Biosensors for detecting changes in the level of a neurotransmitter in the central nervous system

Abstract

Provided herein are biosensors and methods for detecting one or more odorants associated with the levels, or a change in the levels, of one or more neurotransmitters in the central nervous system of a subject. In embodiments, provided are biosensors that comprise one or more populations of olfactory neurons, or cilia derived therefrom, wherein each population preferentially expresses a specific odorant receptor (OR). Also provided are biosensors comprising a cell or a population of cells engineered to express certain ORs; biosensors comprising certain isolated ORs; transgenic animals and tissues derived therefrom that preferentially express certain ORs; isolated cells or populations of cells engineered to express certain ORs; expression constructs for the preferential expression of certain ORs; and methods of using the biosensors, transgenic animals, tissues, cells, population of cells, and expression constructs disclosed herein.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.