Subcellular localization of m2 muscarinic receptors in GABAergic interneurons of the olfactory bulb

We analysed the ultrastructural distribution of the m2 muscarinic receptor (m2R) in the rat olfactory bulb (OB) using immunohistochemical techniques a nd light and electron microscopy. m2R was differentially distributed within the cellular compartments of gamma -aminobutyric acid (GABA)ergic bulbar i nterneurons. It is located in the gemmules of granule cells and in the syna ptic loci of the interneurons of the external plexiform layer, suggesting t hat m2R activation could modulate the release of GABA from these interneuro ns onto principal cells by a presynaptic mechanism. By contrast, the recept or appears in the somata and dendritic trunks of second-order short-axon in terneurons located in the inframitral layers, suggesting that postsynaptic muscarinic activation in these cells could elicit the inhibition of granule cells, leading to a disinhibition of principal cells. We also detail the a natomical substrate for a new putative muscarinic modulation that has not b een previously described, and that could influence the reception of sensory information within the olfactory glomeruli. m2R appears in a subset of GAB Aergic/dopaminergic juxtaglomerular cells innervated by olfactory axons but is absent in juxtaglomerular cells that do not receive sensory inputs. Thi s finding suggests that m2R activation could modify, through dopaminergic l ocal circuits, the strength of olfactory nerve inputs onto principal cells. Activation of the muscarinic receptor may modulate the olfactory informati on encoding within olfactory glomeruli and may facilitate the bulbar transm ission to superior centres influencing the GABA release by presynaptic and postsynaptic mechanisms. Taken together, our data provide the neuroanatomic al basis for a complex action of m2R at different levels in the mammalian O B.