Neuroscience
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Isolated receptor cells were obtained by enzymatic dissociation of nasal sacs from the land-phase tiger salamander. The isolated cells have an ovoid soma, a dendrite of variable length which terminates in a cilia-bearing knob and an axon, also of variable length. Intracellular recordings were obtained using patch pipettes. ⋯ With one cell, chemical stimulation evoked large depolarizations which produced action potentials. The reversal potential of this response was +2.7 mV. The results show that these cells can be dissociated for patch recordings, and they support previous studies indicating that transduction of olfactory stimuli leads to a depolarization of vertebrate olfactory receptor neurons.