Mutant mice and worms help solve mysteries of olfaction
Barinaga, M.
Science 274(5287): 500-501
1996
ISSN/ISBN: 0036-8075 PMID: 8928002 Document Number: 456039
A report in the October issue of Neuron demonstrates the role of the intracellular messenger cyclic AMP (cAMP) in triggering olfactory neurons. Neurobiologist John Ngai and coworker Lisa Brunet at the University of California (UC), Berkeley, made knockout mice whose olfactory neurons were missing an ion channel that cAMP must open in order for the neurons to fire. Ngai invited physiologist Geoffrey Gold to test the mutant animals' response to smells, and Gold found that the cAMP-activated ion channel is essential for the sense of smell. Accompanying papers in Neuron that indicate that a cyclic nucleotide-activated channel plays a role in some, but not all, of the olfactory responses of worms are also discussed.