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Expression of members of the putative olfactory receptor gene family in mammalian germ cells

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Abstract

A SERIES of genomic and complementary DNA clones encoding new putative members of G protein-coupled receptors were isolated using homology cloning and low-stringency polymerase chain reaction1,2. Among the unidentified receptors ('orphan receptors'), a human genomic clone (HGMP07) was characterized by the presence of its transcripts in the testis and by its belonging to a large subfamily of genes sharing extensive sequence similarities. Sequence comparison demonstrated that this gene subfamily is the human counterpart of the putative rat olfactory receptors cloned recently3. Another 48 members of the family were cloned. Northern blotting further demonstrated the presence of olfactory receptor transcripts in germ cells. Our finding suggests that a common receptor gene family encodes olfactory receptors and sperm cell receptors that could be involved in chemotaxis during fertilization.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IRIBHN, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Campus Erasmem 808 route deLennik, 1070, Bruxelles, Belgium

    Marc Parmentier, Frédéric Libert, Stéphane Schurmans, Anne Lefort, Dominique Eggerickx, Catherine Ledent, Catherine Gérard, Jason Perret & Gilbert Vassart

  2. Service de Genetique, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Campus Erasme, 808 route de Lennik, 1070, Bruxelles, Belgium

    Gilbert Vassart

  3. Laboratoire de Pharmacologie et de Toxicologie fondamentale du CNRS, 205 route de Narbonne, 31077, Toulouse, France

    Catherine Mollereau

  4. Department of Endocrinology and Reproduction, Medical Faculty, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Anton Grootegoed

  5. Laboratoire de Recherche sur les neuropeptides, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Campus Erasme, 808 route de Lennik, 1070, Bruxelles, Belgium

    Serge Schiffmann

Authors
  1. Marc Parmentier
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  2. Frédéric Libert
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  3. Stéphane Schurmans
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  4. Serge Schiffmann
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  5. Anne Lefort
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  6. Dominique Eggerickx
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  7. Catherine Ledent
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  8. Catherine Mollereau
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  9. Catherine Gérard
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  10. Jason Perret
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  11. Anton Grootegoed
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  12. Gilbert Vassart
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Parmentier, M., Libert, F., Schurmans, S. et al. Expression of members of the putative olfactory receptor gene family in mammalian germ cells. Nature 355, 453–455 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1038/355453a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/355453a0

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