Ectopically Expressed Olfactory Receptors: Promises and Challenges of the Understudied GPCR Family
Tuesday April 05, 2022
8:00 am
-
9:30 am
Eastern Time (ET)
113 B
CVP
DDD
MP
Chair :
Vladlen Slepak
University of Miami
Jennifer Pluznick
Johns Hopkins University
G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are the arguably the most important drug target. About 50% of the ~800 GPCRs belong to the families of olfactory and taste receptors. While they were originally cloned from sensory organs, in the past decade expression of these genes was discovered in many other tissues. Technical difficulties with functional expression of these receptors in vitro and unavailability of tools for their analysis impeded progress in this field for many years. This session will highlight recent advances facilitating investigations of these understudied GPCRs and insights into their physiological functions, pharmacology and potential role in human disease.
Speakers
Blythe Shepard
- Georgetown University
Emerging Roles for Olfactory Receptors in Glucose Homeostasis and Metabolism
Olfactory receptors (OR) are found in a variety of metabolically-active tissues including the kidney and liver. Our work thus far has focused on the role(s) that these receptors play in both glucose homeostasis and metabolism. This talk will focus on the pharmacological characterization of these receptors as well as their emerging physiological functions.
Ying-Jie Peng
- University of Chicago
Abstract #2744 - Olfactory Receptor78 Participates in Carotid Body-Dependent Sympathetic Activation and Hypertension in Murine Models of Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Jennifer Pluznick
- Johns Hopkins University
The Role of Smell Receptors in the Kidney
In the mouse, olfactory receptor Olfr78 is expressed in several tissues including the blood vessels of the kidney. Our mouse genetics and physiological studies demonstrated that these receptors regulate blood pressure by responding to short chain fatty acids produced by gut microbiome. This talk will provide an update on this research, focusing on pharmacological characterization of Olfr78 and related receptors.
Jiaojiao Xu
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Abstract #2639 - Uncovering a Sex-specific Role for Olfactory Receptor 558 (Olfr558) in Blood Pressure Regulation
Alexey Pronin
- University of Miami School of Medicine
Targeting Prostate Cancer Cells via Ectopically Expressed Olfactory Receptors OR51E1/2
To enable the discovery of novel OR ligands, we developed a robust HTS-ready system for expression and analysis of functional ORs in stable cell lines. Our focus is on OR51E1 and OR51E2, which are well established markers for human prostate cancer. Our studies revealed ligand specificity and cytostatic and cytotoxic activity of these receptors.