Japan’s Kao Corporation has unveiled a technology that enables the expression of nearly 400 human olfactory receptors on the surface of cultured cells, allowing researchers to analyze how each one responds to specific molecules.
The owner of Molton Brown presented the research results at the 59th annual meeting of the Japanese Association for the Study of Taste and Smell, which took place from September 8 to 10, 2025, in Osaka.
400 olfactory receptors
Kao researchers identified and replaced the amino acids that hinder olfactory receptors from localizing to the surface of cultured cells. This modification makes it possible to reproduce the conditions necessary for in-lab odorant recognition.
Building on these achievement, Kao researchers developed ScentVista 400, a platform in which nearly 400 human olfactory receptors are individually expressed in cultured cells housed in separate wells on a microplate, allowing simultaneous measurement of receptor responses when odorants are introduced.
Decoding the response of human olfactory receptors
Using the ScentVista 400 platform, Kao scientists can track olfactory receptor activity. With this system, the team examined how roughly 400 human olfactory receptors react to substances commonly perceived as pleasant or unpleasant.
The research showed a clear pattern: odors that smell alike tend to trigger similar receptor-response profiles, while distinct smells activate different sets of receptors.
For instance, according to Kao, rose oil and geranium oil, which share a similar scent, trigger similar responses from olfactory receptors.
Conversely, ScentVista 400 also showed that indole — a compound with a dual personality, offering a jasmine-like floral scent at low concentrations and a pungent, fecal odor at higher ones — displays markedly different receptor activation patterns depending on its concentration.
According to Kao, these findings suggest new ways to transform the perception of odors to create fragrances with deodorizing effects or optimize the use of fragrance raw materials required to trigger specific olfactory responses.
