Ca2+-modulated ONE-GC odorant signal transduction

In a subset of olfactory epithelium the odorant receptor guanylate cyclase, ONE-GC, is a central transduction component of the cyclic GMP signaling pathway. The odorant binds to the extracellular domain and activates its intracellular catalytic domain to generate the odorant second messenger, cyclic GMP. The present study demonstrates that it is a two-step, Ca2+-independent and Ca2+-dependent, sequential process. In step one, the odorant, uroguanylin, binds ONE-GC and primes it for stimulation. In step two, Ca2+-bound neurocalcin δ binds to the defined intracellular domain and saturates ONE-GC activity. A prototype model is proposed that depicts this signal transduction process.