Taste transduction and channel synapses in taste buds

The variety of taste sensations, including sweet, umami, bitter, sour, and salty, arises from diverse taste cells, each of which expresses specific taste sensor molecules and associated components for downstream signal transduction cascades. Recent years have witnessed major advances in our understa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Pflügers Archiv Vol. 473; no. 1; pp. 3 - 13
Main Authors: Taruno, Akiyuki, Nomura, Kengo, Kusakizako, Tsukasa, Ma, Zhongming, Nureki, Osamu, Foskett, J. Kevin
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.01.2021
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:
Action potential
Amiloride
Animals
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
Cell Biology
Exocytosis
Human Physiology
Humans
Invited Review
Molecular Medicine
Molecular modelling
Neurosciences
Neurotransmission
Neurotransmitter release
Receptors
Salty taste
Sensory neurons
Signal transduction
Sour taste
Structure-function relationships
Sweet taste
Synapses
Synapses - classification
Synapses - physiology
Synaptic Transmission - physiology
Synaptic vesicles
Taste
Taste - physiology
Taste buds
Taste Buds - physiology
Taste receptors
Taste transduction
Umami
Synapse
Taste
Ion channel
Sensory
CALHM
ISSN:0031-6768, 1432-2013, 1432-2013
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The variety of taste sensations, including sweet, umami, bitter, sour, and salty, arises from diverse taste cells, each of which expresses specific taste sensor molecules and associated components for downstream signal transduction cascades. Recent years have witnessed major advances in our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying transduction of basic tastes in taste buds, including the identification of the bona fide sour sensor H + channel OTOP1, and elucidation of transduction of the amiloride-sensitive component of salty taste (the taste of sodium) and the TAS1R-independent component of sweet taste (the taste of sugar). Studies have also discovered an unconventional chemical synapse termed “channel synapse” which employs an action potential-activated CALHM1/3 ion channel instead of exocytosis of synaptic vesicles as the conduit for neurotransmitter release that links taste cells to afferent neurons. New images of the channel synapse and determinations of the structures of CALHM channels have provided structural and functional insights into this unique synapse. In this review, we discuss the current view of taste transduction and neurotransmission with emphasis on recent advances in the field.
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ISSN:0031-6768
1432-2013
1432-2013
DOI:10.1007/s00424-020-02464-4