Experimental studies on the olfactory marker protein. IV. Olfactory marker protein in the olfactory neurons transplanted within the brain.

The presence of the olfactory marker protein (OMP) was studied in brain transplants of rat neonatal olfactory mucosa. In all transplants examined, many olfactory neurons were observed inside the transplanted neuroepithelium and within the surrounding brain parenchyma. However, only few neurons were OMP-positive. The absence of proper target and/or the ectopic brain environment are the two possibilities put forward to explain why the olfactory matrix produces cellular elements which do not express OMP even when they seem to reach morphological maturity.