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Analyzing Responses of Mouse Olfactory Sensory Neurons Using the Air-phase Electroolfactogram Recording
Published on: March 2, 2010
The G alpha protein ODR-3 mediates olfactory and nociceptive function and controls cilium morphogenesis in C. elegans
K Roayaie1, J G Crump, A Sagasti
1Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Anatomy, University of California, San Francisco 94143, USA.
Abstract:
The Gi/Go-like G alpha protein ODR-3 is strongly and selectively implicated in the function of C. elegans olfactory and nociceptive neurons. Either loss of odr-3 function or overexpression of odr-3 causes severe olfactory defects, and odr-3 function is essential in the ASH neurons that sense noxious chemical and mechanical stimuli. In the nociceptive neurons, ODR-3 may interact with OSM-9, a channel similar to the mammalian capsaicin receptor implicated in pain sensation; in AWC olfactory neurons, ODR-3 may interact with another signal transduction pathway. ODR-3 exhibits an unexpected ability to regulate morphogenesis of the olfactory cilia. In odr-3 null mutants, the fan-like AWC cilia take on a filamentous morphology like normal AWA cilia, whereas ODR-3 overexpression in AWA transforms its filamentous cilia into a fan-like morphology.
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