# Ca2+ signaling and ephaptic coupling in olfactory receptor neurons using lattice light-sheet microscopy

> **NIH NIH K18** · MONELL CHEMICAL SENSES CENTER · 2020 · $124,682

## Abstract

Project Summary
 Olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) are located in the olfactory epithelium in the nasal cavity and are the
primary neurons that convert odorous information into nerve signals to be conveyed to the brain. As such, they
drive a variety of behaviors including food localization, friend and foe recognition, and evaluation of
reproductive status. Cilia that emanate from ORNs into the mucus that covers the epithelium are the site of
olfactory transduction, and cilia from neighboring ORNs form an entangled mesh. Upon activation by odorants,
a cAMP and Ca2+-based transduction cascade generates a ciliary transduction current that depolarizes the
ORNs and leads to the generation of Ca2+-driven action potentials in the cell body. But little is known about the
Ca2+ kinetics in cilia and the rest of the ORN, or how cilia from different ORNs might interact and influence
each other within the environment of the mucus. The goal of this NIDCD Research Career Enhancement
Award for Established Investigators proposal is to enhance the applicant’s current research program to learn
and adopt cutting-edge lattice light sheet microscopy approaches to monitor Ca2+ responses in ORNs in the
intact olfactory epithelium using genetically-encoded Ca2+ indicators. The long-term goal of the proposed
mentored research experience is to understand how ORNs function in their polarized environment, how Ca2+
contributes to olfactory signaling and how the interaction of cilia in the mucosal environment contributes to
coding and signaling of olfactory information.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9948406
- **Project number:** 1K18DC018521-01
- **Recipient organization:** MONELL CHEMICAL SENSES CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** JOHANNES REISERT
- **Activity code:** K18 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $124,682
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-04-01 → 2023-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9948406

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9948406, Ca2+ signaling and ephaptic coupling in olfactory receptor neurons using lattice light-sheet microscopy (1K18DC018521-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-12 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9948406. Licensed CC0.

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