Responses of Xenopus laevis Water Nose to Water-Soluble and Volatile Odorants

Iida, Akio; Kashiwayanagi, Makoto

doi:10.1085/jgp.114.1.85

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Article| July 01 1999

Responses of Xenopus laevis Water Nose to Water-Soluble and Volatile Odorants

Akio Iida,

Akio Iida

aFrom the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060, Japan

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Makoto Kashiwayanagi

aFrom the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060, Japan

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Author and Article Information

Akio Iida, Makoto Kashiwayanagi

aFrom the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060, Japan

1used in this paper: TEA, tetraethylammonium; TTX, tetrodotoxin

Received: March 29 1999

Revision Requested: May 18 1999

Accepted: May 19 1999

Online ISSN: 1540-7748

Print ISSN: 0022-1295

1999

The Rockefeller University Press

J Gen Physiol (1999) 114 (1): 85–92.

https://doi.org/10.1085/jgp.114.1.85

Using the whole-cell mode of the patch-clamp technique, we recorded action potentials, voltage-activated cationic currents, and inward currents in response to water-soluble and volatile odorants from receptor neurons in the lateral diverticulum (water nose) of the olfactory sensory epithelium of Xenopus laevis. The resting membrane potential was −46.5 ± 1.2 mV

\begin{equation*}({\mathrm{mean}}\;{\pm}\;{\mathrm{SEM}},\;n\;=\;68)\end{equation*}

⁠, and a current injection of 1–3 pA induced overshooting action potentials. Under voltage-clamp conditions, a voltage-dependent Na⁺ inward current, a sustained outward K⁺ current, and a Ca²⁺-activated K⁺ current were identified. Application of an amino acid cocktail induced inward currents in 32 of 238 olfactory neurons in the lateral diverticulum under voltage-clamp conditions. Application of volatile odorant cocktails also induced current responses in 23 of 238 olfactory neurons. These results suggest that the olfactory neurons respond to both water-soluble and volatile odorants. The application of alanine or arginine induced inward currents in a dose-dependent manner. More than 50% of the single olfactory neurons responded to multiple types of amino acids, including acidic, neutral, and basic amino acids applied at 100 μM or 1 mM. These results suggest that olfactory neurons in the lateral diverticulum have receptors for amino acids and volatile odorants.

1999

The Rockefeller University Press

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