An extra dimension to olfaction

摘要

The sense of smell is triggered by receptors in the olfactory epithelium that lines the nose. In mice at least, that lining is also responsible for receiving chemosensory cues involved in mating and other social behaviours. In 1991, Linda Buck and Richard Axel reported the seminal discovery of the gene family that encodes odorant receptors in vertebrates. A paper by Buck and Stephen Liberles2 on page 645 of this issue describes a second class of chemosensory receptor expressed by olfactory sensory neurons*. Adding another dimension to a rapidly progressing field, this unexpected discovery provides new insights into the molecular and cellular mechanisms used to detect olfactory cues.