Low signaling efficiency from receptor to effector in olfactory transduction: A quantified ligand-triggered GPCR pathway

Investigation of olfactory perception by a putative adsorption process of sotolone and abhexone on human olfactory receptor OR8D1: Statistical physics modeling and molecular docking

In the present paper, a double layer advanced model was used to investigate the adsorption process putatively involved in the olfactory perception of sotolone and abhexone molecules on the human olfactory receptor OR8D1. The number of adsorbed molecules or the fraction of adsorbed molecule per site, n, informed that the two odorants molecules are docked on OR8D1 binding sites with mixed parallel and nonparallel anchorages. Furthermore, the estimated molar adsorption energy (-ΔE1 and -ΔE2) were inferior to 40 kJ/mol for the two adsorption systems, which confirmed the physical nature and the exothermic character of the adsorption process. In addition, stereographic characterizations of the receptor sites surface were carried out through the determination of the receptor site size distribution (RSDs) via Kelvin equation, which spread out from 0.05 to 1.5 nm. The adsorption energy distributions (AEDs) via Polayni equation show an adsorption band spectrum localized between 17 kJ/mol and 22.5 kJ/mol for sotolone and abhexone molecules respectively. A molecular docking calculation was performed. The results indicate that the binding affinities are belonging to the spectrum of the energy band of the molecules sotolone and abhexone, with values 19.66 kJ/mol and 19.24 kJ/mol.

General Chemical Reaction Network Theory for Olfactory Sensing Based on G-Protein-Coupled Receptors: Elucidation of Odorant Mixture Effects and Agonist-Synergist Threshold

This work presents a general chemical reaction network theory for olfactory sensing processes that employ G-protein-coupled receptors as olfactory receptors (ORs). The theory can be applied to general mixtures of odorants and an arbitrary number of ORs. Reactions of ORs with G-proteins, in both the presence and absence of odorants, are explicitly considered. A unique feature of the theory is the definition of an odor activity vector consisting of strengths of odorant-induced signals from ORs relative to those due to background G-protein activity in the absence of odorants. It is demonstrated that each component of the odor activity defined this way reduces to a Michaelis-Menten form capable of accounting for cooperation or competition effects between different odorants. The main features of the theory are illustrated for a two-odorant mixture. Known and potential mixture effects, such as suppression, shadowing, inhibition, and synergy, are quantitatively described. Effects of relative values of rate constants, basal activity, and G-protein concentration are also demonstrated.

Paradoxical electro-olfactogram responses in TMEM16B knock-out mice

The Ca2+-activated Cl¯ channel TMEM16B carries up to 90% of the transduction current evoked by odorant stimulation in olfactory sensory neurons and control the number of action potential firing and therefore the length of the train of action potentials. A loss of function approach revealed that TMEM16B is required for olfactory-driven behaviors such as tracking unfamiliar odors. Here, we used the electro-olfactogram (EOG) technique to investigate the contribution of TMEM16B to odorant transduction in the whole olfactory epithelium. Surprisingly, we found that EOG responses from Tmem16b knock out mice have a bigger amplitude compared to those of wild type. Moreover, the kinetics of EOG responses is faster in absence of TMEM16B, while the ability to adapt to repeated stimulation is altered in knock out mice. The larger EOG responses in Tmem16b knock out may be the results of the removal of the clamping and/or shunting action of the Ca2+-activated Cl¯ currents leading to the paradox of having smaller transduction current but larger generator potential.