A 3D transcriptomics atlas of the mouse nose sheds light on the anatomical logic of smell.

Cell reports 2022 Mar 22

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The sense of smell helps us navigate the environment, but its molecular architecture and underlying logic remain understudied. The spatial location of odorant receptor genes (Olfrs) in the nose is thought to be independent of the structural diversity of the odorants they detect. Using spatial transcriptomics, we create a genome-wide 3D atlas of the mouse olfactory mucosa (OM). Topographic maps of genes differentially expressed in space reveal that both Olfrs and non-Olfrs are distributed in a continuous and overlapping fashion over at least five broad zones in the OM. The spatial locations of Olfrs correlate with the mucus solubility of the odorants they recognize, providing direct evidence for the chromatographic theory of olfaction. This resource resolves the molecular architecture of the mouse OM and will inform future studies on mechanisms underlying Olfr gene choice, axonal pathfinding, patterning of the nervous system, and basic logic for the peripheral representation of smell. Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Citation

Mayra L Ruiz Tejada Segura, Eman Abou Moussa, Elisa Garabello, Thiago S Nakahara, Melanie Makhlouf, Lisa S Mathew, Li Wang, Filippo Valle, Susie S Y Huang, Joel D Mainland, Michele Caselle, Matteo Osella, Stephan Lorenz, Johannes Reisert, Darren W Logan, Bettina Malnic, Antonio Scialdone, Luis R Saraiva. A 3D transcriptomics atlas of the mouse nose sheds light on the anatomical logic of smell. Cell reports. 2022 Mar 22;38(12):110547