« Previous AbstractVolatile Organic Compounds in the Azteca/Cecropia Ant-Plant Symbiosis and the Role of Black Fungi    Next Abstract[Progress in the application of preparative gas chromatography in separating volatile compounds] »

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Title:		Transport features predict if a molecule is odorous
Author(s):		Mayhew EJ; Arayata CJ; Gerkin RC; Lee BK; Magill JM; Snyder LL; Little KA; Yu CW; Mainland JD;
Address:		"Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824. Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, PA 19104. School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287. Brain Team, Google Research, Cambridge, MA 02142. Department of Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104"
Journal Title:		Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
Year:		2022
Volume:		20220404
Issue:		15
Page Number:		e2116576119 -
DOI:		10.1073/pnas.2116576119
ISSN/ISBN:		1091-6490 (Electronic) 0027-8424 (Print) 0027-8424 (Linking)
Abstract:		"In studies of vision and audition, stimuli can be chosen to span the visible or audible spectrum; in olfaction, the axes and boundaries defining the analogous odorous space are unknown. As a result, the population of olfactory space is likewise unknown, and anecdotal estimates of 10,000 odorants have endured. The journey a molecule must take to reach olfactory receptors (ORs) and produce an odor percept suggests some chemical criteria for odorants: a molecule must 1) be volatile enough to enter the air phase, 2) be nonvolatile and hydrophilic enough to sorb into the mucous layer coating the olfactory epithelium, 3) be hydrophobic enough to enter an OR binding pocket, and 4) activate at least one OR. Here, we develop a simple and interpretable quantitative model that reliably predicts whether a molecule is odorous or odorless based solely on the first three criteria. Applying our model to a database of all possible small organic molecules, we estimate that at least 40 billion possible compounds are odorous, six orders of magnitude larger than current estimates of 10,000. With this model in hand, we can define the boundaries of olfactory space in terms of molecular volatility and hydrophobicity, enabling representative sampling of olfactory stimulus space"
Keywords:		"Animals Humans Machine Learning Models, Theoretical *Odorants Receptors, Odorant *Smell *Volatile Organic Compounds/chemistry/classification Volatilization odor space olfaction physical transport;Neuroscience;"
Notes:		"MedlineMayhew, Emily J Arayata, Charles J Gerkin, Richard C Lee, Brian K Magill, Jonathan M Snyder, Lindsey L Little, Kelsie A Yu, Chung Wen Mainland, Joel D eng R01DC013339/HHS | NIH | National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)/ T32DC000014/HHS | NIH | National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)/ R01DC018455/HHS | NIH | National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)/ U19NS112953/HHS | NIH | National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)/ R01DC017757/HHS | NIH | National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)/ F32DC019030/HHS | NIH | National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)/ R01 DC017757/DC/NIDCD NIH HHS/ T32 DC000014/DC/NIDCD NIH HHS/ F32 DC019030/DC/NIDCD NIH HHS/ R01 DC018455/DC/NIDCD NIH HHS/ U19 NS112953/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/ R01 DC013339/DC/NIDCD NIH HHS/ 2022/04/05 Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2022 Apr 12; 119(15):e2116576119. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2116576119. Epub 2022 Apr 4"