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Characteristics of odorant elicited calcium fluxes in acutely-isolated chick olfactory neurons

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Abstract

To understand avian olfaction, it is important to characterize the peripheral olfactory system of a representative bird species. This study determined the functional properties of olfactory receptor neurons of the chicken olfactory epithelium. Individual neurons were acutely isolated from embryonic day-18 to newborn chicks by dissection and enzymatic dissociation. We tested single olfactory neurons with behaviorally relevant odorant mixtures and measured their responses using ratiometric calcium imaging; techniques used in this study were identical to those used in other studies of olfaction in other vertebrate species. Chick olfactory neurons displayed properties similar to those found in other vertebrates: they responded to odorant stimuli with either decreases or increases in intracellular calcium, calcium increases were mediated by a calcium influx, and responses were reversibly inhibited by 100 μM L–cis–diltiazem, 1 mM Neomycin, and 20 μM U73122, which are biochemical inhibitors of second messenger signaling. In addition, some cells showed a complex pattern of responses, with different odorant mixtures eliciting increases or decreases in calcium in the same cell. It appears that there are common features of odorant signaling shared by a variety of vertebrate species, as well as features that may be peculiar to chickens.

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Abbreviations

[Ca2+]i:

Intracellular calcium concentration

cAMP:

Cyclic adenosine monophosphate

IP3:

Inositol 1,4,5–trisphosphate

ORN:

Olfactory receptor neuron

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Dr. Nancy Rawson at the Monell Chemical Senses Center for her generous loan of imaging equipment, and Dr. Julie Hagelin at Swarthmore College. This work was supported by Internal Research Grants from the University of Scranton, and by the Steven Sawyer Memorial Fellowship awarded to YJ. The experiments described in this study comply with the “Principles of animal care”, publication No. 86-23 (rev. 1985) of the National Institutes of Health, and with the current laws of the United States of America.

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  1. Biology Department, University of Scranton, Scranton, PA, 18510, USA

    Yewah Jung, Eric Wirkus, Diedra Amendola & George Gomez

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  1. Yewah Jung
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  2. Eric Wirkus
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  3. Diedra Amendola
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  4. George Gomez
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Correspondence to George Gomez.

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Jung, Y., Wirkus, E., Amendola, D. et al. Characteristics of odorant elicited calcium fluxes in acutely-isolated chick olfactory neurons. J Comp Physiol A 191, 511–520 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-005-0617-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-005-0617-9

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