OLFACTORY RECEPTOR NEURONS

嗅觉受体神经元

• 批准号: 6413270
• 负责人: JOHN W SCOTT
• 金额: $ 10万
• 依托单位: EMORY UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2001
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2001-02-01 至 2004-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/6413270
• 关键词: albino rat; cell biology; chemoreceptors; electrical measurement; electrophysiology; gas chromatography; neurosurgery; odors; olfactions; olfactory lobe; respiratory epithelium

Recent advances have suggested a strong spatial component in the organization of olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs). Multineuron electroolfactogram (EOG) recordings spaced systematically across the rat olfactory epithelium show selective responses to odorants with certain chemical structures. The regions of the epithelium responding differently to polar and nonpolar odorants express different subgroups of olfactory receptor genes and ORNs of these regions send axons to different parts of the olfactory bulb. This suggests a spatial factor in olfactory processing. The behavior of individual ORN populations or of receptor protein populations has not been extensively surveyed, although a small number have been studied. We will use findings from our EOG recordings as a guide to investigate the properties of individual ORNs. The ultimate goal is to find principles by which chemical structure determines odor quality. For example, it is hypothesized that most ORNs in the dorsal epithelium will be more responsive to polar molecules, while those in the ventral epithelium will be more responsive to saturated hydrocarbons. Because of evidence suggesting diversity in receptor mechanisms, the possibility of inhibitory interactions in ORNs will be studied. The studies will be done in the intact rat olfactory epithelium to preserve both spatial relationships and the processes 'occurring in the surrounding tissue. The primary technique will be extracellular single unit recording, although intracellular penetrations may be used to validate conclusions about inhibitory actions or confirm that very broad response spectra result from ORNs rather than multicellular recordings. The research should provide a greater understanding of the spatial organization of inputs to the olfactory bulb. The data may ultimately aid in the understanding of the basic functioning of this sensory system, which is important in social and alimentary behaviors.

最近的进展表明，在嗅觉受体神经元（ORN）的组织中有很强的空间成分。多神经元嗅觉电图（EOG）记录系统地分布在大鼠嗅上皮显示选择性反应的气味与某些化学结构。对极性和非极性气味有不同反应的上皮区域表达不同的嗅觉受体基因亚群，这些区域的ORN将轴突发送到嗅球的不同部分。这表明嗅觉处理中的空间因素。个别ORN群体或受体蛋白群体的行为尚未得到广泛调查，虽然已经研究了少数。我们将使用我们的EOG记录的结果作为指导，以调查个别ORN的属性。最终目标是找到化学结构决定气味质量的原则。例如，假设背侧上皮中的大多数ORN将对极性分子更敏感，而腹侧上皮中的ORN将对饱和烃更敏感。由于有证据表明受体机制的多样性，将研究ORN中抑制性相互作用的可能性。研究将在完整的大鼠嗅上皮中进行，以保留空间关系和周围组织中发生的过程。主要的技术将是细胞外单单位记录，虽然细胞内渗透可用于验证有关抑制作用的结论或确认非常宽的反应谱来自ORN而不是多细胞记录。这项研究应该提供一个更好的理解空间组织的输入嗅球。这些数据最终可能有助于理解这种感觉系统的基本功能，这在社会和饮食行为中很重要。