编者按：科学的探索是建立在兴趣基础上的，这种奇怪的现象很多年前便发现了，但它的机理却一直是谜，今天出版的Science上刊登了这篇文章揭示了其中的机理，非常值得参考。也许你不是研究嗅觉的，但它的思考方式，idea形成，思路都值得你思考和借鉴,文章后提供了PDF文件的下载，可以免费下载并阅读。
Negative Feedback Regulation Ensures the One Receptor-One Olfactory Neuron Rule in Mouse
Shou Serizawa,1,2* Kazunari Miyamichi,1* Hiroko Nakatani,1 Misao Suzuki,4 Michiko Saito,5 Yoshihiro Yoshihara,5 Hitoshi Sakano1,3
Science, Vol. 302, Issue 5653, 2088-2094, December 19, 2003
In the mouse olfactory system, each olfactory sensory neuron (OSN) expresses only one odorant receptor (OR) gene in a monoallelic and mutually exclusive manner. Such expression forms the genetic basis for OR-instructed axonal projection of OSNs to the olfactory bulb of the brain during development. Here, we identify an upstream cis-acting DNA region that activates the OR gene cluster in mouse and allows the expression of only one OR gene within the cluster. Deletion of the coding region of the expressed OR gene or a naturally occurring frame-shift mutation allows a second OR gene to be expressed. We propose that stochastic activation of only one OR gene within the cluster and negative feedback regulation by that OR gene product are necessary to ensure the one receptor–one neuron rule.
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