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Olfaction

Olfaction

The sense of smell is achieved through the activities of the olfactory system. It starts when an airborne odorant enters the nasal cavity and reaches olfactory epithelium (OE). The OE is protected by a thin layer of mucus, which also serves the purpose of dissolving more complex compounds into simpler chemical odorants. The size of the OE and the density of sensory neurons varies among species; in humans, the OE is only about 9-10 cm2.
The olfactory receptors are embedded in the cilia of the...

Physiology of Smell and Olfactory Pathway

Physiology of Smell and Olfactory Pathway

Humans detect odors with the help of specialized cells located in the upper part of the nasal cavity, called olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs). ORNs possess hair-like structures called cilia, which are receptive to sensations from the inhaled air. When an odorant molecule binds to a specific receptor on the cell of the cilia, it leads to a series of events that ultimately cause the ORN to send electrical signals to the olfactory bulb in the brain through the olfactory nerves.
The olfactory...

Olfactory Receptors: Location and Structure

Olfactory Receptors: Location and Structure

The process of olfaction, also known as the sense of smell, is a sophisticated chemical response system. The specialized sensory neurons that facilitate this process, known as olfactory receptor neurons, are situated in an upper segment of the nasal cavity, known as the olfactory epithelium. Olfactory sensory neurons are bipolar, with their dendrites extending from the epithelium's apex into the mucus that lines the nasal cavity. Airborne molecules, when inhaled, traverse the olfactory...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 6, 2026

Real-time In Vitro Monitoring of Odorant Receptor Activation by an Odorant in the Vapor Phase

Real-time In Vitro Monitoring of Odorant Receptor Activation by an Odorant in the Vapor Phase

Published on: April 23, 2019

Computational Approaches for Decoding Select Odorant-Olfactory Receptor Interactions Using Mini-Virtual Screening.

K Harini¹, Ramanathan Sowdhamini¹

¹National Centre for Biological Sciences (TIFR), GKVK Campus, Bellary Road, Bangalore, India.

|July 30, 2015

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Olfactory receptors (ORs) show combinatorial responses to odor molecules. This study used in silico docking to reveal that even highly similar ORs may not bind the same ligands, impacting odor recognition.

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High-throughput Analysis of Mammalian Olfactory Receptors: Measurement of Receptor Activation via Luciferase Activity

High-throughput Analysis of Mammalian Olfactory Receptors: Measurement of Receptor Activation via Luciferase Activity

Published on: June 2, 2014

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Apr 6, 2026

Real-time In Vitro Monitoring of Odorant Receptor Activation by an Odorant in the Vapor Phase

Real-time In Vitro Monitoring of Odorant Receptor Activation by an Odorant in the Vapor Phase

Published on: April 23, 2019

Live-cell Measurement of Odorant Receptor Activation Using a Real-time cAMP Assay

Live-cell Measurement of Odorant Receptor Activation Using a Real-time cAMP Assay

Published on: October 2, 2017

High-throughput Analysis of Mammalian Olfactory Receptors: Measurement of Receptor Activation via Luciferase Activity

High-throughput Analysis of Mammalian Olfactory Receptors: Measurement of Receptor Activation via Luciferase Activity

Published on: June 2, 2014

Area of Science:

Biochemistry
Molecular Biology
Computational Chemistry

Background:

Olfactory receptors (ORs) are Class A G-Protein Coupled Receptors with combinatorial odor responses.
ORs bind a range of odorants with varying affinities, unlike specific ligand-receptor interactions.
Odor recognition diversity is attributed to variable transmembrane domains in ORs.

Purpose of the Study:

To decode odor-olfactory receptor interactions using in silico docking.
To investigate ligand binding profiles of homologous ORs from human and mouse genomes.

Main Methods:

Utilized a dataset of 125 odor molecules for in silico docking.
Employed the GLIDE docking tool (SCHRODINGER Inc Pvt LTD).
Analyzed ligand docking results on homologous OR pairs with varying sequence identities.

Main Results:

Identified differing ligand binding residues and profiles among homologous OR sequences.
Demonstrated that high sequence identity in ORs does not guarantee similar ligand binding affinity.
Generated a ligand profile for each of the 20 analyzed receptors.

Conclusions:

Homologous olfactory receptors can exhibit distinct ligand binding specificities.
Findings provide valuable data for future expression and mutation studies on ORs.
In silico docking is a powerful tool for understanding complex odor-olfactory receptor interactions.