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The Journal of Neuroscience, January 15, 2002, 22(2):493-504
Postnatal Development of Membrane Excitability in Taste Cells of the Mouse Vallate Papilla
Albertino Bigiani1, Rosella Cristiani2, Francesca Fieni1, Valeria Ghiaroni1, Paola Bagnoli2, and Pierangelo Pietra1 1 Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche, Sezione di Fisiologia, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, 41100 Modena, Italy, and 2 Dipartimento di Fisiologia e Biochimica "G. Moruzzi," Università di Pisa, 56127 Pisa, Italy
The mammalian peripheral taste system undergoes functional changes during postnatal development. These changes could reflect age-dependent alterations in the membrane properties of taste cells, which use a vast array of ion channels for transduction mechanisms. Yet, scarce information is available on the membrane events in developing taste cells. We have addressed this issue by studying voltage-dependent Na+, K+, and Cl
currents (INa, IK, and ICl, respectively) in a subset of taste cells (the so-called "Na/OUT" cells, which are electrically excitable and thought to be sensory) from mouse vallate papilla. Voltage-dependent currents play a key role during taste transduction, especially in the generation of action potentials. Patch-clamp recordings revealed that INa, IK, and ICl were expressed early in postnatal development. However, only IK and ICl densities increased significantly in developing Na/OUT cells. Consistent with the rise of IK density, we found that action potential waveform changed markedly, with an increased speed of repolarization that was accompanied by an enhanced capability of repetitive firing. In addition to membrane excitability changes in putative sensory cells, we observed a concomitant increase in the occurrence of glia-like taste cells (the so called "leaky" cells) among patched cells. Leaky cells are likely involved in dissipating the increase of extracellular K+ during action potential discharge in chemosensory cells. Thus, developing taste cells of the mouse vallate papilla undergo a significant electrophysiological maturation and diversification. These functional changes may have a profound impact on the transduction capabilities of taste buds during development.
Key words: development; taste cells; membrane excitability; gustatory; patch clamp; vallate papilla
Copyright © 2002 Society for Neuroscience 0270-6474/02/222493-12$05.00/0
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