• Media type: E-Article
  • Title: The Chemistry of Olfactory Reception: Stimulus-Specific Protection from Sulfhydryl Reagent Inhibition
  • Contributor: Getchell, Marilyn Levisohn; Gesteland, Robert C.
  • Published: National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 1972
  • Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 69 (1972) 6, Seite 1494-1498
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 0027-8424
  • Origination:
  • Footnote:
  • Description: The group-specific protein reagent, N-ethylmaleimide, irreversibly blocks the electrical response of the olfactory receptor organ of the frog to odorous stimuli. If the odorous substance, ethyl n-butyrate, in concentrations high enough to saturate the receptor system, is present in the nasal cavity before and during a brief exposure to N-ethylmaleimide, the nose, after a wash and a recovery period, responds in nearly normal fashion to vapors of ethyl n-butyrate. Responses to other odorous substances, except those closely related to ethyl n-butyrate, are abolished. We propose that we can use this protection technique to identify the properties of the various receptor sites in the nose, and possibly to characterize the receptor substances.
  • Access State: Open Access