Olfactory epithelium interacts with dendrites of the olfactory bulb (OB) neurons.

<p>On a sagittal section of the E14 OB, mitral cells extend dendritic processes labeled by MAP2 immunostaining (A). Olfactory axons labeled with olfactory marker protein (OMP) expression (B) were distributed overlapping with the dendritic processes of the OB neurons (C). When olfactory bulb explants from E12 were cultured alone, dendritic processes of the OB neurons are visualized with MAP2 expression (D) and interneurons with Calretinin (E) and mitral/tufted cells with Glutamate immunostaining (F). While no increase in the interneurons (H) and glutamatergic neuron numbers was observed (I), an increase in the density of dendritic processes were observed (G) when OB explants were co-cultured in contact with the olfactory epithelium explants. Bar = 120 µm in A, 50 µm in D.