Intensity coding in olfactory receptor cells.
Olfactory receptors code the concentration of stimulating molecules into an impulse frequency message. Patch-clamp recordings have now demonstrated, in the olfactory receptor cell membrane, a number of membrane conductances. Some of them are gated by odorants, in the cilia, and depolarize the cell through cAMP- or IP3-sensitive channels, depending on the species. Other conductances are activated by membrane depolarization and/or an increased intracellular Ca2+ concentration; they participate in oscillating membrane potential changes during impulses and post-spike after-polarizations, and control the repetitive firing. Original data relative to the resting potential and the impulse frequency coding of the odorant concentration are presented.
Trotier
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Laboratoire de Neurobiologie Sensorielle, Massy, France.
D000200:Action Potentials; D000818:Animals; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000378:metabolism; D009812:Odorants; D018034:Olfactory Receptor Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D018035:Receptors, Odorant / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*
D007473:Ion Channels; D018035:Receptors, Odorant