Putative Taste Receptor Family Related Drug Discovery Products

There are only a few unique taste modalities that can elicit the wide range of flavors found in food, which are described as overall sensory perception: bitter, sweet, salty, sour, and umami (savory). Each of these flavor modalities appears to be perceived through a distinct mechanism, albeit some of them still have unclear chemical bases. While distinct G-protein coupled receptors bind bitter, sweet, and umami tastants, TRC ion channels are responsible for the perception of salty tastes. The TAS2R gene family for bitterness, the TAS1R family for sweetness and umami, and the PKD2L1 and PKD1L3 genes for sour taste are the genes that encode multiple of these receptors. Furthermore, a possible taste receptor for fat has been discovered recently: the fatty acid transporter CD36.

Creative Biolabs can offer putative taste receptor family related drug discovery tools for our clients:

• GPCR Assay Kits
• GPCR Cell Lines
• GPCR Membranes
• Membrane Protein Tools

Overview of Putative Taste Receptor Family

• Bitter Taste

Bitter taste perception is mediated by a class of GPCRs called T2Rs. T2Rs are present on the surface of foliate, circumvallate, and, to a lesser extent, fungiform papillae taste cells. On human chromosomes 5, 7, and 12, there are around 25 functioning TAS2R genes that encode T2Rs. The T2R gene family influences eating habits and is involved in the sense of bitterness. For example, a single nucleotide polymorphism in TAS2R16, which codes for a taste receptor for bitter 𝛽-glucopyranosides, has been linked to alcohol dependence. Additionally, there might be a link between a TAS2R50 polymorphism and an increased risk of myocardial infarction.

• Sweet Taste

Humans perceive sweet tastes as pleasant and group them apart from bitter tastes, which may be a result of evolutionary drive to choose foods high in energy. After the identification of a novel G-protein coupled receptor family, TR1, in both rats and humans, the search for the Sac locus gene was significantly accelerated. The third member of taste receptor family 1, T1R3 (also known as TaS1R3 in humans and Tas1r3 in rodents), was shown to be the gene causing the saccharin-preferring phenotype utilizing a variety of methods by many organizations.

• Umami Taste

At the molecular level, umami and sweet taste processing appear to be tightly connected. It appears that T1R1 and T1R3, 7-transmembrane-domain G protein-coupled receptors, comprise a heteromeric umami taste receptor. By producing potential taste receptors in HEK cells and stimulating them with all 20 L-amino acids as well as a few D-amino acids that have a pleasant taste to humans, the T1R1/T1R3 heteromer was first discovered. The umami enhancer IMP amplified the responses to L-amino acids only in cells coexpressing T1R1/T1R3.