The receptors for mammalian sweet and umami taste

Grace Q Zhao ¹, Yifeng Zhang , Mark A Hoon

⁰Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Departments of Biology and Neurosciences, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.

Cell +

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November 26, 2003

View abstract on PubMed

Summary

The study shows that T1R-receptors are essential for sweet and umami taste perception in mice. Eliminating specific T1R-subunits altered taste detection, proving their critical role in taste modality sensing.

Area Of Science

Neuroscience
Sensory Biology
Genetics

Background

Sweet and umami tastes are key attractive sensory modalities in humans.
T1R receptors, specifically T1R1+3 (umami) and T1R2+3 (sweet), are candidate G-protein-coupled receptors responsible for these tastes.

Purpose Of The Study

To characterize the behavioral and physiological roles of T1R1, T1R2, and T1R3 in taste perception.
To investigate the molecular basis of sweet tastant recognition and neural coding.

Main Methods

Generation and analysis of T1R1, T1R2, and T1R3 knockout mice.
Engineering mice to express human T1R2 (hT1R2) or a modified opioid receptor (RASSL) in sweet-sensing cells.

Main Results

Sweet and umami taste perception are strictly dependent on T1R-receptors.
Selective deletion of T1R subunits differentially impaired the detection and perception of sweet and umami tastes.
Expression of hT1R2 in mice resulted in human-like sweet taste preferences.
Expression of RASSL in sweet cells induced attraction to a synthetic opiate.

Conclusions

T1R-receptors are indispensable for sweet and umami taste detection and perception.
The selectivity of sweet taste cells is determined by the specific receptors they express, not solely by the cell type.
These findings highlight the crucial role of T1R subunits in mediating specific taste modalities and shaping taste preferences.

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