Hyperpolarization-activated channels HCN1 and HCN4 mediate responses to sour stimuli

David R. Stevens, Reinhard Seifert, Bernd Bufe, Frank Müller, Elisabeth Kremmer, Renate Gauss, Wolfgang Meyerhof, U. Benjamin Kaupp and Bernd Lindemann ()
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David R. Stevens: Universität des Saarlandes
Reinhard Seifert: Institute for Biological Information Processing, Forschungszentrum Jülich
Bernd Bufe: Deutsches Institut für Ernährungsforschung
Frank Müller: Institute for Biological Information Processing, Forschungszentrum Jülich
Elisabeth Kremmer: Institute for Molecular Immunology, GSF
Renate Gauss: Institute for Biological Information Processing, Forschungszentrum Jülich
Wolfgang Meyerhof: Deutsches Institut für Ernährungsforschung
U. Benjamin Kaupp: Institute for Biological Information Processing, Forschungszentrum Jülich
Bernd Lindemann: Universität des Saarlandes

Nature, 2001, vol. 413, issue 6856, 631-635

Abstract: Abstract Sour taste is initiated by protons acting at receptor proteins or channels. In vertebrates, transduction of this taste quality involves several parallel pathways1,2,3,4,5. Here we examine the effects of sour stimuli on taste cells in slices of vallate papilla from rat. From a subset of cells, we identified a hyperpolarization-activated current that was enhanced by sour stimulation at the taste pore. This current resembled Ih found in neurons and cardio-myocytes6,7, a current carried by members of the family of hyperpolarization-activated and cyclic-nucleotide-gated (HCN) channels8,9,10,11,12,13. We show by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry that HCN1 and HCN4 are expressed in a subset of taste cells. By contrast, gustducin, the G-protein involved in bitter and sweet taste14, is not expressed in these cells. Lowering extracellular pH causes a dose-dependent flattening of the activation curve of HCN channels and a shift in the voltage of half-maximal activation to more positive voltages. Our results indicate that HCN channels are gated by extracellular protons and may act as receptors for sour taste.

Date: 2001
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DOI: 10.1038/35098087

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