Several developments during the past 15 years have profoundly affected our understanding of the vomeronasal system (VNS) of vertebrates. In the mid 1990s, the vomeronasal epithelium of mammals was found to contain two populations of receptor cells, based on their expression of G-proteins. These two populations of neurons were subsequently found to project their axons to different parts of the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB), forming the basis of segregated pathways with possibly heterogeneous functions. A related discovery was the cloning of members of at least two gene families of putative vomeronasal G-protein-coupled receptors (GPRs) in the vomeronasal epithelium. Ligand binding to these receptors was found to activate a phospholipase C (PLC)-dependent signal transduction pathway that primarily involves an increase in intracellular inositol-tris-phosphate and intracellular calcium. In contrast to what was previously believed, neuron replacement in the vomeronasal epithelium appears to occur through a process of vertical migration in most mammals. New anatomical studies of the central pathways of the olfactory and vomeronasal systems indicated that these two systems converge on neurons in the telencephalon, providing an anatomical substrate for functional interactions. Combined anatomical, physiological and behavioral studies in mice provided new information that furthered our understanding of one of the most striking pheromonal phenomena, the Bruce effect. Finally, contrary to prior observations, new anatomical studies indicated that a vomeronasal organ (VNO) was present in human adults and reports were published indicating that this system might be functional. These latter observations are still controversial and require confirmation from independent laboratories.

中文翻译：

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犁鼻系统的结构和功能：更新。

在过去的15年中，一些事态发展极大地影响了我们对脊椎动物的犁鼻系统（VNS）的理解。在1990年代中期，发现哺乳动物的犁鼻鼻上皮含有两个受体细胞群，这是基于它们的G蛋白表达。随后发现这两个神经元群体将它们的轴突投射到副嗅球（AOB）的不同部分，形成了可能具有异类功能的分离途径的基础。一个相关的发现是在犁鼻上皮中克隆了至少两个假定的犁鼻G-蛋白偶联受体（GPR）基因家族的成员。发现与这些受体的配体结合可激活磷脂酶C（PLC）依赖性信号转导途径，该途径主要涉及细胞内肌醇三磷酸酯和细胞内钙的增加。与以前认为的相反，在大多数哺乳动物中，犁鼻上皮中的神经元置换似乎是通过垂直迁移的过程发生的。对嗅觉系统和犁鼻系统中心路径的新解剖学研究表明，这两个系统在端脑神经元上汇聚，为功能性相互作用提供了解剖基础。在小鼠中进行的解剖，生理和行为研究相结合，提供了新的信息，进一步加深了我们对最显着的信息素现象之一布鲁斯效应的理解。最后，与先前的观察相反，新的解剖学研究表明，成年人中存在一个犁鼻器（VNO），并且有报道表明该系统可能起作用。后面的这些观点仍然有争议，需要得到独立实验室的确认。