Odor, Taste, and Light Receptors in Unusual Locations

From the gut and airways to the blood, muscle, and skin, diverse sensory receptors are doing unconventional things.

Written bySandeep Ravindran

| 2 min read

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Originally thought to be present only in the nose, olfactory receptors exist in many locations in the body, including in the skin, heart, lungs, kidneys, muscles, and sperm. They are involved in a variety of functions, from regulating blood pressure to enhancing muscle and skin regeneration.

Melanopsin, a light-sensitive pigment not involved in vision, is expressed in many different blood vessels. When exposed to blue wavelengths of light, the melanopsin and G protein–coupled receptor kinase 2 (GRK2) mediate the relaxation of the vessels. The combination of light and a GRK2 inhibitor resulted in a 75 percent to 100 percent relaxation of blood vessels in vitro.

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