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Updated: Apr 19, 2026

In Vivo Calcium Imaging of Taste-Induced Neural Responses in Adult Drosophila
Published on: March 7, 2025
Leptin's effect on taste bud calcium responses and transmitter secretion
Tricia L Meredith1, Alan Corcoran2, Stephen D Roper3
1Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, 1600 NW 10th Avenue, Miami, FL 33136, USA and Present address: Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA tmeredi1@fau.edu.
Abstract:
Leptin, a peptide hormone released by adipose tissue, acts on the hypothalamus to control cravings and appetite. Leptin also acts to decrease taste responses to sweet substances, though there is little detailed information regarding where leptin acts in the taste transduction cascade. The present study examined the effects of leptin on sweet-evoked responses and neuro transmitter release from isolated taste buds. Our results indicate that leptin moderately decreased sweet-evoked calcium mobilization in isolated mouse taste buds. We also employed Chinese hamster ovary biosensor cells to examine taste transmitter release from isolated taste buds. Leptin reduced ATP and increased serotonin release in response to sweet stimulation. However, leptin has no effect on bitter-evoked transmitter release, further showing that the action of leptin is sweet specific. Our results support those of previous studies, which state that leptin acts on taste tissue via the leptin receptor, most likely on Type II (Receptor) cells, but also possibly on Type III (Presynaptic) cells.
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