Odorant Binding Protein 2A (OBP2A)

OBP2-A; OBP; OBP2C; OBPIIa; hOBPIIa

SPN	U167
HGNC	23380
MGI	2387617
PubMed	11054126
UniProt	Q9NY56
Wiki	OBP2A

Odorant-binding protein 2a is a small extracellular protein belonging to the lipocalin superfamily. The protein is thought to transport small, hydrophobic, volatile molecules or odorants through the nasal mucus to olfactory receptors, and may also function as a scavenger of highly concentrated or toxic odors.

The protein is expressed as a monomer in the nasal mucus, and can bind diverse types of odorants with a higher affinity for aldehydes and fatty acids. This gene and a highly similar family member are located in a cluster of lipocalin genes on chromosome 9. Alternatively spliced transcript variants have been described, but their biological validity has not been determined.

Reference

"A novel human odorant-binding protein gene family resulting from genomic duplicons at 9q34: differential expression in the oral and genital spheres."
Hum. Mol. Genet. 9:289-301(2000) [PubMed] [Europe PMC] [Abstract]

"DNA sequence and analysis of human chromosome 9."
Nature 429:369-374(2004) [PubMed] [Europe PMC] [Abstract]

"The status, quality, and expansion of the NIH full-length cDNA project: the Mammalian Gene Collection (MGC)."
Genome Res. 14:2121-2127(2004) [PubMed] [Europe PMC] [Abstract]

"Evidence of an odorant-binding protein in the human olfactory mucus: location, structural characterization, and odorant-binding properties."
Biochemistry 41:7241-7252(2002) [PubMed] [Europe PMC] [Abstract]