Synthetic peptide mimicking of binding sites on olfactory receptor protein for use in 'electronic nose'

A putative tertiary structure model of the dog's olfactory receptor (olfd canfa) is established in this study. By using a target odorous compound (trimethylamine), it is possible to locate the most plausible binding sites between the receptor model structure and the target odorous molecules through computer docking simulations. The two short oligo-peptide sequences (orp61 and orp188) for trimethylamine sensing were identified, synthesized, purified and coated onto the surface of the separate piezoelectric gold electrodes. These two peptides show a high binding capability for trimethylamine. To further enhance the sensitivity of the polypeptides towards the target compound, the polarity and the degree of docking were changed by a site-specific modification technique. The orp61 sequence was modified by substituting two amino acids in the binding pocket resulting in 33% increase in sensitivity towards trimethylamine and reduced noises from other non-target chemicals. The techniques used in the present study offer a unique approach for synthesizing peptides in mimicking binding domain of olfactory receptors. The approach can be easily applied to further development of recognized molecules for gas sensing, especially for use in 'electronic noses'. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.