Sodium-Taste Cells Require Skn-1a for Generation and Share Molecular Features with Sweet, Umami, and Bitter Taste Cells.

ABSTRACT: Taste buds are maintained via continuous turnover of taste bud cells derived from local epithelial stem cells. A transcription factor Skn-1a (also known as Pou2f3) is required for the generation of sweet, umami (savory), and bitter taste cells that commonly express TRPM5 and CALHM ion channels. Here, we demonstrate that sodium-taste cells distributed only in the anterior oral epithelia and involved in evoking salty taste also require Skn-1a for their generation. We discovered taste cells in fungiform papillae and soft palate that show similar but not identical molecular feature with sweet, umami, and bitter taste-mediated Type II cells. This novel cell population expresses Plcb2, Itpr3, Calhm3, Skn-1a, and ENaCα (also known as Scnn1a) encodi

SUBMITTER: Ohmoto M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7729297 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov/Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature