Cargando…

The Smell of Blue Light: A New Approach toward Understanding an Olfactory Neuronal Network

Olfaction is one of the most important senses throughout the animal kingdom. It enables animals to discriminate between a wide variety of attractive and repulsive odorants and often plays a decisive role in species specific communication. In recent years the analysis of olfactory systems both invert...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Störtkuhl, Klemens F., Fiala, André
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Research Foundation 2011
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3103046/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21647413
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2011.00072
_version_ 1782204483671949312
author Störtkuhl, Klemens F.
Fiala, André
author_facet Störtkuhl, Klemens F.
Fiala, André
author_sort Störtkuhl, Klemens F.
collection PubMed
description Olfaction is one of the most important senses throughout the animal kingdom. It enables animals to discriminate between a wide variety of attractive and repulsive odorants and often plays a decisive role in species specific communication. In recent years the analysis of olfactory systems both invertebrates and invertebrates has attracted much scientific interest. In this context a pivotal question is how the properties and connectivities of individual neurons contribute to a functioning neuronal network that mediates odor-guided behavior. As a novel approach to analyze the role of individual neurons within a circuitry, techniques have been established that make use of light-sensitive proteins. In this review we introduce a non-invasive, optogenetic technique which was used to manipulate the activity of individual neurons in the olfactory system of Drosophila melanogaster larvae. Both channelrhodopsin-2 and the photosensitive adenylyl cyclase PAC α in individual olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) of the olfactory system of Drosophila larvae allows stimulating individual receptor neurons by light. Depending on which particular ORN is optogenetically activated, repulsion or attraction behavior can be induced, indicating which sensory neurons underlie which type of behavior.
format Text
id pubmed-3103046
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2011
publisher Frontiers Research Foundation
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-31030462011-06-06 The Smell of Blue Light: A New Approach toward Understanding an Olfactory Neuronal Network Störtkuhl, Klemens F. Fiala, André Front Neurosci Neuroscience Olfaction is one of the most important senses throughout the animal kingdom. It enables animals to discriminate between a wide variety of attractive and repulsive odorants and often plays a decisive role in species specific communication. In recent years the analysis of olfactory systems both invertebrates and invertebrates has attracted much scientific interest. In this context a pivotal question is how the properties and connectivities of individual neurons contribute to a functioning neuronal network that mediates odor-guided behavior. As a novel approach to analyze the role of individual neurons within a circuitry, techniques have been established that make use of light-sensitive proteins. In this review we introduce a non-invasive, optogenetic technique which was used to manipulate the activity of individual neurons in the olfactory system of Drosophila melanogaster larvae. Both channelrhodopsin-2 and the photosensitive adenylyl cyclase PAC α in individual olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) of the olfactory system of Drosophila larvae allows stimulating individual receptor neurons by light. Depending on which particular ORN is optogenetically activated, repulsion or attraction behavior can be induced, indicating which sensory neurons underlie which type of behavior. Frontiers Research Foundation 2011-05-23 /pmc/articles/PMC3103046/ /pubmed/21647413 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2011.00072 Text en Copyright © 2011 Störtkuhl and Fiala. http://www.frontiersin.org/licenseagreement This is an open-access article subject to a non-exclusive license between the authors and Frontiers Media SA, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in other forums, provided the original authors and source are credited and other Frontiers conditions are complied with.
spellingShingle Neuroscience
Störtkuhl, Klemens F.
Fiala, André
The Smell of Blue Light: A New Approach toward Understanding an Olfactory Neuronal Network
title The Smell of Blue Light: A New Approach toward Understanding an Olfactory Neuronal Network
title_full The Smell of Blue Light: A New Approach toward Understanding an Olfactory Neuronal Network
title_fullStr The Smell of Blue Light: A New Approach toward Understanding an Olfactory Neuronal Network
title_full_unstemmed The Smell of Blue Light: A New Approach toward Understanding an Olfactory Neuronal Network
title_short The Smell of Blue Light: A New Approach toward Understanding an Olfactory Neuronal Network
title_sort smell of blue light: a new approach toward understanding an olfactory neuronal network
topic Neuroscience
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3103046/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21647413
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2011.00072
work_keys_str_mv AT stortkuhlklemensf thesmellofbluelightanewapproachtowardunderstandinganolfactoryneuronalnetwork
AT fialaandre thesmellofbluelightanewapproachtowardunderstandinganolfactoryneuronalnetwork
AT stortkuhlklemensf smellofbluelightanewapproachtowardunderstandinganolfactoryneuronalnetwork
AT fialaandre smellofbluelightanewapproachtowardunderstandinganolfactoryneuronalnetwork