We are interested in the molecular mechanisms underlying chemosensation (taste and smell) in mammals. The receptors that detect odorants, pheromones, and many tastants including bitter and sweet chemicals are G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs), which typically have seven transmembrane domains. There are many important questions that are still unanswered in chemosensory neurobiology. How do tens of thousands of different chemicals (tastants, odorants, or pheromones) interact with more than one thousand chemosensory receptors (about 1000 odorant receptors, 40 taste receptors and 200 vomeronasal receptors in the case of mice or rats)? How is the information coded in sensory cells and in the brain? How does the brain direct appropriate behavioral responses? What are the mechanisms underlying development and regeneration of sensory cells and specific synapse connections? We address these questions using molecular biology, genome information and genetics.
