Elucidating the role of olfactory receptors in perception of odor quality

• Project/Area Number: 18K14651
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 43030:Functional biochemistry-related
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Shirasu Mika 東京大学, 大学院農学生命科学研究科(農学部), 特任助教 (10814155)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2021)
• Budget Amount: ¥4,160,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥960,000); Fiscal Year 2020: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥300,000); Fiscal Year 2019: ¥1,170,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥270,000); Fiscal Year 2018: ¥1,690,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥390,000)
• Keywords: 嗅覚 / 脱感作 / 順応 / 匂い / ムスク / SNP / 嗅覚受容体

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In our life, odor is one of the most important factors that enhance the quality of life. While vision consists of only four types of photoreceptors, the sense of smell consists of 396 types of olfactory receptors in humans, each of which can receive a large number of odorants. Furthermore, olfactory receptors are polymorphic, and their odor responsiveness differs depending on their genotype. This complexity of the sense of smell makes it challenging to deal with olfaction as a research project, and has prevented the creation of fragrances that suit individual preferences and purposes and are in harmony with their surroundings. In this study, using the musk odor, which has a simple interaction between receptors and odorants, as a model, we investigated the odor quality of individual olfactory receptors and the influence of genetic polymorphisms of receptors on odor perception.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

比較的安価に個人の全ゲノム配列が決定できるようになった現在、食品・香粧品業界における香りの利用においても、個々人の感性やニーズに合わせた香りをデザインする、あるいは、逆に遺伝型の情報から個人差の少ない香りをスクリーニングしてユニバーサルな香りをデザインすることが求められる。この様な、近未来の香りデザインを視野に入れたとき、本研究における“受容体の遺伝的多型が匂い感受性に及ぼす影響”や“個々の受容体が担う匂いの質”の解明は学術的にも社会的にも意義深い。