Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 11, 2026

Live-cell Measurement of Odorant Receptor Activation Using a Real-time cAMP Assay
Published on: October 2, 2017
The detergent Solulan C-24 reveals properties of the olfactory adenylate cyclase system
C J Robinson1, S G Shirley, G H Dodd
1Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, Coventry, U.K.
Abstract:
The detergent Solulan C-24 has been shown to activate the olfactory adenylate cyclase, with loss of the odorant modulation, at concentrations too low to cause significant solubilization. The activation is synergistic with that of nonhydrolysable GTP analogues, forskolin and AlF4-. These effects are not reversible. Solulan causes the cyclase activity to become subject to ATP inhibition, which is competitively relieved by GTP gamma S, and increases the GTP gamma S concentration required for half-maximal stimulation of the system. This suggests a change in the GTP-binding site of the stimulatory G-protein. Activation by GTP gamma S, without Solulan, indicates that the cyclase catalytic unit, rather than the available G-protein, may be limiting in the system. We suggest that Solulan may remove an inhibitory control on the cyclase activity.
Related Concept Videos
Olfaction
The olfactory receptors are embedded in the cilia of the...
Detergent Purification of Membrane Proteins
Aryldiazonium Salts to Azo Dyes: Diazo Coupling
G-Protein Gated Ion Channels
Sensory organs,...
GPCRs Regulate Adenylyl Cylase Activity
Two...

