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Calmodulin modulates insect odorant receptor function.

Latha Mukunda1, Fabio Miazzi1, Sabine Kaltofen1

  • 1Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Department Evolutionary Neuroethology, Hans-Knöll-St. 8, D-07745 Jena, Germany.

Cell Calcium
|March 26, 2014
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Calmodulin (CaM) inhibition affects insect odorant receptor (OR) function. CaM inhibition prolonged and reduced Ca(2+) responses in Drosophila olfactory sensory neurons and Orco proteins, suggesting CaM regulates OR activity.

Keywords:
Calcium imagingDrosophilaOdorant receptorOlfactory sensory neuronOrco

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Area of Science:

  • Molecular Biology
  • Neuroscience
  • Insect Olfaction

Background:

  • Insect odorant receptors (ORs) are cation channels crucial for smell, formed by OrX and Orco subunits.
  • Orco possesses a calmodulin (CaM)-binding motif, hinting at CaM's regulatory role in OR function.
  • ORs conduct Ca(2+) ions, making Ca(2+) imaging a viable method to study their activity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the effect of CaM inhibition on insect OR and Orco protein function.
  • To determine if CaM directly influences the activity of olfactory co-receptor (Orco) channels.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized Ca(2+) imaging to monitor OR activity in Drosophila olfactory sensory neurons and heterologously expressed Orco in CHO cells.
  • Applied CaM inhibitors (W7, W5, trifluoperazine, chlorpromazine) and CaM-EF-hand mutants to assess CaM's role.
  • Examined the impact of CaM inhibition on specific OR complexes (Or22a/Orco, Or47a/Orco, Or33a/Orco, Or56a/Orco).

Main Results:

  • CaM inhibition with W7 reduced and prolonged Ca(2+) responses to VUAA1 in Drosophila ORs and heterologous Orco.
  • Mutating the putative CaM-binding site on Orco (K339N) mimicked the effects of CaM inhibition.
  • W7 had varied effects on different complete OR complexes, with no uniform impact observed across all tested receptors.

Conclusions:

  • Calmodulin plays a regulatory role in the function of insect olfactory co-receptors (Orco).
  • The conserved CaM-binding motif in Orco is functionally relevant for modulating OR channel activity.
  • CaM's influence on ORs is complex and may vary depending on the specific odorant receptor subunit involved.