Nasal odorant metabolites: characterization and function in olfactory perception

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A functional sense of smell is essential for evaluating and enjoying food, receiving information about conspecifics, and detecting threats via airborne chemical cues. Olfactory dysfunction has been associated with an impaired quality of life, reflected by a higher incidence of undesirable mental states such as depression and social insecurity. Further, worldwide there is a growing elderly population, which experience declining olfactory acuity with age. Addressing and overcoming related olfactory dysfunction issues require a detailed understanding of peripheral and central processes implicated in olfaction. There is indeed a growing body of research unravelling molecular and cellular interactions that shape olfactory sensation. Recent studies from members of the NAOMI consortium have demonstrated that odorants entering the organism are biotransformed by metabolizing enzymes into metabolites that themselves have signaling properties. In addition, we have shown that nasal metabolism processes are very fast (millisecond range), meaning that odorous metabolites indeed have a significant impact on olfactory perception. An advanced characterization of this hitherto neglected mechanism could radically change our understanding of olfactory detection.The underlying enzymatic processes involved in nasal odorant biotransformation have never been investigated systematically, to date, and knowledge on the odor characteristics of nasal volatile metabolites is very limited. By combining our expertise, we will explore the formation, the identity and the sensory properties of volatile odorant metabolites via animal and cellular models and in man, with the aim of gaining a comprehensive understanding of how aroma and odor perception is shaped by nasal metabolic products.