The pyrazine-binding protein and olfaction.
1. The present results provide circumstantial evidence, but not a proof, that the Pyrazine-binding Protein is an odorant carrier molecule of fundamental importance. 2. At first sight a role for a secretory protein in olfaction is not obvious. 3. Odorants freely diffuse in air, in water and in lipids, and the use of carrier proteins, would seem superfluous unless a very special combination with the odorant occurs [Gaupp E. (1902) In Anatomie des Frosches, 2nd Edn, pp. 673. Vieweg-Verlag, Braunschweig]. 4. The possibility should be considered that the Pyrazine-binding Protein and the urinary proteins belong to a large family of species-specific secretory molecules which, with the odorant bound, directly stimulate the receptor cell.
Bignetti
E
E
Istituto di Biologia Molecolare, Università di Parma, Italia.
Cattaneo
P
P
Cavaggioni
A
A
Damiani
G
G
Tirindelli
R
R
D000818:Animals; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D011719:Pyrazines; D018035:Receptors, Odorant; D011984:Sensory Receptor Cells / Q000502:physiology; D012903:Smell; D013045:Species Specificity
D002352:Carrier Proteins; D011719:Pyrazines; D018035:Receptors, Odorant; C045648:odorant-binding protein