Devendra Kumar Maurya's photography shows vesicles with transduction proteins being released.
Researchers at Ume University in Sweden have discovered a previously unknown cellular component, an organelle, within neurons that plays a role in our sense of smell. This finding may be useful in future investigations on the occurrence of COVID-19.
"To discover a therapy for an impaired sense of smell," says Staffan Bohm, Professor at Ume University's Department of Molecular Biology.
Researchers have discovered a so-called nerve cell organelle that had never been seen before. The researchers have given it the name multivesicular transducosome.
Devendra Kumar Maurya created a new technique called correlative microscopy, which allows for the observation of cells' internal structures and the location of different proteins.
Unlike other organelles, organelles have different functions in the body. Most organelles are common to different cell types, but there are also organelles that have specific functions that only occur in certain cell types. The transduction of odor into nerve impulses is called transduction.
Staffan Bohm, Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology, Ume University. Credit: Private
The transductosome has two roles: to store and keep transduction proteins separate from each other until they are needed. Upon olfactory stimulation, the outer membrane of the organelle ruptures, releasing the transduction proteins so that they can reach the neuron's cilia, and scent is sensed.
The researchers also discovered that the transductosome contains a protein called retinitis pigmentosa 2, which is well-known to regulate photoreceptor interactions in the eye. If the RP2 gene is altered, it may result in a form of the eye disease retinitis pigmentosa that damages the eye's light-sensitive cells.
Staffan Bohm believes that further investigation must look at whether the transductosome plays a role in vision and whether it is present in brain neurons that are activated by neurotransmitters rather than light and smell.
Devendra Kumar Maurya, a researcher, developed a new technique called correlative microscopy, which allows for an analysis of intact neurons in tissue sections.
Devendra Kumar Maurya, Anna Berghard, and Staffan Bohm, 12 November 2022, Nature Communications, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-34604-y
