OpenLB
Open Library of Bioscience

Electrical properties of ciliated olfactory receptor cells isolated from coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) were studied using the whole-cell mode of the patch-clamp recording technique. 1. Voltage-dependent currents could be separated into two inward and three outward conductances, including a Na+ current, Ca2+ current and three K+ currents. 2. The components of the outward current varied with the life stage of the salmon from which cells had been isolated. In cells isolated from juvenile fish (parr), a Ca(2+)-dependent K+ current dominated the outward current, whereas in cells isolated from older fish (i.e. fish that had undergone smoltification), a transient K+ current became prominent. 3. Differences in response characteristics of outward currents to internal dialysis with cyclic GMP (but not cyclic AMP) were also correlated to the life stage of salmon. Under conditions in which the Ca(2+)-activated current was blocked, relaxation of the outward current was slowed by dialysis with cyclic GMP only in cells isolated from smolts and sea-run fish, but not in those isolated from mature spawners. 4. From these results, we suggest that hormone modulation of olfactory receptor cell development or differentiation may play a role in establishing these differences.