Clyne P J, Certel S J, de Bruyne M, Zaslavsky L, Johnson W A, Carlson J R
Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA.
Neuron. 1999 Feb;22(2):339-47. doi: 10.1016/s0896-6273(00)81094-6.
Little is known about how the odor specificities of olfactory neurons are generated, a process essential to olfactory coding. We have found that neuronal identity relies on the abnormal chemosensory jump 6 (acj6) gene, originally identified by a defect in olfactory behavior. Physiological analysis of individual olfactory neurons shows that in acj6 mutants, a subset of neurons acquires a different odorant response profile. Certain other neurons do not respond to any tested odors in acj6. Molecular analysis of acj6 shows that it encodes a POU-domain transcription factor expressed in olfactory neurons. Our data suggest that the odor response spectrum of an olfactory neuron, and perhaps the choice of receptor genes, is determined through a process requiring the action of Acj6.
关于嗅觉神经元的气味特异性是如何产生的，人们知之甚少，而这一过程对嗅觉编码至关重要。我们发现神经元身份依赖于异常化学感应跳跃6（acj6）基因，该基因最初是通过嗅觉行为缺陷鉴定出来的。对单个嗅觉神经元的生理分析表明，在acj6突变体中，一部分神经元获得了不同的气味反应谱。在acj6突变体中，某些其他神经元对任何测试气味都没有反应。对acj6的分子分析表明，它编码一种在嗅觉神经元中表达的POU结构域转录因子。我们的数据表明，嗅觉神经元的气味反应谱，也许还有受体基因的选择，是通过一个需要Acj6发挥作用的过程来确定的。
