Our mouths might be home to some recently discovered group of multi-tasking taste cells -;unlike most famous flavor cells, which discover individual preferences -;are effective at detecting sour, sweet, bitter and umami stimulation. A research team headed by Kathryn Medler at the University at Buffalo reports this discovery in a research published 13th August in PLOS Genetics.

Taste buds in the mouth are critical to our survival and help us to decide whether or not a food is a good source of nourishment or a potential poison. To better understand how taste cells detect and indicate the presence of different tastes, the researchers used an engineered mouse model to investigate the signaling pathways which the animals use to relay taste information to the mind. They found a previously unknown subset of Type III cells that were"widely responsive" and may announce sour stimulation using one signaling pathway, also sweet, bitter and umami stimulation utilizing another.

<em>Taste cells can be either selective or generally responsive to stimuli which is similar to the cells in the brain that process taste information. Future experiments will be focused on understanding how broadly responsive taste cells contribute to taste coding."-Kathryn Medler, Author</em>

The concept that mammals might possess broadly responsive taste cells has been put forth by multiple lab groups, but previously, no one had isolated and identified such cells. The researchers suspect that reactive cells make a substantial contribution to our ability to flavor. Their discovery offers new insight into the way that taste information is delivered to the brain for processing, also indicates that taste buds are far more complex than we now value.
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<span style="color: #ff6600;"><a style="color: #ff6600;" href="https://www.plos.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">PLOS</a></span>

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Banik, D.D., <em>et al.</em> (2020) A subset of broadly responsive Type III taste cells contribute to the detection of bitter, sweet and umami stimuli. <em>PLOS Genetics.</em> <span style="color: #ff6600;"><a style="color: #ff6600;" href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008925" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008925</a>.</span>

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