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Immuno-localization of vesicular acetylcholine transporter in mouse taste cells and adjacent nerve fibers: indication of acetylcholine release

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Abstract

Acetylcholine (ACh) is well established as a neurotransmitter and/or neuromodulator in various organs. Previously, it has been shown by Ogura (J Neurophysiol 87:2643–2649, 2002) that in both physiological and immunohistochemical studies the muscarinic acetylcholine (ACh) receptor is present in taste receptor cells. However, it has not been determined if ACh is released locally from taste receptor cells and/or surrounding nerve fibers. In this study we investigated the sites of ACh release in mouse taste tissue using the antisera against vesicular ACh transporter (VAChT), a key element of ACh-containing vesicles. Our data show that VAChT-immunoreactivity is present in many taste receptor cells, including cells expressing the transient receptor potential channel M5 (TRPM5). In taste cells, VAChT-immunoreactivity was colocalized with the immunoreactivity to choline-acetyltransferase (ChAT), which synthesizes ACh. Additionally, enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) was detected in the taste cells of BAC-transgenic mice, in which eGFP was placed under the control of endogenous ChAT transcriptional regulatory elements (ChATBAC-eGFP mice). Furthermore, many ChAT-immunolabeled taste cells also reacted to an antibody against the vesicle-associated membrane protein synaptobrevin-2. These data suggest that ACh-containing vesicles are present in taste receptor cells and ACh release from taste cells may play a role in autocrine and/or paracrine cell-to-cell communication. In addition, certain nerve fibers surrounding or within taste buds were immunoreactive for the VAChT antibody. Some of these fibers were also immunolabeled with antibody against calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), a marker for trigeminal peptidergic fibers. Thus, functions of taste receptor cells could be modulated by trigeminal fibers via ACh release as well.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Drs. Radall Reed and Michele Schaefer of Johns Hopkins University, and Chere Petty of the University of Maryland Baltimore County for assistance in confocal imaging, and Jane Lee of Cornell University for technical assistance.

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Correspondence to Tatsuya Ogura.

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This work was supported by the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Grants DC DC05140 (TO), DC006828 (WL), DC03155 (RFM) and DC04657, DC006070 (Drs. Thomas E. Finger and Diego Restrepo of University of Colorado Denver and Health Sciences Center), and by the National Institute of Digestive, Diabetes and Kidney Diseases grants DK072277, and DK65992 (MIK).

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Ogura, T., Margolskee, R.F., Tallini, Y.N. et al. Immuno-localization of vesicular acetylcholine transporter in mouse taste cells and adjacent nerve fibers: indication of acetylcholine release. Cell Tissue Res 330, 17–28 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-007-0470-y

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