Deorphanizing human odorant receptors

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K14576
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Neurochemistry/Neuropharmacology
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Takeuchi Haruki 東京大学, 大学院薬学系研究科, 研究員 (70548859)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 中嶋 藍 東京大学, 大学院薬学系研究科(薬学部), 特任助教 (60706331)
• Research Collaborator: NAKASHIMA Ai 東京大学, 大学院薬学系研究科, 特任助教 (60706331)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 嗅覚 / 神経細胞 / 嗅覚受容体 / 直接変換法

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Deorphanizing human odorant receptors (OR) is inevitable for understanding our sense of smell. In the present study, we attempted to generate human olfactory sensory neurons in vitro to establish a novel ligand screening system for human ORs. Based on gene expression profile of developing olfactory sensory neurons, we narrowed down candidate transcription factors which might be important for differentiation of olfactory sensory neurons. We are currently trying to differentiate human fibroblasts into olfactory sensory neurons through lentivirus-mediated direct lineage reprogramming.

Free Research Field

神経発生学