Origin of basal activity in mammalian olfactory receptor neurons

Mammalian odorant receptors form a large, diverse group of G protein-coupled receptors that determine the sensitivity and response profile of olfactory receptor neurons. But little is known if odorant receptors control basal and also stimulus-induced cellular properties of olfactory receptor neurons other than ligand specificity. This study demonstrates that different odorant receptors have varying degrees of basal activity, which drives concomitant receptor current fluctuations and basal action potential firing. This basal activity can be suppressed by odorants functioning as inverse agonists. Furthermore, odorant-stimulated olfactory receptor neurons expressing different odorant receptors can have strikingly different response patterns in the later phases of prolonged stimulation. Thus, the influence of odorant receptor choice on response characteristics is much more complex than previously thought, which has important consequences on odor coding and odor information transfer to the brain.