Odor stimuli trigger influx of calcium into olfactory neurons of the channel catfish

Olfactory transduction is thought to be mediated by a G protein-coupled increase in intracellular adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cAMP) that triggers the opening of cAMP-gated cation channels and results in depolarization of the plasma membrane of olfactory neurons. In olfactory neurons isolated from the channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, stimulation with olfactory stimuli (amino acids) elicits an influx of calcium that leads to a rapid increase in intracellular calcium. In addition, in a reconstitution assay a plasma membrane calcium channel has been identified that is gated by inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3), which could mediate this calcium influx. Together with previous studies indicating that stimulation with olfactory stimuli leads to stimulation of phosphoinositide turnover in olfactory cilia, these data suggest that an influx of calcium triggered by odor stimulation of phosphoinositide turnover may be an alternate or additional mechanism of olfactory transduction.     

Combinatorial effects of odorant mixes in olfactory cortex

In mammals, each odorant is detected by a combination of different odorant receptors. Signals from different types of receptors are segregated in the nose and the olfactory bulb, but appear to be combined in individual neurons in the olfactory cortex. Here, we report that binary odorant mixes stimulate cortical neurons that are not stimulated by their individual component odorants. We propose that cortical neurons require combinations of receptor inputs for activation and that merging the receptor codes of two odorants provides novel combinations of receptor inputs that stimulate neurons beyond those activated by the single odorants. These findings may explain why odorant mixtures can elicit novel odor percepts in humans.     

Golf: an olfactory neuron specific-G protein involved in odorant signal transduction

Biochemical and electrophysiological studies suggest that odorants induce responses in olfactory sensory neurons via an adenylate cyclase cascade mediated by a G protein. An olfactory-specific guanosine triphosphate (GTP)-binding protein alpha subunit has now been characterized and evidence is presented suggesting that this G protein, termed Golf, mediates olfaction. Messenger RNA that encodes Golf alpha is expressed in olfactory neuroephithelium but not in six other tissues tested. Moreover, within the olfactory epithelium, Golf alpha appears to be expressed only by the sensory neurons. Specific antisera were used to localize Golf alpha protein to the sensory apparatus of the receptor neurons. Golf alpha shares extensive amino acid identity (88 percent) with the stimulatory G protein, Gs alpha. The expression of Golf alpha in S49 cyc- kin- cells, a line deficient in endogenous stimulatory G proteins, demonstrates its capacity to stimulate adenylate cyclase in a heterologous system.     

Regulation of Drosophila life span by olfaction and food-derived odors

Smell is an ancient sensory system present in organisms from bacteria to humans. In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, gustatory and olfactory neurons regulate aging and longevity. Using the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, we showed that exposure to nutrient-derived odorants can modulate life span and partially reverse the longevity-extending effects of dietary restriction. Furthermore, mutation of odorant receptor Or83b resulted in severe olfactory defects, altered adult metabolism, enhanced stress resistance, and extended life span. Our findings indicate that olfaction affects adult physiology and aging in Drosophila, possibly through the perceived availability of nutritional resources, and that olfactory regulation of life span is evolutionarily conserved.     

Postnatal refinement of peripheral olfactory projections

Axonal projections from the olfactory epithelium to the olfactory bulb are organized into glomeruli according to the expressed odorant receptor. Using gene-targeted mice, we show that glomerular maturation proceeds along different time courses for two similar receptors and requires sensory input during distinct sensitive periods. During early development, some glomeruli are innervated by axons of neurons that do not express the same receptor. These heterogeneous glomeruli normally disappear with age, but they persist in adults deprived of sensory input by unilateral and permanent naris closure. Persistence may be due, in part, to prolonged survival of olfactory sensory neurons.     

Olfactory Receptor Response to the Cockroach Sexual Attractant

The recently isolated sex attractant of the female American cockroach elicits an electical response in the antennae of males, females, and mymphs of this species. These electroantennograms are known to be summated receptor (generator) potentials of many olfactory sensillae stimulated simultaneously. Many other odorous substances also elicit such responses in the cockroach antenna.     

Detection of near-atmospheric concentrations of CO2 by an olfactory subsystem in the mouse

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is an important environmental cue for many organisms but is odorless to humans. It remains unclear whether the mammalian olfactory system can detect CO2 at concentrations around the average atmospheric level (0.038%). We demonstrated the expression of carbonic anhydrase type II (CAII), an enzyme that catabolizes CO2, in a subset of mouse olfactory neurons that express guanylyl cyclase D (GC-D+ neurons) and project axons to necklace glomeruli in the olfactory bulb. Exposure to CO2 activated these GC-D+ neurons, and exposure of a mouse to CO2 activated bulbar neurons associated with necklace glomeruli. Behavioral tests revealed CO2 detection thresholds of approximately 0.066%, and this sensitive CO2 detection required CAII activity. We conclude that mice detect CO2 at near-atmospheric concentrations through the olfactory subsystem of GC-D+ neurons.     

