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High-throughput Analysis of Mammalian Olfactory Receptors: Measurement of Receptor Activation via Luciferase Activity
Published on: June 2, 2014
Concanavalin A reveals olfactory receptors which discriminate between alkane odorants on the basis of size
E H Polak1, S G Shirley, G H Dodd
1Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, Coventry, U.K.
Abstract:
For certain odorants, the amplitude of the rat electro-olfactogram is reduced if the olfactory epithelium is treated with the lectin concanavalin A. When normal and cycloalkanes of one to ten carbon atoms are used as odorants at equimolar concentration, the maximum reduction in amplitude is found to correlate with the size of the stimulus molecule. This observation is consistent with the notion that concanavalin A disables an olfactory receptor molecule which normally responds to the alkyl moiety of odorants in a particular size range. That moiety may thus represent a 'primary' quality-determining component in odour discrimination.
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