Olfactory discrimination varies in mice with different levels of α7-nicotinic acetylcholine receptor expression

The anterior olfactory nucleus revisited - an emerging role for neuropathological conditions?

Olfaction is an important sensory modality for many species and greatly influences animal and human behavior. Still, much about olfactory perception remains unknown. The anterior olfactory nucleus is one of the brain's central early olfactory processing areas. Located directly posterior to the olfactory bulb in the olfactory peduncle with extensive in- and output connections and unique cellular composition, it connects olfactory processing centers of the left and right hemispheres. Almost 20 years have passed since the last comprehensive review on the anterior olfactory nucleus has been published and significant advances regarding its anatomy, function, and pathophysiology have been made in the meantime. Here we briefly summarize previous knowledge on the anterior olfactory nucleus, give detailed insights into the progress that has been made in recent years, and map out its emerging importance in translational research of neurological diseases.

Cholinergic nervous system and glaucoma: From basic science to clinical applications

The cholinergic system has a crucial role to play in visual function. Although cholinergic drugs have been a focus of attention as glaucoma medications for reducing eye pressure, little is known about the potential modality for neuronal survival and/or enhancement in visual impairments. Citicoline, a naturally occurring compound and FDA approved dietary supplement, is a nootropic agent that is recently demonstrated to be effective in ameliorating ischemic stroke, traumatic brain injury, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, cerebrovascular diseases, memory disorders and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in both humans and animal models. The mechanisms of its action appear to be multifarious including (i) preservation of cardiolipin, sphingomyelin, and arachidonic acid contents of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine, (ii) restoration of phosphatidylcholine, (iii) stimulation of glutathione synthesis, (iv) lowering glutamate concentrations and preventing glutamate excitotoxicity, (v) rescuing mitochondrial function thereby preventing oxidative damage and onset of neuronal apoptosis, (vi) synthesis of myelin leading to improvement in neuronal membrane integrity, (vii) improving acetylcholine synthesis and thereby reducing the effects of mental stress and (viii) preventing endothelial dysfunction. Such effects have vouched for citicoline as a neuroprotective, neurorestorative and neuroregenerative agent. Retinal ganglion cells are neurons with long myelinated axons which provide a strong rationale for citicoline use in visual pathway disorders. Since glaucoma is a form of neurodegeneration involving retinal ganglion cells, citicoline may help ameliorate glaucomatous damages in multiple facets. Additionally, trans-synaptic degeneration has been identified in humans and experimental models of glaucoma suggesting the cholinergic system as a new brain target for glaucoma management and therapy.

A dominant role for the beta 4 nicotinic receptor subunit in nicotinic modulation of glomerular microcircuits in the mouse olfactory bulb

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) regulate information transfer across the main olfactory bulb by instituting a high-pass intensity filter allowing for the filtering out of weak inputs. Excitation-driven inhibition of the glomerular microcircuit via GABA release from periglomerular cells appears to underlie this effect of nAChR activation. The multiplicity of nAChR subtypes and cellular locations raises questions about their respective roles in mediating their effects on the glomerular output. In this study, we address this issue by targeting heteromeric nAChRs using receptor knockouts (KOs) for the two dominant nAChR β-subunit genes known to be expressed in the central nervous system. KOs of the β₂-nAChR subunit did not affect nAChR currents from mitral cells (MCs) but attenuated those from the external tufted (ET) cells. In slices from these animals, activation of nAChRs still effectively inhibited excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) and firing on MCs evoked by the olfactory nerve (ON) stimulation, thereby indicating that the filter mechanism was intact. On the other hand, recordings from β₄-KOs showed that nAChR responses from MCs were abolished and those from ET cells were attenuated. Excitation-driven feedback was abolished as was the effect of nAChR activation on ON-evoked EPSCs. Experiments using calcium imaging showed that one possible consequence of the β₂-subunit activation might be to alter the time course of calcium transients in juxtaglomerular neurons suggesting a role for these receptors in calcium signaling. Our results indicate that nAChRs containing the β₄-subunit are critical in the filtering of odor inputs and play a determinant role in the cholinergic modulation of glomerular output. NEW & NOTEWORTHY In this study, using receptor gene knockouts we examine the relative contributions of heteromeric nAChR subtypes located on different cell types to this effect of receptor activation. Our results demonstrate that nAChRs containing the β₄-subunit activate MCs resulting in feedback inhibition from glomerular interneurons. This period of inhibition results in the selective filtering of weak odor inputs providing one mechanism by which nAChRs can enhance discrimination between two closely related odors.

