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Perspective: Re-defining “Pheromone” in a Mammalian Context to Encompass Seminal Fluid
The classical view of “pheromone”—an air-borne chemical signal—is challenged by the camelids in which ovulation is triggered by ß-nerve growth factor carried in seminal plasma, effectively extending the pheromone concept to a new medium. We propose further extension of “pheromone” to include a separ...
Autores principales: | , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8811212/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35127886 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2021.819246 |
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author | Robertson, Sarah A. Martin, Graeme B. |
author_facet | Robertson, Sarah A. Martin, Graeme B. |
author_sort | Robertson, Sarah A. |
collection | PubMed |
description | The classical view of “pheromone”—an air-borne chemical signal—is challenged by the camelids in which ovulation is triggered by ß-nerve growth factor carried in seminal plasma, effectively extending the pheromone concept to a new medium. We propose further extension of “pheromone” to include a separate class of seminal fluid molecules that acts on the female reproductive tract to enhance the prospect of pregnancy. These molecules include transforming growth factor-ß, 19-OH prostaglandins, various ligands of Toll-like receptor-4 (TLR4), and cyclic ADP ribose hydrolase (CD38). They modulate the immune response to “foreign” male-derived histocompatibility antigens on both sperm and the conceptus, determine pre-implantation embryo development, and then promote implantation by increasing uterine receptivity to the embryo. The relative abundance of these immunological molecules in seminal plasma determines the strength and quality of the immune tolerance that is generated in the female. This phenomenon has profound implications in reproductive biology because it provides a pathway, independent of the fertilizing sperm, by which paternal factors can influence the likelihood of reproductive success, as well as the phenotype and health status of offspring. Moreover, the female actively participates in this exchange—information in seminal fluid is subject to “cryptic female choice,” a process by which females interrogate the reproductive fitness of prospective mates and invest reproductive resources accordingly. These processes participate in driving the evolution of male accessory glands, ensuring optimal female reproductive investment and maximal progeny fitness. An expanded pheromone concept will avoid a constraint in our understanding of mammalian reproductive biology. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8811212 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2022 |
publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-88112122022-02-04 Perspective: Re-defining “Pheromone” in a Mammalian Context to Encompass Seminal Fluid Robertson, Sarah A. Martin, Graeme B. Front Vet Sci Veterinary Science The classical view of “pheromone”—an air-borne chemical signal—is challenged by the camelids in which ovulation is triggered by ß-nerve growth factor carried in seminal plasma, effectively extending the pheromone concept to a new medium. We propose further extension of “pheromone” to include a separate class of seminal fluid molecules that acts on the female reproductive tract to enhance the prospect of pregnancy. These molecules include transforming growth factor-ß, 19-OH prostaglandins, various ligands of Toll-like receptor-4 (TLR4), and cyclic ADP ribose hydrolase (CD38). They modulate the immune response to “foreign” male-derived histocompatibility antigens on both sperm and the conceptus, determine pre-implantation embryo development, and then promote implantation by increasing uterine receptivity to the embryo. The relative abundance of these immunological molecules in seminal plasma determines the strength and quality of the immune tolerance that is generated in the female. This phenomenon has profound implications in reproductive biology because it provides a pathway, independent of the fertilizing sperm, by which paternal factors can influence the likelihood of reproductive success, as well as the phenotype and health status of offspring. Moreover, the female actively participates in this exchange—information in seminal fluid is subject to “cryptic female choice,” a process by which females interrogate the reproductive fitness of prospective mates and invest reproductive resources accordingly. These processes participate in driving the evolution of male accessory glands, ensuring optimal female reproductive investment and maximal progeny fitness. An expanded pheromone concept will avoid a constraint in our understanding of mammalian reproductive biology. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-01-20 /pmc/articles/PMC8811212/ /pubmed/35127886 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2021.819246 Text en Copyright © 2022 Robertson and Martin. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
spellingShingle | Veterinary Science Robertson, Sarah A. Martin, Graeme B. Perspective: Re-defining “Pheromone” in a Mammalian Context to Encompass Seminal Fluid |
title | Perspective: Re-defining “Pheromone” in a Mammalian Context to Encompass Seminal Fluid |
title_full | Perspective: Re-defining “Pheromone” in a Mammalian Context to Encompass Seminal Fluid |
title_fullStr | Perspective: Re-defining “Pheromone” in a Mammalian Context to Encompass Seminal Fluid |
title_full_unstemmed | Perspective: Re-defining “Pheromone” in a Mammalian Context to Encompass Seminal Fluid |
title_short | Perspective: Re-defining “Pheromone” in a Mammalian Context to Encompass Seminal Fluid |
title_sort | perspective: re-defining “pheromone” in a mammalian context to encompass seminal fluid |
topic | Veterinary Science |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8811212/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35127886 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2021.819246 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT robertsonsaraha perspectiveredefiningpheromoneinamammaliancontexttoencompassseminalfluid AT martingraemeb perspectiveredefiningpheromoneinamammaliancontexttoencompassseminalfluid |