Elucidation of regulation of chemosensory mechanisms by extracellular substances and their application to the development of biomimetic chemical sensors

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19H02531
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 27040:Biofunction and bioprocess engineering-related
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Sato Koji 東京大学, 大学院農学生命科学研究科(農学部), 特任准教授 (20444101)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 川野 竜司 東京農工大学, 工学(系)研究科(研究院), 教授 (90401702) ; 岩槻 健 東京農業大学, 応用生物科学部, 教授 (50332375)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 匂いセンサー / 嗅覚 / 生体機能利用 / 電気化学 / 嗅粘液 / 味覚

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The olfactory organ is an ultra-sensitive odor sensor, and almost all genes involved in this signal transduction cascade have been identified. However, functional expression systems do not reproduce the performance of olfaction, indicating that the elucidation of the ultra-sensitivity mechanism is required for developing biomimetic odor sensors. In this study, with the aim to develop foundational technologies for biomimetic odor sensors, we examined the role of extracellular substances in the regulation of olfactory sensitivity, and the techniques for stimulating cells in an aqueous solution with vapor odorants. As a result, we successfully developed various measurement techniques related to the detection of response of cells expressing odorant receptors to vapor odorants, using real-time measurement of cAMP, a direct indicator of odor response. We demonstrated that the olfactory organ is not only ultra-sensitive but also possesses a unique rapid response capability to odorants.

Free Research Field

感覚生理学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究の最大の成果は、脊椎動物で匂い応答の直接指標となるcAMPの高速イメージングに成功し、嗅覚には超感受性だけでなく、動物が素早く匂いを検出するための高速応答性が備わっていることを明らかにしたことである。これまで生物模倣型の匂いセンサー素子として、電気信号を直接発する昆虫の嗅覚受容体が主に利用されていたが本技術により、イヌも含めた脊椎動物の嗅覚受容体をセンサーに利用できるようになった。また嗅覚器を模倣するための人工粘液の作製や匂い物質の無細胞計測など、匂いセンサー開発に関連する様々な基盤技術を発展させることができた。