The Molecular Biology of Taste

味觉是动物界化学感觉输入的主要形式。 味觉不仅负责吸引和排斥各种食物来源，而且还提供有关化学环境的重要信息。 我们的长期目标是确定协调味觉受体细胞对其同源配体的反应所需的组分，并帮助阐明味觉编码的逻辑。 这项资助主要用于识别味觉信号分子。 我们将：（1）产生单细胞文库，进行差异筛选并使用减法方法来鉴定在味觉受体细胞亚群中表达的基因。 这些研究将使用从小鼠中分离的基因标记细胞，这些细胞在味觉受体细胞的定义子集中表达荧光报告基因。(2)开发异源表达系统以（a）测定味觉受体功能，和（B）功能性克隆新型受体和下游信号分子。 我们还将分离和鉴定受体运输和成熟所需的“辅助”蛋白。 最后，（3）我们将尝试在sac、soa、rua和qui突变株中鉴定导致味觉缺陷的基因。

The sense of taste is a major form of chemosensory input in the animal kingdom. Taste perception is responsible not only for attraction and repulsion to various food sources, but also for providing important information about the chemical environment. Our long-term goal is to define the components required for orchestrating the response of a taste receptor cell to its cognate ligands, and to help elucidate the logic of taste coding. This grant focuses on the identification of taste signaling molecules. We will: (1) Generate single cell libraries, perform differential screens and use subtraction approaches to identify genes expressed in subsets of taste receptor cells. These studies will use genetically marked cells isolated from mice expressing fluorescent reporters in defined subsets of taste receptor cells. (2) Develop heterologous expression system to (a) assay taste receptor function, and (b) to functionally clone novel receptors and downstream signaling molecules. We will also isolate and characterize "accessory" proteins required for receptor trafficking and maturation. Finally, (3) we will attempt to identify the genes responsible for taste defects in the sac, soa, rua and qui mutant strains.