Positional Cloning of the Mouse Saccharin Preference (Sac) Locus

Margolskee

Journal of Biological Chemistry

2012

Background: There is a lack of information about the roles of neurotrophin BDNF in adult taste buds. Results: We generated taste cell-specific BDNF-overexpressing mice. Increased BDNF elevates TrkB activation, increases transcription of NCAM-TrkB, leads to larger taste buds, and increases taste cell number and taste-specific innervation. Conclusion: BDNF has local and neuronal influences. Significance: BDNF might be involved in the supertasting phenomenon.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Targeted Taste Cell-specific Overexpression of Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor in Adult Taste Buds Elevates Phosphorylated TrkB Protein Levels in Taste Cells, Increases Taste Bud Size, and Promotes Gustatory Innervation

Margolskee

Journal of Biological Chemistry

2012

“…Sweet tastants, including artificial sweeteners, bind to a heterodimer of the G protein-coupled receptors, T1R2 and T1R3. [28][29][30][31][32][33] Similarly, umami tastants bind to a dimer of T1R1 and T1R3. 34,35 Stimuli that give rise to bitter taste perception are known to bind with members from the T2R family of receptor proteins.…”

Section: Taste Bud Anatomy and Physiologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Taste perception, associated hormonal modulation, and nutrient intake

et al. 2015

It is well known that taste perception influences food intake. After ingestion, gustatory receptors relay sensory signals to the brain, which segregates, evaluates, and distinguishes the stimuli, leading to the experience known as "flavor." It is well accepted that five taste qualities -sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and umami -can be perceived by animals. In this review, the anatomy and physiology of human taste buds, the hormonal modulation of taste function, the importance of genetic chemosensory variation, and the influence of gustatory functioning on macronutrient selection and eating behavior are discussed. Individual genotypic variation results in specific phenotypes of food preference and nutrient intake. Understanding the role of taste in food selection and ingestive behavior is important for expanding our understanding of the factors involved in body weight maintenance and the risk of chronic diseases including obesity, atherosclerosis, cancer, diabetes, liver disease, and hypertension.

Pflugers Arch - Eur J Physiol

“…Several independent groups from USA and Japan scrutinized the human genome in a region comparable to a locus on chromosome 4 in mice, sac, that confers a taste preference for saccharin. This scan resulted in the identification of T1R3, a novel gene that was shown to be taste-specific and related to sweet-taste preference [56][57][58][59][60][61].…”

Section: T1rs Are Gpc Receptors For Sweet Tastementioning

confidence: 99%

Signal transduction and information processing in mammalian taste buds

Roper

2007

266

215

The molecular machinery for chemosensory transduction in taste buds has received considerable attention within the last decade. Consequently, we now know a great deal about sweet, bitter, and umami taste mechanisms and are gaining ground rapidly on salty and sour transduction. Sweet, bitter, and umami tastes are transduced by G-protein-coupled receptors. Salty taste may be transduced by epithelial Na channels similar to those found in renal tissues. Sour transduction appears to be initiated by intracellular acidification acting on acidsensitive membrane proteins. Once a taste signal is generated in a taste cell, the subsequent steps involve secretion of neurotransmitters, including ATP and serotonin. It is now recognized that the cells responding to sweet, bitter, and umami taste stimuli do not possess synapses and instead secrete the neurotransmitter ATP via a novel mechanism not involving conventional vesicular exocytosis. ATP is believed to excite primary sensory afferent fibers that convey gustatory signals to the brain. In contrast, taste cells that do have synapses release serotonin in response to gustatory stimulation. The postsynaptic targets of serotonin have not yet been identified. Finally, ATP secreted from receptor cells also acts on neighboring taste cells to stimulate their release of serotonin. This suggests that there is important information processing and signal coding taking place in the mammalian taste bud after gustatory stimulation.