Loading Pathway...
Error: Pathway image not found.
Hide
Pathway Description
Olfactory Transduction OR2W1
Homo sapiens
Category:
Metabolite Pathway
Sub-Category:
Physiological
Created: 2025-08-06
Last Updated: 2025-11-09
Olfactory transduction in humans is the process by which odor molecules are detected and converted into electrical signals in the brain. It begins when volatile chemical compounds enter the nasal cavity and dissolve in the mucus covering the olfactory epithelium. These molecules bind to specific olfactory receptor proteins located on the cilia of olfactory sensory neurons. Binding activates a G-protein–coupled receptor pathway, stimulating the enzyme adenylate cyclase to increase cyclic AMP (cAMP) levels. This rise in cAMP opens cyclic nucleotide–gated ion channels, allowing sodium (Na⁺) and calcium (Ca²⁺) ions to flow into the cell, causing depolarization. Calcium influx further opens chloride (Cl⁻) channels, amplifying the depolarization. If the depolarization reaches threshold, an action potential is generated and transmitted along the olfactory nerve to the olfactory bulb in the brain, where signals are processed and relayed to higher brain regions for odor perception and identification.
References
Olfactory Transduction OR2W1 References
Petrovski S, Kury S, Myers CT, Anyane-Yeboa K, Cogne B, Bialer M, Xia F, Hemati P, Riviello J, Mehaffey M, Besnard T, Becraft E, Wadley A, Politi AR, Colombo S, Zhu X, Ren Z, Andrews I, Dudding-Byth T, Schneider AL, Wallace G, Rosen ABI, Schelley S, Enns GM, Corre P, Dalton J, Mercier S, Latypova X, Schmitt S, Guzman E, Moore C, Bier L, Heinzen EL, Karachunski P, Shur N, Grebe T, Basinger A, Nguyen JM, Bezieau S, Wierenga K, Bernstein JA, Scheffer IE, Rosenfeld JA, Mefford HC, Isidor B, Goldstein DB: Germline De Novo Mutations in GNB1 Cause Severe Neurodevelopmental Disability, Hypotonia, and Seizures. Am J Hum Genet. 2016 May 5;98(5):1001-1010. doi: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2016.03.011. Epub 2016 Apr 21.
Pubmed: 27108799
Codina J, Stengel D, Woo SL, Birnbaumer L: Beta-subunits of the human liver Gs/Gi signal-transducing proteins and those of bovine retinal rod cell transducin are identical. FEBS Lett. 1986 Oct 27;207(2):187-92. doi: 10.1016/0014-5793(86)81486-7.
Pubmed: 3095147
Gregory SG, Barlow KF, McLay KE, Kaul R, Swarbreck D, Dunham A, Scott CE, Howe KL, Woodfine K, Spencer CC, Jones MC, Gillson C, Searle S, Zhou Y, Kokocinski F, McDonald L, Evans R, Phillips K, Atkinson A, Cooper R, Jones C, Hall RE, Andrews TD, Lloyd C, Ainscough R, Almeida JP, Ambrose KD, Anderson F, Andrew RW, Ashwell RI, Aubin K, Babbage AK, Bagguley CL, Bailey J, Beasley H, Bethel G, Bird CP, Bray-Allen S, Brown JY, Brown AJ, Buckley D, Burton J, Bye J, Carder C, Chapman JC, Clark SY, Clarke G, Clee C, Cobley V, Collier RE, Corby N, Coville GJ, Davies J, Deadman R, Dunn M, Earthrowl M, Ellington AG, Errington H, Frankish A, Frankland J, French L, Garner P, Garnett J, Gay L, Ghori MR, Gibson R, Gilby LM, Gillett W, Glithero RJ, Grafham DV, Griffiths C, Griffiths-Jones S, Grocock R, Hammond S, Harrison ES, Hart E, Haugen E, Heath PD, Holmes S, Holt K, Howden PJ, Hunt AR, Hunt SE, Hunter G, Isherwood J, James R, Johnson C, Johnson D, Joy A, Kay M, Kershaw JK, Kibukawa M, Kimberley AM, King A, Knights AJ, Lad H, Laird G, Lawlor S, Leongamornlert DA, Lloyd DM, Loveland J, Lovell J, Lush MJ, Lyne R, Martin S, Mashreghi-Mohammadi M, Matthews L, Matthews NS, McLaren S, Milne S, Mistry S, Moore MJ, Nickerson T, O'Dell CN, Oliver K, Palmeiri A, Palmer SA, Parker A, Patel D, Pearce AV, Peck AI, Pelan S, Phelps K, Phillimore BJ, Plumb R, Rajan J, Raymond C, Rouse G, Saenphimmachak C, Sehra HK, Sheridan E, Shownkeen R, Sims S, Skuce CD, Smith M, Steward C, Subramanian S, Sycamore N, Tracey A, Tromans A, Van Helmond Z, Wall M, Wallis JM, White S, Whitehead SL, Wilkinson JE, Willey DL, Williams H, Wilming L, Wray PW, Wu Z, Coulson A, Vaudin M, Sulston JE, Durbin R, Hubbard T, Wooster R, Dunham I, Carter NP, McVean G, Ross MT, Harrow J, Olson MV, Beck S, Rogers J, Bentley DR, Banerjee R, Bryant SP, Burford DC, Burrill WD, Clegg SM, Dhami P, Dovey O, Faulkner LM, Gribble SM, Langford CF, Pandian RD, Porter KM, Prigmore E: The DNA sequence and biological annotation of human chromosome 1. Nature. 2006 May 18;441(7091):315-21. doi: 10.1038/nature04727.
Pubmed: 16710414
Modarressi MH, Taylor KE, Wolfe J: Cloning, characterization, and mapping of the gene encoding the human G protein gamma 2 subunit. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2000 Jun 7;272(2):610-5. doi: 10.1006/bbrc.2000.2832.
Pubmed: 10833460
Bechtel S, Rosenfelder H, Duda A, Schmidt CP, Ernst U, Wellenreuther R, Mehrle A, Schuster C, Bahr A, Blocker H, Heubner D, Hoerlein A, Michel G, Wedler H, Kohrer K, Ottenwalder B, Poustka A, Wiemann S, Schupp I: The full-ORF clone resource of the German cDNA Consortium. BMC Genomics. 2007 Oct 31;8:399. doi: 10.1186/1471-2164-8-399.
Pubmed: 17974005
Gerhard DS, Wagner L, Feingold EA, Shenmen CM, Grouse LH, Schuler G, Klein SL, Old S, Rasooly R, Good P, Guyer M, Peck AM, Derge JG, Lipman D, Collins FS, Jang W, Sherry S, Feolo M, Misquitta L, Lee E, Rotmistrovsky K, Greenhut SF, Schaefer CF, Buetow K, Bonner TI, Haussler D, Kent J, Kiekhaus M, Furey T, Brent M, Prange C, Schreiber K, Shapiro N, Bhat NK, Hopkins RF, Hsie F, Driscoll T, Soares MB, Casavant TL, Scheetz TE, Brown-stein MJ, Usdin TB, Toshiyuki S, Carninci P, Piao Y, Dudekula DB, Ko MS, Kawakami K, Suzuki Y, Sugano S, Gruber CE, Smith MR, Simmons B, Moore T, Waterman R, Johnson SL, Ruan Y, Wei CL, Mathavan S, Gunaratne PH, Wu J, Garcia AM, Hulyk SW, Fuh E, Yuan Y, Sneed A, Kowis C, Hodgson A, Muzny DM, McPherson J, Gibbs RA, Fahey J, Helton E, Ketteman M, Madan A, Rodrigues S, Sanchez A, Whiting M, Madari A, Young AC, Wetherby KD, Granite SJ, Kwong PN, Brinkley CP, Pearson RL, Bouffard GG, Blakesly RW, Green ED, Dickson MC, Rodriguez AC, Grimwood J, Schmutz J, Myers RM, Butterfield YS, Griffith M, Griffith OL, Krzywinski MI, Liao N, Morin R, Palmquist D, Petrescu AS, Skalska U, Smailus DE, Stott JM, Schnerch A, Schein JE, Jones SJ, Holt RA, Baross A, Marra MA, Clifton S, Makowski KA, Bosak S, Malek J: The status, quality, and expansion of the NIH full-length cDNA project: the Mammalian Gene Collection (MGC). Genome Res. 2004 Oct;14(10B):2121-7. doi: 10.1101/gr.2596504.
Pubmed: 15489334
Fuchs T, Saunders-Pullman R, Masuho I, Luciano MS, Raymond D, Factor S, Lang AE, Liang TW, Trosch RM, White S, Ainehsazan E, Herve D, Sharma N, Ehrlich ME, Martemyanov KA, Bressman SB, Ozelius LJ: Mutations in GNAL cause primary torsion dystonia. Nat Genet. 2013 Jan;45(1):88-92. doi: 10.1038/ng.2496. Epub 2012 Dec 9.
Pubmed: 23222958
Zigman JM, Westermark GT, LaMendola J, Boel E, Steiner DF: Human G(olf) alpha: complementary deoxyribonucleic acid structure and expression in pancreatic islets and other tissues outside the olfactory neuroepithelium and central nervous system. Endocrinology. 1993 Dec;133(6):2508-14. doi: 10.1210/endo.133.6.8243272.
