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Updated: Jul 20, 2026

Whole-Mount Staining, Visualization, and Analysis of Fungiform, Circumvallate, and Palate Taste Buds
Published on: February 11, 2021
Neoculin, a taste-modifying protein, is recognized by human sweet taste receptor
Ken-ichiro Nakajima1, Tomiko Asakura, Hideaki Oike
1Department of Applied Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Japan.
Abstract:
Neoculin, a sweet protein occurring in Curculigo latifolia, is unique in that it also has taste-modifying activity capable of converting sourness to sweetness. Calcium imaging analysis with HEK cells expressing the human sweet taste receptor, hT1R2/T1R3 demonstrated that the intracellular calcium concentration increased following the addition of 20 microM neoculin. The use of lactisole, a blocker of hT1R3, inhibited the intracellular calcium concentration increase almost completely. In sensory tests, when acetate buffers with different pH values were placed on the tongue after tasting neoculin, a higher intensity of sweetness was detected at lower pH. The sweetness was also suppressed with the addition of lactisole. These results suggest that both the sweetness and the taste-modifying activity are mediated via the human sweet taste receptor.
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