Contributions of Perireceptor Events to Chemosensory Processes

龙虾天线的嗅觉器官很大，可以进行生化和生理工作，很容易受到水性气味的刺激，使其成为研究嗅觉接收的良好模型系统。这也是值得注意的，因为它对几个已知在大脑中具有重要作用的分子产生特异性反应，为中枢神经系统中的生化受体机制提供了一个模型。这个项目解决了一个新的问题，即感受器周围的介质如何有助于刺激的生化接收。这种“受体周围”机制可以包括降解酶、细胞对化合物的重新吸收、改变受体周围液体中的离子或蛋白质含量，以及角质层在调节刺激进入受体方面的作用。生物化学、生理学和解剖学方法将用于分析感受器周围环境及其对细胞对嗅觉刺激的反应的影响。这项多学科研究的结果不仅对研究嗅觉和嗅觉行为很重要，而且对理解哺乳动物大脑中的细胞机制也很重要，哺乳动物大脑中类似的化学过程是已知的。

The olfactory organ of the lobster antenna is large and accessible for both biochemical and physiological work, and can easily be stimulated by water-borne odorants, making it a good model system for studying olfactory reception. It also is remarkable because it responds specifically to several molecules that also are known to have important actions in the brain, providing a model for biochemical receptor mechanisms in the central nervous system. This project addresses the novel question of how the medium around the receptor sites contributes to the biochemical reception of a stimulus. Such "perireceptor" mechanisms can include degradative enzymes, re-uptake of compounds by cells, modification of ion or protein content in the fluid surrounding the receptor, and the role of the cuticle in regulating stimulus access to the receptor. Biochemical, physiological, and anatomical approaches will be used to analyze the perireceptor environment and its effects on the cellular responses to olfactory stimuli. Results from this multidisciplinary study will be important not only to work on olfaction and olfactory behavior, but also to understanding cellular mechanisms in the mammalian brain, where similar chemical processes are known to function.