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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Aging
Sec. Molecular Mechanisms of Aging
Volume 5 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fragi.2024.1462900
This article is part of the Research Topic Aging and Neurodegeneration in the Brain View all 4 articles

Reduction in olfactory ability in aging Mitf mutant mice without evidence of neurodegeneration

Provisionally accepted
Fatich Mechmet Fatich Mechmet 1Petur Petersen Petur Petersen 1*Eirikur Steingrimsson Eirikur Steingrimsson 2
  • 1 Department of Anatomy, BioMedical Center, Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
  • 2 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, BioMedical Center, Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Age-related decline occurs in most brain structures and sensory systems. An illustrative case is olfaction, where the olfactory bulb (OB) undergoes deterioration with age, resulting in reduced olfactory ability. A decline in olfaction is also associated with early symptoms of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the underlying reasons are unclear. The microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) is expressed in the projection neurons (PNs) of the OB -the mitral and tufted (M/T) cells. Primary M/T cells from Mitf mutant mice show hyperactivity, potentially attributed to reduced expression of a key potassium channel subunit, Kcnd3/Kv4.3. This influences intrinsic plasticity, an essential mechanism involving the non-synaptic regulation of neuronal activity. As neuronal hyperactivity often precedes neurodegenerative conditions, the current study aimed to determine whether the absence of Mitf has degenerative effects during aging. Aged Mitf mutant mice showed reduced olfactory ability without inflammation. However, an increase in the expression of potassium channel subunit genes in the OBs of aged Mitf mi-vga9/mi-vga9 mice suggests that during aging compensatory mechanisms lead to stabilization.This study highlights the age-related decline in olfaction and elucidates compensatory mechanisms mediated by potassium channels. These findings improve our comprehension of the processes underlying age-related changes in olfaction.

    Keywords: age-related decline, Olfactory Bulb, olfactory function, Mitf mutation, neuronal hyperactivity, Potassium Channels

    Received: 10 Jul 2024; Accepted: 30 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Mechmet, Petersen and Steingrimsson. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Petur Petersen, Department of Anatomy, BioMedical Center, Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.