Recognizing Mom's scent
Proteins of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) are involved in cell-cell recognition: they bind and present antigens in the immune system. But, at least in mice, they are also involved in odor-based recognition between individuals. Mice tend to mate with MHC-dissimilar mice (to maintain MHC diversity) and nest with MHC-similar mice. In the September 12 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Yamazaki et al. report that mothers recognize and preferentially retrieve MHC-similar pup
Sep 14, 2000
Proteins of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) are involved in cell-cell recognition: they bind and present antigens in the immune system. But, at least in mice, they are also involved in odor-based recognition between individuals. Mice tend to mate with MHC-dissimilar mice (to maintain MHC diversity) and nest with MHC-similar mice. In the September 12