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Chem. Senses 28: 807-815, 2003
© Oxford University Press 2003

Coupling between Sensory Neurons in the Olfactory Epithelium

Rona J. Delay1 and Vincent E. Dionne2

1 Department of Biology, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA 2 Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA

Correspondence to be sent to: Dr Vincent E. Dionne, Department of Biology, Boston University, 5 Cummington Street, Boston, MA 02215, USA. e-mail: vdionne@bu.edu

Coupling of olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) in the olfactory epithelium of Necturus maculosus was demonstrated by dye-transfer with Lucifer yellow CH; however, the incidence of dye-transfer was low. Immunocytochemistry and Western blot analysis indicated that connexin 43, a gap junction channel subunit, was widely expressed by cells in the olfactory epithelium. Electrical coupling by presumptive gap junctions was assessed using electrophysiological recordings, heptanol block, tracer-uptake through hemi-junctions, and tracer-injection into tissue whole-mounts. Coupling, which involved pairs of OSNs only, was detected in ~3–10% of the OSN population; there was no evidence that OSNs were coupled into extended neural syncitia. These results suggest that coupling of OSNs by gap junctions is unlikely to have a general role in olfactory responses by mature (odor responsive) OSNs. Instead, the incidence of inter-neuronal coupling was small, similar to the fraction of immature OSNs, suggesting a possible role of gap junctions in the continual turnover and development of OSNs or possibly their senescence.

Key words: coupling, dye transfer, gap junction, olfactory epithelium, OSNs


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