Odorant-odorant metabolic interaction, a novel actor in olfactory perception and behavioral responsiveness

In the nasal olfactory epithelium, olfactory metabolic enzymes ensure odorant clearance from the olfactory receptor environment. This biotransformation of odorants into deactivated polar metabolites is critical to maintaining peripheral sensitivity and perception. Olfactory stimuli consist of comple...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2017-08, Vol.7 (1), p.10219-10219, Article 10219
Main Authors: Hanser, Hassan-Ismail, Faure, Philippe, Robert-Hazotte, Aline, Artur, Yves, Duchamp-Viret, Patricia, Coureaud, Gérard, Heydel, Jean-Marie
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/378/2624/2625
631/45/607/1172
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Aroma compounds
Biotransformation
Humanities and Social Sciences
Information processing
Life Sciences
Metabolism
Metabolites
multidisciplinary
Neonates
Neurons and Cognition
Olfactory epithelium
Olfactory perception
Olfactory stimuli
Olfactory system
Pheromones
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Smell
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Summary:In the nasal olfactory epithelium, olfactory metabolic enzymes ensure odorant clearance from the olfactory receptor environment. This biotransformation of odorants into deactivated polar metabolites is critical to maintaining peripheral sensitivity and perception. Olfactory stimuli consist of complex mixtures of odorants, so binding interactions likely occur at the enzyme level and may impact odor processing. Here, we used the well-described model of mammary pheromone-induced sucking-related behavior in rabbit neonates. It allowed to demonstrate how the presence of different aldehydic odorants efficiently affects the olfactory metabolism of this pheromone (an aldehyde too: 2-methylbut-2-enal). Indeed, according to in vitro and ex vivo measures, this metabolic interaction enhances the pheromone availability in the epithelium. Furthermore, in vivo presentation of the mammary pheromone at subthreshold concentrations efficiently triggers behavioral responsiveness in neonates when the pheromone is in mixture with a metabolic challenger odorant. These findings reveal that the periphery of the olfactory system is the place of metabolic interaction between odorants that may lead, in the context of odor mixture processing, to pertinent signal detection and corresponding behavioral effect.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-017-10080-z