Abstract
Using a microarray, expression of 76% of predicted human olfactory receptor genes was detected in olfactory epithelia, and many were expressed in non-olfactory tissues.
Highlights
Olfactory receptor (OR) genes were discovered more than a decade ago, when Buck and Axel observed that, in rats, certain G-protein coupled receptors are expressed exclusively in the olfactory epithelium
To measure the expression of human OR genes, we extracted total RNA from three samples of human olfactory epithelium tissues collected by the National Disease Research Interchange)[18] within eight hours of the donor's death
Once we confirmed the source of the RNA, we proceeded by labeling and hybridizing each olfactory epithelium RNA sample, in two independent technical replicates, to a custom human OR gene microarray
Summary
Olfactory receptor (OR) genes were discovered more than a decade ago, when Buck and Axel observed that, in rats, certain G-protein coupled receptors are expressed exclusively in the olfactory epithelium. Protein sequence similarity was used to identify entire OR gene repertoires of a number of mammalian species, but only in mouse were these predictions followed up by expression studies in olfactory epithelium. Buck and Axel [1] identified the odorant receptor (OR) gene family based partly on the observation that OR genes were expressed in olfactory epithelium, but were not detected in lung, liver, spleen, kidney, retina, and brain. Additional OR genes were recognized in genomic sequences by their similarity to the first set of identified OR genes [2,3], and by the presence of certain predicted protein motifs [1,4]. With roughly 3% of all genes coding for odorant receptors, OR genes are by far the largest gene family in mammalian genomes
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