Olfactory receptors interact with odorant molecules in the
nose, to initiate a neuronal response that triggers the perception
of a smell. The olfactory receptor proteins are members of a large
family of G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) arising from single
coding-exon genes. Olfactory receptors share a 7-transmembrane
domain structure with many neurotransmitter and hormone receptors
and are responsible for the recognition and G protein-mediated
transduction of odorant signals. The olfactory receptor gene family
is the largest in the genome. The nomenclature assigned to the
olfactory receptor genes and proteins for this organism is
independent of other organisms.
