NeuroScience Research Center, Charité, Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
Chem Senses. 2010 Mar;35(3):239-45. doi: 10.1093/chemse/bjq007. Epub 2010 Jan 25.
Calcium-activated chloride channels (CaCCs) are involved in many physiological processes, including sensory signal transduction, but only little is known to date about their structure and function. We performed a proteome analysis of the olfactory epithelium (OE) membrane proteome and identified so far uncharacterized membrane proteins as candidate channels. One of the most abundant membrane proteins in olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) was Tmem16b, a member of a recently identified family of CaCCs. In addition to former studies performed on Tmem16b, we show here that Tmem16b expression is highly specific for the OE, in contrast to the closely related Tmem16a, which shows a broad expression pattern in secretory epithelial cells. Native Tmem16b is localized in the cilia of the OSNs, which is in agreement with previous electrophysiological recordings.
钙激活氯离子通道（CaCCs）参与许多生理过程，包括感觉信号转导，但迄今为止对其结构和功能知之甚少。我们对嗅上皮（OE）膜蛋白质组进行了蛋白质组分析，并鉴定了迄今为止尚未表征的膜蛋白作为候选通道。在嗅觉感觉神经元（OSNs）中最丰富的膜蛋白之一是 Tmem16b，它是最近发现的 CaCC 家族的成员。除了以前对 Tmem16b 的研究外，我们还在这里表明，Tmem16b 的表达高度特异于 OE，与密切相关的 Tmem16a 形成对比，后者在分泌上皮细胞中具有广泛的表达模式。天然 Tmem16b 定位于 OSNs 的纤毛中，这与以前的电生理记录一致。
