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Updated: Jul 16, 2026
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Whole-Mount Staining, Visualization, and Analysis of Fungiform, Circumvallate, and Palate Taste Buds
Published on: February 11, 2021
Converging Signaling Networks Drive Taste Bud Morphogenesis, Turnover, and Regeneration
In Young Jo1, Jin-Woo Kim2, Jae Kyeom Kim3,4
1Department of Radiation Oncology, Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital, Cheonan 31151, Republic of Korea.
International Journal of Molecular Sciences
|July 15, 2026
Summary
Taste bud renewal relies on WNT/β-catenin and HH signaling for development and maintenance. Gustatory neurons and LGR5/LGR6-RSPO-WNT pathways are crucial for progenitor activity and taste bud regeneration.
Area of Science:
- Cell Biology
- Developmental Biology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Taste buds are continuously renewed sensory organs.
- Development, maintenance, and repair share molecular pathways.
- Key signaling pathways like WNT/β-catenin and HH are involved.
Purpose of the Study:
- To elucidate the molecular circuitry underlying taste bud development, maintenance, and repair.
- To identify key signaling pathways and transcription factors governing taste progenitor cell activity and lineage allocation.
- To investigate the role of gustatory neurons in supporting the taste bud niche.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of WNT/β-catenin and HH signaling during embryogenesis.
- Investigation of LGR5/LGR6-RSPO-WNT signaling in adult taste bud maintenance.
- Neuron-specific ablation of Rspo2 in the petrosal ganglion using AAV-Cre.
- Examination of transcriptional programs (POU2F3, ASCL1, NKX2-2) for lineage allocation.
- Study of progenitor cell dynamics (LGR5+, KRT14+) after denervation or irradiation.
Main Results:
- WNT/β-catenin signaling promotes taste placode formation and Shh expression; SHH refines papilla spacing.
- SOX2 is essential for taste competence and progenitor maintenance.
- LGR5/LGR6-RSPO-WNT signaling sustains adult progenitor activity, with gustatory neurons contributing RSPO2.
- Neuron-specific Rspo2 ablation severely impairs taste bud regeneration.
- Specific transcription factors (POU2F3, ASCL1) govern taste cell lineage allocation.
- LGR5+/KRT14+ progenitors are key for regeneration, with potential plasticity in K8-lineage cells.
Conclusions:
- Taste bud renewal involves intricate molecular crosstalk between epithelial and neuronal components.
- WNT, HH, and LGR5/LGR6-RSPO-WNT signaling pathways are critical for taste bud homeostasis and regeneration.
- Gustatory neurons play a vital supportive role in maintaining the taste bud progenitor niche.
- Transcriptional programs dictate taste cell fate, while specific progenitors drive regeneration after injury.
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