title: Direct modulation by Ca(2+)-calmodulin of cyclic nucleotide-activated channel of rat olfactory receptor neurons.
abstract: Olfactory receptor neurons depolarize in response to odorant stimulation of their sensory cilia. One transduction mechanism involves a G-protein-mediated increase in adenylate cyclase activity, raising the internal cyclic AMP concentration to open a cyclic nucleotide-activated cation channel on the plasma membrane. An influx of Ca2+ through this channel, which is permeable to both monovalent and divalent cations, triggers olfactory adaptation. Previous work has indicated that at least part of this Ca(2+)-mediated adaptation resides in the channel itself, but the mechanism remains unclear and controversial. Here we use the cloned channel from rat expressed in a cell line and the native channel from rat olfactory receptor cells to show that Ca2+ reduces the apparent affinity of the channel for cAMP by up to 20-fold in the presence of calmodulin, an abundant protein in olfactory cilia. This decrease in apparent affinity appears to involve a direct interaction between Ca(2+)-calmodulin and the channel, and it can reduce the activation of the channel by cAMP by up to a few hundred-fold, suggesting that it may be a key component of the Ca(2+)-triggered olfactory adaptation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205.
authors.forename: T Y
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: K W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Yau
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D002147:Calmodulin / Q000378:metabolism*; D002460:Cell Line; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D000242:Cyclic AMP / Q000378:metabolism; D006152:Cyclic GMP / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000378:metabolism*; D008564:Membrane Potentials; D009712:Nucleotides, Cyclic / Q000378:metabolism*; D018034:Olfactory Receptor Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D002147:Calmodulin; D007473:Ion Channels; D009712:Nucleotides, Cyclic; D000242:Cyclic AMP; D006152:Cyclic GMP; D002118:Calcium