Contributions of two types of calcium channels to synaptic transmission and plasticity

In Aplysia sensory and motor neurons in culture, the contributions of the major classes of calcium current can be selectively examined while transmitter release and its modulation are examined. A slowly inactivating, dihydropyridine-sensitive calcium current does not contribute either to normal synaptic transmission or to any of three different forms of plasticity: presynaptic inhibition, homosynaptic depression, and presynaptic facilitation. This current does contribute, however, to a fourth form of plasticity--modulation of transmitter release by tonic depolarization of the sensory neuron. By contrast, a second calcium current, which is rapidly inactivating and dihydropyridine-insensitive, contributes to release elicited by the transient depolarization of an action potential and to the other three forms of plasticity.     

Substance P: a putative sensory transmitter in mammalian autonomic ganglia

Repetitive presynaptic stimulation elicited slow membrane depolarization in neurons of inferior mesenteric ganglia from guinea pigs. This response was not blocked by cholinergic antagonists but was specifically and reversibly inhibited by a substance P analog, (D-Pro2, D-Phe7, D-Trp9)-substance P, which also depressed the depolarization induced by exogenously applied substance P. The atropine-sensitive slow excitatory and slow inhibitory postsynaptic potentials evoked in neurons of rabbit superior cervical ganglia were not affected by the substance P analog. These and previous results provide strong support for the hypothesis that substance P or a closely related peptide is the transmitter mediating the slow depolarization. The latter may represent a sensory input from the gastrointestinal tract to neurons of the prevertebral ganglia.     

中红侧沟茧蜂非典型气味受体的克隆及组织特异性表达

 【目的】研究中红侧沟茧蜂Microplitis mediator非典型气味受体的表达谱。【方法】使用RT-PCR法克隆得到中红侧沟茧蜂非典型气味受体基因序列。使用实时荧光定量PCR法研究其表达谱。【结果】克隆得到中红侧沟茧蜂非典型气味受体全长基因。该基因在触角中特异性表达。在雌虫触角中羽化当天达到最大表达量,雄虫触角中在羽化前d阶段达到最大表达量。【结论】该非典型气味受体在中红侧沟茧蜂触角中特异存在。     

Insect odorant receptors are molecular targets of the insect repellent DEET

DEET (N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide) is the world's most widely used topical insect repellent, with broad effectiveness against most insects. Its mechanism of action and molecular target remain unknown. Here, we show that DEET blocks electrophysiological responses of olfactory sensory neurons to attractive odors in Anopheles gambiae and Drosophila melanogaster. DEET inhibits behavioral attraction to food odors in Drosophila, and this inhibition requires the highly conserved olfactory co-receptor OR83b. DEET inhibits odor-evoked currents mediated by the insect odorant receptor complex, comprising a ligand-binding subunit and OR83b. We conclude that DEET masks host odor by inhibiting subsets of heteromeric insect odorant receptors that require the OR83b co-receptor. The identification of candidate molecular targets for the action of DEET may aid in the design of safer and more effective insect repellents.     

乌鳢嗅觉器官发育的组织学研究

采用组织学方法对乌鳢仔鱼(全长14～31mm)和咸鱼(全长370mm)嗅觉器官的发育进行了研究。结果表明：乌鳢嗅觉器官由头部左右两侧的嗅囊构成,每个嗅囊有前后2个鼻孔。随其发育,仔鱼前鼻孔隆起于外表面。发育为管状延伸物而与外界相通。嗅板在嗅囊内发育时不形成中心脊,其排列方式为纵向平行的D型。从仔鱼发育至咸鱼,乌鳢嗅觉上皮的厚度变化较小,而初级嗅板的数量和隆起高度显著增大。嗅觉上皮主要由感受细胞、支持细胞、纤毛细胞和基细胞组成。     

An interneuronal chemoreceptor required for olfactory imprinting in C. elegans

Animals alter their behavioral patterns in an experience-dependent manner. Olfactory imprinting is a process in which the exposure of animals to olfactory cues during specific and restricted time windows leaves a permanent memory ("olfactory imprint") that shapes the animal's behavior upon encountering the olfactory cues at later times. We found that Caenorhabditis elegans displays olfactory imprinting behavior that is mediated by a single pair of interneurons. To function in olfactory imprinting, this interneuron pair must express a G protein-coupled chemoreceptor family member encoded by the sra-11 gene. Our study provides insights into the cellular and molecular basis of olfactory imprinting and reveals a function for a chemosensory receptor family member in interneurons.     

