Senses 27: 91-94, 2002
© Oxford University Press 2002

SHORT REPORT

Disruption of the Fifth Melanocortin Receptor Alters the Urinary Excretion of Aggression-modifying Pheromones in Male House Mice

Heather K. Caldwell and John J. Lepri1

Department of Biology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA 1 Department of Biology, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27402, USA

Correspondence to be sent to: Dr John Lepri, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Biology, 312 Eberhart Life Sciences Building, Greensboro, NC 27402-6174, USA. e-mail: jjlepri{at}uncg.edu

Abstract

The preputial glands of house mice express the gene for the fifth melanocortin receptor (MC5-R) and are a primary source of urinary pheromones involved in inter-male aggression. A `resident-intruder' behavioral model was used to compare the responses of resident males to urine from mice with an engineered disruption of the fifth melanocortin receptor (MC5-RKO) with residents' responses to urine from wild-type mice (WT). Each type of urine was presented in combination with a castrated intruder male to provide the appropriate biological context. Resident males responded with a longer latency to bite when the urine was from gonadally intact WT males compared with urine from MC5-RKO mice. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that activation of the fifth melanocortin receptor in the preputial glands of male house mice causes excretion of urinary pheromones that delay aggressive responses by other males.


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