scholarly journals Electrical responses to Chemical Stimulation of Squid Olfactory Receptor Cells

1992 ◽  
Vol 162 (1) ◽  
pp. 231-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARY T. LUCERO ◽  
FRANK T. HORRIGAN ◽  
WM F. GILLY
Keyword(s):  
Olfactory Receptor ◽  
Action Potentials ◽  
Membrane Conductance ◽  
Ammonium Ions ◽  
Behavioral Experiments ◽  
K Channels ◽  
Olfactory Receptor Cells ◽  
Receptor Cells ◽  
Whole Cell Patch Clamp ◽  
Quaternary Ammonium Ions

Electrical properties of isolated olfactory receptor cells were studied usingb voltage- and current-clamp techniques based on whole-cell patch-clamp methods. Squid olfactory receptor cells contain voltage-gated Na+ and K+ channels and are capable of generating action potentials. Chemicals that elicit escape-jetting responses in behavioral experiments affect the excitability of isolated receptor cells. One set of such chemicals, including quaternary ammonium ions and aminopyridines, blocks K+ channels and increases excitability. Squid ink and L-Dopa also elicit escape jetting, but these substances increase membrane conductance, hyperpolarize the receptor cell and decrease excitability. These experiments indicate that sensory neurons of the olfactory organ are capable of detecting chemical signals and that at least two different transduction mechanismscan lead to similar behavioral responses.

Intrinsically Bursting Olfactory Receptor Neurons

2007 ◽  
Vol 97 (2) ◽  
pp. 1052-1057 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. V. Bobkov ◽  
B. W. Ache
Keyword(s):  
Olfactory Receptor ◽  
Action Potentials ◽  
Olfactory Receptor Neurons ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
Concentration Dependent Manner ◽  
Network Function ◽  
Olfactory Receptor Cells ◽  
Receptor Cells ◽  
Bursting Neurons ◽  
Receptor Neurons

Rhythmically bursting neurons are fundamental to neuronal network function but typically are not considered in the context of primary sensory signaling. We now report intrinsically bursting lobster primary olfactory receptor neurons that respond to odors with a phase-dependent burst of action potentials. Rhythmic odor input as might be generated by sniffing entrains the intrinsic bursting rhythm in a concentration-dependent manner and presumably synchronizes the ensemble of bursting cells. We suggest such intrinsically bursting olfactory receptor cells provide a novel way for encoding odor information.

Regional distribution of rat electroolfactogram

1995 ◽  
Vol 73 (6) ◽  
pp. 2207-2220 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. I. Ezeh ◽  
L. M. Davis ◽  
J. W. Scott
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Olfactory Bulb ◽  
Olfactory Epithelium ◽  
Flow Rate ◽  
Olfactory Receptor ◽  
Action Potentials ◽  
Amyl Acetate ◽  
Flow Rates ◽  
Olfactory Receptor Cells ◽  
Receptor Cells

1. Electroolfactorgram (EOG) recordings were made from different regions of the rat olfactory epithelium to test for spatial distribution of odor responses. 2. The EOG recordings showed spatial distribution of the odor responses in the olfactory epithelium. While some odorants (amyl acetate, anisole, and ethyl butyrate) were more effective in evoking responses in the dorsal recess near the septum, other odorants (including limonene, cineole, cyclooctane, and hexane) were more effective in the lateral recesses among the turbinate bones. These differences were seen as statistically significant odorant-by-position interactions in analysis of variance. 3. Comparisons of recordings along the anteroposterior dimension of the epithelium produced smaller differences between the odor responses. These were not significant for 3-mm distances, but were statistically significant for 5- to 6-mm distances along the dorsomedial epithelium. 4. The latencies were significantly longer in the lateral recesses than in the medial region. This probably reflects a more tortuous air path along the turbinate bones to the lateral recesses. 5. The olfactory receptor cells were activated by antidromic stimulation via the nerve layer of the olfactory bulb. The population spikes evoked from the olfactory receptor cells could be suppressed by prior stimulation with odorants that evoked strong EOG responses. This collision of the antidromic action potentials with the odor-evoked action potentials indicates that the same population of receptor cells was activated in both cases. 6. The flow rate and duration of the artificial sniff were varied systematically in some experiments. The differential distribution of response sizes was present at all flow rates and sniff durations. Some odors (e.g., amyl acetate and anisole) produced increased responses in the epithelium of the lateral recesses when flow rates or sniff durations were high. We suggest that these changes may reflect the sorptive properties of the nasal membranes on these odors. The responses to other odors (e.g., hexane or limonene) were not greatly affected by flow rate or sniff duration. 7. Taken with existing anatomic data, the results indicate that the primary olfactory neurons that project axons to glomeruli in different parts of the olfactory bulb are responsive to different odors. The latency differences between responses at medial and lateral sites are large enough to be physiologically significant in the generation of the patterned responses of olfactory bulb neurons.

