Molecular Mechanisms of Odor Recognition
Abstract
The principal thrust of our work focused on molecular mechanisms of chemoreception in the mammalian vomeronasal organ. We characterized the transduction pathway for the recognition of pheromones in the vomeronasal organ and also characterized subpopulations of olfactory neurons expressing different axonal G proteins in the main and accessory olfactory projections. These studies were extended with a characterization of genetically modified mice deficient in the alpha subunit of the G-protein, Go, which show profound anosmia. In addition to studies on the mammalian olfactory system, grant DAAH04-96-I-0096 enabled us to expand work on the genomic architecture of olfactory behavior in Drosophila melanogaster. This work led to the discovery of several new gene products that are essential for processing olfactory information, including a sodium channel, a novel dual specificity tyrosine phosphorylation regulated kinase (Dyrk2), a postsynaptic density protein (Scribble), an olfactory receptor, and an odorant binding protein, the latter two interacting with the repellent odorant, benzaldehyde. Finally, we continued work on olfactomedin. We showed that a family of olfactomedin-related proteins is encoded in the human genome with, thus far, at least five members. These olfactomedin-related proteins appear to be members of a diverse family of tissue- specific extracellular matrix components., one of which is associated with the pathogenesis of glaucoma. Our recent discovery of an olfactomedin homologue in Drosophila melanogaster will facilitate studies on the functions of proteins and their interactions.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 07, 2000
- Accession Number
- ADA384283
Entities
People
- Robert R. Anholt
Organizations
- North Carolina State University