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Research: Molecular Neurobiology of Olfaction

Regulation of odorant receptor gene expression

The function of the olfactory system is to detect and to recognize a great variety of chemically diverse odorant stimuli. This ability depends on the ligand specificity of chemosensory receptor cells and their appropriate connection to the brain. Olfactory sensory neurons in the olfactory epithelium of mammals acquire their specificity through the exclusive expression of a single odorant receptor gene. Each sensory neuron expresses only one allele of a single gene from a repertoire that can be as large as 1.300 OR genes in mouse and rat; a feature that has become popular as the 'one neuron - one receptor' rule.

Odorant receptor gene products confer odorant responsiveness to individual olfactory sensory neurons but also serve a crucial function in axonal wiring of the olfactory system. They instruct axonal projections of sensory neurons to the olfactory bulb, the first brain structure where sensory neurons form synapses with interneurons and relay neurons. Olfactory sensory neurons expressing the same odorant receptor connect to specific glomeruli, which in turn receive axonal projections only from sensory neurons that express the same odorant receptor.

A central and important problem in olfactory research is thus how olfactory sensory neurons ensure the exclusive expression of a single gene from the large repertoire of odorant receptors that are available for expression.

We are interested in the regulatory principles and control mechanisms that underlie these phenomena using zebrafish and mouse as model organisms.