New perspectives in gustatory physiology: transduction, development
and plasticity.
Stewart, Robert E., John A. Desimone, and David L. Hill.
Department of Physiology, Virginia Commonwealth University,
Richmond, VA 23298 and Department of Psychology, University of
Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22903
APStracts 3:0199C, 1996.
Major advances in the understanding of mammalian gustatory
transduction mechanisms have occurred in the past decade. Recent
research has revealed that a remarkable diversity of cellular
mechanisms are involved in taste stimulus reception. These mechanisms
range from G-protein- and second messenger-linked receptor systems to
stimulus-gated and stimulus-admitting ion channels. Contrary to
widely-held ideas, new data show that some taste stimuli interact
with receptive sites that are localized on both the apical and
basolateral membranes of taste cells. Studies of taste system
development in several species indicate that the transduction
pathways for some stimuli are modulated significantly during the
early postnatal period. In addition, recent investigations of adult
peripheral gustatory system plasticity strongly suggest that the
function of the sodium sensing system can be modulated by circulating
hormones, growth factors or cytokines.
Received 5 June 1996; accepted in final form 17 June 1996.
APS Manuscript Number C345-6.
Article publication pending Am. J. Physiol. (Cell Physiology).
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1996 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 4 July 96