AI Article Synopsis
- Olfactory sensory neurons have a high ability to detect odors due to their unique signaling mechanisms.
- Ric-8B, a guanine nucleotide exchange factor, enhances odorant receptor signaling by interacting with both Galphaolf and Ggamma13 in these neurons.
- This study is the first to show that Ric-8B can interact with multiple olfactory G protein subunits, emphasizing its role as a key regulator in odorant signal transduction.
Article Abstract
Olfactory sensory neurons are able to detect odorants with high sensitivity and specificity. We have demonstrated that Ric-8B, a guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF), interacts with Galphaolf and enhances odorant receptor signaling. Here we show that Ric-8B also interacts with Ggamma13, a divergent member of the Ggamma subunit family which has been implicated in taste signal transduction, and is abundantly expressed in the cilia of olfactory sensory neurons. We show that Gbeta1 is the predominant Gbeta subunit expressed in the olfactory sensory neurons. Ric-8B and Gbeta1, like Galphaolf and Ggamma13, are enriched in the cilia of olfactory sensory neurons. We also show that Ric-8B interacts with Galphaolf in a nucleotide dependent manner, consistent with the role as a GEF. Our results constitute the first example of a GEF protein that interacts with two different olfactory G protein subunits and further implicate Ric-8B as a regulator of odorant signal transduction.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mcn.2008.03.006 | DOI Listing |
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