Olfactory receptors, in addition to being involved in first step of the physiological processes that leads to olfaction, occupy an important place in mammalian genomes. ORs constitute super families in these genomes. Elucidating olfactory receptor function at a molecular level can be aided by a computationally derived structure and an understanding of its interactions with odor molecules. Experimental functional analyses of olfactory receptors in conjunction with computational studies serve to validate findings and generate hypotheses. We present here a review of the research efforts in: creating computational models of olfactory receptors, identifying binding strategies for these receptors with odorant molecules, performing medium to long range simulation studies of odor ligands in the receptor binding region, and identifying amino acid positions within the receptor that are responsible for ligand-binding and olfactory receptor activation. Written as a primer and a teaching tool, this review will help researchers extend the methodologies described herein to other GPCRs.

嗅觉受体除了参与导致嗅觉的生理过程的第一步之外，还在哺乳动物基因组中占据重要地位。 OR 构成了这些基因组中的超级家族。通过计算得出的结构以及对其与气味分子相互作用的理解可以帮助在分子水平上阐明嗅觉受体的功能。嗅觉受体的实验功能分析与计算研究相结合，可以验证研究结果并产生假设。我们在此对以下方面的研究工作进行回顾：创建嗅觉受体的计算模型，确定这些受体与气味分子的结合策略，对受体结合区域中的气味配体进行中长期模拟研究，以及识别其中的氨基酸位置负责配体结合和嗅觉受体激活的受体。这篇综述作为入门书和教学工具，将帮助研究人员将本文描述的方法扩展到其他 GPCR。