title: Odorant responses of Xenopus laevis tadpole olfactory neurons: a comparison between preparations.
abstract: We used a slice preparation of the olfactory epithelium of Xenopus laevis tadpoles to record odorant responses of olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) and compared these to odorant responses recorded in isolated ORNs. The maximum recording time in the slice was considerably longer than in isolated ORNs, which is essential when many odorants are to be tested. No odorant-induced responses could be obtained from isolated ORNs recorded in the on-cell mode, while recordings in the slice (on-cell and whole-cell) as well as previously reported perforated-patch recordings in isolated ORNs of the same species () were successful, though qualitatively different. In the slice preparation, amino acids as well as an extract from Spirulina algae always induced excitatory responses, while, in a previous study on isolated ORNs, responses were either excitatory or inhibitory. The results of this study show that ORNs obtained using different preparation techniques can give markedly different responses upon the application of odorants. Our experiments indicate that the slice preparation combined with the on-cell configuration of the patch-clamp technique is the method of choice for testing many odorants on individual ORNs.
authors.affiliation: Physiologisches Institut, Universität Göttingen, Humboldtallee 23, 37073 Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Manzini
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.forename: Detlev
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schild
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D024342:Amino Acids, Acidic / Q000494:pharmacology; D024322:Amino Acids, Aromatic / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D001120:Arginine / Q000494:pharmacology; D002469:Cell Separation / Q000379:methods; D006639:Histidine / Q000494:pharmacology; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008239:Lysine / Q000494:pharmacology; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D009092:Mucous Membrane / Q000502:physiology; D009812:Odorants; D009831:Olfactory Mucosa / Q000166:cytology; D018034:Olfactory Receptor Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013268:Stimulation, Chemical; D014982:Xenopus laevis
chemical_list: D024342:Amino Acids, Acidic; D024322:Amino Acids, Aromatic; D006639:Histidine; D001120:Arginine; D008239:Lysine