The expression of GPCRs that detect smell and taste has traditionally been thought to be tissue specific. However, studies over the past two decades strongly suggest that these receptors are expressed in many other tissues in the body, and can be potential drug targets. However, studies on structure-activity relationships of olfactory and taste receptors have been hampered due to scarce structural information and inadequate sequence similarities with the well resolved GPCR classes. Our Binary Star Research Team has been deeply involved in developing reliable models and utilizing the associated structural information for the development of novel scaffolds that target extra-oral and extra-olfactory taste and olfactory GPCRs.
