Molecular mechanisms that regulate aggressive behaviour

• Applicant: Pablo Chamero, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Cognitive, Systems and Behavioural Neurobiology
• Term: from 2010 to 2014
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 195741968

Aggression is one of the most robust stereotyped social behaviors in many animals such as flies, mammals and humans. In the mouse, intra-male territorial aggression is initiated in the olfactory system by the detection of gender specific pheromones. However, those aggression-promoting odorants, the sensory systems that detect them as well as the neural circuits that process the behavioral information are poorly characterized or not yet identified. As a first step in understanding this particular type of social behavior, we have recently identified a family of genetically encoded aggression promoting-pheromones from mouse urine. The discovery of this new group of pheromones enables us now to further characterize the pheromone sensory perception and neural coding that regulates aggression. The goal of this project is to define molecular, cellular and endocrine mechanisms that control the aggressive behavior functions. We will take advantage of our newly developed molecular tool to identify the pheromones and the molecular profile of the sensing olfactory neurons. We will establish the contribution of the different sub-components of the olfactory system, determine how gender and hormonal status regulate the pheromone-mediated aggression, and define the neural circuits that participate in territorial aggression. The proposed grant will serve as the structural and scientific platform that will enable me to establish a first-rate research program that is positioned at the interface between the nervous, endocrine systems and behavior.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Major Instrumentation: Instrumentelle Ausstattung (Mikroskop-System incl. Zubehör)
• Instrumentation Group: 5040 Spezielle Mikroskope (außer 500-503)