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Taste neurons have multiple inductive roles in mammalian gustatory development
1Department of Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109-1048, USA. boakley@umich.edu
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
|February 4, 1999
Summary
Taste axons are crucial for developing taste buds and gustatory epithelia. Their absence, due to a lack of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), impairs taste structure development in mice.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Biology
- Sensory Biology
Background:
- Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays a role in neuronal development.
- Taste axon innervation is essential for the development of gustatory structures.
- Previous research suggests a link between innervation and taste bud formation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of BDNF-dependent taste axons in gustatory development.
- To determine the specific contributions of taste axons to taste bud and papilla formation.
- To elucidate the inductive interactions between gustatory innervation and mammalian gustatory structures.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing bdnf null mutant mice to study the effects of absent BDNF-dependent taste axons.
- Observing gustatory development in both mutant and normal mice postnatally.
- Analyzing the development of taste epithelia, taste buds, and papillae.
Main Results:
- Embryonic loss of BDNF-dependent taste axons in bdnf null mutant mice impairs gustatory epithelia and taste bud development.
- In normal mice, gustatory development, promoted by axons, continues for at least two weeks postnatally.
- Taste axons in fungiform, foliate, vallate, and nasopalate papillae promote papilla development, establish competent gustatory cells, and mature taste buds.
Conclusions:
- Gustatory innervation is critical for mammalian gustatory structure development.
- Taste axons play a vital role in promoting papilla development.
- Innervation is essential for establishing gustatory cell competence and mature taste buds.