Study of the molecular mechanism of a taste-modification by miraculin

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K14734
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Food science
• Research Institution: Nara Women's University
• Principal Investigator: INOUE Hiroyasu 奈良女子大学, 生活環境科学系, 教授 (40183743)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 味覚 / 味覚修飾 / 味覚受容体 / ミラクリン

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We have been investigated the effect of miraculin on activity of the sour taste receptor candidate, PKD1L3/PKD2L1 heterodimer, by using taste cells prepared from the tongue of GAD67-GFP knock-in mice. Calcium imaging analysis showed that the off response, the activation of this receptor after the removal of an acid stimulus was inhibited by the addition of miraculin. These results indicate that antagonization of the sour taste receptor candidate by miraculin will be contributed to the molecular mechanism of its taste-modifying property. Furthermore, we examined the interaction miraculin and taste receptors by structural analysis of miraculin. X-ray small single scattering measurement showed the structure of native miraculin in solutions changed by pH of solution. By shitting drop vapor diffusion method, micro-crystallizations of miraculin de-glycosylated carbohydrate chains were observed.

Free Research Field

分子栄養学