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Receptor and transduction processes for umami taste.

¹Monell Chemical Senses Center, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Department of Biochemistry, School of Dental Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.

The Journal of Nutrition

|March 29, 2000

Summary

Umami taste perception involves specific glutamate receptors. Both ionotropic and metabotropic glutamate receptors likely contribute to umami taste transduction in taste cells.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Sensory Science
Molecular Biology

Background:

The unique taste of umami suggests a specific receptor mechanism at the taste cell level.
Taste synergism between monosodium glutamate (MSG) and 5'-ribonucleotides offers a pharmacological tool to study umami taste transduction.
Previous research indicated specific L-glutamate recognition by taste tissues and suggested peripheral mechanisms for nucleotide synergism.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying umami taste transduction.
To differentiate between ionotropic and metabotropic glutamate receptor hypotheses for umami taste.
To explore the role of specific glutamate receptor subtypes in taste cell signaling.

Main Methods:

Review of existing neurophysiological, biochemical, and pharmacological studies.
Analysis of data from calcium-imaging and patch-clamp studies on rodent taste cells.
Examination of studies identifying metabotropic glutamate receptor 4 (mGluR4) expression in taste buds.

Main Results:

Evidence supports both N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-type ionotropic glutamate receptors and metabotropic glutamate receptors in umami taste.
Ionotropic receptors mediate glutamate-induced depolarization via ion channel conductance, modulated by 5'-ribonucleotides.
Metabotropic receptors (mGluR4) are expressed in taste buds and mediate sustained cellular responses to glutamate.

Conclusions:

Both ionotropic and metabotropic glutamate receptor pathways are likely involved in umami taste transduction.
Umami signal reception and transduction may be a collective function of multiple cells within the taste bud.
Further research is needed to fully elucidate the complex mechanisms of umami taste perception.

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