Extracellular potentials recording in intact taste epithelium by microelectrode array for a taste sensor

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Sensory Science
• Bioengineering

Background:

• Taste receptor cells generate action potentials crucial for taste perception.
• Understanding taste signal spatiotemporal patterns is vital for biomedical and engineering applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a novel taste sensor for recording action potentials from rat taste receptor cells.
• To investigate the electrophysiological responses of taste receptor cells to basic taste stimuli.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a microelectrode array (MEA) platform to immobilize biological epithelium.
• Recorded multi-channel action potentials from taste receptor cells in response to sour, salt, bitter, sweet, and umami stimuli.
• Analyzed temporal characteristics using time-domain and frequency-domain methods, and applied principal component analysis (PCA) for signal clustering.

Main Results:

• Recorded action potentials exhibited distinct spatiotemporal patterns for each of the five basic tastes.
• Taste buds demonstrated simultaneous spontaneous signal release and differential responses to various taste stimulations.
• PCA successfully clustered signals based on different taste stimuli, enabling discrimination.

Conclusions:

• The developed taste sensor provides an effective and reliable platform for recognizing and distinguishing basic taste qualities.
• The study highlights the significance of spatiotemporal patterns in taste signal processing.