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The Journal of Neuroscience, October 29, 2003, 23(30):9947-9952

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Cellular/Molecular
Role of the G-Protein Subunit -Gustducin in Taste Cell Responses to Bitter Stimuli

Alejandro Caicedo,¹ Elizabeth Pereira,¹ Robert F. Margolskee,³ and Stephen D. Roper^1,2

¹Department of Physiology and Biophysics and ²Program in Neuroscience, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, Florida 33136, and ³Department of Physiology and Biophysics, and ⁴Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York 10029

Many bitter stimuli are believed to bind to specific G-protein-coupled membrane receptors on taste cells. Despite the compelling evidence for its pivotal role in bitter taste sensation, a direct involvement of the G-protein subunit -gustducin in bitter taste transduction in taste cells has not been demonstrated in situ at the cellular level. We recorded activation of taste cells by bitter stimuli using Ca²⁺ imaging in lingual slices and examined-gustducin immunoreactivity in the same cells. In mice vallate papillae, many, but not all, bitter-responsive cells expressed -gustducin. In agreement with this correlation, the incidence of cells responding to bitter stimuli was reduced by 70% in mutant mice lacking -gustducin. Nevertheless, some taste cells lacking -gustducin responded to bitter stimuli, suggesting that other G-protein subunits are involved. We found that the G-protein subunit G_i2 is present in most bitter-responsive cells and thus may also play a role in bitter taste transduction. The reduced behavioral sensitivity to bitter stimuli in -gustducin knock-out mice thus appears to be the consequence of a reduced number of bitter-activated taste cells, as well as reduced sensitivity.

Key words: taste bud; bitter; chemical senses; sensory coding; G-protein; tongue; transduction

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Received June 2, 2003; revised September 3, 2003; accepted September 8, 2003.

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