RECEPTOR MECHANISM IN OLFACTION

本研究项目将研究转导机制 嗅觉细胞用来探测和辨别化学物质 物质. 其长期目标是描述 嗅觉的生理基础。 的初始步骤 检测和区分化学化合物发生在 在上呼吸道中发现的外周嗅觉神经元 通路 这些细胞编码有关气味的信息， 以动作电位的形式传递到大脑 气味剂 似乎调节产生动作的发生器电位 通过激活传导在嗅觉神经元中的电位 机制等 该项目将利用来自 斑节蝾螈，一种细胞特别大的蝾螈。 对完整上皮进行系统的一系列测量 使用细胞外记录将进行识别， 对动物敏感的化合物。 膜 特性和对气味剂的生理反应将是 在单个神经元中研究了膜片钳和细胞内 电压钳方法。 成熟和未成熟的神经元 研究，以尽量减少与基板有关的问题 特异性和评价化学品的发展 歧视 该项目的具体目标是： 1. 确定一组化合物，动物是 在体内敏感。 2. 表征用于底物的细胞机制 通过成熟和未成熟的嗅觉细胞检测。 关联的 这些机制与特定类型的离子通道的作用 以及膜电流的分量。 确定 第二信使系统是否/如何促进这些 通过调节膜电导机制。 3. 评估化学鉴别的细胞基础。 确定化学敏感性的重叠和分布， 单个嗅觉神经元。 定义的划分 外周和中枢之间的辨别功能 嗅觉系统的一部分。

This research project would study the mechanisms of transduction used by olfactory cells to detect and discriminate chemical substances. Its long term objectives are to describe the physiological basis of the sense of smell. the initial steps in detecting and distinguishing chemical compounds occur in the peripheral olfactory neurons found in the upper respiratory pathway. These cells encode information about odorants and transmit it to the brain in trains of action potentials. Odorants appear to modulate the generator potential that produces action potentials in olfactory neurons by activating transduction mechanisms. The project will employ olfactory tissue from Necturus maculosus, a salamander with exceptionally large cells. A systematic series of measurements on the intact epithelium using extracellular recordings will be undertaken to identify compounds to which the animal is sensitive. The membrane properties and the physiological response to odorants will be studied in single neurons with both patch-clamp and intracellular voltage-clamp methods. Both mature and immature neurons will be studied in order to minimize problems related to substrate specificity and to evaluate the development of chemical discrimination. The specific aims of the project are: 1. Identify a group of chemical compounds to which the animal is sensitive in vivo. 2. Characterize the cellular mechanisms used for substrate detection by mature and immature olfactory cells. Correlate the action of these mechanisms with specific types of ion channels and the components of the membrane current. Determine whether/how second messenger systems contribute to these mechanisms by regulating the membrane conductance. 3. Evaluate the cellular basis of chemical discrimination. Determine the overlap and distribution of chemical sensitivities in individual olfactory neurons. Define the division of discriminatory functions between the peripheral and central portions of the olfactory system.