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Loss of Smell Therapies Informed by Olfactory Receptor Spatial Mapping
A new study published in Cell titled, “A spatial code governs olfactory receptor choice and aligns sensory maps in the nose and brain,” led by researchers from Harvard Medical School (HMS) has created the first detailed map of the spatial distribution of over 1,000 olfactory receptors in the epithelium. The study informs the development of therapies for loss of smell, where treatment options are limited.
The researchers examined approximately 5.5 million neurons in more than 300 individual mice using single-cell sequencing and spatial transcriptomics. Results showed that neurons are organized into tight, overlapping, horizontal stripes from the top to the bottom of the nose based on the type of smell receptor expressed. This highly organized receptor map was consistent across mouse models and mirrored the organization of smell maps in the brain. Similar maps have been observed in vision, hearing, and touch.
Notably, the olfactory map was informed by a gradient of retinoic acid in the nose, which allowed each neuron to express the correct type of smell receptor based on its spatial location.
“Our results bring order to a system that was previously thought to lack order, which changes conceptually how we think this works,” said Sandeep (Robert) Datta, PhD, professor of neurobiology at HMS and senior author and corresponding author of the study. “We show that development can achieve this feat of organizing a thousand different smell receptors into an incredibly precise map that’s consistent across animals.”
The authors also found that the receptor map in the nose matches up with smell maps in the olfactory bulb of the brain, shedding insight into how information moves from the nose to the brain.
While sensory maps that describe how receptors in the eye, ear, and skin are organized to capture and interpret auditory, visual, and touch information, mapping olfactory receptors has been a longstanding challenge due to high receptor diversity. As an example, mice have approximately 20 million olfactory neurons that express more than a thousand types of smell receptors, compared with only three main types of visual receptors for color vision. Each type of smell receptor detects a unique subset of odor molecules.
The team is also studying smell receptors in human tissue to understand to what degree the smell map is consistent across species to inform treatments, such as stem cell therapies and loss of smell and its consequences, such as an increased risk of depression.
“Smell has a really profound and pervasive effect on human health, so restoring it is not just for pleasure and safety but also for psychological well-being,” Datta said. “Without understanding this map, we’re doomed to fail in developing new treatments.”
The post Loss of Smell Therapies Informed by Olfactory Receptor Spatial Mapping appeared first on GEN – Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News.
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STAT+: Pharmalittle: We’re reading about Pfizer’s emergency penicillin program, a Sanofi diabetes drug, and more
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to another working week. We hope the weekend respite was relaxing and invigorating because that oh-too-familiar routine of meetings, deadlines, and the like has returned with a vengeance. But what can you do? The world, such as it is, continues to spin. So time to give it a little nudge in a better direction by firing up our spiffy new kettle — the last one overheated — for a cup of stimulation. Given this is the start of the week, we are reaching for Jack Daniels. Yes, this is a real option for aspiring connoisseurs. Feel free to join us. Meanwhile, here are some tidbits to help you along. Best of luck accomplishing your goals today, and of course, do keep in touch. …
The Trump administration proposed to change a policy that is designed to prevent drugmakers from avoiding Medicare price negotiation by adding active ingredients to drugs, STAT tells us. The policy is part of an annual proposed rule that establishes the process that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services uses to choose the next 20 drugs and biologics for price negotiation. Those drugs will be announced by Feb. 1, 2027, and their negotiated prices will take effect in 2029. Iif a company adds a second drug to one that is eligible for negotiation, the FDA considers the resulting combination drug a new product, giving it additional time before price negotiation. Now, the administration is proposing to subject certain types of combination biologics to negotiation in some cases.
