The study on neuronal bases of taste cognition in gustatory neurons defined by genetic tracing

为了深入了解味觉识别是如何在大脑中完成的，我们应用了一种遗传学方法来描绘甜味和苦味的神经元回路，方法是在小鼠的苦味或甜味感受器细胞中选择性地表达跨神经元示踪剂WGA-DsRed，并可视化大脑中神经元的空间分布，这些神经元被WGA-DsRed标记来自每一类味觉感受器细胞。WGA-DsRed标记神经元的位置显示了味觉皮质中苦味和甜味输入的分离。基因追踪与电生理记录和免疫组织化学相结合，能够在功能上定义处理特定味觉信息的神经元，以及整合味觉和其他内脏感觉信息的神经元。

To gain insight into how taste recognition is accomplished in the brain, we applied a genetic approach to delineate the neuronal circuitries of sweet and bitter taste by selectively expressing the transneuronal tracer, WGA-DsRed, in either bitter-or sweet-responsive taste receptor cells in mice, and by visualizing the spatial distribution of neurons in the brain, which were labeled by WGA-DsRed originating from each class of taste receptor cells. Locations of the WGA-DsRed-labeled neurons revealed segregation of bitter-and sweet-inputs in the gustatory cortex. Combination of genetic tracing with electrophysiological recordings and immunohistochemistry enables to functionally define the neurons that process specific taste information and that integrate taste and the other viscerosensory information.