Expression of umami‐taste‐related genes in the tongue: a pilot study for genetic taste diagnosis. (30th June 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Shoji, N; Kaneta, N; Satoh‐Kuriwada, S; Tsuchiya, M; Hashimoto, N; Uneyama, H; Kawai, M; Sasano, T
• Is Part Of: Oral diseases. Volume 21:Number 6(2015:Oct.)
• Page Start: 801
• Page End: 806
• Publication Date: 2015-06-30
• Subjects: Mouth -- Diseases -- Research -- Periodicals; 617.522
• DOI: 10.1111/odi.12350
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1354-523X

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="odi12350-abs-0001"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <sec id="odi12350-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>Objective</title> <p>Expression of taste‐related genes in the tongue was analysed to develop a technique for genetic diagnosis of umami taste disorders.</p> </sec> <sec id="odi12350-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>Materials and methods</title> <p>Tissue samples were collected from healthy volunteers by scraping the foliate papillae of the tongue. Immunocytochemistry staining of gustducin, a taste‐cell‐specific G protein, and gene expression analysis by real‐time polymerase chain reaction of <italic>β‐actin</italic>, gustducin (<italic>GNAT3</italic>) and umami receptors (<italic>T1R1</italic>, <italic> T1R3</italic> and <italic>mGluR1</italic>) were performed. Changes in umami receptor expression following application of umami substances onto the tongue were analysed.</p> </sec> <sec id="odi12350-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>Results</title> <p>Gustducin‐positive cells were observed in the samples, indicating the presence of taste cells. Gene expression of <italic>β‐actin</italic>, <italic> GNAT3</italic>, <italic> T1R1</italic> and <italic>T1R3</italic> was detected in all seven samples tested, while that of <italic>mGluR1</italic> was detected in four samples. Sequence analysis by NCBI Blast showed that each polymerase chain reaction product had a 99% rate of identification of its target sequence. Stimulation of the tongue with monosodium glutamate significantly upregulated the gene expression levels of <italic>T1R1</italic> and <italic>T1R3</italic>, indicating that this method can detect alterations in umami‐related gene expression.</p> </sec> <sec id="odi12350-sec-0004" sec-type="section"> <title>Conclusion</title> <p>Evaluation of the expression of the umami receptor genes, <italic>T1R1</italic> and <italic>T1R3</italic>, in the tongue may be clinically useful for objective genetic diagnosis of umami taste disorders.</p> </sec> </abstract>