2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
A novel molecular mechanism underlying the sense of oily odorants by olfaction
| Project/Area Number |
24650170
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Research Field |
Neuroscience in general
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| Research Institution | Nara Medical University |
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Principal Investigator |
TSUBOI Akio 奈良県立医科大学, 医学部, 教授 (20163868)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
TAKAHASHI Hiroo 奈良県立医科大学, 医学部, 助教 (20390685)
YOSHIHARA Sei-ichi 奈良県立医科大学, 医学部, 助教 (90360669)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2012-04-01 – 2014-03-31
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| Keywords | 嗅覚系 / 油センシング / 匂いセンサー / カルシウムイメージング / 不飽和長鎖脂肪酸 |
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| Research Abstract |
About mechanisms that animals feel oil, there are some reports for oil sensors in gustation; however, the perception of oil by olfaction remains to be uncovered. It is possible that the perception of the oily smell by olfaction is necessary so that animals consume oil effectively in the natural world.
In this study, we focused on olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) and sensor molecules that respond to unsaturated long-chain fatty acids to elucidate a novel molecular mechanism of oil sensing by olfaction. Notably, we not only analyzed mice by behavior experiments, but also examined responses to oily odorants in OSNs by the calcium imaging to clarify the difference in responsiveness to odorants among several kinds of oils and unsaturated long-chain fatty acids. In addition, we searched for the genes expressing specifically in the oil sensor OSNs, which we have recently found, to clarify the function of oil sensors by ectopic expression of candidate molecules in OSNs with the lentivirus.
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