Elucidation of age-related relationship between genotype of taste receptors and phenotype using primate organoids.

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K21586
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Studies on the Super-Aging Society
• Research Institution: Kyoto University
• Principal Investigator: Imai Hiroo 京都大学, ヒト行動進化研究センター, 教授 (60314176)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 岩槻 健 東京農業大学, 応用生物科学部, 教授 (50332375)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-06-28 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 味覚 / 移植

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We tried (1) to find the pre-symptoms of some diseases by comparisons of the individual taste sensitivities and haplotypes of taste receptors, and (2) to transplant the taste receptor cells in the taste bud organoid. (1) The results are as follows:
(1) There exist individuals whose bitter taste sensitivity was lower than the expected sensitivities. By comparison of the age and taste sensitivities, it was suggested that the little decrease of the taste sensitivity during aging in the healthy populations.
(2) We established a taste bud organoids from the tongues of macaques. Although we tried to transplant the taste receptor cells in the organoid, we failed to find living cells in the transplanted animals.

Free Research Field

味覚分子生物学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

新型コロナ感染の際に味覚や嗅覚が減弱したように、感覚の感度を指標に未病状態を検出することができれば、早期の治療や医療費の削減に役立つ。今回健常者の場合は年齢と共に味覚が減弱するという現象が見られなかったため、もしかしたら年齢と共に味覚が減弱している場合は何らかの生理機能の変化がおこっているのかもしれない可能性が示唆された。