ECROXXII – AChemS XXXV: “Profiling of TAAR genes expression in human olfactory epithelium and functional characterization of the hTAAR1 and hTAAR5”

Profiling of trace amine-associated receptor (TAAR) genes expression was performed in 15 human olfactory epithelia from autopsy. After total RNA extraction, DNase treatment, RNA integrity evaluation and reverse transcription, the expression of the 6 targeted TAAR genes and reference genes for normalization was analyzed using a real-time reverse transcription PCR platform. Upon normalization and quantification, we observed that hTAAR5 was expressed at a relatively high level in most samples (14/15) whereas hTAAR1 was detected at a trace level in most samples (12/15). The expression of hTAAR2, hTAAR6, hTAAR8, and hTAAR9 -at a trace level- was noted in a limited number of samples.
An agonist screening of a 460 odorant compound library was performed on recombinant human TAARs expressed in HEK293T-hRTP1S/hRTP2 cells using a CRE-luciferase reporter assay. A series of new linear and cyclic alkylamines were identified as potent activators of TAAR1. Most of them are characterized by an unpleasant fishy or ammoniacal odor shared by many alkylamines. These findings suggest that hTAAR1, as well as hTAAR5, could work as chemosensory receptors in human olfaction.  Download Pdf