Making Sense of Scents
Scientists begin to decipher the alphabet of odors
Distinct odorants bind to different arrays of receptors in the nose, a strategy that allows people to discriminate more than 10,000 odors even though there are only about 1,000 odorant receptors.
References:
1999. Drosophila odor receptors revealed. Neuron 22(February):203.
Clyne, P.J. . . . and J.R. Carlson. 1999. The odor specificities of a subset of olfactory receptor neurons are governed by Acj6, a POU-domain transcription factor. Neuron 22(February):339.
Clyne, P.J. . . . and J.R. Carlson. 1999. A novel family of divergent seven transmembrane proteins: Candidate odorant receptors in Drosophila. Neuron 22(February):327.
Krautwurst, D., K.-W. Yau, and R.R. Reed. 1998. Identification of ligands for olfactory receptors by functional expression of a receptor library. Cell 95(Dec. 23):917.
Mainic, B., J. Hirono . . . and L.B. Buck. 1999. Combinatorial receptor codes for odors. Cell 96(March 5):713.
Vosshall, L.B. . . . and R. Axel. 1999. A spatial map of olfactory receptor expression in the Drosophila antenna. Cell 98(March 5):725.
Further Readings:
Bozza, T.C., and J.S. Kauer. 1998. Odorant response properties of convergent olfactory receptor neurons. Journal of Neuroscience 18(June 15):4560.
Travis, J. 1998. Dialing up an embryo. Science News 154(Aug. 15):106.
______. 1998. A meaty answer to a nosy question. Science News 153(Jan. 10):23.
Sources:
Richard Axel
Columbia University
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Department of Biochemistry
New York, NY 10032
Linda Buck
Harvard Medical School
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Department of Neurobiology
Boston, MA 02110
John R. Carlson
Yale University
Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology
New Haven, CT 06520
John G. Hildebrand
University of Arizona
Arizona Research Laboratories
Division of Neurobiology
Tucson, AS 85721
Junzo Hirono
Life Electronics Research Center
Electrotechnical Laboratory
Amagasaki 661
Japan
John S. Kauer
Tufts University School of Medicine
Department of Neuroscience
Boston, MA 02111
Randall R. Reed
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics
Department of Neuroscience
Baltimore, MD 21205
Takaaki Sato
Life Electronics Research Center
Electrotechnical Laboratory
Amagasaki 661
Japan
Leslie B. Vosshall
Columbia University
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Department of Biochemistry
New York, NY 10032
From Science News, Vol. 155, No. 15, April 10, 1999, p. 236. Copyright © 1999, Science Service.
