The Genetics of the Bitter Taste Receptor T2R38 in Upper Airway Innate Immunity and Implications for Chronic Rhinosinusitis

摘要

Objective: Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) refractory to therapeutic intervention may involve a particularly resistant infection known as a bacterial biofilm. Critical to biofilm formation is the microbial process of quorum sensing whereby microbes secrete factors that regulate the expression of microbial genes involved in biofilm formation, persistence, and virulence. Here, we review recent work demonstrating that the bitter taste receptor T2R38, expressed on the apical surface of the sinonasal epithelium, serves a sentinel role in eavesdropping on microbial quorum-sensing communications and regulates localized innate biocidal defenses. Furthermore, studies investigating whether cilia are necessary for T2R38 expression and function in the upper airway are presented.