Human Receptors for Sweet and Umami Taste

Overview

Journal Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Specialty Science

Date 2002 Mar 28

PMID 11917125

Citations 434

Authors

Xiaodong Li

Lena Staszewski

Hong Xu

Kyle Durick

Mark Zoller

Elliot Adler

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The three members of the T1R class of taste-specific G protein-coupled receptors have been hypothesized to function in combination as heterodimeric sweet taste receptors. Here we show that human T1R2/T1R3 recognizes diverse natural and synthetic sweeteners. In contrast, human T1R1/T1R3 responds to the umami taste stimulus l-glutamate, and this response is enhanced by 5'-ribonucleotides, a hallmark of umami taste. The ligand specificities of rat T1R2/T1R3 and T1R1/T1R3 correspond to those of their human counterparts. These findings implicate the T1Rs in umami taste and suggest that sweet and umami taste receptors share a common subunit.

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