German Health Minister Nina Warken said that drugmakers will not be exempted from cost-cutting measures, after some companies warned they may be unable to launch innovative medicines in Europe unless governments agree to pay more than they historically have, Reuters writes. Proposed legislation in Germany will cap rapidly growing costs in the statutory health insurance system. Warken said she realizes many drug companies are under pressure, and the planned legislation is not going to bring them any extra revenue. But she maintained Germany remains an attractive location for the pharmaceutical industry thanks to reimbursement under the statutory health insurance scheme and opportunities for clinical trials. So exempting the industry from the proposed legislation is out of the question.
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to another working week. We hope the weekend respite was relaxing and invigorating because that oh-too-familiar routine of meetings, deadlines, and the like has returned with a vengeance. But what can you do? The world, such as it is, continues to spin. So time to give it a little nudge in a better direction by firing up our spiffy new kettle — the last one overheated — for a cup of stimulation. Given this is the start of the week, we are reaching for Jack Daniels. Yes, this is a real option for aspiring connoisseurs. Feel free to join us. Meanwhile, here are some tidbits to help you along. Best of luck accomplishing your goals today, and of course, do keep in touch. …
The Trump administration proposed to change a policy that is designed to prevent drugmakers from avoiding Medicare price negotiation by adding active ingredients to drugs, STAT tells us. The policy is part of an annual proposed rule that establishes the process that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services uses to choose the next 20 drugs and biologics for price negotiation. Those drugs will be announced by Feb. 1, 2027, and their negotiated prices will take effect in 2029. Iif a company adds a second drug to one that is eligible for negotiation, the FDA considers the resulting combination drug a new product, giving it additional time before price negotiation. Now, the administration is proposing to subject certain types of combination biologics to negotiation in some cases.
German Health Minister Nina Warken said that drugmakers will not be exempted from cost-cutting measures, after some companies warned they may be unable to launch innovative medicines in Europe unless governments agree to pay more than they historically have, Reuters writes. Proposed legislation in Germany will cap rapidly growing costs in the statutory health insurance system. Warken said she realizes many drug companies are under pressure, and the planned legislation is not going to bring them any extra revenue. But she maintained Germany remains an attractive location for the pharmaceutical industry thanks to reimbursement under the statutory health insurance scheme and opportunities for clinical trials. So exempting the industry from the proposed legislation is out of the question.
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STAT+: Where ‘democracy met science,’ 50 years ago
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Good morning. At a Cambridge bar on Saturday, I watched straight-seeming couples congregate by a television showing basketball, while a more queer-coded crowd lingered at another showing soccer. I don’t think that’s anything, really, but it was fun.
This ‘never event’ is happening more frequently
A child born with congenital syphilis could suffer dire consequences: bone deformities, brain damage, blindness, deafness, and more. But that should be a ‘never event’ as public health officials say: A pregnant person can receive an injectable form of penicillin to prevent the infection. Somehow, rates keep going up anyway. Between 2012 and 2024, the U.S. saw an 800% increase in babies born with the disease. And since last year, there’s been a shortage of the drug.
Get your daily dose of health and medicine every weekday with STAT’s free newsletter Morning Rounds. Sign up here.
Good morning. At a Cambridge bar on Saturday, I watched straight-seeming couples congregate by a television showing basketball, while a more queer-coded crowd lingered at another showing soccer. I don’t think that’s anything, really, but it was fun.
This ‘never event’ is happening more frequently
A child born with congenital syphilis could suffer dire consequences: bone deformities, brain damage, blindness, deafness, and more. But that should be a ‘never event’ as public health officials say: A pregnant person can receive an injectable form of penicillin to prevent the infection. Somehow, rates keep going up anyway. Between 2012 and 2024, the U.S. saw an 800% increase in babies born with the disease. And since last year, there’s been a shortage of the drug.
Sanofi makes no mention of the Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher. Tzield was awarded the ticket in October 2025, but Sanofi requested withdrawal from the program after former CDER head Tracy Beth Høeg reportedly expressed skepticism of the drug.
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STAT+: Pharmalittle: We’re reading about Pfizer’s emergency penicillin program, a Sanofi diabetes drug, and more
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