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(a) The olfactory mucosa covers the superior conchae bilaterally and sends axons from throughout its entire 10 cm2 area to the brain via small openings in
the cribriform plate of the ethmoid bone. It is a pseudostratified epithelium, containing basal stem cells and columnar support cells in addition to the bipolar
olfactory neurons. The dendrites of these neurons are at the luminal ends and have cilia specialized with many membrane receptors for odor molecules.
Binding such ligands causes depolarization which passes along basal axons to the olfactory bulb of the brain.
(b) Only a thin basement membrane separates the olfactory basal cells (B) from the underlying lamina propria (LP). Nuclei of the bipolar olfactory neurons
(ON) lie in the
middleChapter
of the pseudostratified
olfactory
epithelium,
with Basic
a zone
of supporting
Source:
17. The Respiratory
System,
Junqueira’s
Histology,
13e cell (S) nuclei above it. At the apical end of the cells are the
nonmotile cilia (C), or olfactory hairs, and a layer of mucus (M). X200. H&E.
Citation: Mescher AL. Junqueira’s Basic Histology, 13e; 2013 Available at: http://mhmedical.com/ Accessed: August 01, 2017
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