The receptors and cells for mammalian taste

The emerging picture of taste coding at the periphery is one of elegant simplicity. Contrary to what was generally believed, it is now clear that distinct cell types expressing unique receptors are tuned to detect each of the five basic tastes: sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami. Importantly, receptor cells for each taste quality function as dedicated sensors wired to elicit stereotypic responses.     

Heat activation of TRPM5 underlies thermal sensitivity of sweet taste

TRPM5, a cation channel of the TRP superfamily, is highly expressed in taste buds of the tongue, where it has a key role in the perception of sweet, umami and bitter tastes. Activation of TRPM5 occurs downstream of the activation of G-protein-coupled taste receptors and is proposed to generate a depolarizing potential in the taste receptor cells. Factors that modulate TRPM5 activity are therefore expected to influence taste. Here we show that TRPM5 is a highly temperature-sensitive, heat-activated channel: inward TRPM5 currents increase steeply at temperatures between 15 and 35 degrees C. TRPM4, a close homologue of TRPM5, shows similar temperature sensitivity. Heat activation is due to a temperature-dependent shift of the activation curve, in analogy to other thermosensitive TRP channels. Moreover, we show that increasing temperature between 15 and 35 degrees C markedly enhances the gustatory nerve response to sweet compounds in wild-type but not in Trpm5 knockout mice. The strong temperature sensitivity of TRPM5 may underlie known effects of temperature on perceived taste in humans, including enhanced sweetness perception at high temperatures and 'thermal taste', the phenomenon whereby heating or cooling of the tongue evoke sensations of taste in the absence of tastants.     

The detection of carbonation by the Drosophila gustatory system

There are five known taste modalities in humans: sweet, bitter, sour, salty and umami (the taste of monosodium glutamate). Although the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster tastes sugars, salts and noxious chemicals, the nature and number of taste modalities in this organism is not clear. Previous studies have identified one taste cell population marked by the gustatory receptor gene Gr5a that detects sugars, and a second population marked by Gr66a that detects bitter compounds. Here we identify a novel taste modality in this insect: the taste of carbonated water. We use a combination of anatomical, calcium imaging and behavioural approaches to identify a population of taste neurons that detects CO2 and mediates taste acceptance behaviour. The taste of carbonation may allow Drosophila to detect and obtain nutrients from growing microorganisms. Whereas CO2 detection by the olfactory system mediates avoidance, CO2 detection by the gustatory system mediates acceptance behaviour, demonstrating that the context of CO2 determines appropriate behaviour. This work opens up the possibility that the taste of carbonation may also exist in other organisms.     

The cells and logic for mammalian sour taste detection

Mammals taste many compounds yet use a sensory palette consisting of only five basic taste modalities: sweet, bitter, sour, salty and umami (the taste of monosodium glutamate). Although this repertoire may seem modest, it provides animals with critical information about the nature and quality of food. Sour taste detection functions as an important sensory input to warn against the ingestion of acidic (for example, spoiled or unripe) food sources. We have used a combination of bioinformatics, genetic and functional studies to identify PKD2L1, a polycystic-kidney-disease-like ion channel, as a candidate mammalian sour taste sensor. In the tongue, PKD2L1 is expressed in a subset of taste receptor cells distinct from those responsible for sweet, bitter and umami taste. To examine the role of PKD2L1-expressing taste cells in vivo, we engineered mice with targeted genetic ablations of selected populations of taste receptor cells. Animals lacking PKD2L1-expressing cells are completely devoid of taste responses to sour stimuli. Notably, responses to all other tastants remained unaffected, proving that the segregation of taste qualities even extends to ionic stimuli. Our results now establish independent cellular substrates for four of the five basic taste modalities, and support a comprehensive labelled-line mode of taste coding at the periphery. Notably, PKD2L1 is also expressed in specific neurons surrounding the central canal of the spinal cord. Here we demonstrate that these PKD2L1-expressing neurons send projections to the central canal, and selectively trigger action potentials in response to decreases in extracellular pH. We propose that these cells correspond to the long-sought components of the cerebrospinal fluid chemosensory system. Taken together, our results suggest a common basis for acid sensing in disparate physiological settings.     

