Progress and renewal in gustation: new insights into taste bud development

Abstract

The sense of taste, or gustation, is mediated by taste buds, which are housed in specialized taste papillae found in a stereotyped pattern on the surface of the tongue. Each bud, regardless of its location, is a collection of ∼100 cells that belong to at least five different functional classes, which transduce sweet, bitter, salt, sour and umami (the taste of glutamate) signals. Taste receptor cells harbor functional similarities to neurons but, like epithelial cells, are rapidly and continuously renewed throughout adult life. Here, I review recent advances in our understanding of how the pattern of taste buds is established in embryos and discuss the cellular and molecular mechanisms governing taste cell turnover. I also highlight how these findings aid our understanding of how and why many cancer therapies result in taste dysfunction.

LGN plays distinct roles in oral epithelial stratification, filiform papilla morphogenesis and hair follicle development

“…Analogous to the crypt-villus organization of the small intestine, progenitors are thought to lie in the interpapillary epithelium (IPE), where they contribute to the renewal of three to four neighboring papillae (Okubo et al, 2009;Tanaka et al, 2013). Although much is known about the mechanisms that regulate taste bud development Barlow, 2015), comparatively little is known about how filiform papillae form.…”

Epithelial cell behaviours during neurosensory organ formation

“…Several elegant studies, mostly in mice, have shown that Wnt/β-catenin, Shh, Bmp and Fgf signalling are required for taste bud cell specification and patterning (e.g. Barlow, 2015;Barlow and Klein, 2015;Beites et al, 2009;Bloomquist et al, 2015;Gaillard et al, 2015;Iwatsuki et al, 2007;Kapsimali and Barlow, 2013;Kapsimali et al, 2011;Liu et al, 2007Liu et al, , 2013Petersen et al, 2011;Zhou et al, 2006 (Kuo and Krasnow, 2015;Noguchi et al, 2015). (B) In the case of taste buds, motile taste bud cells can have random, confined or directed motility relative to the centre of the mass of the organ.…”

“…Mesenchyme and sensory neurons can provide additional signals, cells or innervation that contribute to induction, differentiation or patterning of the epithelium, thus complementing the capacity of the epithelial cells to construct the organ (i.e. Ahn, 2015;Barlow, 2015;Biggs and Mikkola, 2014;Hardy, 1992;Kapsimali and Barlow, 2013;Lee and Tumbar, 2012;Naveau et al, 2014;Pispa and Thesleff, 2003).…”

“…A plethora of studies have provided insights into the key molecular mechanisms that underlie cell induction and differentiation during the formation of these miniorgans (reviewed by Ahn, 2015;Aman and Piotrowski, 2011;Barlow, 2015;Biggs and Mikkola, 2014;Chitnis et al, 2012;Cutz et al, 2013;Fuchs, 2015;Fuchs and Nowak, 2008;Heller and Fuchs, 2015;Lee and Tumbar, 2012;Montell, 2008). However, it is only during the last few years that methodological improvements have rendered these organs accessible for in vivo imaging techniques.…”

Efficiency of peripheral nerve gaps restoration by different types of tissue engineering constructs according to electromyography: experimental study

“…Наявність серед клітин нервового гребеня ссавців стовбурових клітин встановлена не-щодавно [13]. Стовбурові клітини нервового гребеня (СКНГ) дають початок численним клітинам нейраль-ного фенотипу -нейронам та глії чутливих вузлів, більшості черепних нервів (за винятком зорового, нюхового, ймовірно, присінково-завиткового) [14], елементам периферійної частини смакового (за ви-нятком сенсорних клітин [15]), нюхового [16] аналіза-торів (проте, не слухового [17]), гангліям вегетативної нервової системи, нейролемоцитам ПН тощо. Клітини мезенхімального («ектомезенхімального») фенотипу та структур, що утворюються з СКНГ, включають фібробласти ПН, кістки черепа, гладенькі міоцити артерій голови та шиї, перицити судин мозку, мозкові оболонки, клітини пульпи зуба та одонтобласти, клі-тини періодонтальної зв'язки та зубного сосочка, ади-поцити та клітини дерми обличчя, сполучнотканинні елементи залоз, м'язів та сухожиль голови, стромальні клітини рогівки, м'язи війчастого тіла.…”