Simulation of a vertebrate receptor cell of the olfactory epithelium for use in network models

摘要

We developed a realistic model of a bipolar receptor cell of the olfactory epithelium. It has four compartments, namely cilia, dendritic knob, dendrite and soma. Cilia is a biochemical compartment including the molecular pathways of odor interpretation; dendrite is a passive compartment without channels; dendritic knob has Ca~(2+)-dependent chloride channels; and soma has all channels of Traub's CA3 hippocampal pyramidal neuron model plus Moczydlowski-Latorre's BK channel model. A pool of molecular odors, which increase Ca~(2+) intracellular concentration and conductance of chloride channels, provides the input. The model's bursting behavior compares well with experimental data found in literature.