热风微波联合干燥过程中南美白对虾滋味物质变化研究

为研究热风微波联合干燥过程中南美白对虾滋味物质的变化,测定了其呈味核苷酸与游离氨基酸含量,同时根据干燥过程中虾肉水分含量计算两者的干基含量变化,并计算虾肉味精当量。研究结果表明:虾肉干燥过程中,呈味核苷酸中肌苷酸含量最高,干制虾肉肌苷酸含量为405.96mg/100g,且始终高于阈值,对干制虾肉的鲜味形成有显著贡献;相比鲜样,干制南美白对虾中肌苷酸与单磷酸腺苷干基含量均显著下降;在虾肉中谷氨酸对鲜味形成有显著贡献,甘氨酸、丙氨酸与精氨酸对甜味形成有贡献,苯丙氨酸、赖氨酸与组氨酸能产生苦味;而在干燥过程中鲜、甜味氨基酸相对含量不断上升,分别从3.77%和17.03%上升到4.29%和35.84%;游离氨基酸总干基含量始终下降,但甘氨酸、丙氨酸、精氨酸与脯氨酸4种可以形成良好滋味的游离氨基酸干基含量上升;虾肉中肌原纤维蛋白与肌浆蛋白的干基含量均不断下降,部分分解为游离氨基酸;虾肉味精当量整体呈显著上升趋势,但在微波干燥初期(前40s)显著下降,干制南美白对虾味精当量为3.50g/100g,远高于鲜虾(0.53g/100g),且虾肉味精当量始终远高于阈值。研究结果表明,由热风微波联合干燥引起的水分挥发与物质变化能够促进南美白对虾滋味形成。     

A family of candidate taste receptors in human and mouse

The gustatory system of mammals can sense four basic taste qualities, bitter, sweet, salty and sour, as well as umami, the taste of glutamate. Previous studies suggested that the detection of bitter and sweet tastants by taste receptor cells in the mouth is likely to involve G-protein-coupled receptors. Although two putative G-protein-coupled bitter/sweet taste receptors have been identified, the chemical diversity of bitter and sweet compounds leads one to expect that there is a larger number of different receptors. Here we report the identification of a family of candidate taste receptors (the TRBs) that are members of the G-protein-coupled receptor superfamily and that are specifically expressed by taste receptor cells. A cluster of genes encoding human TRBs is located adjacent to a Prp gene locus, which in mouse is tightly linked to the SOA genetic locus that is involved in detecting the bitter compound sucrose octaacetate. Another TRB gene is found on a human contig assigned to chromosome 5p15, the location of a genetic locus (PROP) that controls the detection of the bitter compound 6-n-propyl-2-thiouracil in humans.     

珍珠龙胆石斑鱼无水保活过程中滋味变化规律研究

为探究无水保活过程中珍珠龙胆石斑鱼的滋味变化规律,通过电子舌分析结果,核苷酸、有机酸和游离氨基酸等测定指标,研究了无水保活0、3、6、9、12h后石斑鱼鱼肉的滋味变化情况。研究结果表明:电子舌PCA分析中,PC1和PC2的累积贡献率为90.29%,可以反映样本的总体特性;与鲜样相比,保活后鱼肉的鲜味值和浓厚味值均显著增高,保活12h后分别达到3.52和5.00;核苷酸含量呈现先增加后下降的趋势,在保活3h后,腺苷酸和肌苷酸达到最大值,分别为9.0、465.0mg/100g;有机酸整体呈增加的趋势,其中各处理组乳酸含量差异显著(P<0.05),保活12h后乳酸达到最大值,为158.70mg/g;各处理组琥珀酸、乳酸和柠檬酸的TAV均大于1,说明这3种有机酸对石斑鱼的滋味有重要贡献;总游离氨基酸、鲜味氨基酸、甜味氨基酸均呈先上升后下降的趋势,保活3h时鲜味氨基酸谷氨酸、天冬氨酸达到最大值,分别为41.50、7.29mg/100g,显著高于鲜样的8.54、0.60mg/100g。研究结果表明,无水保活可以改善珍珠龙胆石斑鱼的滋味,提高鱼肉蛋白的营养价值。     

Characterization of MHC class II A genes in Hainan Eld’s deer (Cervus eldi hainanus)

