Structure and function of the olfactory system: Overview.

The article discusses the highlights of one of the symposiums of the 111th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Association for Anatomists (JAA) held on March 20, 2006 at the Sagamihara Campus of Kitasato University in Japan. The symposium aimed to introduce olfactory research mainly done by the members of the JAA. The first talk reviewed molecular mechanisms related to regulatory mechanisms of apoptosis of olfactory receptor cells (ORC). Another talk presented data related to the regulatory roles of insulin-like growth factor (IGF) in apoptosis of ORC.