Because of the spatiotemporal uptake and then subsequent release of calcium by mitochondria, they have been hypothesized to act as memory storage devices. The focus of this project is to determine the possible role of mitochondria in shaping calcium transients and action potential generation in olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs). Whether mitochondrial activity is important for conveying past stimulation of the neuron by affecting neuronal output will be tested.
The specific aims are: 1) to determine if mitochondria are important for transient calcium regulation in ORNs and 2) to determine if mitochondrial calcium uptake will influence action potential generation in ORNs. Imaging intracellular calcium, perforated and loose patch electrophysiology are the techniques that will be used to test these hypotheses. Mitochondrial activity will be perturbed and any effects will be observed and quantified. The results gained from this project will further our knowledge of the function of intracellular calcium stores in ORNs and may have implications for potential mechanisms of olfactory coding.