The major histocompatibility complex(MHC) genes play pivotal roles in the immune system of vertebrates against antigens.They are also significant indicators of genetic structure,and are vital to species-level population viability analyses and disease risk assessments.In this study,two DRA and two DQA sequences were isolated from Hainan Eld’s deer(Cervus eldi hainanus) using rapid amplification of cDNA ends(RACE) and single-strand conformation polymorphism-heteroduplex(SSCP-HD) analysis.Nucleotide sequence analysis revealed large differences between the two DQA sequences,especially in their exon 2 regions,but only minimal differences between the variants of the DRA gene.Comparison of the predicted amino acid sequences of the Ceel-MHC class Ⅱ A variants with those from six other species revealed that these molecules share high homology among ruminants.A phylogenetic tree of four class Ⅱ A sequences from Hainan Eld’s deer and the other species placed the newly identified DQA and DRA genes on two distinct branches(100%-supportively),and further divided the two DQA sequences into 98%-supportive DQA1 and 99%-supportive DQA2 clusters,respectively.Therefore,this study identified monomorphic Ceel-DQA1 and Ceel-DQA2 genes,and one dimorphic Ceel-DRA gene from Hainan Eld’s deer.     

Receptors and transduction in taste

Taste is the sensory system devoted primarily to a quality check of food to be ingested. Although aided by smell and visual inspection, the final recognition and selection relies on chemoreceptive events in the mouth. Emotional states of acute pleasure or displeasure guide the selection and contribute much to our quality of life. Membrane proteins that serve as receptors for the transduction of taste have for a long time remained elusive. But screening the mass of genome sequence data that have recently become available has provided a new means to identify key receptors for bitter and sweet taste. Molecular biology has also identified receptors for salty, sour and umami taste.     

The development of taste transduction and taste chip technology

Taste is one of important sensations. The primary taste sensations commonly are categorized as sweet, acid, bitter, salty and umami, of which various tastes are composed. The sensation of taste is initiated by the interaction of tas- tants with receptors and ion channels in the apical micro- villi of taste receptor cells (TRCs) when some sapid molecules (tastants) dissolve in saliva. Subsequently, through a cellular signaling pathway (TRC depolarization and Ca2+ release) gustatory signals a…     

An amino-acid taste receptor

The sense of taste provides animals with valuable information about the nature and quality of food. Mammals can recognize and respond to a diverse repertoire of chemical entities, including sugars, salts, acids and a wide range of toxic substances. Several amino acids taste sweet or delicious (umami) to humans, and are attractive to rodents and other animals. This is noteworthy because L-amino acids function as the building blocks of proteins, as biosynthetic precursors of many biologically relevant small molecules, and as metabolic fuel. Thus, having a taste pathway dedicated to their detection probably had significant evolutionary implications. Here we identify and characterize a mammalian amino-acid taste receptor. This receptor, T1R1+3, is a heteromer of the taste-specific T1R1 and T1R3 G-protein-coupled receptors. We demonstrate that T1R1 and T1R3 combine to function as a broadly tuned L-amino-acid sensor responding to most of the 20 standard amino acids, but not to their D-enantiomers or other compounds. We also show that sequence differences in T1R receptors within and between species (human and mouse) can significantly influence the selectivity and specificity of taste responses.     

山西老陈醋风味物质组成特征及风味轮分析〖

对6个品牌的山西老陈醋样品挥发性成分、有机酸和氨基酸等主要风味物质进行了分析。应用顶空固相微萃取-气相色谱-质谱联用法共鉴定出95种挥发性成分,结合相对气味活度值(ROAV)分析,发现乙酸、苯甲醛、糠醛、2,3-丁二酮和四甲基吡嗪为5种主要的特征风味物质,其ROAV值占总体的96.74%。依据味觉强度值(TAV)评价山西老陈醋整体滋味,结果表明:乙酸和乳酸为山西老陈醋的主体酸,其TAV分别占总酸的34.03%和63.80%;谷氨酸、丙氨酸、缬氨酸、组氨酸对整体滋味贡献较大,其TAV分别占总氨基酸的16.88%、21.34%、13.42%和18.37%。风味轮分析发现,酸香和烘烤香是山西老陈醋最主要的2个香味特征,其次为坚果香、奶香和甜香;酸味为主体滋味,苦味、甜味与酸味共同协和互补,并伴有少许鲜味。研究成果可以为山西老陈醋生产企业产品质量控制及工艺优化提供依据。     

Correlation of morphological anisotropy and Lankford value of deep drawing sheets hot-rolled by compact strip production

Cold-rolled steel sheets in automotive applications require an excellent deep draw ability, which is characterized by the Lankford value (r-value). In this study, a correlation was identified between r-value and pancake-shaped grain flatness which is indicated as the ratio of grain diameter in the rolling direction (RD) and normal direction (ND) of sheets (d_r/d_n). A mathematical model (r=e0.345(d_n-1/2-d_r-1/2)) was developed to calculate r-value by the microstructure of steel sheets hot-rolled by compact strip production (CSP). It is shown that the r-value is higher, if the microstructure of steel sheet is of pancake-shaped grains elongated in the rolling direction. The calculated r-value is confirmed to fit exactly to the measured one from the large-scale production.     

