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Chem. Senses 28: 729-737, 2003
© Oxford University Press 2003

Analysis of the Functional Maturation of Olfactory Neurons in Chicks Before and After Birth

Fabrice L. Lalloué1, Christiane S. Ayer-Le Lièvre1 and Gilles Sicard2

1 UMR CNRS 6101, Faculté de Médecine, 2 rue du Dr Marcland 87025 Limoges, France 2 Neurosciences et systèmes sensoriels, Université Claude Bernard, 50 avenue Tony Garnier, F-69366 Lyon cedex 07, France

Correspondence to be sent to: Dr G. Sicard, Neurosciences et systèmes sensoriels,Université Claude Bernard, 50 avenue Tony Garnier, F-69366 Lyon cedex 07, France. e-mail: sicard{at}olfac.univ-lyon1.fr

There has been indirect evidence that the olfactory system of mammals could be functional shortly before birth. Taking advantage of the accessibility of bird embryos, we studied the functional maturation of the olfactory mucosa during embryonic development in birds. Using the combination of electrophysiological EOG recordings and immunohistochemical studies, it was possible to directly demonstrate for the first time that the olfactory system is functional during embryogenesis from embryonic day (ED) 13 and that the beginning of olfactory function coincides with the first localization of the calcium dependent calmodulin kinase II (CaMKII{alpha}) in the dendrites of the olfactory receptor neurons. CaMKII and olfactory receptor genes are expressed much earlier in olfactory neurons, both involved in the sensory transduction, but the pattern of expression of CaMKII{alpha} changes during the ontogenesis. The increase of EOG amplitude between ED13 and ED15 also coincides with the increase of the number of neurons presenting the dendritic localization of CaMKII{alpha}. These results suggest that the enzyme CaMKII might play a role in the functional maturation of the olfactory mucosa.

Key words: CaMKII, chick, EOG recordings, functional maturation, olfactory system


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