The Molecular Basis of Smell and Taste Transduction

The Molecular Basis of Smell and Taste Transduction Chairman: Frank Margolis 1993 The survival of an organism depends largely on its ability to monitor its environment constantly and accurately. To do this, organisms have evolved a wide range of sensory systems to detect, transduce and evaluate relevant environmental signals. Smell and taste are two primary neurosensory systems that animals use to assess the external chemical environment. This monitoring is a complex operation: an organism must be capable of resolving not only a single odorant or taste stimulant from a heterogeneous mix of chemicals, but also concentration differences and their temporal variation. The systems that have developed to fulfil these tasks appear to be functionally similar in organisms as diverse as Drosophila and humans. The contemporary techniques of molecular biology, microprotein sequencing, immunohistochemistry and patch-clamp electrophysiology have permitted the study of the molecular basis of chemosensory transduction. Consequently, characterization of the biochemical and molecular mechanisms associated with smell and taste is now experiencing an expansion that would have been unthinkable only a few years ago. Of particular interest has been the recent cloning of olfactory receptor genes: the expression patterns of some of these are described in this book. Other important work reported here includes the identification of olfactory binding proteins, genetic analysis in Drosophila and Caenorhabditis elegans, the G protein-mediated activation of second messenger pathways, and the role of ion channels, perireceptor events and mucus proteins in chemosensory transduction. The book contains contributions from many of the leading scientists working on varied aspects of the chemical senses, with discussion of their recent results and the most important questions that remain to be addressed. This book includes the latest information from this field and will be of interest to both those working on chemosensory transduction and those interested in signal transduction in general. Related Ciba Foundation Symposia: No. 160 Regeneration of vertebrate sensory cells Chairman: E. W. Rubel 1991 ISBN 0 471 92960 3 No. 164 Interactions among cell signalling systems Chairman: Y. Nishizuka 1992 ISBN 0 471 93073 3 No. 176 The GTPase superfamily Chairman: F. McCormick 1993 ISBN 0 471 93914 5