Role of Sensory Activity on Chemospecific Populations of Interneurons in the Adult Olfactory Bulb

The olfactory bulb (OB) retains a remarkable capacity to renew its interneuronal populations throughout the life-span of animals. Neuronal precursors giving rise to the bulbar interneurons are generated in the subventricular zone and have to migrate long distances before reaching the OB. In the adult OB these neuronal precursors differentiate into distinct neuronal types, including GABAergic cells located in the granule cell layer and a diverse set of neurons in the glomerular layer comprising GABAergic and dopaminergic interneurons, as well as other neuronal sub-types expressing calretinin and calbindin. While the role of sensory activity in the integration and/or survival of newly generated cells in the olfactory system is well established, very little is known about how odorant-induced activity affects fate specification of newborn cells as well as survival and fate maintenance of preexisting neuronal populations generated in adulthood. The present study demonstrates that sensory deprivation diminishes not only the number of newborn cells in the OB, but also reduces the density of granule and periglomerular cells generated before nostril occlusion. It also shows that sensory activity has an important influence on the development and expression of dopaminergic, but not GABAergic, calretinin or calbindin phenotypes. Our data reveal that odorant-induced activity is important for the survival of both newborn and preexisting OB interneurons generated at adulthood and suggests that these chemospecific populations are differentially affected by sensory deprivation. J. Comp. Neurol. 518:1847-1861,2010. (C) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.