Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 109, Issue 33, Pages 13410-13415Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1206724109
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) [5R01MH086920]
- National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) [RO3DC010273, R01DC010155]
- McKnight endowment fund for neuroscience
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Some chemoreceptors of the trace amine-associated receptor (TAAR) family detect innately aversive odors and are proposed to activate hardwired olfactory circuits. However, the wiring of TAAR neurons, the regulatory mechanisms of Taar gene choice, and the subcellular localization of TAAR proteins remain unknown. Here, we reveal similarities between neurons expressing TAARs and odorant receptors (ORs), but also unexpected differences. Like ORs, TAARs seem to be monoallelically expressed and localized both in cilia, the site of odor detection, and in axons, where they may participate in guidance. TAAR neurons project to discrete glomeruli predominantly localized to a confined bulb region. Taar expression involves different regulatory logic than OR expression, as neurons choosing a Taar5 knockout allele frequently express a second Taar without silencing the deleted allele. Moreover, the epigenetic signature of OR gene choice is absent from Taar genes. The unique molecular and anatomical features of the TAAR neurons suggest that they constitute a distinct olfactory subsystem.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available