The discovery was possible thanks to Devendra Kumar Maurya, who used a brand-new method called correlative microscopy that combines electron microscopy and confocal microscopy so that a cells internal structures and the location of different proteins can be imaged. Credit: Mattias Pettersson
Organelles stand out workstations within cells that can be compared to the various organs of the body, i.e. various organelles have different functions in the cell. A lot of organelles are typical to different cell types, but there are likewise organelles with specific functions that just happen in particular cell types. Olfactory nerve cells have long projections, i.e. cilia, that protrude into the nasal cavity and contain the proteins that bind odorous substances and therefore start nerve impulses to the brain. The conversion of smell into nerve impulses is called transduction and the recently discovered organelle contains only transduction proteins.
Staffan Bohm, Professor at the Department of Molecular Biology, Umeå University. Credit: Private
The role of the transductosome is to both store and keep transduction proteins separate from each other till they are required. Upon olfactory stimulation, the outer membrane of the organelle ruptures, launching the transduction proteins so that they can reach the cilia of the nerve cell, and smell is viewed.
The researchers also found that the transductosome carries a protein called retinitis pigmentosa 2, RP2, which is otherwise known to regulate transduction in the eyes photoreceptor cells. It can trigger a variation of the eye illness retinitis pigmentosa that damages the eyes light-sensitive cells if the RP2 gene is altered.
” A concern for more research is whether the transductosome has a function in vision and whether it exists in brain nerve cells that are triggered by neurotransmitters and not light and odor. If so, the discovery may prove much more substantial,” states Staffan Bohm.
The transducosome was discovered when researcher Devendra Kumar Maurya utilized a brand-new strategy called correlative microscopy. The method combines electron microscopy and confocal microscopy so that a cells internal structures and the location of various proteins can be imaged all at once. Vital to the discovery was Devendras technique development, which enabled the technique to be used to analyze intact neurons in tissue sections.
Recommendation: “A multivesicular body-like organelle moderates stimulus-regulated trafficking of olfactory ciliary transduction proteins” by Devendra Kumar Maurya, Anna Berghard and Staffan Bohm, 12 November 2022, Nature Communications.DOI: 10.1038/ s41467-022-34604-y.
Release of vesicles with transduction proteins in electron microscopic lense zoom. Credit: Devendra Kumar Maurya
Umeå University researchers in Sweden have uncovered a previously unknown cellular component, an organelle, within neurons that play a function in our sense of odor. This discovery might have ramifications for future research studies on the decreased sense of smell, a common symptom of COVID-19.
” A prerequisite for discovering a treatment for an impaired sense of odor is to first understand how the sense of smell works,” says Staffan Bohm, Professor at the Department of Molecular Biology at Umeå University.
What the scientists have actually discovered is a so-called organelle inside nerve cells, that has not formerly been observed. The recently discovered organelle has been offered the name multivesicular transducosome by the scientists. The discovery was enabled thanks to Umeå Universitys special microscopy facilities.
Organelles are distinct workstations inside cells that can be compared to the different organs of the body, i.e. different organelles have various functions in the cell. A lot of organelles are common to various cell types, however there are also organelles with specific functions that just happen in particular cell types. The conversion of odor into nerve impulses is called transduction and the freshly discovered organelle consists of just transduction proteins.
The technique integrates electron microscopy and confocal microscopy so that a cells internal structures and the area of various proteins can be imaged concurrently.