Chimeric Odorant Receptor Co-receptor for Stable Sensing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current odorant detection methods using living organisms are sensitive but lack stability and longevity, making them unsuitable for long-term applications, and there is a need for a more sensitive olfactory sensor to detect low concentrations of odorous substances.
Innovation Solution
A chimeric odorant receptor co-receptor is developed by recombining partial amino acid sequences from different insect odorant receptor co-receptors, specifically focusing on the position near the farthest carboxyl-terminal amino acid residue of the fourth transmembrane domain, enhancing detection sensitivity when bound to an odorant receptor to form an odorant receptor complex.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If living organisms are used for odorant detection, then detection sensitivity is improved, but stability and duration of action deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the odorant receptor complex (comprising OR and ORCO proteins) from living organisms and implements it in an artificial sensor system. This extraction allows the detection function to be separated from the biological organism, thereby maintaining high detection sensitivity while eliminating the instability and limited duration associated with living organisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention creates an artificial copy of the biological odorant detection system by expressing insect odorant receptor and co-receptor proteins in heterologous cells (such as HEK293 cells). This copied system replicates the high sensitivity of natural detection while providing the stability and longevity of an artificial platform.
2Measurement precision
If living organisms are used for odorant detection, then detection sensitivity is improved, but duration of action deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
By extracting the odorant receptor complex from living organisms and implementing it in artificial sensor systems with heterologous cell expression, the invention separates the detection function from biological limitations. This enables continuous operation without the fatigue and limited concentration duration inherent in living organisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The artificial sensor system copies the essential detection mechanism from biological systems while eliminating temporal limitations. The expressed OR and ORCO proteins in heterologous cells provide sustained detection capability without the duration constraints of living organism concentration power.
3Measurement precision
If chimeric odorant receptor co-receptor is used, then detection sensitivity is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies local quality by creating chimeric ORCO proteins with specific domain combinations (e.g., N-terminus from one insect species, C-terminus from another). This targeted recombination of specific regions allows optimization of detection sensitivity for particular odorants while maintaining overall protein structure and function, rather than completely redesigning the entire protein.
Solution Approach 2:
The chimeric ORCO protein represents a composite structure combining amino acid sequences from different insect species. This composite approach allows the protein to inherit beneficial properties from both parent sequences, achieving enhanced detection sensitivity while relying on the natural compatibility of protein domains from related species.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The chimeric odorant receptor co-receptor exhibits superior detection sensitivity to odorous substances compared to original co-receptors, enabling effective detection at lower concentrations and improving the stability and longevity of odorant detection systems.
Implementation Method 1
When the odorant receptor complex is activated by an odorous substance, the complex exhibits ion channel activity, and the odorous substance is detected by that complex
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is an insect odorant receptor co-receptor that exhibits excellent detection sensitivity to an odorous substance when bound to an odorant receptor to form an odorant receptor complex. The odorant receptor co-receptor includes a first amino acid sequence and a second amino acid sequence subsequently to the farthest carboxyl-terminal amino acid residue of the first amino acid sequence.