BIG-2 mediates olfactory axon convergence to target glomeruli |
| |
Authors: | Kaneko-Goto Tomomi Yoshihara Sei-Ichi Miyazaki Haruko Yoshihara Yoshihiro |
| |
Institution: | Laboratory for Neurobiology of Synapse, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Saitama 351-0198, Japan. |
| |
Abstract: | Olfactory sensory neurons expressing a given odorant receptor converge axons onto a few topographically fixed glomeruli in the olfactory bulb, leading to establishment of the odor map. Here, we report that BIG-2/contactin-4, an axonal glycoprotein belonging to the immunoglobulin superfamily, is expressed in a subpopulation of mouse olfactory sensory neurons. A mosaic pattern of glomerular arrangement is observed with strongly BIG-2-positive, weakly positive, and negative axon terminals in the olfactory bulb, which is overlapping but not identical with those of Kirrel2 and ephrin-A5. There is a close correlation between the BIG-2 expression level and the odorant receptor choice in individual sensory neurons. In BIG-2-deficient mice, olfactory sensory neurons expressing a given odorant receptor frequently innervate multiple glomeruli at ectopic locations. These results suggest that BIG-2 is one of the axon guidance molecules crucial for the formation and maintenance of functional odor map in the olfactory bulb. |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 PubMed 等数据库收录! |
|