Taste Receptors in Upper Airway Immunity

Taste receptors are well known for their role in communicating information from the tongue to the brain about nutritional value or potential toxicity of ingested substances. More recently, it has been shown that taste receptors are expressed in other locations throughout the body, including the airway, gastrointestinal tract, brain and pancreas. The roles of some 'extraoral' taste receptors are largely unknown, but emerging research suggests that bitter and sweet taste receptors in the airway are capable of sensing bacteria and modulating innate immunity. This chapter focuses on the role of bitter and sweet taste receptors in human airway innate immunity and their clinical relevance to rhinosinusitis. The bitter taste receptor T2R38 expressed in sinonasal cilia detects bitter bacterial quorum-sensing molecules and activates a nitric oxide-dependent innate immune response; moreover, there are polymorphisms in T2R38 that underlie susceptibility to chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). Bitter and sweet receptors in sinonasal solitary chemosensory cells control secretion of antimicrobial peptides in the upper airway and may have a profound impact on airway infections in patients with CRS and diabetes. Future research on taste receptors in the airway has enormous potential to expand our understanding of host-pathogen immune interactions and provide novel therapeutic targets.