The scent of atherosclerosis

Besides the involvement of genes responsible for smell in breast cancer metastasis, olfactory receptors were found to also play a role in atherosclerosis plaque development- as reported by Katey J. Rayner and Adil Rasheed.

Atherosclerotic plaque development (atherogenesis) occurs over several decades, in the blood vessel wall, and involves the coordinated dysfunction of multiple cell types and organ systems.

Treatments targeting hypercholesterolemia and hypertension, the major risk factors of atherosclerosis, are effective at preventing fatal complications such as heart attack and stroke, but there remains a major burden of atherosclerotic disease.

Therefore, a more comprehensive understanding of the cells that drive disease, and how to therapeutically target them, is urgently needed. On page 214 of this issue, Orecchioni et al.  reveal an important role for olfactory receptor 2 (OLFR2) in atherosclerotic plaque development, identifying an additional target for intervention during the progression of atherosclerosis.

This topic and many more are to be presented in the 7th World DOS Congress on November 29-30- Tokyo, Japan.

Article DOI: doi.org/10.1126/science.abn4708

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Digital Olfaction 2022 Annual Meeting
November 29-30, 2022 – Tokyo, Japan & Online
www.digital-olfaction.com