Mori K
Department of Physiology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.
Biochem Soc Trans. 2003 Feb;31(Pt 1):134-6. doi: 10.1042/bst0310134.
The olfactory system is unique in that the sensory input is in the form of molecular information carried in a vast variety of odorants. Nearly 1000 types of odorant receptors mediate the initial detection and discrimination of odorants at the molecular-feature level. The discrimination at the molecular level is converted into that at the cellular level (olfactory sensory neurons) by the one sensory neuron-one odorant receptor rule, and then into that at the neuronal circuit level in the olfactory bulb by the specific olfactory axon connectivity pattern. Individual glomeruli in the olfactory bulb represent a single odorant receptor, and the glomerular sheet at the olfactory bulb surface forms odorant receptor maps. This review focuses on the spatial organization of the glomerular sensory map in the olfactory bulb. The analysis using the optical imaging method suggests that odorant receptors having a common molecular-feature receptive site are grouped together and represented by glomeruli that are localized in topographically fixed domains in the olfactory bulb. The domain organization may be a structural unit for the spatial organization of the glomerular sensory map, and might relate to the olfactory submodality.
嗅觉系统的独特之处在于,其感觉输入是以大量不同气味分子携带的分子信息形式存在的。近1000种气味受体在分子特征水平上介导对气味分子的初始检测和辨别。通过一个感觉神经元-一种气味受体规则,分子水平的辨别在细胞水平(嗅觉感觉神经元)上得以转换,然后通过特定的嗅觉轴突连接模式在嗅球的神经元回路水平上转换。嗅球中的单个小球代表一种单一的气味受体,嗅球表面的小球层形成气味受体图谱。本综述聚焦于嗅球中球状感觉图谱的空间组织。使用光学成像方法的分析表明,具有共同分子特征感受位点的气味受体聚集在一起,并由位于嗅球中地形固定区域的小球所代表。区域组织可能是球状感觉图谱空间组织的一个结构单元,并且可能与嗅觉亚模式相关。