Sarco/Endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPases (SERCA) contribute to GPCR-mediated taste perception.

ABSTRACT: The sense of taste is important for providing animals with valuable information about the qualities of food, such as nutritional or harmful nature. Mammals, including humans, can recognize at least five primary taste qualities: sweet, umami (savory), bitter, sour, and salty. Recent studies have identified molecules and mechanisms underlying the initial steps of tastant-triggered molecular events in taste bud cells, particularly the requirement of increased cytosolic free Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)](c)) for normal taste signal transduction and transmission. Little, however, is known about the mechanisms controlling the removal of elevated [Ca(2+)](c) from the cytosol of taste receptor cells (TRCs) and how the disruption of these mechanisms affects taste perception. To investigate the mol

SUBMITTER: Iguchi N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3149081 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature