Manglik Lab
Principal Investigator: Aashish Manglik
Institution: University of California, San Francisco (San Francisco, CA)
Primary Subfield: Molecular & Cell Bio
Recruitment Status: Inquire for rotation/fellowship opportunities
Research Focus
PROJECT SUMMARY Our sense of smell depends on our ability to detect and discriminate a vast array of odor molecules. In vertebrates, odors are predominantly detected by odorant receptors (ORs), which are G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) in vertebrates. The human genome encodes ~400 ORs, providing our olfactory system with the ability to detect diverse odorants. Despite incredible advances in our understanding of GPCR function, the fundamental molecular logic of odorant recognition by ORs remains elusive. It is unclear why closely related ORs can have distinct odorant preferences, or why some ORs respond to a small subset of odorants while others are more broadly responsive. Moreover, the process by which an odorant turns an OR “on” is not well understood. Recently, our collaborative team determined the first experimental structure of a vertebrate OR, the human receptor OR51E2, which provided critical insights into molecular recognition and OR activation. Building on this advance, we will address three fundamental aspects of odorant receptor biology: 1) Identify OR features that are responsible for odorant selectivity, 2) Reveal distinctions in odorant recognition by Class I and…
Active NIH Awards
- 5R01DC021585-03: Structural dynamics of human odorant receptors in olfaction (2026)
- 5R01GM138992-04: Mechanisms of Smoothened Activation in Hedgehog Signaling (2025)
- 5R01DC021585-02: Structural dynamics of human odorant receptors in olfaction (2025)
- 1R01DC021585-01: Structural dynamics of human odorant receptors in olfaction (2024)
- 5R01GM138992-03: Mechanisms of Smoothened Activation in Hedgehog Signaling (2024)
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