Hyperpolarization-activated channels HCN1 and HCN4 mediate responses to sour stimuli.

Sour taste is initiated by protons acting at receptor proteins or channels. In vertebrates, transduction of this taste quality involves several parallel pathways. Here we examine the effects of sour stimuli on taste cells in slices of vallate papilla from rat. From a subset of cells, we identified a hyperpolarization-activated current that was enhanced by sour stimulation at the taste pore. This current resembled Ih found in neurons and cardio-myocytes, a current carried by members of the family of hyperpolarization-activated and cyclic-nucleotide-gated (HCN) channels. We show by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry that HCN1 and HCN4 are expressed in a subset of taste cells. By contrast, gustducin, the G-protein involved in bitter and sweet taste, is not expressed in these cells. Lowering extracellular pH causes a dose-dependent flattening of the activation curve of HCN channels and a shift in the voltage of half-maximal activation to more positive voltages. Our results indicate that HCN channels are gated by extracellular protons and may act as receptors for sour taste.     

料丝自加压式挤出机加料段不溢料条件分析

借助未熔丝材的活塞作用,部分熔融沉积造型(FDM)技术靠料丝插入的驱动力将熔融材料挤出.在分析加料段中熔融物料流变特点的基础上,找出确保熔融物料不会从料丝插入口间隙处溢出的三个影响因素(P/z、表观粘度ηa和料丝半径r0),得出料丝插入速度VS应当大于临界速度VS0.     

(r, k)-catching code

A collection ofr-words on an alphabet ofn letters is called (r, k)-catching code if for every ρ-word ω there is one selected memberv such that υ coincides with ω in at least κ places. How 1arge is the smallest size of the (ρ, κ)-catching code and how to find the minimal (ρ, κ)-catching code? Some methods are advanced to construct such codes.     

利用毕赤酵母表达植物甜蛋白（brazzein）的初步研究

实验将含有Brazzein基因的pPIC9K穿梭质粒通过电导入巴斯德比赤酵母（Pichia pastori）GS115中，并从22个阳性克隆中筛选出His^＋Mut^s高拷贝转化子2个，经诱导表达，产物进行Tricine-SDS-PAGE电泳鉴定，目标蛋白的相对分子量与理论值一致，又经小试（5～10L罐）蛋白产量可达385mg/L。利用大孔树脂D152初步分离，得到有微甜味的产物。进一步纯化后获得了¹D-NMR图谱。     

非连通图(P1∨Pn)∪Gr和(P1∨Pn)∪(P3∨r)及Wn∪St(m)的优美性

讨论非连通图((P₁∨P_n)∪G_r和(P₁∨P_n)∪(P₃∨_r)及W_n∪St(m)的优美性, 证明了如下结论： 设n,m为任意正整数, s=［n/2］, r=s-1, G_r是任意具有r条边的优美图, 则当n≥4时, 非连通图((P₁∨P_n)∪G_r和(P₁∨P_n)∪(P₃∨_r)是优美图； 当n≥3, m≥s时, 非连通图W_n∪St(m)是优美图. 其中, P_n是n个顶点的路, K_n是n个顶点的完全图, n是K_n的补图, G₁∨G₂是图G₁与G₂的联图, W_n是n+1个顶点的轮图, St(m)是m+1个顶点的星形树.     

Natural selection and adaptive evolution of leptin

Leptin is an adiposity-secreted hormone that is pivotal in regulating feeding behavior,energy metabolism and body mass.The study of leptin has been of crucial importance for public health and pharmaceutical intervention given its role in obesity.Generally,leptin is highly conserved due to its functional importance.However,episodes of rapid sequence evolution and positive selection have been observed in some mammalian species,indicating that the leptin functions in these animals may have undergone adaptive modification to their environments.In this article,we review the adaptive evolution of leptin and its potential functional consequences.This review is expected to guide future research of molecular evolution and functional assays of this gene,and also to provide a theoretical foundation for the use of leptin in therapeutic applications.