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Wiring taste receptor cells to the central gustatory system
Author(s) -
Spielman AI,
Brand JG
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
oral diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.953
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1601-0825
pISSN - 1354-523X
DOI - 10.1111/odi.12833
Subject(s) - semaphorin , taste receptor , taste , receptor , neuroscience , bitter taste , tongue , biology , axon guidance , microbiology and biotechnology , axon , medicine , genetics , pathology
Taste receptor cells in the tongue are epithelial in nature and turnover frequently. Taste receptor cell‐associated neurons carrying bitter, sweet, or sour signals never turnover and are hardwired to specific gustatory centers in the brain. How can ever‐changing bitter or sweet receptors find never‐changing neurons that must match the specificity of the signal? This article reviews a recent paper published in Nature (Lee, MacPherson, Parada, Zuker, & Ryba, [Lee, H., 2017], 548:330‐333) that identified two molecules belonging to the semaphorin axon guidance family of molecules ( SEMA 3A and SEMA 7A) that help maintain the “labeled line principle” between peripheral bitter or sweet receptors and their respective central projection area in the gustatory center.