Making Snooty Scents

Snot or frequently appear after sneezing hard. This is the incidence of allergies and the common cold. snot It's wet, sticky, and for most people do not like it.

But snot or mucus also contain various types of proteins. Protein in mucus may play an important role in the nose. In a recent study, researchers from the University of Tokyo Japan suggests that the protein in the mucus to change the composition of odors before they even get to feel the smell of odorant receptor.

Odor receptor proteins as well. They come out of the cells that send signals about the smell to the brain, which identify the smell. That means that the sticky, wet, dirty mucus may have a more glamorous role: It may be important to smell.

It seems natural to assume a connection between smell and snot. After all, the human nose is home to the sense of smell - and out to snot.

The scientists suspect that some molecules in the mucus bring odors to other parts of the nose, where they can be detected. other molecules in the nose are enzymes, which start a chemical reaction. Several enzymes can protect the body by cutting toxic substances - such as inhaled chemicals - into smaller, safer pieces. But until now, scientists did not know whether this act of cutting can affect the smell of something.

To learn about the odor and slime, the researchers conducted experiments on mice. They took the mucus from the nose of rats. Then, they mixed with chemicals that have a particular odor.

One of these chemicals are benzaldehyde, also known as artificial almond oil. After five minutes in the mouse nose, benzaldehyde has been split into two chemicals - one which does not smell and do another.

When the researchers inactive enzyme, with boiled mucus, and then try the same experiment again, benzaldehyde is not damaged.

Part of the study showed that the mucus can alter the chemical composition of odors. Next, the researchers showed that rat brain also detect this difference.

For this part of the project, the scientists 'turned off' of chemicals in nasal mucus that normally cut rat aromatic molecules. As a result of these changes, the mouse brain reacted differently than they did before - showed that their brain has been a change.

The researchers also used mice to demonstrate that behavioral changes in mucus smell something. For the experiment, they used mice that had been trained to identify a particular odor. When scientists turn off the important molecules in the mucus mice, mice unable to recognize their favorite smell.

The scientists do not know whether the molecules in the mucus works the same way in humans. Mucus Man does have a lot of the same protein with the mucus in the nose mice, so worth investigating. Conduct preliminary studies show that the human nose can change the scent, so cover your nose when you sneeze. [via sciencenews]