Encoding of olfactory information with oscillating neural assemblies

In the brain, fast oscillations of local field potentials, which are thought to arise from the coherent and rhythmic activity of large numbers of neurons, were observed first in the olfactory system and have since been described in many neocortical areas. The importance of these oscillations in information coding, however, is controversial. Here, local field potential and intracellular recordings were obtained from the antennal lobe and mushroom body of the locust Schistocerca americana. Different odors evoked coherent oscillations in different, but usually overlapping, ensembles of neurons. The phase of firing of individual neurons relative to the population was not dependent on the odor. The components of a coherently oscillating ensemble of neurons changed over the duration of a single exposure to an odor. It is thus proposed that odors are encoded by specific but dynamic assemblies of coherently oscillating neurons. Such distributed and temporal representation of complex sensory signals may facilitate combinatorial coding and associative learning in these, and possibly other, sensory networks.     

2个新的鳞翅目OR83b类化感蛋白基因的克隆和序列分析

【目的】分离和克隆昆虫触角中一类非常保守的嗅觉受体蛋白基因全序列。【方法】采用简并引物反转录多聚酶链式反应(RT-PCR)和cDNA末端快速扩增(RACE)技术克隆基因,用生物信息学方法对获得的cDNA全序列及推导的氨基酸序列进行分析。【结果】从甜菜夜蛾(Spodoptera exigua Hübner)和斜纹夜蛾[Spodoptera litura(Fabricius)]雄蛾触角中扩增得到2个分别为1906bp和2483bp的OR83类化感蛋白基因的cDNA,开放阅读框(ORF)编码473个氨基酸,命名为SexiOR2和SlitOR2。通过在GenBank中进行序列的同源性比较,发现这2个鳞翅目化感蛋白新序列与已知蛾类昆虫的OR83b类化感蛋白氨基酸序列具较高的同源性。【结论】明确了所获得的2个鳞翅目蛋白新序列属于OR83b类化感蛋白。     

Ethanol inhibits NMDA-activated ion current in hippocampal neurons

The ion current induced by the glutamate receptor agonist N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) in voltage-clamped hippocampal neurons was inhibited by ethanol (EtOH). Inhibition increased in a concentration-dependent manner over the range 5 to 50 mM, a range that also produces intoxication. The amplitude of the NMDA-activated current was reduced 61 percent by 50 mM EtOH; in contrast, this concentration of EtOH reduced the amplitude of current activated by the glutamate receptor agonists kainate and quisqualate by only 18 and 15 percent, respectively. The potency for inhibition of the NMDA-activated current by several alcohols is linearly related to their intoxicating potency, suggesting that alcohol-induced inhibition of responses to NMDA receptor activation may contribute to the neural and cognitive impairments associated with intoxication.     

Nerve growth factor gene expression in the developing rat brain

The regulation of nerve growth factor (NGF) protein and NGF messenger RNA (mRNA) in the developing rat brain has been studied to assess the hypothesis that NGF supports the differentiation of cholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain. In the adult, the major targets of these neurons, the hippocampus and neocortex, contain the highest concentrations of NGF mRNA, but comparatively low ratios of NGF protein to its mRNA. In contrast, a high concentration of NGF protein and a low concentration of NGF mRNA were seen in the basal forebrain, consistent with retrograde transport of NGF protein into this region from the neocortex and hippocampus. In these two target regions NGF and NGF mRNA were barely detectable at birth, their concentrations increased to a peak at day 21, and then NGF mRNA, but not NGF protein, declined threefold by day 35. NGF accumulation in the basal forebrain paralleled that in the target regions and preceded an increase in choline acetyltransferase, suggesting that the differentiation of cholinergic projection neurons is indeed regulated by retrogradely transported NGF. In addition, high ratios of NGF protein to NGF mRNA, comparable to that in the basal forebrain, were seen in the olfactory bulb and cerebellum, suggesting that NGF may be transported into these regions by unidentified neurons.     

Fossil evidence on origin of the mammalian brain

Many hypotheses have been postulated regarding the early evolution of the mammalian brain. Here, x-ray tomography of the Early Jurassic mammaliaforms Morganucodon and Hadrocodium sheds light on this history. We found that relative brain size expanded to mammalian levels, with enlarged olfactory bulbs, neocortex, olfactory (pyriform) cortex, and cerebellum, in two evolutionary pulses. The initial pulse was probably driven by increased resolution in olfaction and improvements in tactile sensitivity (from body hair) and neuromuscular coordination. A second pulse of olfactory enhancement then enlarged the brain to mammalian levels. The origin of crown Mammalia saw a third pulse of olfactory enhancement, with ossified ethmoid turbinals supporting an expansive olfactory epithelium in the nasal cavity, allowing full expression of a huge odorant receptor genome.