Non-redundant coding of aversive odours in the main olfactory pathway

Article

关键词: AMINE-ASSOCIATED RECEPTORS;    CHEMOSENSORY RECEPTORS;    MOUSE;    SUBSYSTEM;    EVOLUTION;    ODORANTS;    NEURONS;    MICE;    BULB;   

DOI  :  10.1038/nature12114

来源: SCIE

【 摘 要 】

Many species are critically dependent on olfaction for survival. In the main olfactory system of mammals, odours are detected by sensory neurons that express a large repertoire of canonical odorant receptors and a much smaller repertoire of trace amine-associated receptors (TAARs)(1-4). Odours are encoded in a combinatorial fashion across glomeruli in the main olfactory bulb, with each glomerulus corresponding to a specific receptor(5-7). The degree to which individual receptor genes contribute to odour perception is unclear. Here we show that genetic deletion of the olfactory Taar gene family, or even a single Taar gene (Taar4), eliminates the aversion that mice display to low concentrations of volatile amines and to the odour of predator urine. Our findings identify a role for the TAARs in olfaction, namely, in the high-sensitivity detection of innately aversive odours. In addition, our data reveal that aversive amines are represented in a non-redundant fashion, and that individual main olfactory receptor genes can contribute substantially to odour perception.

【 授权许可】

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