Retinoic acid receptor-dependent survival of olfactory sensory neurons in postnatal and adult mice.

ABSTRACT: To address the hypothesis that retinoids produced by synthesizing enzymes present in the primary olfactory system influence the mouse olfactory sensory map, we expressed a dominant-negative retinoic acid receptor selectively in olfactory sensory neurons. We show that neurons deficient in nuclear retinoid signaling are responsive to odors and form correct odorant receptor-specific axonal projections to target neurons in the olfactory bulb of the brain. Subsequent to the formation of the map, the neurons die prematurely by retrograde-driven caspase-3 activation, which resembles the previously described mechanism of neural death after olfactory bulb ablation. This neurodegenerative event is initiated the second postnatal week and occurs in the adult animal without a compensatory increase of p

SUBMITTER: Hagglund M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6674105 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature