# Heterogeneity of mitral cell properties determined by the timing of neurogenesis

> **NIH NIH R01** · PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV HERSHEY MED CTR · 2021 · $329,293

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
 We have an ability to discriminate between millions of odors. Each odorant binds to subsets of
olfactory sensory neurons, which subsequently activate specific glomeruli in the olfactory bulb (OB). In the
glomeruli, mitral and tufted cells, OB projection neurons, receive synaptic inputs from the olfactory sensory
neurons. Mitral/tufted cells are the only neurons that transmit olfactory information to the olfactory cortex. To
process the vast amount of information from the olfactory sensory neurons, OB projection neurons consist of
functionally different subpopulations. Over the past several decades, differences between mitral and tufted
cells have been intensively studied. Moreover, several lines of recent evidence show that we cannot consider
mitral cells as a homogeneous population anymore. However, the most fundamental aspects of mitral cell
heterogeneity are still unknown: How many mitral cell subpopulations? What factor(s) determines the mitral cell
properties? Are there correlations among different mitral cell properties? What are the roles of each mitral cell
subpopulation in olfactory information processing? As a starting point to address these significant gaps in our
knowledge, we previously demonstrated that mitral cells generated at different timing during development were
incorporated into functionally distinct neuronal circuits in the OB, suggesting that we can sort the mitral cells
into functionally different subgroups based on their timing of neurogenesis (“neuronal birthdate”). In this
project, we will separately label the early- and late-generated mitral cells with fluorescent proteins using an
innovative method developed by the PI; in utero electroporation of plasmid vectors. Using this technique, we
will determine whether mitral cells with different neuronal birthdates play different roles in olfactory information
processing by pursuing following three specific aims: Specific Aim 1) Determine whether the molecular
expression profile of mitral cells varies based on their timing of neurogenesis; Specific Aim 2) Characterize the
functional properties of early- and late-generated mitral cells; and Specific Aim 3) Examine whether early- and
late-generated mitral cells differentially project axons to the olfactory cortex. The proposed project will
advance our knowledge about rule(s) used for olfactory information processing in the OB and the olfactory
cortex.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10200750
- **Project number:** 5R01DC016307-05
- **Recipient organization:** PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV HERSHEY MED CTR
- **Principal Investigator:** Fumiaki Imamura
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $329,293
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-07-01 → 2024-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10200750

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10200750, Heterogeneity of mitral cell properties determined by the timing of neurogenesis (5R01DC016307-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10200750. Licensed CC0.

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