The human sense of smell is one of the first to have the ability, but people understand it has come late. Until the early 1990s, biologists first described the inner workings of the olfactory receptors of the nose introduces chemical sensors. This finding was also awarded the Nobel Prize.
Since then, more and more people understand the depth. In the past decade, scientists have discovered the smell receptors in the nose is not limited, but all over the body, in the liver, the heart have, in the kidney, and even sperm there. These receptors have an important impact on exert their physiological functions.
Recently, the German Ruhr University physiologist also found that our skin is also across the olfactory receptors. The study leader, Dr. Hans Hart (Hanns Hatt) said: "All the olfactory receptors in the nasal cavity in the presence of more than 15% can be found in the skin." And when the skin of one receptor (ie OR2AT4) some artificial smell of sandalwood, it will send out a large number of molecular signals to promote tissue injury recovery.
After a series of human trials, researchers found that in the event of sandalwood artificial environment, the speed of recovery of skin damage increased by 30%. Based on this discovery, it may be able to develop anti-aging skin cosmetics, or to facilitate the recovery of post-traumatic therapy.
It sounded say there are places other than the nose olfactory receptors may be something of a surprise, in fact, rely on people's ability to smell, we can not only detect chemicals in the air, but also more sensitive to things.
Assistant Professor of Physiology, Johns Hopkins Jennifer Prussian Iznik (Jennifer Pluznick) said: "You can smell receptors to accept things as some kind of special chemicals, do not just use them as smell it receptors, making it easier to understand how they function the other. "in 2009, a study conducted by Jennifer found that the olfactory receptors in mouse kidney can help control metabolism and blood pressure regulation.
This is a situation corresponding to a key lock, the kind of taste is a key molecule, it can receive the kind of receptor is the lock. When a certain flavor molecules corresponding to olfactory receptors encounter after, it will trigger a series of complex biochemical reactions. The reaction in the nose is the olfactory receptors trigger nerve signals to the brain issue, the brain recognizes a taste, to other organs of the olfactory receptors there is not flavor.
Dr. Hart is one of the researchers in related fields who led. In 2003, he and his colleagues published a study of say, testis olfactory receptors may form a chemical guidance system to guide the sperm cells find unfertilized egg. This is related to gender chemistry study adds new issues.
Then, he found a number of other olfactory receptors in human organs, including the liver, heart, lung, colon, brain and so on. In fact, according to the results of genetic research, there are basically each olfactory receptor in human organs.
Hart called himself taste ambassador, he said: "I have been promoting the importance of these receptors, but it's not easy." But now many researchers have slowly awakened to the fact, learned olfactory receptors in disease diagnosis and treatment promising area.
For example, in 2009, Dr. Hart and his team reported that the olfactory receptors in human prostate contacting roses and other flowers acetate bit purple Luo ketone, development of prostate cancer seems to be suppressed, the relevant gene mutation seems to be silent . In the same year, Emory University biologist Grace Pafulasi (Grace Pavlath) also published the study said, the presence of skeletal muscle olfactory receptors, which are immersed in accordance to the lily of the valley lily of the valley fragrance aldehyde synthesis of new muscle tissue regeneration are and the control of gene silencing after the receptors, muscle regeneration has been suppressed.
But you really want to develop medical treatments based on the sense of smell is still too early, because the olfactory system is too complicated, humans are about 350 different olfactory receptors, which is fairly small in vertebrates. Although recent research has a lot of progress, but several scientists merely receptors with specific chemicals linked and many odor molecules may activate the same receptors, different receptors may also react with a molecule, which make research more complex.
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