The Molecular Nose

At the MPI for Polymer Research, the combination of chemistry and biology resulted in the development of novel experimental strategies for investigation of membrane proteins. Employing the well-known strategy of in-vitro transcription and translation, proteins with subtle sensing capabilities, such as olfactory receptors, are generated and characterized. To obtain such proteins, an artificial membrane system is generated and a cell extract containing the genetic information of the receptor species of interest is added on the membrane surface. The protein synthesis machinery in the cell extract is still functional and inserts the olfactory receptor molecules into the lipid membrane. Finally, we can investigate the resulting proteins by optical and biochemical methods.