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Taste transduction and channel synapses in taste buds

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Abstract

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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Acknowledgments

We thank Emily R. Liman (USC) for the critical reading of the manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported by JST PRESTO JPMJPR1886 (A.T.); JSPS KAKENHI 16H06294 (O.N.); 19H03819 and 20K04908 (A.T.); Salt Science Research Foundation 18C2, 19C2, and 20C2 (A.T.); NIH R01DC018278 (Z. M., J. K. F.); and Platform Project for Supporting Drug Discovery and Life Science Research [Basis for Supporting Innovative Drug Discovery and Life Science Research (BINDS)] from AMED, under grant number JP19am01011115 (support number 1111).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Cell Physiology, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan

    Akiyuki Taruno & Kengo Nomura

  2. Japan Science and Technology Agency, PRESTO, Kawaguchi, Saitama, Japan

    Akiyuki Taruno

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Tsukasa Kusakizako & Osamu Nureki

  4. Department of Physiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Zhongming Ma & J. Kevin Foskett

  5. Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    J. Kevin Foskett

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  1. Akiyuki Taruno
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  3. Tsukasa Kusakizako
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Correspondence to Akiyuki Taruno.

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Taruno, A., Nomura, K., Kusakizako, T. et al. Taste transduction and channel synapses in taste buds. Pflugers Arch - Eur J Physiol 473, 3–13 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00424-020-02464-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00424-020-02464-4

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