| Title: | Cell responses to single pheromone molecules may reflect the activation kinetics of olfactory receptor molecules |
| Address: | "Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Leninsky prosp. 33, 117071 Moscow, Russia" |
| Journal Title: | J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s00359-003-0394-2 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 0340-7594 (Print) 0340-7594 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Olfactory receptor cells of the silkmoth Bombyx mori respond to single pheromone molecules with 'elementary' electrical events that appear as discrete 'bumps' a few milliseconds in duration, or bursts of bumps. As revealed by simulation, one bump may result from a series of random openings of one or several ion channels, producing an average inward membrane current of 1.5 pA. The distributions of durations of bumps and of gaps between bumps in a burst can be fitted by single exponentials with time constants of 10.2 ms and 40.5 ms, respectively. The distribution of burst durations is a sum of two exponentials; the number of bumps per burst obeyed a geometric distribution (mean 3.2 bumps per burst). Accordingly the elementary events could reflect transitions among three states of the pheromone receptor molecule: the vacant receptor (state 1), the pheromone-receptor complex (state 2), and the activated complex (state 3). The calculated rate constants of the transitions between states are k(21)=7.7 s(-1), k(23)=16.8 s(-1), and k(32)=98 s(-1)" |
| Keywords: | "Algorithms Animals Biotransformation/physiology Bombyx/*physiology Computer Simulation Electrophysiology Hemolymph/physiology Kinetics Membrane Potentials/physiology Models, Biological Olfactory Receptor Neurons/*drug effects Patch-Clamp Techniques Pherom;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineMinor, A V Kaissling, K-E eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Germany 2003/03/29 J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol. 2003 Mar; 189(3):221-30. doi: 10.1007/s00359-003-0394-2. Epub 2003 Feb 21" |
