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Related Concept Videos

Olfaction01:25

Olfaction

The sense of smell is achieved through the activities of the olfactory system. It starts when an airborne odorant enters the nasal cavity and reaches olfactory epithelium (OE). The OE is protected by a thin layer of mucus, which also serves the purpose of dissolving more complex compounds into simpler chemical odorants. The size of the OE and the density of sensory neurons varies among species; in humans, the OE is only about 9-10 cm2.
The olfactory receptors are embedded in the cilia of the...
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¹H NMR Chemical Shift Equivalence: Enantiotopic and Diastereotopic Protons00:58

¹H NMR Chemical Shift Equivalence: Enantiotopic and Diastereotopic Protons

Replacing each alpha-hydrogen in chloroethane by bromine (or a different functional group) yields a pair of enantiomers. Such protons are called prochiral or enantiotopic and are related by a mirror plane. Enantiotopic protons are chemically equivalent in an achiral environment. Because most proton NMR spectra are recorded using achiral solvents, enantiotopic hydrogens yield a single signal.
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Olfactory Receptors: Location and Structure01:03

Olfactory Receptors: Location and Structure

The process of olfaction, also known as the sense of smell, is a sophisticated chemical response system. The specialized sensory neurons that facilitate this process, known as olfactory receptor neurons, are situated in an upper segment of the nasal cavity, known as the olfactory epithelium. Olfactory sensory neurons are bipolar, with their dendrites extending from the epithelium's apex into the mucus that lines the nasal cavity. Airborne molecules, when inhaled, traverse the olfactory...
Physiology of Smell and Olfactory Pathway01:20

Physiology of Smell and Olfactory Pathway

Humans detect odors with the help of specialized cells located in the upper part of the nasal cavity, called olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs). ORNs possess hair-like structures called cilia, which are receptive to sensations from the inhaled air. When an odorant molecule binds to a specific receptor on the cell of the cilia, it leads to a series of events that ultimately cause the ORN to send electrical signals to the olfactory bulb in the brain through the olfactory nerves.
The olfactory...

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Fluorescence Anisotropy as a Tool to Study Protein-protein Interactions
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Teneurins instruct synaptic partner matching in an olfactory map.

Weizhe Hong1, Timothy J Mosca, Liqun Luo

  • 1Department of Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.

Nature
|March 20, 2012
PubMed
Summary

Two Teneurin proteins, Ten-m and Ten-a, act as crucial synaptic-partner-matching molecules in the fruit fly Drosophila. These proteins ensure precise connections between olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) and projection neurons (PNs) through homophilic attraction.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Biology
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Nervous system assembly requires precise connections between neurons, but mechanisms for matching specific pre- and postsynaptic partners are less understood than axon guidance.
  • In Drosophila, olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) must form one-to-one connections with specific classes of projection neurons (PNs) for accurate olfactory information relay.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify molecules responsible for the specific, one-to-one matching between ORN axons and PN dendrites in the Drosophila olfactory system.
  • To investigate the role of Teneurin proteins in mediating these precise synaptic connections.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized genetic screens in Drosophila to identify key molecules involved in synaptic partner matching.
  • Performed loss- and gain-of-function experiments to assess the impact of Teneurins on ORN-PN connectivity.
  • Conducted in vitro assays to examine Teneurin protein interactions and in vivo experiments to observe ectopic connections.

Main Results:

  • Identified two evolutionarily conserved transmembrane Teneurin proteins, Ten-m and Ten-a, as critical for matching specific ORN-PN pairs.
  • Demonstrated that Ten-m and Ten-a are highly expressed in matching PN-ORN pairs and that their manipulation leads to specific connection mismatches.
  • Showed that Teneurins promote homophilic interactions and can induce ectopic connections when co-expressed in non-partner neurons.

Conclusions:

  • Teneurin proteins (Ten-m and Ten-a) are essential synaptic-partner-matching molecules in the Drosophila olfactory system.
  • Teneurins likely instruct matching specificity by mediating homophilic attraction between cognate ORN axons and PN dendrites.
  • These findings provide insight into the molecular mechanisms governing precise neural circuit formation.