Basic research aiming to clarify taste disorder

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K20243
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Otorhinolaryngology
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: Magome Takuya 大阪大学, 医学系研究科, 助教 (20769731)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 味覚障害 / 精神遅滞 / 精神疾患 / 発達障がい / グリア細胞

Outline of Final Research Achievements

If the taste essential to our daily lives is impaired, there is a risk of causing a decrease in meal intake. There are reports of mental disorders in which initial symptoms begin with taste disorder, but there are few basic research reports on causality. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the mechanism of the onset that contributes to this disorder by investigating the relationship between taste disorder and genes related to psychiatric disorders.
First, we found that the KIAA2022 gene is also present in the tongue surface and medullary apophyllar nucleus in adult mice. In addition, as the axonal abnormality is caused by this gene function reduction, the mechanism in glial cells was elucidated. As a result, when the KIAA2022 gene was knocked down in this cell, various changes were observed as compared with the control group.

Free Research Field

精神疾患