The molecular basis of individual differences in phenylthiocarbamide and propylthiouracil bitterness perception.

ABSTRACT: Individual differences in perception are ubiquitous within the chemical senses: taste, smell, and chemical somesthesis . A hypothesis of this fact states that polymorphisms in human sensory receptor genes could alter perception by coding for functionally distinct receptor types . We have previously reported evidence that sequence variants in a presumptive bitter receptor gene (hTAS2R38) correlate with differences in bitterness recognition of phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) . Here, we map individual psychogenomic pathways for bitter taste by testing people with a variety of psychophysical tasks and linking their individual perceptions of the compounds PTC and propylthiouracil (PROP) to the in vitro responses of their TAS2R38 receptor variants. Functional expression studies demonstrate that five d

SUBMITTER: Bufe B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1400547 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature