Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 16, 2026
07:57
Generation and Culture of Lingual Organoids Derived from Adult Mouse Taste Stem Cells
Published on: April 5, 2021
Taste cell formation does not require gustatory and somatosensory innervation
Akira Ito1, Irina V Nosrat, Christopher A Nosrat
1Department of Bioscience Research, College of Dentistry, and Center for Cancer Research, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA.
Neuroscience Letters
|January 30, 2010
Summary
Taste bud development initially occurs without innervation. However, nerve fibers are essential for taste bud and papilla development during the synaptogenic stage, impacting gustatory and somatosensory innervation.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Biology
- Sensory Biology
Background:
- The role of innervation in taste bud and papilla development is a long-standing debate.
- Neurotrophins, such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and neurotrophin-3 (NT-3), are crucial for establishing lingual sensory innervation.
- Previous studies showed BDNF deficiency severely impacts gustatory innervation and taste buds, while NT-3 deficiency affects somatosensory innervation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between taste bud development and gustatory/somatosensory innervation.
- To analyze taste bud development in mice lacking both BDNF and NT-3 (BDNFxNT-3 double knockout).
Main Methods:
- Generation and analysis of BDNFxNT-3 double knockout mice.
- Histological examination of taste bud and papilla development in relation to nerve fiber presence and ramification.
Main Results:
- Taste bud formation proceeds initially without the need for nerve fiber innervation.
- Innervation becomes essential at the synaptogenic stage, specifically after nerve fibers extensively branch into the apical epithelium.
- This innervation plays a critical role in the subsequent development of taste buds and papillae.
Conclusions:
- Taste bud and papilla development are differentially regulated by innervation.
- Initial taste bud formation is innervation-independent, but later development and maturation require sensory nerve input.
- This highlights a critical role for neurotrophins and their downstream signaling in sensory organ development.
Related Concept Videos
01:24The Physiology of Taste
The perception of a salty flavor is facilitated by sodium ions within the oral salivary fluid. Upon consumption of a salty substance, salt crystals disassemble, leading to the liberation of its constituents—Na+ and Cl- ions. These ions subsequently dissolve into the salivary fluid present in the oral cavity. The external environment of the gustatory cells experiences an elevation in Na+ concentration, thereby establishing a potent concentration gradient. This gradient propels the diffusion of...
01:20Taste Buds and Receptors
Gustation, or the sense of taste, is intrinsically linked to the anatomical structures located on the tongue. This organ's surface, along with the entirety of the oral cavity, is adorned with stratified squamous epithelium. Evident on the tongue are elevated structures known as papillae (singular = papilla), which house the mechanisms for the transduction of gustatory stimuli. Four distinct types of papillae exist, each identified by their unique morphological attributes: the circumvallate,...
01:43Gustation
Gustation is a chemical sense that, along with olfaction (smell), contributes to our perception of taste. It starts with the activation of receptors by chemical compounds (tastants) dissolved in the saliva. The saliva and filiform papillae on the tongue distribute the tastants and increase their exposure to the taste receptors.
00:49The Tongue and Taste Buds
The surface of the tongue is covered with various small bumps called papillae, which either distribute what has been ingested (filiform papillae) or contain the sensory taste (or gustatory) receptor cells (fungiform, circumvallate, and foliate papillae). Embedded within each taste-related papilla are the taste buds—clusters of 30 to 100 gustatory receptor cells.
01:33Somatosensation
The somatosensory system relays sensory information from the skin, mucous membranes, limbs, and joints. Somatosensation is more familiarly known as the sense of touch. A typical somatosensory pathway includes three types of long neurons: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary neurons have cell bodies located near the spinal cord in groups of neurons called dorsal root ganglia. The sensory neurons of ganglia innervate designated areas of skin called dermatomes.
01:27Tactile and Chemical Senses
Tactile senses encompass touch, temperature, and pain, each mediated by specific receptors. Touch receptors detect mechanical energy or pressure against the skin. Sensory fibers from these receptors enter the spinal cord and relay information to the brain stem. Here, most fibers cross over to the opposite side of the brain. The touch information then moves to the thalamus, which projects a map of the body's surface onto the somatosensory areas of the parietal lobes in the cerebral cortex. This...