Journal ArticleDOI
Prenatal development of the mammalian vomeronasal organ
TLDR
The vomeronasal organ (VNO) originates from the medial wall of the olfactory pit shortly after the middle of the embryonic period in mammals as mentioned in this paper.Abstract:
The vomeronasal organ (VNO) originates from the medial wall of the olfactory pit shortly after the middle of the embryonic period in mammals. The Anlage stage consists of a cellular bud that grows dorsally, caudally, and towards the midline leaving a groove. The following stage, Early Morphogenesis, includes the closure of the vomeronasal groove to form a parasagittal blind-ended tube in the nasal septum, which opens into the nasal and/or oral cavities. The lumen adopts a crescent shape while the epithelial lining differentiates into an increasingly wider epithelium on the concave side and a gradually thinner epithelium on the convex side. The former goes on to occupy a medial position and develops neuroblasts among supporting and undifferentiated cells, with supporting cell nuclei tending to align in the upper rows. The lateral "non-sensory" epithelium furrows, giving a kidney-shaped appearance to the VNO cross section. The next stage, Late Morphogenesis is extended up to a difference in thickness between both epithelia becomes similar to the adult, generally by birth. An increasing number of ciliary generation complexes, larger and more abundant microvilli, and an evident glycocalyx are observed in the neuroepithelium at the luminal surface, while enzymatic activities become more intense. The non-sensory epithelium appears quite mature save for its luminal surface, which is still devoid of cilia. Blood capillaries penetrate the most basal region of the neuroepithelium and vomeronasal glands are very few and immature. At birth, some neurons appear well developed to support certain functionality; however, persistence of architectural, histochemical, and ultrastructural signs of immaturity, suggests that full performance of the VNO does not occur in newborn mammals, but in prepubertal ages.read more
Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Structure and function of the vomeronasal system: an update
TL;DR: New anatomical studies of the central pathways of the olfactory and vomeronasal systems indicated that these two systems converge on neurons in the telencephalon, providing an anatomical substrate for functional interactions.
Journal ArticleDOI
A lifetime of neurogenesis in the olfactory system
TL;DR: The effect of age on the structural and functional significance of neurogenesis in the vomeronasal and olfactory epithelia, from juvenile to advanced adult ages, in several common model systems is discussed.
Book ChapterDOI
Structure and function of the vomeronasal organ.
Martin Witt,Witold Wozniak +1 more
TL;DR: Recent studies indicate that pheromone-like compounds are most likely registered at the level of olfactory receptor cells, rendering the chemical information system more independent of specific organ structures.
Journal ArticleDOI
Reappraisal of the vomeronasal system of catarrhine primates: ontogeny, morphology, functionality, and persisting questions.
TL;DR: These recent findings demonstrate that previous investigations on some catarrhine primates may have missed the VNO and underestimated the extent of variability, and are needed to consider phylogenetic implications of VNO variability and the association of craniofacial form and VNO anatomic position in primates.
Journal ArticleDOI
The human vomeronasal organ. Part II: prenatal development
TL;DR: It is indicated that all embryonic humans develop a vomeronasal organ which is homologous with the VNOs of other mammals, but which has become displaced and highly variable in relative location during embryogenesis.
References
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Origin of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone neurons.
TL;DR: It is shown that LHRH neurons originate in the medial olfactory placode of the developing nose, migrate across the nasal septum and enter the forebrain with the nervus terminalis, arching into the septal-preoptic area and hypothalamus.
Journal ArticleDOI
The organization and function of the vomeronasal system.
TL;DR: The vomeronasal (VN) organ is a chemoreceptive structure situated at the base of the nasal septum of most terrestrial vertebrates and has different roles in the execution of several species-typical behaviors that depend on reception of chemo signals emitted by conspecifics or prey.
Journal ArticleDOI
A Novel Family of Putative Pheromone Receptors in Mammals with a Topographically Organized and Sexually Dimorphic Distribution
Gilles Herrada,Catherine Dulac +1 more
TL;DR: Patterns of receptor gene expression suggest that the VNO is organized into discrete and sexually dimorphic functional units that may permit segregation of pheromone signals leading to specific arrays of behaviors and neuroendocrine responses.
Journal ArticleDOI
Neurobehavioral evidence for the involvement of the vomeronasal system in mammalian reproduction
TL;DR: The equivocal evidence claiming a vestigial or absent organ in humans is reviewed and based upon anatomical considerations, the sensory epithelium of Jacobson's organ is one of five possible sensory components within the nasal cavity.
Journal ArticleDOI
Olfactory marker protein during ontogeny: immunohistochemical localization.
TL;DR: Olfactory epithelium from 12- and 13-day rat embryos maintained in organ culture for up to 2 weeks did not exhibit OMP staining, nor did several neural or nonneural tissues from adult animals, so the temporal and causal interrelationships between OMP and other indicators of olfactory receptor cell maturation are considered.
Related Papers (5)
Structure and function of the vomeronasal system: an update
A multigene family encoding a diverse array of putative pheromone receptors in mammals.
Hiroaki Matsunami,Linda B. Buck +1 more
A novel family of genes encoding putative pheromone receptors in mammals
Catherine Dulac,Richard Axel +1 more