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还是没有锻炼身体。。。:funk:
Olfaction Odors are Detected by a Large Family of Odorant Receptor Molecules How do we perceive a variety of odorants with precision? The answer to this question came from a breakthrough using molecular biological approach. A multigene family of molecules called the 7-transmembrane (because 7 parts of the molecule span the lipid bilayer of the plasma membrane) receptors was discovered. These are G-protein-coupled receptors i.e. they activate effector molecules such as adenylyl cyclasethrough a guanine-nucleotide-binding protein (hence the name G-protein). This family G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) codes for about a 1000 genes in mammals (Slides 6 & 7). It has been found that the receptor neurons in the nasal epithelium express only one of the thousand genes. There is no segregation of the receptor neurons expressing a given GPCR. An astonishing fact is that the receptor neurons expressing a given GPCR project to one or two glomeruli in the olfactory bulb. Olfactory Transduction Begins When Odorants Bind to a G- Protein-Coupled Receptor and Activate a Second Messenger System
The first step in the detection of the odor is binding of the odorant to the receptor molecules. To reach the odorant-binding part of the olfactory rector cell, the cilia, the odor molecules have to traverse through the mucus. There is evidence in the literature for the presence of odorant-binding proteins that are believed to facilitate the transport of the odorants through the mucus.
Transduction begins with the binding of the some sites on the odor molecule with a small region of the binding pocket of the olfactory receptor protein, a G-protein-coupled receptor. The receptor activates adenylyl cyclase (AC), which in turn gives rise to increase in cAMP (Slides 8-10). cAMP binds to the intracellular portion of an ion channel (a cyclic-nucleotide-gated [CNG] channel), enabling to conduct Na+ and Ca2+. The activation of CNG generates an action potential, which is propagated to the second order neurons in the olfactory bulb (Slide 9). Studies in which the G protein specific to the olfactory receptor neurons (Golf), adenylyl cyclase and CNG are individually deleted genetically in mice (knockout mice) provide strong evidence that the cAMP pathway is the critical pathway for signal transduction in the olfactory receptor neurons in vertebrates.
In invertebrates, another second messenger system, namely the inositol lipid signaling system which uses inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) as a second messenger, appears to play a role. In this system the G-protein-coupled receptor activates an enzyme called phospholipase C (PLC) which generates IP3 (Slide 11).
Electrophysiological Recordings Provide Further Evidence for cAMP as the Key Molecule in Olfactory Signal Transduction
Patch clamp recordings show that cAMP directly gives rise to a membrane conductance (IBMX is inhibits decay of camp by the enzyme phosphodiesterase and therefore in effect increases the intracellular levels of camp) and that the same odorants that trigger the rise in the cAMP give rise to a similar conductance (Slide 12). In addition, the extent of elevation of cAMP levels is directly proportional to the potency of a given odorant. The olfactory CNG channel is nonselective for cations, and is opened upon the binding of an odorant to the olfactory receptor complex. This opening results in a depolarization of the ciliary membrane that passively spreads to the cell body, where if it is of sufficient magnitude, and action potential will be generated. This depolarizing receptor potential is said to be graded, in that the further depolarized a neuron becomes (generally the result of higher odorant concentrations), the higher the probability that it will fire action potentials (and the greater the number of action potentials).
Olfactory Receptor Neurons Respond to More than a Single Odorant Electrophysiological recordings have revealed that individual olfactory receptor neurons can respond to several different odorants. In invertebrates, distinctions are made between specialist and generalist receptor neurons, reflecting narrow or broad odorant tuning, respectively. In vertebrate species, specialist neurons have not been found. As we’ve seen previously, the broad tuning of vertebrate generalists could be the result of each neuron expressing multiple receptor proteins, or each receptor protein binding multiple odorants (or both). Nonetheless, any given receptor neuron generally codes only within a rather narrow range of concentrations for a given odorant (Slide 13). Recent evidence suggests that there are hundreds of different olfactory receptor type (which can recognize more than a single odorant), or whether these cells have several different receptors is an unanswered question central to understanding how the olfactory system codes smell.
Different olfactory receptor neurons have different response profiles to different odorants, responding well to some, poorly to others and not at all to still others. This profile can be quantitatively defined by the molecular receptive range (MRR) of the neuron (Slide 14). Although far from definitive, increasing evidence suggests that individual olfactory receptor neurons express but a single receptor protein. In contrast to invertebrates, the responses of vertebrate olfactory receptor neurons to a simple stimulus are generally purely excitatory.
Olfactory Adaptation is Likely to be Mediated by Ca2+
As in most other sensory systems, maintained odor stimulation results in a decline in neuronal response. In the olfactory system this adaptation has been strongly linked to intracellular Ca2+ levels. In the absence of Ca2+ adaptation is eliminated, and intracellular Ca2+ levels are strongly correlated with the open probability of the CNG channel. Ca2+ fluxes have been directly visualized upon prolonged odor stimulation.
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