Special Issue "From the Nose to the Brain: Animals' Olfactory and Vomeronasal Systems"

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Physiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2021.

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Pablo Sánchez Quinteiro
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Anatomy, Animal Production, and Veterinary Clinical Sciences. University of Santiago de Compostela, 15705 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Interests: animal anatomy; neuroscience; histology; immunohistochemistry; olfactory system

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The award of the Nobel Prize in 2004 to Richard Axel and Linda Buck marked a huge advance in the knowledge of the sense of smell. As a consequence, the last 15 years have witnessed an exponential progression in the number of studies about the olfactory and vomeronasal systems, which have forced a reformulation of prevalent ideas and hypotheses about both the processing of the olfactory signals and the chemocommunication mediated by the vomeronasal system.

However, we are still far from resolving such basic questions as the morphological and functional diversity of the olfactory subsystems, the molecular and biophysical natures of olfactory sensory transduction and, the still unresolved, anatomical and physiological basis of the human vomeronasal system.

Recently, with the advent of the dramatic COVID-19 pandemic, one of the cardinal symptoms of which is the loss of smell, to elucidate the cellular and molecular mechanisms of the coronavirus-induced anosmia may be instrumental in understanding the infectivity of SARS-CoV-2

For all this, we welcome experts in the fields to participate in this Special Issue, by means of original works and revision papers dealing with the anatomy, physiology, pathology, and molecular biology of the olfactory subsystems.

Prof. Pablo Sánchez Quinteiro
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • olfactory system
  • vomeronasal system
  • chemocommunication
  • anosmia

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

Article
Morphological and Histological Features of the Vomeronasal Organ in African Pygmy Hedgehog (Atelerix albiventris)
Animals 2021, 11(5), 1462; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11051462 - 19 May 2021
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Abstract
The vomeronasal organ (VNO) detects specific chemicals such as pheromones and kairomones. Hedgehogs (Eulipotyphla: Erinaceidae) have a well-developed accessory olfactory bulb that receives projections from the VNO, but little is known about the hedgehog VNO. Here, we studied the histological features of the [...] Read more.
The vomeronasal organ (VNO) detects specific chemicals such as pheromones and kairomones. Hedgehogs (Eulipotyphla: Erinaceidae) have a well-developed accessory olfactory bulb that receives projections from the VNO, but little is known about the hedgehog VNO. Here, we studied the histological features of the VNO in five individual African pygmy hedgehogs by hematoxylin-eosin, periodic acid-Schiff, and Alcian blue stains. The hedgehog VNO comprises a hyaline cartilage capsule, soft tissue and epithelial lumen, and it branches from the site just before the incisive duct opening into the nasal cavity. The soft tissues contain several small mucous (or mucoserous) glands and a large serous gland, and many venous sinuses all around the lumen. The VNO lumen is round to oval throughout the hedgehog VNO, and the sensory epithelium lines almost the entire rostral part and medial wall of the middle part. These findings indicate that the VNO is functional and plays an important role in the hedgehog. Notably, the VNO apparently has a characteristic flushing mechanism with serous secretions like those of gustatory glands, which the hedgehog might frequently use to recognize the external environment. Full article
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Article
Histological and Immunohistochemical Characterization of Vomeronasal Organ Aging in Mice
Animals 2021, 11(5), 1211; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11051211 - 22 Apr 2021
Viewed by 551
Abstract
The vomeronasal organ (VNO) plays a crucial role in animal behavior since it is responsible for semiochemical detection and, thus, for intra- and interspecific chemical communication, through the vomeronasal sensory epithelium (VNSE), composed of bipolar sensory neurons. This study aimed to explore a [...] Read more.
The vomeronasal organ (VNO) plays a crucial role in animal behavior since it is responsible for semiochemical detection and, thus, for intra- and interspecific chemical communication, through the vomeronasal sensory epithelium (VNSE), composed of bipolar sensory neurons. This study aimed to explore a well-recognized cause of neuronal degeneration, only rarely explored in this organ: aging. Murine VNOs were evaluated according to 3 age groups (3, 10, and 24 months) by histology to assess VNSE changes such as cellular degeneration or glycogen accumulation and by immunohistochemistry to explore nervous configuration, proliferation capability, and apoptosis with the expression of olfactory marker protein (OMP), Gαi2, Gαo, Ki-67, and cleaved caspase-3 proteins. These markers were quantified as percentages of positive signal in the VNSE and statistical analyses were performed. Cellular degeneration increased with age (p < 0.0001) as well as glycogen accumulation (p < 0.0001), Gαo expression (p < 0.0001), and the number of cleaved-caspase3 positive cells (p = 0.0425), while OMP and Gαi2 expressions decreased with age (p = 0.0436 and p < 0.0001, respectively). Ki67-positive cells were reduced, even if this difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.9105). Due to the crucial role of VNO in animal life, this study opens the door to interesting perspectives about chemical communication efficiency in aging animals. Full article
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