The cells and logic for mammalian sour taste detection

Angela L. Huang, Xiaoke Chen, Mark A. Hoon, Jayaram Chandrashekar, Wei Guo, Dimitri Tränkner, Nicholas J. P. Ryba and Charles S. Zuker ()
Additional contact information
Angela L. Huang: University of California at San Diego
Xiaoke Chen: University of California at San Diego
Mark A. Hoon: National Institutes of Health
Jayaram Chandrashekar: University of California at San Diego
Wei Guo: University of California at San Diego
Dimitri Tränkner: University of California at San Diego
Nicholas J. P. Ryba: National Institutes of Health
Charles S. Zuker: University of California at San Diego

Nature, 2006, vol. 442, issue 7105, 934-938

Abstract: Acid test In recent years the molecular mechanisms of three of the five basic taste sensations in mammals have been identified: sweet, bitter and umami (monosodium glutamate). The others, sour (or 'acid') and salt, were elusive. Now the cells and a candidate receptor mediating sour taste have been identified. PKD2L1, a polycystic kidney disease-like ion channel, is proposed to act as part of the mammalian sour taste receptor, and shown to define the population of cells on the tongue required for sour taste. PKD2L1 is also found in neurons around the central canal of the spinal cord that trigger action potentials in response to a fall in extracellular pH. These cells could be long-sought components of the cerebrospinal fluid chemosensory system. This work points to a common basis for acid sensing in very different physiological settings. On the cover, tongue tissue with taste receptor cells labelled red for sour sensing and green for sweet, umami and bitter.

Date: 2006
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature05084 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:442:y:2006:i:7105:d:10.1038_nature05084

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/nature05084

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().