Generation of mice lacking DUF1220 protein domains: effects on fecundity and hyperactivity

Sequences encoding DUF1220 protein domains show the most extreme human lineage-specific copy number increase of any coding region in the genome and have been linked to human brain evolution. In addition, DUF1220 copy number (dosage) has been implicated in influencing brain size within the human species, both in normal populations and in individuals associated with brain size pathologies (1q21-associated microcephaly and macrocephaly). More recently, increasing dosage of a subtype of DUF1220 has been linked with increasing severity of the primary symptoms of autism. Despite these intriguing associations, a function for these domains has not been described. As a first step in addressing this question, we have developed the first transgenic model of DUF1220 function by removing the single DUF1220 domain (the ancestral form) encoded in the mouse genome. In a hypothesis generating exercise, these mice were evaluated by 197 different phenotype measurements. While resulting DUF1220-minus (KO) mice show no obvious anatomical peculiarities, they exhibit a significantly reduced fecundity (χ(2) = 19.1, df = 2, p = 7.0 × 10(-5)). Further extensive phenotypic analyses suggest hyperactivity (p < 0.05) of DUF1220 mice and changes in gene expression levels of brain associated with distinct neurological functions and disease. Other changes that met statistical significance include an increase in plasma glucose concentration (as measured by area under the curve, AUC 0-30 and AUC 30-120) in male mutants, fasting glucose levels, reduce sodium levels in male mutants, increased levels of the liver functional indicator ALAT/GPT in males, levels of alkaline phosphatase (also an indicator of liver function), mean R and SR amplitude by electrocardiography, elevated IgG3 levels, a reduced ratio of CD4:CD8 cells, and a reduced frequency of T cells; though it should be noted that many of these differences are quite small and require further examination. The linking of DUF1220 loss to a hyperactive phenotype is consistent with separate findings in which DUF1220 over expression results in a down-regulation of mitochondrial function, and potentially suggests a role in developmental metabolism. Finally, the substantially reduced fecundity we observe associated with KO mice argues that the ancestral DUF1220 domain provides an important biological functionthat is critical to survivability and reproductive success.

Paying attention to smell: cholinergic signaling in the olfactory bulb

The tractable, layered architecture of the olfactory bulb (OB), and its function as a relay between odor input and higher cortical processing, makes it an attractive model to study how sensory information is processed at a synaptic and circuit level. The OB is also the recipient of strong neuromodulatory inputs, chief among them being the central cholinergic system. Cholinergic axons from the basal forebrain modulate the activity of various cells and synapses within the OB, particularly the numerous dendrodendritic synapses, resulting in highly variable responses of OB neurons to odor input that is dependent upon the behavioral state of the animal. Behavioral, electrophysiological, anatomical, and computational studies examining the function of muscarinic and nicotinic cholinergic receptors expressed in the OB have provided valuable insights into the role of acetylcholine (ACh) in regulating its function. We here review various studies examining the modulation of OB function by cholinergic fibers and their target receptors, and provide putative models describing the role that cholinergic receptor activation might play in the encoding of odor information.

Characterizing olfactory perceptual similarity using carbon chain discrimination in Fischer 344 rats

Performance on olfactory tests can be influenced by a number of stimulus characteristics including chemical structure, concentration, perceptual similarity, and previous experience with the test odorants. Few of these parameters have been extensively characterized in the Fischer 344 rat strain. To investigate how odor quality affects perception in this rat strain, we measured how graded perceptual similarity, created by varying carbon chain length across a series of homologous alcohol pairs, influenced odor discrimination using a liquid-motivated go/no-go task. We employed an automated, liquid-dilution olfactometer to train Fischer 344 rats (N = 8) on a 2-odor discrimination task. Six odorants (1-propanol, 1-butanol, 1-pentanol, 1-hexanol, 1-heptanol, and 1-octanol) were arranged to produce 15 novel odorant pairs differing between 1 and 5 carbon atoms; testing sessions included presentation of only 1 pseudorandomly assigned pair daily (200 trials). Results show that although rats can learn to discriminate between any 2 odorant pairs, performance declines systematically as the pairs become more structurally similar and, therefore, more perceptually confusing. As such, the easier discrimination pairs produced reliable ceiling effects across all rats, whereas performance for the difficult discrimination pairs was consistently worse, even after repeated testing. These data emphasize the importance of considering odorant stimulus dimensions in experimental designs employing olfactory stimuli. Moreover, establishing baseline olfactory performance in Fischer 344 rats may be particularly useful for predicting age-related cognitive decline in this model.

Cortical odor processing in health and disease

The olfactory system has a rich cortical representation, including a large archicortical component present in most vertebrates, and in mammals neocortical components including the entorhinal and orbitofrontal cortices. Together, these cortical components contribute to normal odor perception and memory. They help transform the physicochemical features of volatile molecules inhaled or exhaled through the nose into the perception of odor objects with rich associative and hedonic aspects. This chapter focuses on how olfactory cortical areas contribute to odor perception and begins to explore why odor perception is so sensitive to disease and pathology. Odor perception is disrupted by a wide range of disorders including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, depression, autism, and early life exposure to toxins. This olfactory deficit often occurs despite maintained functioning in other sensory systems. Does the unusual network of olfactory cortical structures contribute to this sensitivity?

Dysfunctional chemosensation in myasthenia gravis: a systematic review

OBJECTIVES

Myasthenia gravis has traditionally been viewed as a disorder that solely affects the neuromuscular junction within the peripheral nervous system. However, there is now evidence that the cholinergic dysfunction of this disorder may be more widespread than previously believed. This article provides a systematic review of the studies that examined smell and taste function in myasthenia gravis.

METHODS

We analyzed studies that reported chemosensory function alterations in patients with myasthenia gravis. PubMed, MEDLINE, Web of Science, EMBASE, and SciELO, searched to identify articles published from January 1950 through December 2012, were supplemented by relevant articles. The following information was identified from each article: the number of patients, number of controls (if any), clinical stage of patients, neurological involvement, serological state, taste or smell involvement, chemosensory test used, and country of publication.

RESULTS

Ten studies reporting smell and taste function and dysfunction in patients with myasthenia gravis were identified, most of which were case reports commenting on apparent abnormalities in the taste system. The sole empirical study that investigated taste function, however, was negative, suggesting that some reports of taste loss may reflect olfactory loss. One study clearly documented olfactory dysfunction in patients with myasthenia gravis, dysfunction most likely attributable to altered central nervous system cholinergic function.

CONCLUSIONS

Chemosensory dysfunction has been reported in a number of patients with myasthenia gravis. Given the close association between complaints of taste dysfunction and loss of flavor sensations secondary to olfactory system damage, quantitative testing should be used to accurately assess the nature and degree of the dysfunction present in this debilitating disorder.

Nicotinic receptors modulate olfactory bulb external tufted cells via an excitation-dependent inhibitory mechanism

Olfactory bulb (OB) glomeruli, the initial sites of synaptic processing of odor information, exhibit high levels of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) expression and receive strong cholinergic input from the basal forebrain. The role of glomerular nAChRs in olfactory processing, however, remains to be elucidated. External tufted (ET) cells are a major source of excitation in the glomerulus and an important component of OB physiology. We have examined the role of nAChRs in modulating ET cell activity using whole-cell electrophysiology in mouse OB slices. We show here that the activation of glomerular nAChRs leads to direct ET cell excitation, as well as an increase in the frequency of spontaneous postsynaptic GABAergic currents. β2-containing nAChRs, likely the α4β2*-nAChR subtype (* represents the possible presence of other subunits), were significant contributors to these effects. The nAChR-mediated increase in spontaneous postsynaptic GABAergic current frequency on ET cells was, for the most part, dependent on glutamate receptor activation, thus implicating a role for excitation-dependent inhibition within the glomerulus. β2-containing nAChRs also regulate the frequency of miniature inhibitory postsynaptic currents on ET cells, implying nicotinic modulation of dendrodendritic signaling between ET and periglomerular cells. Our data also indicate that nAChR activation does not affect spontaneous or evoked transmission at the olfactory nerve-to-ET cell synapse. The results from this study suggest that ET cells, along with mitral cells, play an important role in the nicotinic modulation of glomerular inhibition.

Optogenetic activation of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons modulates neuronal excitability and sensory responses in the main olfactory bulb

The main olfactory bulb (MOB) in mammals receives massive centrifugal input from cholinergic neurons in the horizontal limb of the diagonal band of Broca (HDB) in the basal forebrain, the activity of which is thought to be correlated with animal behaving states, such as attention. Cholinergic signals in the bulb facilitate olfactory discrimination and learning, but it has remained controversial how the activity of HDB cholinergic neurons modulates neuronal excitability and olfactory responses in the MOB. In this study, we used an optogenetic approach to selectively activate HDB cholinergic neurons and recorded the effect of this activation on the spontaneous firing activity and odor-evoked responses of mouse MOB neurons. Cells were juxtacellularly labeled and their specific types were morphologically determined. We find that light stimulation of HDB cholinergic neurons inhibits the spontaneous firing activity of all major cell types, including mitral/tufted (M/T) cells, periglomerular (PG) cells, and GABAergic granule cells. Inhibitions are significantly produced by stimulation at 10 Hz and further enhanced at higher frequencies. In addition, cholinergic activation sharpens the olfactory tuning curves of a majority of M/T cells but broadly potentiates odor-evoked responses of PG cells and granule cells. These results demonstrate strong effects of the basal forebrain cholinergic system on modulating neuronal excitability in the MOB and support the hypothesis that cholinergic activity increases olfactory discrimination capability.

Profound olfactory dysfunction in myasthenia gravis

In this study we demonstrate that myasthenia gravis, an autoimmune disease strongly identified with deficient acetylcholine receptor transmission at the post-synaptic neuromuscular junction, is accompanied by a profound loss of olfactory function. Twenty-seven MG patients, 27 matched healthy controls, and 11 patients with polymiositis, a disease with peripheral neuromuscular symptoms analogous to myasthenia gravis with no known central nervous system involvement, were tested. All were administered the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT) and the Picture Identification Test (PIT), a test analogous in content and form to the UPSIT designed to control for non-olfactory cognitive confounds. The UPSIT scores of the myasthenia gravis patients were markedly lower than those of the age- and sex-matched normal controls [respective means (SDs) = 20.15 (6.40) & 35.67 (4.95); p<0.0001], as well as those of the polymiositis patients who scored slightly below the normal range [33.30 (1.42); p<0.0001]. The latter finding, along with direct monitoring of the inhalation of the patients during testing, implies that the MG-related olfactory deficit is unlikely due to difficulties sniffing, per se. All PIT scores were within or near the normal range, although subtle deficits were apparent in both the MG and PM patients, conceivably reflecting influences of mild cognitive impairment. No relationships between performance on the UPSIT and thymectomy, time since diagnosis, type of treatment regimen, or the presence or absence of serum anti-nicotinic or muscarinic antibodies were apparent. Our findings suggest that MG influences olfactory function to the same degree as observed in a number of neurodegenerative diseases in which central nervous system cholinergic dysfunction has been documented.

Olfaction in Parkinson's disease and related disorders

Olfactory dysfunction is an early 'pre-clinical' sign of Parkinson's disease (PD). The present review is a comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of such dysfunction in PD and related disorders. The olfactory bulb is implicated in the dysfunction, since only those syndromes with olfactory bulb pathology exhibit significant smell loss. The role of dopamine in the production of olfactory system pathology is enigmatic, as overexpression of dopaminergic cells within the bulb's glomerular layer is a common feature of PD and most animal models of PD. Damage to cholinergic, serotonergic, and noradrenergic systems is likely involved, since such damage is most marked in those diseases with the most smell loss. When compromised, these systems, which regulate microglial activity, can influence the induction of localized brain inflammation, oxidative damage, and cytosolic disruption of cellular processes. In monogenetic forms of PD, olfactory dysfunction is rarely observed in asymptomatic gene carriers, but is present in many of those that exhibit the motor phenotype. This suggests that such gene-related influences on olfaction, when present, take time to develop and depend upon additional factors, such as those from aging, other genes, formation of α-synuclein- and tau-related pathology, or lowered thresholds to oxidative stress from toxic insults. The limited data available suggest that the physiological determinants of the early changes in PD-related olfactory function are likely multifactorial and may include the same determinants as those responsible for a number of other non-motor symptoms of PD, such as dysautonomia and sleep disturbances.

Nicotinic receptor-mediated filtering of mitral cell responses to olfactory nerve inputs involves the α3β4 subtype

Acetylcholine (ACh) plays a major role in the processing of sensory inputs. Cholinergic input to the mammalian olfactory bulb modulates odor discrimination and perceptual learning by mechanisms that have yet to be elucidated. We have used the mouse olfactory bulb to examine the role of nicotinic ACh receptors (nAChRs) in regulating the responses of mitral cells (MCs), the output neurons of the olfactory bulb, to olfactory nerve input. We show that ACh activates α3β4* nAChRs (* denotes the possible presence of other subunits) on MCs, leading to their excitation. Despite depolarizing MCs directly, the net effect of nAChR activation is to suppress olfactory nerve-evoked responses in these cells via activity-dependent feedback GABAergic mechanisms. Our results indicate that nAChRs gate incoming olfactory nerve input wherein weak input stimuli are filtered out, whereas strong stimuli are transmitted via the MCs. Based on our observations, we provide a mechanistic model for the sharpening of MC receptive fields by nAChRs, which could aid in odor discrimination and perceptual learning.

α7-Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor: role in early odor learning preference in mice

Recently, we have shown that mice with decreased expression of α7-nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (α7) in the olfactory bulb were associated with a deficit in odor discrimination compared to wild-type mice. However, it is unknown if mice with decreased α7-receptor expression also show a deficit in early odor learning preference (ELP), an enhanced behavioral response to odors with attractive value observed in rats. In this study, we modified ELP methods performed in rats and implemented similar conditions in mice. From post-natal days 5–18, wild-type mice were stroked simultaneously with an odor presentation (conditioned odor) for 90 s daily. Control mice were only stroked, exposed to odor, or neither. On the day of testing (P21), mice that were stroked in concert with a conditioned odor significantly investigated the conditioned odor compared to a novel odor, as observed similarly in rats. However, mice with a decrease in α7-receptor expression that were stroked during a conditioned odor did not show a behavioral response to that odorant. These results suggest that decreased α7-receptor expression has a role in associative learning, olfactory preference, and/or sensory processing deficits.

Galantamine improves olfactory learning in the Ts65Dn mouse model of Down syndrome

Down syndrome (DS) is the most common form of congenital intellectual disability. Although DS involves multiple disturbances in various tissues, there is little doubt that in terms of quality of life cognitive impairment is the most serious facet and there is no effective treatment for this aspect of the syndrome. The Ts65Dn mouse model of DS recapitulates multiple aspects of DS including cognitive impairment. Here the Ts65Dn mouse model of DS was evaluated in an associative learning paradigm based on olfactory cues. In contrast to disomic controls, trisomic mice exhibited significant deficits in olfactory learning. Treatment of trisomic mice with the acetylcholinesterase inhibitor galantamine resulted in a significant improvement in olfactory learning. Collectively, our study indicates that olfactory learning can be a sensitive tool for evaluating deficits in associative learning in mouse models of DS and that galantamine has therapeutic potential for improving cognitive abilities.

Activity-dependent changes in cholinergic innervation of the mouse olfactory bulb

The interplay between olfactory activity and cholinergic modulation remains to be fully understood. This report examines the pattern of cholinergic innervation throughout the murine main olfactory bulb across different developmental stages and in naris-occluded animals. To visualize the pattern of cholinergic innervation, we used a transgenic mouse model, which expresses a fusion of the microtubule-associated protein, tau, with green fluorescence protein (GFP) under the control of the choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) promoter. This tau-GFP fusion product allows for a remarkably vivid and clear visualization of cholinergic innervation in the main olfactory bulb (MOB). Interestingly, we find an uneven distribution of GFP label in the adult glomerular layer (GL), where anterior, medial, and lateral glomerular regions of the bulb receive relatively heavier cholinergic innervation than other regions. In contrast to previous reports, we find a marked change in the pattern of cholinergic innervation to the GL following unilateral naris occlusion between the ipsilateral and contralateral bulbs in adult animals.