Mouse taste

Recently, Ghiaroni et al. (2005) opened the possibility that gambierol could be acting as a voltagegated potassium blocker. They used the patch-clamp technique in order to check the gambierol effect on mouse taste cells. Alteration of the activity of those excitable cells could be an explanation for the... 

In addition, Ghiaroni et al. (2005) checked whether gambierol also affected chloride currents, because 1 mediates action potential repolarization in taste cells, as well as Ij (Hemess and Sun 1999), but it had no effect. Gambierol affected specifically only Ij on mouse taste cells. 

Maruyama Y, Pereira E, Margolskee RF, Chaudhari N, Roper SD. Umami responses in mouse taste cells indicate more than one receptor. J. Neurosci. 2006 26 2227-2234. 

Shigemura N, Islam AA, Sadamitsu C, Yoshida R, Yasumatsu K, Ninomiya Y. Expression of amiloride-sensitive epithelial sodium channels in mouse taste cells after chorda tympani nerve crush. Chem. Senses 2005 30 531-538. 

Richter TA, Dvoryanchikov GA, Chaudhari N, Roper SD. Acid-sensitive two-pore domain potassium (K2P) channels in mouse taste buds. J. Neurophysiol. 2004 92 1928-1936. 

Shigemura N, Miura H, Kusakabe Y, Hino A, Ninomiya Y (2003) Expression of leptin receptor (Ob-R) isoforms and signal transducers and activators of transcription (STATs) mRNAs in the mouse taste buds. Arch Histol Cytol 66 253-260 Shigemura N, Ohta R, Kusakabe Y, Miura H, Hino A, Koyano K, Nakashima K, Ninomiya Y (2004) Leptin modulates behavioral responses to sweet substances by influencing peripheral taste structures. Endocrinology 145 839-847... 

Caicedo A, Kim K-N, Roper SD. 2002. Individual mouse taste cells respond to multiple chemical stimuli. J Physiol 544 501-509. 

Mouse taste buds use serotonin as a neurotransmitter. J Neurosci 25 843-847. 

Expression of leptin receptor (Ob-R) isoforms and signal transducers and activators of transcription (STATs) mRNAs in the mouse taste buds. Arch Histol Cytol 66 253-260. 

Yee C, Jones KR, Finger TE. 2003. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor is present in adult mouse taste cells with synapses. J Comp Neurol 459 15-24. 

Ghiaroni, V. et al., Inhibition of voltage-gated potassium currents by gambierol in mouse taste cells, Toxicol. ScL, 85, 657, 2005. 

Bachmanov, A. A. et al. High-resolution genetic mapping of the sucrose octaacetate taste aversion (Soa) locus on mouse Chromosome 6. Mamm. Genome. 12 695-699, 2001. 

Reed, D. R. et al. Polymorphisms in the taste receptor gene (Taslr3) region are associated with saccharin preference in 30 mouse strains. /. Neurosci. 24 938-946, 2004. 

A case of taste potentiating a visual cue is that of hawks feeding on mice. If the hawks were routinely fed white mice, and only occasionally a black mouse followed by LiCl injection, the hawks would not eat either black or white mice. However, when a distinctive taste was added to the black mouse, hawks learnt to... 

Glendinning, J. F., Brower, L. P., and Montgomery, C. A. (1990). Responses of three mouse species to deterrent chemicals in the Monarch butterfly. I. Taste and toxicity tests using artificial diets laced with digitoxin or monocrotaline. Chemoecology 1,114-123. 

Subheadin [ 3.1.3, step 6 In contrast to the constitutive system, full induction of shRNA production via the tetR/O system in the mouse requires 2 mg/ml doxycycline in the drinking water. The extend of the resulting knockdown can be regulated by adjusting the doxycycline concentration. Add 10% sucrose for covering the aversive taste of doxycycline. Refresh water every second day to prevent microbial contamination and protect water bottles from light. 

The researchers then studied umami taste reception by measuring the relative lick rates of the different mouse strains with different quantities of MSG in the feeding solution. Note that the solutions also contained inosine monophosphate (IMP), a strong potentiator of umami taste reception (and a common ingredient in ramen soups, along with MSG), and ameloride, which suppresses the pleasant salty taste imparted by the sodium of MSG. The results are shown in the graph. 

Brettanomyces yeast species and two Lactobacillus bacteria species were responsible for the mousiness in wines. The taint was produced by each class of microorganisms only in the presence of lysine and ethanol. The two 2-acetyltetrahydopyridine (ACTPY) isomers produced a "mousiness" described by Heresztyn as possessing an extremely unpleasant taste and odor the odor was described as bready, cracker-like, and popcom-like. Others have described the aroma as "a most disgusting smell reminiscent of mouse urine or acetamide"(82). 

Interestingly, the human TAS1R2/TAS1R3, but not its mouse counterpart, are sensitive to the sweet proteins monellin, thaumatin, and brazzein, and to the artificial sweeteners neo-tame, cyclamate, and aspartame (9-11). This difference provides a molecular explanation for the previous observation that these compounds are sweet for humans but not attractive to rodents (9). The species difference also applies to the inhibitor lactisole that blocks the sweet taste in humans but not in rats, and only inhibits the response of human TAS1R2/TAS1R3 to sweet stimuli (9). 

Sour taste detects acids, i.e., protons. Several different sour taste receptor candidates such as acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) (57), hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated channels (HCNs) (58), and two pore domain potassium channels (K2PS) (59, 60) have been described in the past. In addition, recent research identified two members of the polycystic kidney disease (PKD) family of the transient receptor potential superfamily (TRP) as strong sour taste receptor candidates or as part thereof. Immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization revealed the presence of the polycystic-kidney-disease-like ion channel PKD2L1 in subsets of taste receptor cells of mouse fungiform, vallate, and foliate papillae. These cells differ from... 

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