Navigation Links
Mice use specialized neurons to detect carbon dioxide in the air
Date:8/16/2007

For mice, carbon dioxide often means danger - too many animals breathing in too small a space or a hungry predator exhaling nearby. Mice have a way of detecting carbon dioxide, and new research from Rockefeller University shows that a special set of olfactory neurons is involved, a finding that may have implications for how predicted increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide may affect animal behavior. The finding is reported in the August 17 issue of the journal Science.

Most olfactory sensory neurons express odorant receptor molecules and reside within the lining of the nasal cavity that detect odors. But a small subset express an enzyme called guanylyl cyclase-D (GC-D). Peter Mombaerts, professor and head of the Laboratory of Developmental Biology and Neurogenetics at Rockefeller, and Andreas Walz, a research associate in Mombaerts' lab, created a strain of mice in which GC-D expressing neurons glow with a green fluorescent protein. These GC-D expressing neurons also project their nerve endings to an unusual structure in the back of the olfactory bulb called necklace glomeruli, which resemble a string of beads.

The Rockefeller team's collaborators in China, led by Minmin Luo at the National Institute of Biological Sciences in Beijing, found that all the GC-D expressing neurons in the olfactory epithelium were activated by exposure to carbon dioxide. Conversely, all the cells in the lining of the nasal cavity that were activated by carbon dioxide are the GC-expressing neurons.

"These findings show that a specialized subsystem has evolved in the mouse to detect carbon dioxide," says Mombaerts.

Carbon dioxide makes up about four-hundredths of one percent of the atmosphere. To determine the threshold for carbon dioxide detection in the mouse, the Beijing team trained mice to lick water when they received a whiff of air with higher levels of carbon dioxide. As the amount of carbon dioxide in the whiffs of air was decreased, the
'/>"/>

Contact: Zach Veilleux
Zach.Veilleux@rockefeller.edu
212-327-8982
Rockefeller University
Source:Eurekalert

Page: 1 2

Related biology news :

1. UCSD team discovers specialized, rare heart stem cells in newborns
2. Migratory songbirds have a specialized night-vision brain area
3. Specialized immune-system B cells play double-barreled role
4. Biologists Crack Genetic Code for Specialized Spider Silk
5. First real-time view of developing neurons reveals surprises, say Stanford researchers
6. One gene links newborn neurons with those that die in diseases such as Alzheimers
7. Researchers make surprise discovery that some neurons can transmit three signals at once
8. Speak up: Louder neurons form more connections
9. Most important actors in the growth process of neurons identified
10. Eating, body weight regulated by specific neurons
11. New neurons take baby steps in the adult brain

Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
(Date:11/24/2009)...n prescribed by traditional healers in Brazil to t...h pain to fever and flu. , Now for the first time...le to scientifically prove the pain relieving prop...zilian mint. , Testing this ancient South America...a Rocha was able to show that when prepared as a ,...
(Date:11/24/2009)...bby arteries from collapsing have been true life-s...onger needed -- once the arteries are strengthened... no choice but to leave them in place. , Prof. M...t of Biomedical Engineering has developed a new pa...re they,re needed, then dissolves. , "Our new co...
(Date:11/24/2009)...g held secrets of the earth,s history locked in it...ery little information on the environments that ha...f years. Now, a team of researchers from nine inst...une of $10 million dollars by the National Science...s literally. These scientists will drill through ...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):Got a pain? -- Have a cup of Brazilian mint 2A coating for life 2LSU gets to the bottom of things -- in Antarctica 2 Pay Less for Prescription Drugs 60871 1 Pay Less for Prescription Drugs 60871 2WAV Distribution Partners with Vecima Networks Inc 60866 1WAV Distribution Partners with Vecima Networks Inc 60866 2WAV Distribution Partners with Vecima Networks Inc 60866 3NCOA Supports H R 3962 the Affordable Health Care for America Act 60861 1NCOA Supports H R 3962 the Affordable Health Care for America Act 60861 2
...adenocarcinoma is an almost uniformly fatal diseas...wever, a small percentage of patients develop a fo... lesions that can be detected earlier, is less agg...te. Why cystic ductal pancreatic cancer behaves di... mutations as the more common and deadly type of d...
... University of Chicago have found an unsuspected l...d levels (cholesterol and triglycerides in the blo... reduce the risk of heart disease by lowering elev...e of Science, the research team—led by James C. Lo...n Fu, MD, PhD, professor of pathology at the Unive...
...r Michael King of the University of Rochester Biom...e that filters the blood for cancer and stem cells...When he captures stem cells, he harvests them for ...plants, and other applications that treat human di...ared Kanofsky, and Jane L. Liesveld of the Univers...
Other Biology News:Genetic pathways to curable and incurable forms of pancreatic cancer identified 2Genetic pathways to curable and incurable forms of pancreatic cancer identified 3Link found between immune system and high plasma lipid levels 2Cancer-killing invention also harvests stem cells 2Cancer-killing invention also harvests stem cells 3Cancer-killing invention also harvests stem cells 4
(Date:11/24/2009)..., HOUSTON, Nov. 24 IES (...ectrical and communications systems and services f...ets, announced today that its commercial business ...orcon JV to install the electrical systems for the...ty at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of ...
(Date:11/24/2009)...LGARY and BLENHEIM, Ontario, Nov. 24 /PRNewswire-F...ay it is acquiring the assets of Hyland Seeds, a d... The addition of Hyland Seeds will further expand ...mpany anticipates the introduction of SmartStax(T...erant Trait Technology in corn in 2012. The transa...
(Date:11/24/2009)... , REYKJAVIK, Iceland, November 24 /PR...aq: DCGN ) today announced the approval of all of ...rt for the District of Delaware,(the "Bankruptcy C...n for,relief under Chapter 11 of the United States... The orders issued by the Bankruptcy Court all...
(Date:11/24/2009)...ATTLE, Nov. 24 Blue Marble Energy ...ssa Public Development Authority (OPDA) were recen...nity Economic Revitalization Board (CERB) in a pri...irst specialty biochemical biorefinery in Lincoln ...antly speed the development of our biorefinery and...
Breaking Biology Technology:Integrated Electrical Services Awarded Contract to Provide Electrical Systems for U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases 2Dow AgroSciences Canada Announces Agreement to Acquire Hyland Seeds 2Dow AgroSciences Canada Announces Agreement to Acquire Hyland Seeds 3deCODE genetics, Inc. Announces Approval of First Day Motions by Bankruptcy Court 2deCODE genetics, Inc. Announces Approval of First Day Motions by Bankruptcy Court 3Blue Marble Energy, OPDA Awarded $2M by WA's Community Economic Revitalization Board 2
...tives seem taken aback by the anger engendered by ...not be surprised at all. US workers have been rele...or over two decades. The past four years have been... this period have experienced great difficulty fin...are bitter and scared. Many survived numerous prev...
...osciences , a Madison-based life science company, ...ation agreement with Emory University to develop...rly detection of the HIV variants. The partnership... the collaboration will be to develop the worlds f...onse to therapeutic resistance. As part of the agr...
...ke some of the blame for a number of societys ills.... Through the morass of Grand Theft Auto and Max P...g game has emerged, an Oregon Trail for the 21st c...linois, has developed Frontrunner, a computer game...ovember of an election year. The game follows a si...
Other Biology Technology:The "Big Squeeze" - Look for a job or be an entrepreneur? 2The "Big Squeeze" - Look for a job or be an entrepreneur? 3Political video game simulates 2004 election 2Political video game simulates 2004 election 3
GIBCO Keratinocyte-SFM (1X) liquid from Invitrogen
GIBCO Dulbecco's Phosphate-Buffered Saline (D-PBS) (1X) liquid from Invitrogen
GIBCO Penicillin-Streptomycin liquid from Invitrogen
GIBCO Streptomycin Sulfate from Invitrogen
Biology Products: