idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Nachrichten, Termine, Experten

Grafik: idw-Logo
Grafik: idw-Logo

idw - Informationsdienst
Wissenschaft

Science Video Project
idw-Abo

idw-News App:

AppStore

Google Play Store



Instanz:
Teilen: 
13.12.2011 10:51

RUB-Researchers decipher interaction of fragrances and olfactory receptors

Dr. Josef König Pressestelle
Ruhr-Universität Bochum

Banana, mango or apricot - telling these smells apart is no problem for the human nose. How the olfactory organ distinguishes such similar smells has been uncovered by an interdisciplinary team of researchers at the RUB. The scientists were the first to shed light on the dynamics of the three-dimensional structure of the binding site of an olfactory receptor. In so doing, they also found a characteristic pattern of hydrogen bonds between odorant and receptor, which accounts for the specificity of the olfactory sensors.

Precise detection by the nose
RUB-Researchers decipher interaction of fragrances and olfactory receptors
Angewandte Chemie: three-dimensional structure and hydrogen bridge pattern explained

Banana, mango or apricot - telling these smells apart is no problem for the human nose. How the olfactory organ distinguishes such similar smells has been uncovered by an interdisciplinary team of researchers at the RUB. The scientists were the first to shed light on the dynamics of the three-dimensional structure of the binding site of an olfactory receptor. In so doing, they also found a characteristic pattern of hydrogen bonds between odorant and receptor, which accounts for the specificity of the olfactory sensors. Using computer simulations, the RUB team was able to predict whether odorant molecules activate a certain receptor or not. “A dream of science and industry is coming true” says smell expert Prof. Dr. Dr. Dr. Hanns Hatt (Department of Cell Physiology). The study was chosen as cover story of the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

Computer model and living cells

The human nose has about 350 different types of olfactory receptors, each specialising in one or a few smells. “The receptor is like a door lock which can only be opened by the right key” says Dr. Lian Gelis from the Department of Cell Physiology. How the lock is exactly constructed was previously unknown. To solve the puzzle, Dr. Steffen Wolf and Prof. Dr. Klaus Gerwert (Department of Biophysics) set out by creating a computer model of the human olfactory receptor for the smell of apricots. In the model, they mutated several components (amino acids) in the binding site of the protein and predicted whether these receptor variants bind apricot fragrance or not. Gelis und Hatt then verified these predictions using “Ca2+-imaging” on the receptors in the physiological system.

Tango of the molecules

In this way, the researchers showed how the binding site has to be structurally constituted so that the apricot fragrance activates the receptor. Using molecular dynamics simulations, they then analysed the two binding partners in greater depth. They found that, in the dynamic interplay of the interaction between receptor and odorant molecule, specific chemical bonds, called hydrogen bridges, form and separate. “It’s like a tango, where the female dancer constantly separates from her partner and joins him again at another point” explains Gerwert. “The receptor uses the dynamic hydrogen bonding pattern to distinguish between activating and non-activating odours."

Predictions for other olfactory receptors

The researchers established how many molecular junctions the interaction partners have to form in order for a smell to activate an olfactory receptor. They also managed to specifically manipulate a receptor protein in the model and in the experiment so that it detected papaya fragrance instead of apricot fragrance. “The findings can help to generate specific ‘super-olfactory sensors’ for a defined fragrance” says Hatt. “Since olfactory receptors not only occur in the nose, but also in many other tissues in the human body, for example in the prostate, in sperm, and in the intestines, the results may help to develop novel therapeutic approaches”. The work was carried out as part of the Collaborative Research Centre SFB 642. The Mercator Foundation supported Prof. Gerwert with a grant.

Bibliographic record

L. Gelis, S. Wolf, H. Hatt, E.M. Neuhaus, K. Gerwert (2011): Prediction of a ligand-binding niche within a human olfactory receptor by combining site-directed mutagenesis with dynamic homology modelling, Angewandte Chemie, International Edition, doi: 10.1002/ange.201103980

Further information

Prof. Dr. Klaus Gerwert, Department of Biophysics, Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology at the Ruhr-Universität, 44780 Bochum, tel.: +49/234/32-24461
gerwert@bph.ruhr-uni-bochum.de

Prof. Dr. Dr. Dr. Hanns Hatt, Department of Cell Physiology, Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology at the Ruhr-Universität, 44780 Bochum, tel.: +49/234/32-24586
Hanns.Hatt@ruhr-uni-bochum.de

Click for more

Early View Articles in “Angewandte Chemie”
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1521-3773/earlyview

Department of Cell Physiology
http://www.cphys.rub.de/index.htm

Department of Biophysics
http://www.bph.rub.de/

Editor

Dr. Julia Weiler


Bilder

Cover of Angewandte Chemie: The interaction between odorant and receptor via hydrogen bonding is like a tango. Both partners repeatedly separate and come together again at another point.
Cover of Angewandte Chemie: The interaction between odorant and receptor via hydrogen bonding is li ...
Copyright: WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co., Angewandte Chemie; Illustration: Steffen Wolf and Klaus Gerwert
None

Interaction of receptor and fragrance: Olfactory receptors (grey) detect odorants (orange-red) via certain amino acids in the binding site (blue/white/red). Hydrogen bonds (dashed lines) are decisive here.
Interaction of receptor and fragrance: Olfactory receptors (grey) detect odorants (orange-red) via c ...
Illustration: Lian Gelis and Steffen Wolf
None


Ergänzung vom 15.12.2011

Addition to the Copyright information for the cover of Angewandte Chemie: If you want to use this image, please ask for permission at rightsde@wiley.com


Merkmale dieser Pressemitteilung:
Journalisten
Biologie, Medizin
überregional
Forschungsergebnisse, Wissenschaftliche Publikationen
Englisch


 

Hilfe

Die Suche / Erweiterte Suche im idw-Archiv
Verknüpfungen

Sie können Suchbegriffe mit und, oder und / oder nicht verknüpfen, z. B. Philo nicht logie.

Klammern

Verknüpfungen können Sie mit Klammern voneinander trennen, z. B. (Philo nicht logie) oder (Psycho und logie).

Wortgruppen

Zusammenhängende Worte werden als Wortgruppe gesucht, wenn Sie sie in Anführungsstriche setzen, z. B. „Bundesrepublik Deutschland“.

Auswahlkriterien

Die Erweiterte Suche können Sie auch nutzen, ohne Suchbegriffe einzugeben. Sie orientiert sich dann an den Kriterien, die Sie ausgewählt haben (z. B. nach dem Land oder dem Sachgebiet).

Haben Sie in einer Kategorie kein Kriterium ausgewählt, wird die gesamte Kategorie durchsucht (z.B. alle Sachgebiete oder alle Länder).