Information Coding in the Olfactory Cortex

描述（由申请人提供）：本文提出的研究将进一步定义来自外周嗅觉感觉神经元的气味信息如何由气味受体（ORs）编码，以及当其进展到嗅觉皮层（OC）时如何组织。将进行筛选以鉴定识别硫醇和具有高度不同定性特征的结构相似的气味剂（例如，具有恶臭气味的己硫醇和具有甜味气味的己醇）的其他OR。这将使用Ca++成像和单细胞PCR用解离的小鼠嗅觉感觉神经元来完成。识别相同气味物的相似和不同序列的OR将被敲入构建体靶向，导致差异标记的跨神经元示踪剂（大麦凝集素）的共表达。在单次和双次敲入动物中，将使用免疫组织化学法确定含BL的OC面积。这将允许确定OC的多个OR输入的重叠。除了帮助阐明OR结构与气味检测的关系外，这些实验还将确定OR对OC的输入是否由OR的功能和/或结构组织。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The research proposed here will define further how odor information from peripheral olfactory sensory neurons is encoded by odorant receptors (ORs) and also how it is organized as it progresses to the olfactory cortex (OC). A screen will be performed to identify additional ORs that recognize thiols and structurally similar odorants with highly divergent qualitative features (e.g. hexanethiol, which has a foul odor, and hexanol, which has a sweet smell). This will be accomplished with dissociated mouse olfactory sensory neurons using Ca++ imaging and single cell PCR. ORs of similar and divergent sequences recognizing the same odorant will be targeted with knockin constructs, resulting in coexpression of differentially tagged transneuronal tracers (barley lectin). Areas of the OC containing BL will be determined with immunohistochemistry in both single and double knockin animals. This will allow determination of the overlap of multiple OR inputs to the OC. In addition to helping illuminate how OR structure is related to odorant detection, these experiments will determine whether OR inputs to the OC are organized by function and/or structure of the OR.