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How do odorant-degrading enzymes help prevent continued responses to old smells?
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Chemoreception
Animals, such as this pine grosbeak, use chemoreception to respond to chemicals that can be tasted and smelled in their environments. Many of these chemicals affect behaviors such as food preference and defense.
Odorant-degrading enzymes play a critical role in maintaining the sensitivity of the olfactory system by clearing odor molecules from the immediate environment of the receptor cells.1
These enzymes are located within the mucus or other fluids that bathe the sensitive endings of the receptor cells. By breaking down or removing these chemical stimuli, the enzymes ensure that the receptor cells do not continue to respond to an odor that is no longer relevant to the animal. Without this mechanism, the persistence of odor molecules would prevent the system from effectively detecting new or changing environmental signals, as the receptors would remain occupied by old stimuli.1