Investing the Mechanism of Salty Taste Reception and Response

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K12334
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Eating habits
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: ABE Keiko 東京大学, 大学院農学生命科学研究科(農学部), 特任教授 (10151094)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): ISHIMARU Yoshiro 東京大学, 大学院農学生命科学研究科, 特任准教授 (10451840)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 塩味受容機構 / 味細胞 / イオンチャネル / 電気生理 / ゲノム編集 / 食と栄養

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The present study aims to develop some salt taste-enhancing compounds. We constructed Skn-1a knocked-out mice (S-KO mice) in which sweet, bitter and umami taste recepting cells disappeared and sour taste recepting cell activity was enhanced 3 times. The RNA-seq analysis of this mouse made us find several copies of a candidate ion channel expressed specifically in Type I cells. These genes included an ion channel (X-channel) which stained the taste buds of S-KO mice. This channel was expressed in humans as well. Also, this X-channel was a sodium channel. To know the physiological property of this channel, this was introduced into HEK 293 cell, which was then submitted to electrophisical experiment. However, the HEK 293 cell did not respond to sodium ion. This proposes the possibility that the cell is associated with the transport of some other ions. To analyze the phenotype of X-channel, we constructed the KO mice to design the target sequence.

Free Research Field

味覚受容システム