A bitter pill for type 2 diabetes? The activation of bitter taste receptor TAS2R38 can stimulate GLP-1 release from enteroendocrine L-cells.

ABSTRACT: The bitter taste receptor TAS2R38 is a G protein coupled receptor (GPCR) that has been found in many extra-oral locations like the gastrointestinal (GI) system, respiratory system, and brain, though its function at these locations is only beginning to be understood. To probe the receptor's potential metabolic role, immunohistochemistry of human ileum tissues was performed, which showed that the receptor was co-localized with glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) in L-cells. In a previous study, we had modeled the structure of this receptor for its many taste-variant haplotypes (Tan et al. 2011), including the taster haplotype PAV. The structure of this haplotype was then used in a virtual ligand screening pipeline using a collection of ∼2.5 million purchasable molecules from the ZINC database. T

SUBMITTER: Pham H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4918516 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature