Olfactory sensory neurons transiently express multiple olfactory receptors during development

Abstract In mammals, each olfactory sensory neuron randomly expresses one, and only one, olfactory receptor (OR)—a phenomenon called the “one‐neuron‐one‐receptor” rule. Although extensively studied, this rule was never proven for all ~1,000 OR genes in one cell at once, and little is known about its...

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Main Authors: Longzhi Tan, Qian Li, X Sunney Xie
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer Nature 2015-12-01
Series:Molecular Systems Biology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.15252/msb.20156639
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author Longzhi Tan
Qian Li
X Sunney Xie
author_facet Longzhi Tan
Qian Li
X Sunney Xie
author_sort Longzhi Tan
collection DOAJ
description Abstract In mammals, each olfactory sensory neuron randomly expresses one, and only one, olfactory receptor (OR)—a phenomenon called the “one‐neuron‐one‐receptor” rule. Although extensively studied, this rule was never proven for all ~1,000 OR genes in one cell at once, and little is known about its dynamics. Here, we directly tested this rule by single‐cell transcriptomic sequencing of 178 cells from the main olfactory epithelium of adult and newborn mice. To our surprise, a subset of cells expressed multiple ORs. Most of these cells were developmentally immature. Our results illustrated how the “one‐neuron‐one‐receptor” rule may have been established: At first, a single neuron temporarily expressed multiple ORs—seemingly violating the rule—and then all but one OR were eliminated. This work provided experimental evidence that epigenetic regulation in the olfactory system selects a single OR by suppressing a few transiently expressed ORs in a single cell during development.
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issn 1744-4292
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publishDate 2015-12-01
publisher Springer Nature
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spelling doaj-art-3642d64accdb4cabb7934e9833205eda2025-08-20T04:02:41ZengSpringer NatureMolecular Systems Biology1744-42922015-12-0111121910.15252/msb.20156639Olfactory sensory neurons transiently express multiple olfactory receptors during developmentLongzhi Tan0Qian Li1X Sunney Xie2Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard UniversityDepartment of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical SchoolDepartment of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard UniversityAbstract In mammals, each olfactory sensory neuron randomly expresses one, and only one, olfactory receptor (OR)—a phenomenon called the “one‐neuron‐one‐receptor” rule. Although extensively studied, this rule was never proven for all ~1,000 OR genes in one cell at once, and little is known about its dynamics. Here, we directly tested this rule by single‐cell transcriptomic sequencing of 178 cells from the main olfactory epithelium of adult and newborn mice. To our surprise, a subset of cells expressed multiple ORs. Most of these cells were developmentally immature. Our results illustrated how the “one‐neuron‐one‐receptor” rule may have been established: At first, a single neuron temporarily expressed multiple ORs—seemingly violating the rule—and then all but one OR were eliminated. This work provided experimental evidence that epigenetic regulation in the olfactory system selects a single OR by suppressing a few transiently expressed ORs in a single cell during development.https://doi.org/10.15252/msb.20156639immature and mature olfactory sensory neuronsodorant receptorolfactory systemsingle‐cell RNA‐Seqtrace amine‐associated receptor (TAAR)
spellingShingle Longzhi Tan
Qian Li
X Sunney Xie
Olfactory sensory neurons transiently express multiple olfactory receptors during development
Molecular Systems Biology
immature and mature olfactory sensory neurons
odorant receptor
olfactory system
single‐cell RNA‐Seq
trace amine‐associated receptor (TAAR)
title Olfactory sensory neurons transiently express multiple olfactory receptors during development
title_full Olfactory sensory neurons transiently express multiple olfactory receptors during development
title_fullStr Olfactory sensory neurons transiently express multiple olfactory receptors during development
title_full_unstemmed Olfactory sensory neurons transiently express multiple olfactory receptors during development
title_short Olfactory sensory neurons transiently express multiple olfactory receptors during development
title_sort olfactory sensory neurons transiently express multiple olfactory receptors during development
topic immature and mature olfactory sensory neurons
odorant receptor
olfactory system
single‐cell RNA‐Seq
trace amine‐associated receptor (TAAR)
url https://doi.org/10.15252/msb.20156639
work_keys_str_mv AT longzhitan olfactorysensoryneuronstransientlyexpressmultipleolfactoryreceptorsduringdevelopment
AT qianli olfactorysensoryneuronstransientlyexpressmultipleolfactoryreceptorsduringdevelopment
AT xsunneyxie olfactorysensoryneuronstransientlyexpressmultipleolfactoryreceptorsduringdevelopment