Pubmed: 8243272
Ota T, Suzuki Y, Nishikawa T, Otsuki T, Sugiyama T, Irie R, Wakamatsu A, Hayashi K, Sato H, Nagai K, Kimura K, Makita H, Sekine M, Obayashi M, Nishi T, Shibahara T, Tanaka T, Ishii S, Yamamoto J, Saito K, Kawai Y, Isono Y, Nakamura Y, Nagahari K, Murakami K, Yasuda T, Iwayanagi T, Wagatsuma M, Shiratori A, Sudo H, Hosoiri T, Kaku Y, Kodaira H, Kondo H, Sugawara M, Takahashi M, Kanda K, Yokoi T, Furuya T, Kikkawa E, Omura Y, Abe K, Kamihara K, Katsuta N, Sato K, Tanikawa M, Yamazaki M, Ninomiya K, Ishibashi T, Yamashita H, Murakawa K, Fujimori K, Tanai H, Kimata M, Watanabe M, Hiraoka S, Chiba Y, Ishida S, Ono Y, Takiguchi S, Watanabe S, Yosida M, Hotuta T, Kusano J, Kanehori K, Takahashi-Fujii A, Hara H, Tanase TO, Nomura Y, Togiya S, Komai F, Hara R, Takeuchi K, Arita M, Imose N, Musashino K, Yuuki H, Oshima A, Sasaki N, Aotsuka S, Yoshikawa Y, Matsunawa H, Ichihara T, Shiohata N, Sano S, Moriya S, Momiyama H, Satoh N, Takami S, Terashima Y, Suzuki O, Nakagawa S, Senoh A, Mizoguchi H, Goto Y, Shimizu F, Wakebe H, Hishigaki H, Watanabe T, Sugiyama A, Takemoto M, Kawakami B, Yamazaki M, Watanabe K, Kumagai A, Itakura S, Fukuzumi Y, Fujimori Y, Komiyama M, Tashiro H, Tanigami A, Fujiwara T, Ono T, Yamada K, Fujii Y, Ozaki K, Hirao M, Ohmori Y, Kawabata A, Hikiji T, Kobatake N, Inagaki H, Ikema Y, Okamoto S, Okitani R, Kawakami T, Noguchi S, Itoh T, Shigeta K, Senba T, Matsumura K, Nakajima Y, Mizuno T, Morinaga M, Sasaki M, Togashi T, Oyama M, Hata H, Watanabe M, Komatsu T, Mizushima-Sugano J, Satoh T, Shirai Y, Takahashi Y, Nakagawa K, Okumura K, Nagase T, Nomura N, Kikuchi H, Masuho Y, Yamashita R, Nakai K, Yada T, Nakamura Y, Ohara O, Isogai T, Sugano S: Complete sequencing and characterization of 21,243 full-length human cDNAs. Nat Genet. 2004 Jan;36(1):40-5. doi: 10.1038/ng1285. Epub 2003 Dec 21.
Pubmed: 14702039
Grarup N, Moltke I, Andersen MK, Dalby M, Vitting-Seerup K, Kern T, Mahendran Y, Jorsboe E, Larsen CVL, Dahl-Petersen IK, Gilly A, Suveges D, Dedoussis G, Zeggini E, Pedersen O, Andersson R, Bjerregaard P, Jorgensen ME, Albrechtsen A, Hansen T: Loss-of-function variants in ADCY3 increase risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Nat Genet. 2018 Feb;50(2):172-174. doi: 10.1038/s41588-017-0022-7. Epub 2018 Jan 8.
Pubmed: 29311636
Yang B, He B, Abdel-Halim SM, Tibell A, Brendel MD, Bretzel RG, Efendic S, Hillert J: Molecular cloning of a full-length cDNA for human type 3 adenylyl cyclase and its expression in human islets. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1999 Jan 27;254(3):548-51. doi: 10.1006/bbrc.1998.9983.
Pubmed: 9920776
Bareil C, Hamel CP, Delague V, Arnaud B, Demaille J, Claustres M: Segregation of a mutation in CNGB1 encoding the beta-subunit of the rod cGMP-gated channel in a family with autosomal recessive retinitis pigmentosa. Hum Genet. 2001 Apr;108(4):328-34. doi: 10.1007/s004390100496.
Pubmed: 11379879
Chen TY, Peng YW, Dhallan RS, Ahamed B, Reed RR, Yau KW: A new subunit of the cyclic nucleotide-gated cation channel in retinal rods. Nature. 1993 Apr 22;362(6422):764-7. doi: 10.1038/362764a0.
Pubmed: 7682292
Ardell MD, Makhija AK, Oliveira L, Miniou P, Viegas-Pequignot E, Pittler SJ: cDNA, gene structure, and chromosomal localization of human GAR1 (CNCG3L), a homolog of the third subunit of bovine photoreceptor cGMP-gated channel. Genomics. 1995 Jul 1;28(1):32-8. doi: 10.1006/geno.1995.1102.
Pubmed: 7590744
Highlighted elements will appear in red.
Highlight Compounds
Highlight Proteins
Enter relative concentration values (without units). Elements will be highlighted in a color gradient where red = lowest concentration and green = highest concentration. For the best results, view the pathway in Black and White.
Visualize Compound Data
Visualize Protein Data
Downloads
Settings