Whole cell recording from lobster olfactory receptor cells: responses to current and odor stimulation

1989 ◽  
Vol 61 (5) ◽  
pp. 994-1000 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Schmiedel-Jakob ◽  
P. A. Anderson ◽  
B. W. Ache
Keyword(s):  
Membrane Potential ◽  
Electrical Properties ◽  
Olfactory Receptor ◽  
Action Potentials ◽  
Receptor Potential ◽  
Membrane Potentials ◽  
Patch Clamp Recording ◽  
Whole Cell ◽  
Olfactory Receptor Cells ◽  
Receptor Cells

1. The basic electrical properties of olfactory (antennule) receptor cells were studied in an in situ preparation of the spiny lobster using whole cell patch-clamp recording. 2. The current-voltage relationship of the cells was linear for membrane potentials between -150 and -40 mV and rectified at more positive membrane potentials. The input resistance at rest averaged 508 M omega. The cells displayed two time constants, with mean values of 29.8 and 8.2 ms. 3. Depolarizing current steps elicited fast, overshooting action potentials at a mean threshold of -32 mV from an imposed resting membrane potential of -65 mV. The action potentials were tetrodotoxin (TTX) and tetraethylammonium (TEA) sensitive, suggesting they are typical sodium/potassium action potentials. 4. Odor stimulation evoked slow, dose-dependent, depolarizing receptor potentials up to 50 mV in amplitude. In approximately 30% of cells tested, these led to repetitive spiking when the cells were depolarized beyond -45 to -30 mV. The amplitude of the receptor potential was graded as a linear function of the logarithm of the odor concentration. 5. The amplitude of the receptor potential varied linearly with the membrane potential between -70 and -30 mV. Extrapolated reversal potentials appeared to be normally distributed around a mean value of -3.6 mV. 6. The results collectively indicate that lobster olfactory receptor cells have electrical properties similar to, but not necessarily identical with, those currently envisaged for olfactory receptor cells in other species.

Ultrastructural aspects of olfactory signal transduction and its development

1994 ◽  
Vol 52 ◽  
pp. 142-143
Author(s):  
Bert Ph. M. Menco
Keyword(s):  
Signal Transduction ◽  
Olfactory Receptor ◽  
Receptor Cell ◽  
Freeze Substitution ◽  
Luminal Surface ◽  
Tissue Sections ◽  
Olfactory Receptor Cells ◽  
Receptor Cells ◽  
Olfactory Signal ◽  
Odor Molecule

Vertebrate olfactory receptor cells are specialized neurons that have numerous long tapering cilia. The distal parts of these cilia line the interface between the external odorous environment and the luminal surface of the olfactory epithelium. The length and number of these cilia results in a large surface area that presumably increases the chance that an odor molecule will meet a receptor cell. Advanced methods of cryoprepration and immuno-gold labeling were particularly useful to preserve the delicate ultrastructural and immunocytochemical features of olfactory cilia required for localization of molecules involved in olfactory signal-transduction. We subjected olfactory tissues to freeze-substitution in acetone (unfixed tissues) or methanol (fixed tissues) followed by low temperature embedding in Lowicryl K11M for that purpose. Tissue sections were immunoreacted with several antibodies against proteins that are presumably important in olfactory signal-transduction.

Presynaptic Afferent Inhibition of Lobster Olfactory Receptor Cells: Reduced Action-Potential Propagation Into Axon Terminals

1998 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 1011-1015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matt Wachowiak ◽  
Lawrence B. Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Action Potential ◽  
Olfactory Receptor ◽  
Receptor Cell ◽  
Action Potential Propagation ◽  
Cell Axon ◽  
Axon Terminals ◽  
Olfactory Receptor Cells ◽  
Receptor Cells ◽  
Afferent Inhibition ◽  
Reduced Action

Wachowiak, Matt and Lawrence B. Cohen. Presynaptic afferent inhibition of lobster olfactory receptor cells: reduced action-potential propagation into axon terminals. J. Neurophysiol. 80: 1011–1015, 1998. Action-potential propagation into the axon terminals of olfactory receptor cells was measured with the use of voltage-sensitive dye imaging in the isolated spiny lobster brain. Conditioning shocks to the olfactory nerve, known to cause long-lasting suppression of olfactory lobe neurons, allowed the selective imaging of activity in receptor cell axon terminals. In normal saline the optical signal from axon terminals evoked by a test stimulus was brief (40 ms) and small in amplitude. In the presence of low-Ca2+/high-Mg2+ saline designed to reduce synaptic transmission, the test response was unchanged in time course but increased significantly in amplitude (57 ± 16%, means ± SE). This increase suggests that propagation into receptor cell axon terminals is normally suppressed after a conditioning shock; this suppression is presumably synaptically mediated. Thus our results show that presynaptic inhibition occurs at the first synapse in the olfactory pathway and that the inhibition is mediated, at least in part, via suppression of action-potential propagation into the presynaptic terminal.

Histamine-induced modulation of olfactory receptor neurones in two species of lobster, Panulirus argus and Homarus americanus

1989 ◽  
Vol 145 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. A. Bayer ◽  
T. S. McClintock ◽  
U. Grunert ◽  
B. W. Ache
Keyword(s):  
Receptor Antagonist ◽  
Olfactory Receptor ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Homarus Americanus ◽  
Chloride Ions ◽  
Electrophysiological Recording ◽  
Stimulus Response ◽  
Olfactory Receptor Cells ◽  
Receptor Cells ◽  
The One

In two species of lobster, application of the biogenic amine, histamine (HA), to the soma of olfactory receptor cells suppressed both spontaneous and odour-evoked activity, as shown by electrophysiological recording from single cells. The action of HA was graded, reversible, specific to HA, and had a threshold between 0.1 and 1 mumol l-1. HA increased the conductance of the membrane, primarily to chloride ions. The vertebrate HA receptor antagonist, cimetidine, and the nicotinic receptor antagonist, d-tubocurarine, but not other known vertebrate HA receptor antagonists, reversibly blocked the action of HA. These results suggest that a histaminergic mechanism modulates stimulus-response coupling in lobster olfactory receptor cells and potentially implicate a novel HA receptor, pharmacologically similar to the one recently described in the visual system of flies.

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