Harnessing thermal fluctuations for selectivity gain

Abstract

Selectivity of olfactory receptor neuron (ORN) is compared with that of its receptor proteins ($R$) with fluctuations of odor binding-releasing process taken into account. The binding-releasing process is modeled as $N$ Bernoulli trials, where $N$ is the total number of $R$ per ORN. Dimensionless selectivities for both R and ORN are introduced and compared with each other. It is found the ORN's selectivity can be much higher then that of its receptor proteins. This effect is concentration-dependent. Possible application for biosensors is discussed.