Plasticity of sweet taste: importance of diet and receptor expression in taste buds

项目总结 消费者报告说，口味是食物选择的头号驱动力。然而，味觉可以在不同的地方有很大的不同 它与饮食偏好和食物选择有关，有可能影响营养和 健康。相反，饮食习惯也会影响味觉反应。例如，高糖食物的饮食 饮料与甜味功能降低有关。然而，人类所处的道路 甜味知觉的经验可塑性尚不清楚。最近一项关于小鼠模型的研究 这表明饮食中摄入糖精可以调节甜味感受器的基因表达。整体而言 本方案的研究目标是建立甜味感受器生物学的基础知识 人类，在饮食摄入量、味觉和个体特征方面。我们的假设是 更多地接触甜食和饮料将与甜味功能降低和减少相关 甜味受体基因的表达。因此，我们的目标是研究甜蜜的表达 人类味蕾中的味觉感受器涉及1)甜食和饮料的摄取，2)由于 接触甜味刺激，以及3)个体特征(例如，口味遗传)。我们将实现这些目标 通过结合生物学和感觉心理物理学之间的跨学科方法。使用非侵入性 在活体检查过程中，我们可以通过采集菌状乳头来收集人类舌组织中的味蕾。vbl.使用 在这些组织中，我们可以量化味觉受体基因的表达水平，从而确定两者之间的关系 具有味觉功能，并探索暴露如何随时间调节表达水平。这项建议包括 两项人体研究，一项研究甜食的高消费者和低消费者的横断面研究 和饮料，以及为期5周的纵向暴露研究。这两项研究都包括味觉强度的测量和 对甜食和饮料的敏感性、摄入量和喜好、菌状乳头密度、味觉感受器 遗传学和味觉感受器表达。拟议的研究将提供有关 调节甜味受体表达的分子和细胞机制进一步建立联系 饮食摄入量、味觉心理物理学和食物行为之间的关系。更好地理解 甜味及其潜在机制可能有助于理解健康的临床意义 与摄入甜食和饮料有关的影响，如肥胖和糖尿病。 长期目标包括确定通过改变饮食来改善味觉的策略。 这将对味觉功能降低或改变的个人产生影响，以改善饮食质量 和营养。

PROJECT SUMMARY Consumers report taste as the number one driver of food choice. Yet, taste perception can vary greatly across individuals and is associated with dietary preferences and food choice, with potential to impact nutrition and health. Conversely, dietary habits are known to impact taste response. For example, diets high in sugary foods and beverages are associated with reduced sweet taste function. However, the pathway in which humans experience plasticity of the sweet taste perception has yet to be elucidated. A recent study in a mouse model suggests that dietary exposure to saccharin modulates gene expression of a sweet taste receptor. The overall research goal of the present proposal is to establish fundamental knowledge of sweet taste receptor biology in humans, in terms of dietary intake, taste perception, and individual characteristics. Our hypothesis is that greater exposure to sweet foods and beverages will be associated with lower sweet taste function and reduced expression of the sweet taste receptor gene. Thus, our Aims are to investigate the expression of the sweet taste receptor in human taste buds in regards to 1) intake of sweet foods and beverages, 2) modulation due to exposure to sweet stimulus, and 3) individual characteristics (e.g., taste genetics). We will achieve these aims by combining interdisciplinary approaches between biology and sensory psychophysics. Using a non-invasive biopsy procedure, we can collect taste buds from human lingual tissue by harvesting fungiform papillae. Using these tissues, we can quantify expression levels of taste receptor genes, allowing for qualifying the relationship with taste function and explore how exposure modulates expression levels over time. This proposal includes two human subject studies, a cross-sectional study looking between high and low consumers of sweet foods and beverages and a 5-week longitudinal exposure study. Both studies include measures of taste intensity and sensitivity, intake and preferences for sweet foods and beverages, fungiform papillae density, taste receptor genetics, and taste receptor expression. The proposed study will provide new information regarding the molecular and cellular mechanisms regulating sweet taste receptor expression and further establish a link between dietary intake, taste psychophysics, and food behavior. A greater understanding of the plasticity of sweet taste and its underlying mechanism may contribute to clinical significance in understanding of the health implications linked with consumption of sweet foods and beverages, such as obesity and diabetes. Long-term objectives include identifying strategies to improve taste perception through dietary modification. This would be impactful for individuals with reduced or altered taste function in order to improve dietary quality and nutrition.