Journal
CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL PHARMACOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY
Volume 35, Issue 5-6, Pages 563-567Publisher
BLACKWELL PUBLISHING
DOI: 10.1111/j.1440-1681.2007.04840.x
Keywords
delayed-rectifier potassium current; FMRFamide; olfactory receptor neurons; whole-cell patch-clamp technique
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1. The olfactory system can detect the presence of low concentrations of odourant molecules and discriminate even slight differences among molecules with a very similar chemical structure. The detection and discrimination of odourants are correlated with the electrophysiology of the olfactory sensory neurons. To get a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of olfactory transduction, it is therefore of considerable importance to obtain electrophysiological recordings of olfactory sensory neurons. FMRFamide (Phe-Met-Arg-Phe-NH2), secreted from the nerve terminals of the nasal cavity, has been suggested to act as a neurotransmitter or neuromodulator, playing an important role in modulating the activity of olfactory receptor neurons. Its effects on voltage-dependent potassium currents in the mouse olfactory sensory neurons were investigated in the present study using the whole-cell patch-clamp technique. 2. Olfactory sensory neurons were isolated from the Kunming Mouse (KM) mouse olfactory epithelium. Different protocols were applied to obtain delayed-rectifier potassium current (I-K) and fast transient potassium current (I-A). The effects of FMRFamide on the outward potassium currents, including I-K and I-A, in mouse olfactory sensory neurons were investigated. 3. We found that FMRFamide (5 mu mol/L) increased the magnitude of I-K. However no effect on I-A was observed. The activation dynamics of both currents were not changed by FMRFamide. 4. In conclusion, FMRFamide may play a role in the modulation of peripheral olfactory signals by regulating I-K. This modulation may shorten the phase of the fast repolarization of the action potential in mouse olfactory sensory neurons and increase the excitability of the neuronal membrane.
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