Allosteric modulation of a human odorant receptor.
Curr Biol
; 33(8): 1523-1534.e4, 2023 04 24.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36977419
Odor perception is first determined by how the myriad of environmental volatiles are detected at the periphery of the olfactory system. The combinatorial activation of dedicated odorant receptors generates enough encoding power for the discrimination of tens of thousands of odorants. Recent studies have revealed that odorant receptors undergo widespread inhibitory modulation of their activity when presented with mixtures of odorants, a property likely required to maintain discrimination and ensure sparsity of the code for complex mixtures. Here, we establish the role of human OR5AN1 in the detection of musks and identify distinct odorants capable of enhancing its activity in binary mixtures. Chemical and pharmacological characterization indicate that specific α-ß unsaturated aliphatic aldehydes act as positive allosteric modulators. Sensory experiments show decreased odor detection threshold in humans, suggesting that allosteric modulation of odorant receptors is perceptually relevant and likely adds another layer of complexity to how odors are encoded in the peripheral olfactory system.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Receptors, Odorant
/
Olfactory Receptor Neurons
/
Olfactory Perception
Limits:
Humans
Language:
En
Journal:
Curr Biol
Journal subject:
BIOLOGIA
Year:
2023
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Country of publication: