Abstracts - Association for Chemoreception Sciences

the mOR-EG receptor and MUPP1 and injected it through the
patch pipette into the neuron. After uncoupling the interaction
between the mOR-EG receptor and MUPP1 the odor-evoked
current amplitudes were strongly reduced and the adaption was
impaired, whereas a control peptide did not affect olfactory
signaling. In conclusion, we confirmed that an olfactory
signalosome is mediated by MUPP1 in olfactory sensory
neurons and showed that accurate olfactory signaling is a PDZ
dependent mechanism.
#P45 POSTER SESSION I:
MULTIMODAL RECEPTION; CHEMOSENSATION
AND DISEASE; OLFACTION PERIPHERY
Expression of olfactory signaling molecules in the nonchemosensory
tissues
Nana Kang 1 , Hyoseon Kim 1 , Frank Margolis 2 , JaeHyung Koo 1
1
DGIST/Department of Brain Science Daegu, South Korea,
2
University of Maryland/Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology
Baltimore, MD, USA
Olfactory sense is mediated by specialized olfactory receptor
neurons (ORNs) in the nose. However, ectopic expressions
and functional roles of olfactory receptors (ORs) and olfactory
signaling molecules (OMP, Ga olf
, and AC3) still remain to be
elucidated. This study demonstrates the presence of olfactory
signaling molecules in non-olfactory tissues by systematically
using RT-PCR, western blotting, immunohistochemistry, and
a double-antibody immunoprecipitation/immunodetection
procedure. Unexpectedly, the co-localization of OMP/AC3/
Ga olf
was confirmed in several tissues while they were expressed
on different cell types of the same organ in another nonchemosensory
tissue. Additionally, gene expression of olfactory
receptors (ORs) was observed in non-olfactory tissues through
RT-PCR. These results suggest that olfactory receptors play
an important role in tissue-specific or common physiological
functions of ectopic expression in non-olfactory tissues. In the
future, we need to define the physiological function of olfactory
receptors in non-chemosensory tissues. Acknowledgements:
DGIST MIREBrain and Convergence Science Center
(13-BD-0403)
#P46 POSTER SESSION I:
MULTIMODAL RECEPTION; CHEMOSENSATION
AND DISEASE; OLFACTION PERIPHERY
In vivo dynamic interactions between the methyl-CpG binding
protein MeCP2 and chromatin under odor-evoked activity
Wooje Lee, Qizhi Gong
University of California at Davis/Cell Biology and Human Anatomy
Davis, CA, USA
MeCP2 was identified as a methyl-CpG binding protein
and capable of recruiting co-repressor complexes to
promoters to suppress gene expression. MeCP2 is abundant
in neurons. Mutations in MECP2 cause Rett syndrome, a
neurodevelopmental disorder. Recent studies suggest that Mecp2
has multiple functions including transcriptional repression/
activation and structural compaction of chromatin. Dynamic
interaction between MeCP2 and chromatin is not well
understood. The complexity of MeCP2 function among different
neuronal populations and a different methylation status in in
vitro culture system have made it challenging to understand
MeCP2 binding profile and dynamics under neuronal activity
in vivo. Olfactory epithelium provides an ideal in vivo model
in its ubiquitous neuronal population and accessibility for
neuronal activity manipulation. In this study, we sought to
identify MeCP2 binding profiles to different regions of the
chromosome and changes under odor-evoked activity. Chromatin
immunoprecipitation following high throughput sequencing
shows MeCP2 binds to not only methylated CpG island but
also intergenic and intronic regions and sparsely methylated
promoters. Genome-wide profiling for MeCP2 binding in
vivo clearly shows two distinct distributions of MeCP2, one
concentrated at regulatory regions and the other along the
entire genes locus. Odor-evoked activity results in significant
changes in MeCP2 affinity to selected gene loci. Comparing
methylation state and MeCP2 binding profiles revealed that
odor-evoked activity alters MeCP2 affinity to chromatin in
a DNA methylation independent manner. Our results reveal
the complexity of MeCP2 and chromatin interaction. We
hypothesize that Mecp2 regulates activity-dependent gene
regulations via changing its binding affinity to the entire gene
locus. Acknowledgements: NIH DC11346
#P47 POSTER SESSION I:
MULTIMODAL RECEPTION; CHEMOSENSATION
AND DISEASE; OLFACTION PERIPHERY
Sensory inputs modulate olfactory cilia morphology and
function in the mammalian nose
Rosemary Lewis 1 , Huikai Tian 1 , Jiwei He 1 , Jianbo Jiang 2 , Timothy
Connelly 1 , Kai Zhao 2 , Minghong Ma 1
1
Department of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine at the
University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA, USA, 2 Monell Chemical
Senses Center Philadelphia, PA, USA
By converting environmental signals into intracellular responses,
cilia are critical for many biological processes, including
olfaction. Surprisingly, little is known about what factors shape
cilia morphology and how morphology impacts function.
We recently discovered that olfactory cilia vary considerably
in length depending on the cell location within the olfactory
epithelium. Using specific markers for a subset of olfactory
sensory neurons (OSNs) from C57BL/6 mice (3-6 weeks, n = 19
animals), we found that cilia length increases from ~1 μm in the
posterior nasal septum to ~20 μm in the anterior septum, with
the longest cilia (up to 50 μm) typically found in the dorsal recess.
We then built a 3D computational fluid dynamics model based
on the mouse nasal cavity and demonstrated that cilia length is
positively correlated with sensory inputs, particularly odorant
absorption. To determine whether sensory inputs themselves
account for the cilia length pattern, we performed unilateral naris
closure on newborn mice (n = 6 animals) and immunostained
POSTER PRESENTATIONS
Abstracts are printed as submitted by the author(s).
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