The cells and peripheral representation of sodium taste in mice

Jayaram Chandrashekar, Christina Kuhn, Yuki Oka, David A. Yarmolinsky, Edith Hummler, Nicholas J. P. Ryba and Charles S. Zuker ()
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Jayaram Chandrashekar: University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0649, USA
Christina Kuhn: National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA
Yuki Oka: University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0649, USA
David A. Yarmolinsky: University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0649, USA
Edith Hummler: Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne
Nicholas J. P. Ryba: National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA
Charles S. Zuker: University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0649, USA

Nature, 2010, vol. 464, issue 7286, 297-301

Abstract: Salt to taste Mammals are repelled by large concentrations of salts but attracted to low concentrations of sodium. In mice, the latter behaviour can be blocked by the ion-channel inhibitor amiloride. Now mice genetically engineered to lack the drug's target sodium channel, ENaC, in taste receptor neurons have been found to lack both salt sensing and sodium taste responses. Thus sodium sensing, like the four other taste modalities (sweet, sour, bitter and umami), is mediated by dedicated taste-receptor cells. Though because sodium sensing is amiloride-insensitive in primates, how this relates to our ability to taste salt remains unclear.

Date: 2010
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DOI: 10.1038/nature08783

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