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Expression of Mash1 in basal cells of rat circumvallate taste buds is dependent upon gustatory innervation
Author(s) -
Seta Yuji,
Toyono Takashi,
Takeda Shinobu,
Toyoshima Kuniaki
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/s0014-5793(99)00023-x
Subject(s) - taste bud , lingual papilla , taste , biology , tongue , denervation , taste receptor , microbiology and biotechnology , regeneration (biology) , anatomy , neuroscience , pathology , medicine
Mash1 , a mammalian homologue of the Drosophila achaete‐scute proneural gene complex, plays an essential role in differentiation of subsets of peripheral neurons. In this study, using RT‐PCR and in situ RT‐PCR, we investigated if Mash1 gene expression occurs in rat taste buds. Further, we examined dynamics of Mash1 expression in the process of degeneration and regeneration in denervated rat taste buds. In rat tongue epithelium, Mash1 gene expression is confined to circumvallate, foliate, and fungiform papilla epithelia that include taste buds. In taste buds, Mash1 ‐expressing cells are round cells in the basal compartment. In contrast, the mature taste bud cells do not express the Mash1 gene. Denervation and regeneration experiments show that the expression of Mash1 requires gustatory innervation. We conclude that Mash1 is expressed in cells of the taste bud lineage, and that the expression of Mash1 in rat taste buds is dependent upon gustatory innervation.