Analysis of regulatory sequences of olfactory receptor genes

• Grant number: 17/01308-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: April 01, 2017
• End date: December 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Molecular Biology
• Principal Investigator: Bettina Malnic
• Grantee: Victor Pereira de Sá Xavier
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Olfactory receptors (ORs) act at the first step in odorant recognition. The mouse genome contains one thousand genes that code for ORs, but only one of these is expressed in each Olfactory Sensory Neuron. The mechanisms that regulate this peculiar pattern of expression are still unknown. This project aims to study OR gene regulatory elements by searching for conserved sequences in these regions using transcriptome data and computational tools. To validate the results we will perform electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA). (AU)