Abstract
IN higher vertebrates, olfactory reception takes place at the receptor cell in the olfactory epithelium. The elicitation of neural responses caused by odorants is not restricted to the olfactory organs; other excitable systems (for example, the trigeminal nerve and vomeronasal organ of the tortoise1,2, ganglion cell3 of Helix and contact chemoreceptor of the fly4) are also to respond to odorants. Excitable membranes in general probably respond to odorants, and the processes of olfactory reception and of excitation of a membrane must be closely related. The interaction between odorants and an excitable membrane which is basic to the molecular process of olfactory stimulation, has not been investigated with this relationship in mind, because of the small size of the olfactory cells and of the excitable systems mentioned. This factor has prevented the recording of the intracellular receptor potential in response to odorants. To clarify the physicochemical mechanism underlying the olfactory reception, we have therefore used the protoplasmic droplet and internodal cell of Nitella to investigate the effect of odorants on the electrical properties of an excitable membrane. Apart from its size, the protoplasmic droplet has the advantage of having a functional membrane contiguous with the external solution5–7.
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UEDA, T., MURATSUGU, M., KURIHARA, K. et al. Olfactory response in excitable protoplasmic droplet and internodal cell of Nitella. Nature 253, 629–631 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1038/253629a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/253629a0
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