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Olfactory Receptors as an Emerging Chemical Sensing Scaffold
Amisha Patel1, Pamela Peralta-Yahya1,2
1School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States.
Biochemistry
|November 1, 2022
Summary
Synthetic biology advances enable novel chemical biosensors for detecting small molecules. Olfactory receptors (ORs) show promise for sensing challenging compounds, offering new biomedical applications.
Area of Science:
- Synthetic biology
- Chemical biosensing
- Molecular biology
Background:
- Chemical biosensors are increasingly common, with synthetic biology enabling detection of small molecules.
- Existing methods include aptamers, transcription factors, and two-component systems.
- G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) represent a promising new class of chemical sensors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review advances in small molecule biosensing.
- To explore GPCR-based and olfactory receptor (OR)-based chemical sensing.
- To evaluate the potential of ORs for detecting difficult-to-sense compounds.
Main Methods:
- Overview of nucleic acid aptamers, allosteric transcription factors, and two-component systems.
- Detailed examination of GPCR-based sensor systems.
- Analysis of olfactory receptor (OR) function and sensing capabilities.
Main Results:
- GPCRs offer a versatile platform for chemical sensing.
- Olfactory receptors (ORs) possess unique capabilities for detecting diverse small molecules.
- ORs can detect compounds challenging for other biological scaffolds.
Conclusions:
- GPCR- and OR-based sensors present significant opportunities for chemical detection.
- Further research is needed to overcome current challenges and realize future applications.
- ORs hold potential as biomedical targets and for novel sensing applications.
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