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The Odorant Receptor-Dependent Role of Olfactory Marker Protein in Olfactory Receptor Neurons

Olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) in the nasal cavity detect and transduce odorants into action potentials to be conveyed to the olfactory bulb. Odorants are delivered to ORNs via the inhaled air at breathing frequencies that can vary from 2 to 10 Hz in the mouse. Thus olfactory transduction should occur at sufficient speed such that it can accommodate repetitive and frequent stimulation. Activation of odorant receptors (ORs) leads to adenylyl cyclase III activation, cAMP increase, and opening of cyclic nucleotide-gated channels. This makes the kinetic regulation of cAMP one of the important determinants for the response time course. We addressed the dynamic regulation of cAMP during the odorant response and examined how basal levels of cAMP are controlled. The latter is particularly relevant as basal cAMP depends on the basal activity of the expressed OR and thus varies across ORNs. We found that olfactory marker protein (OMP), a protein expressed in mature ORNs, controls both basal and odorant-induced cAMP levels in an OR-dependent manner. Lack of OMP increases basal cAMP, thus abolishing differences in basal cAMP levels between ORNs expressing different ORs. Moreover, OMP speeds up signal transduction for ORNs to better synchronize their output with high-frequency stimulation and to perceive brief stimuli. Last, OMP also steepens the dose–response relation to improve concentration coding although at the cost of losing responses to weak stimuli. We conclude that OMP plays a key regulatory role in ORN physiology by controlling multiple facets of the odorant response. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Odorant receptors (ORs) form the largest family of G-protein-coupled receptors in mammals and are expressed in olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs). In this paper we show how the olfactory system ensures that monogenic expression of ORs dictates the response profile and the basal noise of ORNs. Olfactory marker protein (OMP), a protein long known to be expressed in mature ORNs, is responsible for controlling appropriate cAMP homeostasis and dynamics to ensure that the expressed OR is the main source of noise. In addition, OMP regulates the dynamic range of ORNs in an OR-dependent way to allow for concentration-dependent odor coding.