Neurotrophin Regulation of Taste System Development

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): During development, gustatory innervation is a tightly regulated process in which specific numbers of primary taste afferents project to discrete regions of the oral cavity. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) regulates both the number and location of gustatory innervation during embryonic development. Our current research is designed to determine if and/or how these connections are important for central gustatory development or taste function and whether BDNF regulates development of the postnatal taste system. The proposed studies combine cell counting, tract tracing, immunohistochemistry, electrophysiology, and behavioral testing in conditional and inducible transgenic mice to: 1) determine if BDNF influences postnatal changes in geniculate ganglion and taste bud development, 2) determine if embryonic or postnatal BDNF is important for central terminal field organization, and 3) determine if embryonic or postnatal BDNF is important for adult gustatory function. Together, these studies test the hypotheses that: 1) embryonic BDNF determines the number of neurons innervating a taste bud, and taste buds increase in size to meet that number postnatally. 2) CNS terminal field formation is regulated by BDNF and the specificity of peripheral connections. 3) Gustatory sensitivity is reduced but that the taste system still functions despite wide-scale reorganization. These studies will determine how early peripheral innervation patterns influence continued development and function of the taste system. In addition, we will determine whether BDNF is required for postnatal gustatory development. Because these experiments examine how neurotrophin regulation of sensory innervation influences continued development and adult function, this project has important implications for the potential therapeutic use of these powerful signaling molecules in re-establishing gustatory function following neuronal impairment.