I am a graduate student in the graduate program in Neuroscience
The olfactory neuroepithelium is an isolated neuronal group with well-defined connections that has the unique ability to regenerate its entire neuronal population. As a result, when olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) are manipulated in vivo, and the signals driving both ORN neurogenesis and apoptosis can be analyzed. The lab has historically used an olfactory bulbectomy (see animation 1, Apoptosis project) to deprive ORNs of their target and induce apoptosis in the OE. My project examines the mechanisms through which target cells directly influence ORN survival and death, by using a lesion that will leave the olfactory bulb physically intact. By microinjecting NMDA directly into the intact mouse olfactory bulb, I can selectively impact cells bearing NMDA receptors – largely the mitral cell population – which are the main central target of ORNs (see animation 2, Apoptosis project). Consequent mitral cell death deprives the ORNs of their target cells and I can then examine both remodelling of circuits in the olfactory bulb and the time course of ORN death and the mechanism by which they undergo apoptosis. Understanding the signals that drive neuronal cell death and survival will hopefully lead to powerful insights into the factors that affect neuronal replacement and to new avenues in the field of neuronal de/regeneration.