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Acid and salt responses in mouse taste cells
T Miyamoto1, R Fujiyama, Y Okada
1Department of Physiology, Nagasaki University School of Dentistry, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, 852-8588, Nagasaki, Japan. miyamoto@net.nagasaki-u.ac.jp
Progress in Neurobiology
|June 1, 2000
Summary
Investigating taste cell responses to acid and salt stimuli under quasi-natural conditions revealed distinct mechanisms. Sour transduction involves proton-gated and chloride conductances, while salt responses show amiloride-sensitive and insensitive components.
Area of Science:
- Taste receptor cell physiology
- Sensory neuroscience
- Molecular biology
Background:
- Investigating natural taste cell responses to acid and salt stimuli is challenging due to stimulus toxicity and the need for specific stimulation methods.
- Conventional microelectrode techniques have limitations in studying these responses in isolated taste cells.
- Patch clamp techniques require rapid, localized stimulation to the apical membrane while maintaining taste bud polarity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present recent findings on acid and salt taste transduction mechanisms under quasi-natural conditions using patch clamp techniques.
- To compare experimental results with previously proposed hypotheses regarding taste transduction.
- To elucidate the specific ion conductances and receptor mechanisms involved in sour and salt taste perception.
Main Methods:
- Development of a procedure for quasi-natural stimulation of taste cells, enabling rapid, localized stimuli to the apical membrane.
- Utilizing patch clamp techniques to record taste cell responses.
- Applying amiloride to differentiate between various ion channel contributions to taste transduction.
Main Results:
- Acid-induced taste cell responses are not suppressed by amiloride, suggesting involvement of apical proton-gated and basolateral chloride conductances in sour transduction.
- Salt-induced responses exhibit both amiloride-sensitive and amiloride-insensitive components.
- The amiloride-insensitive salt response component may involve apical sodium-gated cation conductance and basolateral chloride conductance.
Conclusions:
- Sour taste transduction likely involves apical proton-gated and basolateral chloride conductances.
- Salt taste transduction is complex, involving multiple amiloride-sensitive and insensitive pathways, including sodium-gated conductances.
- Both acid and salt taste perception appear to rely on specific receptor mechanisms for inorganic cations (H+ and Na+) at the apical membrane.