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The Journal of Neuroscience, January 7, 2009, 29(1):206-221; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3656-08.2009

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Cellular/Molecular
Homeostatic Control of Sensory Output in Basal Vomeronasal Neurons: Activity-Dependent Expression of Ether-à-Go-Go-Related Gene Potassium Channels

Silke Hagendorf, Daniela Fluegge, Corinna Engelhardt, and Marc Spehr

Department of Cellular Physiology, Ruhr University, D-44780 Bochum, Germany

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Marc Spehr, Department of Cellular Physiology, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitaetsstrasse 150, D-44780 Bochum, Germany. Email: marc.spehr{at}rub.de

Conspecific chemosensory communication controls a broad range of social and sexual behaviors. In most mammals, social chemosignals are predominantly detected by sensory neurons of a specialized olfactory subsystem, the vomeronasal organ (VNO). The behavioral relevance of social chemosignaling puts high demands on the accuracy and dynamic range of the underlying transduction mechanisms. However, the physiological concepts implemented to ensure faithful transmission of social information remain widely unknown. Here, we show that sensory neurons in the basal layer of the mouse VNO dynamically control their input–output relationship by activity-dependent regulation of K⁺ channel gene expression. Using large-scale expression profiling, immunochemistry, and electrophysiology, we provide molecular and functional evidence for a role of ether-à-go-go-related gene (ERG) K⁺ channels as key determinants of cellular excitability. Our findings indicate that an increase in ERG channel expression extends the dynamic range of the stimulus–response function in basal vomeronasal sensory neurons. This novel mechanism of homeostatic plasticity in the periphery of the accessory olfactory system is ideally suited to adjust VNO neurons to a target output range in a layer-specific and use-dependent manner.

Key words: chemodetection; vomeronasal organ; intrinsic plasticity; sensory neuron; signaling; K⁺ channels

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Received Aug. 2, 2008; revised Nov. 21, 2008; accepted Nov. 26, 2008.

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Marc Spehr, Department of Cellular Physiology, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitaetsstrasse 150, D-44780 Bochum, Germany. Email: marc.spehr{at}rub.de

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. M. Hardman and I. D. Forsythe Ether-à-go-go-related gene K+ channels contribute to threshold excitability of mouse auditory brainstem neurons J. Physiol., June 1, 2009; 587(11): 2487 - 2497. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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