Olfactory Receptor Screening for Elderly Body Odor Suppression
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a lack of known olfactory receptors responsive to the characteristic body odor of elderly people and unsaturated aldehydes like trans-2-nonenal and trans-2-octenal, which are responsible for both body odor and off-flavors in beverages, hindering the development of effective odor suppressors.
Innovation Solution
Identification and utilization of specific olfactory receptors, such as OR2C1 and its variants, to screen for candidate substances that suppress the characteristic body odor of elderly people by measuring their response to trans-2-nonenal and trans-2-octenal, using a method that involves adding test substances and measuring their suppressive effects on these receptors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If human sensory testing is used to screen odor suppressors, then subjective evaluation can be performed, but olfactory fatigue and individual variations lead to unreliable and inconsistent results
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical/biological human sensory system with a molecular biology-based in vitro assay system. Olfactory receptors are expressed in heterologous cells (e.g., HEK293T cells) and their response to odorants is measured through biochemical readouts (cAMP accumulation, calcium flux, or reporter gene expression), eliminating olfactory fatigue and individual variations while providing standardized, quantifiable data
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary measurement system between the odorant-receptor interaction and the final readout. Instead of directly measuring human perception, the system uses olfactory receptors as intermediaries that bind odorants and trigger intracellular signaling cascades, which are then amplified and measured through biochemical assays, providing an objective proxy for odor detection
2Measurement precision
If conventional screening methods without specific receptor knowledge are used, then the process can be simpler, but they cannot effectively identify substances responsible for characteristic body odor of elderly people
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary identification and characterization of olfactory receptors that respond to trans-2-nonenal and trans-2-octenal before conducting the actual screening. This pre-characterization work establishes the specific receptor-substance relationships, allowing subsequent screenings to be highly targeted and precise without requiring complex real-time detection methods
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the measurement parameters from subjective human sensory evaluation to objective biochemical readouts (cAMP levels, calcium concentration, reporter gene activity). This parameter transformation enables precise quantification of receptor responses to odorants and facilitates high-throughput screening with improved detection sensitivity
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
This method enables the selection of candidate substances that inhibit the binding of odor-causing molecules to olfactory receptors, effectively suppressing the characteristic body odor of elderly people and developing trans-2-nonenal and trans-2-octenal odor suppressors, overcoming issues like olfactory fatigue and individual variations in human sensory testing.
Implementation Method 1
adding a test substance and a substance responsible for the characteristic body odor of elderly people to at least one olfactory receptor polypeptide selected from (a) OR2C1, and (b) polypeptides which comprise an amino acid sequence sharing an identity of at least 80% with the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide in (a) and which are responsive to the substance responsible for the characteristic body odor of elderly people
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a screening method for materials that suppress the characteristic body odor of elderly people. The screening method of the present invention is designed such that test substances are screened with olfactory receptors responsive to substances responsible for the characteristic body odor of elderly people to select candidate substances for materials that suppress the characteristic body odor of elderly people, and this method comprises adding a test substance and a substance responsible for the characteristic body odor of elderly people to at least one olfactory receptor polypeptide selected from the group consisting of (a) OR2C1, OR2J2, OR4E2 and OR5P3, and (b) polypeptides which comprise an amino acid sequence sharing an identity of at least 80% with the amino acid sequence of any of the polypeptides in (a) and which are responsive to the substance responsible for the characteristic body odor of elderly people; measuring the response of the olfactory receptor polypeptide to the substance responsible for the characteristic body odor of elderly people; and identifying a test substance that suppresses the response of the olfactory receptor polypeptide on the basis of the measured response. Moreover, the present invention relates to a screening method for trans-2-nonenal odor suppressors and a screening method for trans-2-octenal odor suppressors.