Olfactory receptors (ORs) form the most important chemosensory receptor family responsible for our sense of smell in the nasal olfactory epithelium. This receptor family belongs to the class A G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Recent research has indicated that ORs are involved in many nonolfactory physiological processes in extranasal tissue, such as the brain, pancreas, and testes, and implies the possible role of their dysregulation in various diseases. The recently released structures of OR51E2 and consensus OR52 have also unveiled the uniqueness of ORs from other class A GPCR members. In this review, we discuss these recent developments and computational modeling efforts toward understanding the structural properties of unresolved ORs, which could guide potential future OR-targeted drug discovery.

中文翻译：

---

嗅觉受体的结构和功能

嗅觉受体 (OR) 是鼻嗅上皮中最重要的化学感应受体家族，负责我们的嗅觉。该受体家族属于 AG 类蛋白偶联受体 (GPCR)。最近的研究表明，OR 参与鼻外组织（如大脑、胰腺和睾丸）的许多非嗅觉生理过程，并暗示其失调在各种疾病中可能发挥作用。最近发布的OR51E2和共识OR52的结构也揭示了其他A类GPCR成员OR的独特性。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了这些最新进展和计算建模工作，以了解未解决的 OR 的结构特性，这可以指导未来潜在的 OR 靶向药物发现。