Bitter triggers acetylcholine release from polymodal urethral chemosensory cells and bladder reflexes.

ABSTRACT: Chemosensory cells in the mucosal surface of the respiratory tract ("brush cells") use the canonical taste transduction cascade to detect potentially hazardous content and trigger local protective and aversive respiratory reflexes on stimulation. So far, the urogenital tract has been considered to lack this cell type. Here we report the presence of a previously unidentified cholinergic, polymodal chemosensory cell in the mammalian urethra, the potential portal of entry for bacteria and harmful substances into the urogenital system, but not in further centrally located parts of the urinary tract, such as the bladder, ureter, and renal pelvis. Urethral brush cells express bitter and umami taste receptors and downstream components of the taste transduction cascade; respond to stimulation with

SUBMITTER: Deckmann K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4050540 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature