TY - JOUR
AU - Brennan, Peter A.
AB - This study used transgenic mice, in which expression of a bacterial nitroreductase (ntr) gene was linked to the expression of olfactory marker protein (OMP). The nitroreductase enzyme is thus expressed in mature chemosensory neurons of these OMP‐ntr transgenic mice, and converts the pro‐drug CB1954 to a cytotoxic form, specifically killing these neurons. Systemic injections of the pro‐drug led to the ablation of receptor neurons in both the main olfactory and vomeronasal epithelia. Due to the anatomical separation of the epithelia, however, when the pro‐drug was administered by intranasal infusion only the receptors of the main olfactory epithelium were destroyed. This procedure resulted in a profound deficit in olfactory investigation and discrimination in a habituation–dishabituation test, whereas the pregnancy blocking effect of male pheromones, which is mediated via the vomeronasal system was unaffected. OMP‐ntr mice receiving intranasal infusion of pro‐drug had not recovered any significant main olfactory function at 24 days following treatment. This novel technique could potentially be applied to selectively ablate olfactory receptor neurons expressing a particular olfactory receptor by linking its expression to that of the nitroreductase enzyme.
TI - Selective ablation of olfactory receptor neurons without functional impairment of vomeronasal receptor neurons in OMP‐ntr transgenic mice
JF - European Journal of Neuroscience
DO - 10.1046/j.1460-9568.2002.02303.x
DA - 2002-12-01
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/wiley/selective-ablation-of-olfactory-receptor-neurons-without-functional-RsrlycCmbR
SP - 2317
VL - 16
IS - 12
DP - DeepDyve
ER -