The Cellular and Molecular Basis of Sour Taste

Overview

Journal Annu Rev Physiol

Publisher Annual Reviews

Specialty Physiology

Date 2021 Nov 9

PMID 34752707

Citations 9

Authors

Heather N Turner

Emily R Liman

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Sour taste, the taste of acids, is one of the most enigmatic of the five basic taste qualities; its function is unclear and its receptor was until recently unknown. Sour tastes are transduced in taste buds on the tongue and palate epithelium by a subset of taste receptor cells, known as type III cells. Type III cells express a number of unique markers, which allow for their identification and manipulation. These cells respond to acid stimuli with action potentials and release neurotransmitters onto afferent nerve fibers, with cell bodies in geniculate and petrosal ganglia. Here, we review classical studies of sour taste leading up to the identification of the sour receptor as the proton channel OTOP1.

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