题目：嗅觉神经环路研究：从分子标记到功能

报告人：Zhonghua Lu, Ph.D. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Seattle, USA

报告人简介：

Dr. Zhonghua Lu's research focuses on understanding the basic principles of the development, molecularsignature, and functionality of neural circuits and how these mechanisms can help develop noveltherapies for a variety of neuropsychiatric/neurodevelopmental diseases, including autismspectrum disorders, intellectual disability, and stress disorders.

时间：2016年01月20日 星期三 13:00-14:00

地点： 北京大学王克桢楼348会议室

联系人：

李毓龙研究员：Email: [email protected]

江火清 ：Email: [email protected]

摘要：

Survival and reproduction of animal species heavily rely on innate responses towards external stimuli. In rodents, detection of pheromones or predator odors by the olfactory system can drastically alter physiological states and behaviors, suggesting that there are specific olfactory receptors (ORs) for sensing these chemical cues and that information from these ORs is impinged on brain functional centers through hard-wired neural circuits. However, no comprehensive approach has been available to identify these receptors and the anatomical signatures of these stereotyped circuits are largely unknown.

Here, through retrograde circuit tracing and receptor identification from single glomeruli retrieved by Laser Capture Microdissection, we isolated 19 receptors that may convey innate olfactory information to Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons, the master regulator of reproductive hormones. Furthermore, combining circuit tracing and chemogenetic manipulation, we show that a specific area of the olfactory cortex, the amygdalo-piriform transition area (AmPir), plays an essential role in mediating stress hormone responses to predator odors.