Umami taste in mice uses multiple receptors and transduction pathways

摘要

Non-technical summaryThe distinctive umami taste elicited by l-glutamate and some other amino acids is thought to be initiated by G-protein-coupled receptors, such as heteromers of taste receptor type 1, members 1 and 3, and metabotropic glutamate receptors 1 and 4. We demonstrate the existence of multiple types of glutamate-sensitive gustatory nerve fibres and the contribution of multiple receptors and transduction pathways to umami taste. Such multiple systems for umami taste may differentially contribute to the behavioural preference for glutamate and discriminability of glutamate taste.