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Voltage-activated current properties of male and female mouse vomeronasal sensory neurons: sexually dichotomous?

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Abstract

The vomeronasal organ, the chemosensory organ of the vomeronasal system, is vital in determining sexual and gender-specific behavior in mice. Here, whole-cell voltage-activated currents of individual mouse vomeronasal sensory neurons of two strains (BALB/c and CBA) were measured and correlated to sex in each strain. The average resting membrane potentials, maximal outward current magnitudes, and kinetics of activation and inactivation, were found to be independent of sex. Maximal inward current magnitudes differed significantly across gender in CBA, whereas they did not significantly differ in male and female BALB/c mice: BALB/c males −347±45 pA (n=51), and females −430±56 pA (n=27); CBA males −308±36 pA (n=56) and females −155±18 pA (n=28). These results suggest that some voltage-activated properties may differ slightly according to gender and to strain.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Dr. Anna Boccaccio for help with data analysis and for many helpful discussions, to Dr. Laura Lagostena for valuable comments, and to Manuela Schipizza-Lough for secretarial assistance. This work was supported by grants from the Italian Minister of University and Scientific Research and from the European Union. All experiments described in this paper were performed in Italy in compliance with current Italian laws.

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Correspondence to A. Menini.

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D.M. Dean and A. Mazzatenta contributed equally to this work

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Dean, D.M., Mazzatenta, A. & Menini, A. Voltage-activated current properties of male and female mouse vomeronasal sensory neurons: sexually dichotomous?. J Comp Physiol A 190, 491–499 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-004-0513-8

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